UKC

Hello.

How important is core strength in skiing?

I was reading a thread here and someone said that skiing moguls is all sbout core strength.

Is this true?

At the gym I train my core with deadlifts, front squats and weighted squats.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

But is skiing all about moguls?

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

probably also benefit with a bit of sideways movement (not so much of a issue in everyday life but for skiing), wall sits are likely to also be benefital

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Not important at all unless your verging on a professional level.

Skiing a lot in General will build your core strength.

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Not important at all. A you'll see all sorts on the slopes and they all seem to be having a great time.

In reply to Orgsm:

Yeah, the idea of 'core strength' as distinct from overall strength is bullshit anyway. Marketing gimmick conjured up by people trying to sell DVDs and silly excercise equipment.

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Strong deadlift= strong core

In reply to Carolyn:
Hello Carolyn.

Skiing is not all about Moguls - but a lot of people have problems with Moguls....

I think a strong core helps with balance and helps prevents injuries.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to lost1977:

Hi.

What sideways exercises would you recommend?

I actually do wall sits as part of my gym sessions and as part of my home yoga sessions.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to xplorer:

Hello.

I wish I was verging on a professional level!

I hope skiing a lot will build my core strength.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to nw:

Hello.

Cool as beanz.

I did 25 kg deadlifts today (12.5 kg on each side of the bar.

When I did maximum strength I did 60 kg (30 kg on each side of the bar.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Of course it's important to all skiers. Poor core strength will result in a sore back. As a beginner you have to get up all the time when you've fallen over. Most people fall in deep powder sometime during a big day and wallowing in the snow follows just to get your skis out, let alone regain your feet. Try putting your skis and boots on and lying out on your back behind your skis, then regain an upright position. Warm up well as it puts a big strain on your knees.

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Side squat also known as the side lunge

In reply to lost1977:

Skiing Moguls is at least 90% ski technique. I would say core strength is a minor part.

I see really good skiers who do no phys for ages then smash the moguls.

As Greg Plank the American skier said "anyone can spend $500 on skis and look good in powder its moguls that test your technique".

If you do want to do some core exercises for skiing I would have thought that a kettlebell workout would be much better than dead lifts.

In reply to Removed User:





Why's that? Deadlift allows more weight, which means more muscle and nervous system recruitment, which means stronger faster. KB's might have some uses for conditioning or srtrength endurance but are inferior to barbellls for straight up strength. Also, if you haven't tried it yourself, working a heavy barbell taxes your balance significantly too.

In reply to nw:

I have done pleany of heavy barbell stuff, just back foirm gym doing sets of 80kg BPs.

But the problem as I see it is that squats are really a one dimensional exercise (slightly 2 dimensional as you do go back and forwards a bit) whereas skiing is very 3 dimensinal, whatch the mogul skiers in winter olympics. Kettlebells will give more dynamic core strength more suited to this type of skiing.

Downhill racers will do lots of squats as the requirments are very different.

But as I said before mogul skiing is techniqure and core dosen't realy help with that. To ski moguls well you have to be very relaxed so again core strength is less of an issue.

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

How to get stronger at skiing? Well gee, I imagine skiing might well do it...

In reply to Stairclimber:

Hello.

I have fallen at the dryslope but that was because I was not following mny skis and lying back!

It only happened the first few times though.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Removed User:

Hello Gary.

Thanks for the advice.

Do you know any good kettle bell exercises?

Bye

Savvas

In reply to lost1977:

Hello.

Thanks for that.

Will look it up on youtube.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to MischaHY:

Hello Mischa.

Thanks for that.

That does hold!

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

The only way to find out is to go and ski real snow,

In reply to Mountain Spirit:


I'd say it depends on what type of skiing your doing. XC involves a lot of core, and ski touring with a pack requires good core stability.

In reply to Dave Perry:

Hello Dave.

Well.... ofcourse!

What are snowdomes like compared to a resort?

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Henry Iddon:

Hello Henry.

I thought XC was a type of ski touring!?

All my training would be good for when I start touring.

Not to go off topic too much....

I think it is important in certain disciplines of climbing where a rucksuck or small pack is worn for example multi-pitch climbing, Scottish winter climbing (multi-pitch), alpine climbing and expeditions including big wallls.

A strong and stable core is very important in all climbing and mountaineering activitoes including hillwalking.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Agreed. Skiing is not just about general fitness - it uses a specific muscle set, particularly in the thighs. I once went on a Ski Aerobics course in The Netherlands and it emphasised squats and hopping up and down onto benches in a crouched position until one's thigh muscles were screaming. All the to music of Terence Trent d'Arby (back in the late '80s sometime). This really did help with the mogul skiing.

Moguls are very bad for knees. Olympic mogul skiers end up with damaged knees. .

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

>


All the snowdomes I've been in are tiny compared to the real thing. Typically 200m x 50m and at an angle of a very easy blue, so ideal for beginners. The snow is really ice crystals that are blown out of snow cannon where as at a resort you get what falls from the sky maybe with some snow cannon mixed it. At both the snow is pisted i.e. a tractor drives over it to pack it down and smooth it out to make it easy to ski on.

At a resort your outdoors in the fresh air with the sun on your face (hopefully) and the wind in your hair, at a snowdome your in a fridge. Skiing wise snowdomes are marginally more like skiing on real snow than dryslopes but for starting out you wont notice the difference, either will do. To begin with an hour or two will feel like quite hard work and you will fall over a lot, but it's snow its soft so laugh at yourself. Once you get the hang of it you wont fall so much and you'll want more. Once you move outside you wont want to go back into the fridge.

In reply to John Stainforth:

Hello John.

My work out is very core and leg based.

Funny thing - my legs especially quads are very strong and big!....

I used to have a very strong ore when I bouldered at Craggy 2 then I stopped boludering for a while and lost that core strength.

I feel so much better after it though.

I hope it will make me a good skier....

It has improved my indoor bouldering!

How long did it take you to be a comptetent mogul skier?

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:
Even to consider mogul runs you need a core like iron, otherwise you risk serious injury. I recommend a personal trainer to lead you in a highly specific set of intense exercises, carried out for at least four three hour sessions per week.

Alternatively: stop posting nonsense and learn to ski. Moguls require a specific technique that you won't master until you can skl steep pistes confidently. Just look up some of the online ski sites or read an article in a magazine. Then when you're in a resort, get some lessons.

Obviously being generally fit will help skiing, and allow you to stay out longer. But the only specific exercise I would (seriously) bother with is wall sits. Build up to being able to do 4 reps of 3 minutes with a minute's rest between each rep and you will not suffer from painful thighs.

In reply to davidoldfart:

Hi David.

I am not considering mogul runs this year.

I was asking about core strength in skiing more generally.

I have been watching youtube ski instruction videos and have read a few articles.

During Christmas I also watched the Warren Smith video clips on his website

I am reading The All Mountain Skier at present....

What nonsense have I posted?

I do wall sits anyway but I do not know long to hold them for or how many reps.

Thanks for the info on the wall sits.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Had a look at your LinkedIN profile today, it says you were a DMM and Mountain Equipment climber? Hmmm...

In reply to JayPee630:

Hello Jay...

I put alot of crap on social networks!

I can remove that!

Bye

Savvas

In reply to OwenM:
Hello Owen.

At the dryslope I did fall over a lot on my first hour as I kept leaning back- silly me!

I think I would prefer the real thing....

But will have a lesson or two at a snowdome.

So, is skiing on real snow addictive then?

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

I have suggested you are troll before, Mountain Spirit, Savvas or whatever your name is. I think the joke has now worn thin.

In reply to davidoldfart:
Hi.

Savvas is my name.

I am not a troll.

My profile is open to everyone!

Msg me to check.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Proper skiing is so intensely addictive that you'll struggle to think about anything else whilst you have access too it.

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

I wouldn't say I was a competent mogul skier. It took me about five seasons before I could come down a long mogul field without falling. Then I would "punish" myself with a long (e.g. 1000 to 1500 foot) black mogul run about once a day. Now I don't even do that - too much strain on the knees. One thing that made mogul skiing much easier for your average skier was the advent of the modern short ski with lots of side cut. My previous pair of skis that I had during the 90's were long and relatively narrow with only slight side cut. They were very fast (considerably faster than the next generation skis), but harder to turn and less maneuverable.

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

It is your profile that makes me think you are a troll. It suggests you have climbed almost nothing, and all of that very easy, and yet your gigantic wish list includes many routes at the highest level of difficulty. In general, you come across as a fictional character, which is amusing at first, but as I said, the joke is now wearing thin.

You say your best climbing experience was on Little Tryfan, and yet you want to climb Sleepy Hollow Direct, E10, 7a, incredibly hard big walls free on El Cap, and Alpine testpieces such as the Bonatti on the Capucin. I suppose you may simply be the ultimate mountain Walter Mitty, with a rich fantasy life, but I think you get your kicks from writing zany posts on UKC and watching people take them seriously. Maybe you are in fact a very famous climber who has actually done some of these routes. Anyway, I do not believe you are real.

In reply to John Stainforth:

Shorter skis definitely help in moguls. But in theory side cut should make skiing moguls more difficult. When skiing moguls you want to ski a driect line down the slope thruogh the moguls. To do this and cotrol your speed you need to rotate the skis without them edging. This is easier to achive on a ski with little side cut and a big turning radius.

One thing that doers make skiing moguls easier is having the binding more towards the centre of the ski. Thisa makes it easier to achive pure rotation.

if you look at the skis the mogul skiers are using in the olympics they are like a quite short park ski with nearly parallel edges and the binding close to the centre.

I got some Rossignol S80 ski cheap and by chance they had the binding close to the centre of the ski and its made moguls much easier.

In reply to davidoldfart:


He is real.

In reply to Removed User:

Yes, the the main thing that has helped is the shorter length. The increased side-cut was only to make skiing easier for weaker skiers.

In reply to MischaHY:

Hi Mischa.

So when I go in March this year I will be hungry for me next year!

I have heard it very addictive!

Bye

Savvas

In reply to John Stainforth:


Hark at her.

In reply to davidoldfart:

Hello.

A wishlist is just a wishlist.

It does not mean I am going to do any of that stuff soon or even in the far future.

Mind you a mate of mine who manages Ellis Brigham in Covent Garden told me that you only have one life you know about.

I am fed up of living in a place where I do not have easy access p[roper outdoor climbing!

Bye

Savvas

In reply to MischaHY:

Almost, but not quite,as addictive as "the flow". I've done 4 weeks this year so far and cannot wait to get back...

In reply to John Stainforth:

Hello John.

I think I would have problems with moguls because of a knee tendon accident at a party many many years ago....

I twisted the tendon at the back of my left knee and I had to have physiotherapy afterwards for months.

I still wear a knee brace on that knee when I do physical activity.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to nufkin:

Thanx nufkin

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Try these, they make my badly arthritic knees still function for very long and hard days

http://www.skiallday.co.uk

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

Try these, they make my badly arthritic knees still function for very long and hard days

http://www.skiallday.co.uk

In reply to David Bennett:

Hello David.

Thanks for the link.

They look very helpful.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

May I seriously suggest you blow off mogul skiing. I really don't think it is worth the risk of further damage, since you need to where a knee brace already. Just enjoy yourself on the smmother stuff.

In reply to John Stainforth:

Hello John.

I think that is a great idea....

Moguls are off limits for me at the moment even though my knee is much better.

I wish I never went to that party know!

Bye

Savvas