J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Trencher

You really need more than one jacket to cope with the extreme variation in temps you may encounter. Professional skiers in N. America are favoring a shell jacket, puff jacket combination these days, but a good quality insulated ski jacket is good for the coldest days. For pants; you want the un/lightly insulated pants, with layers under for the temperature.

Same goes for gloves. when it gets down below -20C, you will be glad of mittens, but other times regular ski gloves are fine.

Most important is venting. Good venting will allow you to dress for the inevitable standing around on an instructor course, but will allow you to cool down at other times.

TB Andy is spot on. I did a lot of research years ago and the bottom line is the average person is totally handicapping themselves if they don't include some strength training in their exercise routine. This does not mean going to a gym and pumping iron for hours. Two half hour sessions each week at home with a few free weights are all that's needed (later you could cut that to just one and still maintain muscle). No boring set after set, just one set of each exercise. Start on weights that will allow you to manage eight reps and up the weight when you can do 12/14 reps. No rest in between sets to add an aerobic component. Alternate between arms/chest, abs, back, legs. Don't worry about isolating muscles, you're not a body builder.

I would go even further on the multi-meal regime, and add healthy snacks in between light meals. The first rule should be "never go hungry for long". A good guide to healthy carbs is to look at the fibre content. Bread is great if it has at least 12/15% RDA of fibre per slice, and cereal should be 25% plus. Non fat milk is very important, so aim for 5 servings a day. Milk is also the best after workout protein/carb replacement source.

kateshaw wrote:When I went skiing in February I was 12 weeks into an 18 week marathon training programme. It made a HUGE difference to my skiing on all levels. I was fitter, my legs didn't ache at all, my strength and stability was much improved.

I do a fair bit of strength training as I have weak hip flexors. I realise this is only anecdotal but my fitness last season was significantly higher than it was the year before and the result of that was obvious for all to see. Even my 11 year old was impressed.

Everything about skiing is better when you are fitter. I know from the variations in my fitness over the years that I definitely don't have as much fun and overall satisfaction is way down in unfit seasons.

Ranchero_1979 wrote:

Sounds like you have cracked this one anyway. However one drill I like to practice and will help this is actively pulling back the downhole ski when initiating the next turn. This prevents the "to be" uphill ski from getting ahead of you. When this happens you end up with no weight, no edge on new downhill ski and hence has a mind of its own. Basically you removed edge and pivot hence ski does nothing.

Really important point. With modern skis, this pulling back as the inside ski is actively tipped into the turn helps to engage the edge at the front of the ski. It also helps in moving your weight forward as well.

I've gone to Rossi/Lange boots for next season. I ended up with some Bandit 135s.

That's quite a wide boot you are looking at. I don't know if you aim to get any fitting work done on them, but that might end up making them too wide. Also these boot tend to run big comparatively. My feet are 275mm and I use a 26 shell in Fischer, Dolomite, and the old Lange boots, but in the new Rossi/Lange boots, I need a 25 shell.

Not sure of my plans yet (don't know if I'll be working or not), but would love to at least catch a few days out there, if you don't mind a short term interloper?

I have several friends that kite ski and board. Mostly they do it on the frozen lakes in the winter. I guess the closest sport that might be practical in the UK would be kite boarding on a wake board on lakes. Is that what you do with the 3m kite?

Are you just looking for an adventure sport, or kite specific?