Skiing without pain.

People spend ages flicking through the skiing magazines, looking at all the options for their holiday, with the idea of fluffy white snow, cosy log cabins and hot chocolate in mind. I started in my 20’s skiing in Courchevel and have loved the snow ever since - and I’m almost 40.

 

During the last 20 years, I have noticed that my skiing techniques have plateaued and that various friends have picked up injuries they couldn’t seem to shift. The problem seems to be that we are all that bit older, that bit busier and carrying a few niggles. So after a bit of investigation, here are a few shocking facts I found out.

 

Over 50% of leisure skiers don’t correctly do up their boots, putting people at risk of injury and means they don’t ski to the best of their abilities.

 

Despite being one of the first things you learn, 60 % of leisure skiers ski with their weight over their heels, which increases the risk of knee injuries and affects your skiing technique.

 

Leg rotation is a major limiting problem for 70% of leisure skiers, affecting your hips and upper body and ability to make the turn.

 

80% of skiers have a poor leg stance, so the knees are closer together than the feet, meaning that performance is affected and increases the risk of knee injuries.

 

 90% of skiers have a weaker turning direction.

 

So with all these facts in mind, I am preparing well in advance with my stretching to have the best season and the most fun on the snow.

 

So to prepare, I am going to:

1. Building up my inner leg muscles: essential to control my stance and A-frame as I make my turns. To do this, you must slowly pull your feet together, wearing socks on a laminate floor. You should support your weight slightly to start with. The idea is to make the movement last 10 seconds or more. The exercise helps strengthen the adductor and glute muscles (inner thigh and bum muscles).

 

2. Ankle flexibility: can be tested with a simple slide test. Rest against a wall with your back, keep your heels on the floor and slide slowly down. You know you are at your limit when you feel your heels rise off the ground. Ideally, you want around 20 cm of drop. If you have anything less than this, stretch your calf muscles. Currently, mine is 15 – so I could do better!

 To cure this, I am doing this stretch:

 

3. Leg range of movement: I am one of the 70% of people with a limited range of motion, so I will stretch out my hip rotators and do hip circles to get things moving.