By Justin Freeman
Subaru Factory Team

Cross country skiing makes a wide range of demands on the body. Primarily it is an aerobic sport, but climbing involves anaerobic systems, descending requires balance, and everything requires technique. Training aerobic and anaerobic systems while just trying to learn to balance again on snow may seem so daunting that you want to forget about your strength program. But for most skiers, this is one of the most critical times to train strength. The key is to train the right kind of strength, the right way.

I am hesitant to define the "right" way to train strength. Successful athletes place varying amounts of emphasis on strength training, and there are as many variations is seasonal approach to strength as there are athletes. You may have spent the spring doing bench press and squats; you may have done no strength until starting circuit training in September. Or you may have used a complicated periodization of upper body, lower body, and core strength.

Regardless of what you have done till now, you probably want a change once the snow flies. Why waste precious daylight hours in the gym, or precious night-time outside the wax room. The key to this is specific strength. It's great to build general strength all summer and fall, but in the winter you need to build the most useful muscles in the least amount of time. I recommend focusing on three workouts:

For the first workout, find a gradual uphill that takes around a minute to ski (or rollerski) up. The first part of the workout is to double pole up this hill, with good form and high speed, as many times as it takes to get really tired (this may be as few as five or six or as many as twenty or thirty, depending on the hill and your strength). For most people it will be best to focus on a short motion and very high hips, but if you are concentrating on something else in your technique, focus on that. After the double pole repeats (or alternating with them), single stick (do a diagonal stride motion with your arms while keeping your feet together) up the hill. Here it is critical to keep your hips high and your motions crisp; if you feel your hips falling back find a gentler hill. This is simply the best way to build strength for classic skiing.

The second workout is basically skiing without poles. If you are skating, find a steep hill, but one that you can keep your technique on as you ski up it. As you ski to the top, you should feel a serious "burn" in your thighs. This is the feeling of your quads getting stronger. On the way down the hill, balance on one ski as long as you can. This works the stabilizers in your hips, and gives you the ability to glide more easily in all terrain.
If you are classic skiing, the best workout is to find a gradual downhill. As you glide down the hill in the tracks, balance on one ski. Count to three, then set your wax hard and drive forward onto the other ski. You won't feel much "burn," but you will build strength, coordination, and balance.

Finally, if you feel the need to go to the gym, make then workouts count. Focus on those exercises that you feel really help you ski faster (not what your training partner thinks helps her ski faster, or what you think Andy Newell might be doing in the gym). And as a warm-up, try a couple core stabilization exercises. My favorites include: sitting on a physioball with your knees and calves raised so they do not touch to ball, and then playing catch; lying so that your shoulder blades are on the ground and your heels are on a physioball, and rolling the ball up to your butt and back; and lying sideways with your hip on physioball and your foot on a basketball, and doing leg raises. These exercises (or similar ones) develop your inner core, making the rest of your workout more effective. They are great all year round, and in my mind critical whenever you hit the gym in season.

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The Yellowstone Ski Festival
November 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, 2006
West Yellowstone, Montana
The Yellowstone Ski Festival
November 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, 2006

There has been a significant change in the weather here in West Yellowstone and final preparations for the Yellowstone Ski Festival are well underway. Here’s an update on a few of the event’s highlights:

The Fall Camp Clinics are FULL: Our Fall Camp Clinics are officially full for 2006! Thanks to all of you that have registered. We will offer another set of clinics at the 2007 Yellowstone Ski Festival. However, there is still space available in the Montana Outdoor Science School’s clinics for kids. For more information on those clinics, visit the Clinics page of www.yellowstoneskifestival.com .

Free Heel and Wheel Celebrates 10 Years in Business: Yes, it’s been ten years since Melissa Alder and Kelli Sanders decided to open Free Heel and Wheel. Since then, West Yellowstone’s favorite Nordic ski and bike shop has become an oasis for muscle-powered recreational enthusiasts. And, of course, Free Heel and Wheel, located at 40 Yellowstone Avenue, is Nordic ski headquarters for the Yellowstone Ski Festival. Need skis? Coffee? Boots? Lunch? Gloves? Clothing? They’ve got it all. Free Heel and Wheel is the place to be during the Ski Festival (if you can get in the door). Stop in and congratulate Melissa and Kelli on 10 great years!

Join the Subaru Factory Team on Wednesday November, 22nd at Free Heel and Wheel for a pressure mapping clinic. The Subaru Factory Team and Salomon have cutting edge technology that allows you to see how weight is being distributed across your skis. Bring your skis, classic and skate, along this evening and let us show you how they interface with the snow.

Chloë Lanthier-Brandner to speak Friday night: We are excited to see Chloë’s slide show “Decade of Extreme Endurance”. Chloë has been competing for more than a decade in solo endurance and multi-day expedition races around the world including; running across the Sahara desert, riding her bike across the Iditarod Trail in Alaska – in the winter, and running around Mont Blanc in France. Chloë also has more than 15 years experience in developing and leading innovative programs in health science, human performance, outdoor camps and motivational presentations. Don’t miss the Friday night slide show!

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot: This will be a free fun run at 2:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day. It will start at the Rendezvous Trailhead Building and wind through the streets of West Yellowstone – even more exercise to help work up an appetite before Thanksgiving Dinner! Imagining Yellowstone Avenue full of Nordic skiers makes us smile. Look for details on our website, at Free Heel and Wheel and at the Indoor Ski Show once you get to town.

Stone Grinding services come to Yellowstone Ski Festival: Engineered Tuning partners Boulder Nordic Sport (BNS) and Caldwell Sport Specialties (CSS) will bring a full-service stone-grinding ski shop to the Yellowstone Ski Festival. Owners Nathan Schultz (BNS) and Zach Caldwell (CSS) will travel to the event with a Tazzari stone grinding machine and staff to provide professional ski service at the season-opening event.

Engineered Tuning will be set up at Rendezvous Snowmobile Rentals at 415 Yellowstone Avenue in West Yellowstone from November 19-26. Skis can be dropped off for service during the Festival at the grinding shop from 8-9AM and 4-5PM and at the Indoor Ski Show at the Holiday Inn. There will be an open house Friday, November 24th from 3-5PM to demonstrate the stone grinding process and flex testing with both Caldwell and Schultz on hand to answer questions. BNS owner Schultz commented, “We’re excited to kick off the season at West Yellowstone and we think this will be a great benefit to the ski community.

Jamie Greene, Yellowstone Ski Festival Coordinator
The West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 458
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-9427
info@yellowstoneskifestival.com

Start your ski season in West Yellowstone, Montana!
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The Methow Valley Cross Country Ski Camp
December 14-17, 2006 at
Sun Mountain Lodge
Winthrop, WA
Registration opens Sept 1st MVN members
Sept 15th for non-members

Visit Methow Valley Ski Club's website for more information
http://www.mvnordic.com/mvnordic/cccamp.html
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The Steamboat Nordic Camp and Festival
December 15th-17th, 2006
Held at the Lake Catamount Touring Center and
the Steamboat Ski Touring Center
Steamboat, CO

This weekend is filled with clinics and coaching for all abilities, free demo equipment and fun for all! Learn from top coaches, meet new ski friends and learn in an incredible setting! Coaching available for everyone, from beginner through advanced skiers. Whether your focus is to race or gain fitness, have fun and meet new people, we have what you are looking for! All abilities, both skate and classic techniques will be taught.

All major ski companies will be represented and offer free demo equipment. Try new equipment, test the latest waxes and get basic and technical information to get you skiing in a whole new way!

Register at Ski Haus, the Steamboat Springs Touring Center or download a registration form and send it in.
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"HIGH SIERRA"
NORDIC TRAINING CAMP
For MASTER Skiers
December 6th through December 9th
Royal Gorge, California

Price: $389
(Single day rates available)

The High Sierra Nordic Training Camp is the alternative to the long travel and its high gas prices for the early-season, shake-out-the-summer-cobwebs ski camp. It is ideally timed, December 6-9, in-between holidays, yet still early in the season to provide that all-important jump start to your ski season.

The camp will take place at Royal Gorge, atop Donner Summit with annual snowfall exceeding 600”, touting North America’s largest track system – over 9,000 breathtaking acres with 330 kilometers. Royal Gorge will also offer camp participants reduced room rates at their Ice Lakes Lodge, just steps away from the trail system. Nationally-renowned coaches Jeff Schloss and Glenn Jobe head a talented team of coaches.

Tahoe Forest Hospital’s Center for Health and Sports Performance will perform Lactate Threshold and Functional Movement testing, as well as offer a full-menu of additional physiological tests.

Full details and signups are available at www.farwestnordic.org

NOTE: If you have an event you would like to have in SkiPost please send emails to weanswer@skipost.com

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SkiPost is a cross-country skiing informational, educational and motivational service, brought to you through a partnership with the Subaru Factory Team and the Salomon Athlete & Event Force.

The goal of SkiPost is to make the sport of cross-country skiing easier and more enjoyable for all who choose to participate. If you have questions on Cross-country Skiing see www.SkiPost.com or email us at mailto:weanswer@skipost.com

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Enjoy Winter,
Justin Easter

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