Helpful skiing tips that you may not know...

1.if you wax your skis alot, the bases will last way way longer (rails)

2.if you can do a trick well on tramp, it really makes it easier to land it on snow

3.dont get caught by ski patrol
 
when i learn a new trick, i like to do that trick at least ten times (muscle memory) until i go inside for a break, and like someone previously said, take a chill lap when you come back out, you never know what happened to the park when you were inside.
 
most cafeterias have free refills. take a cup. leave. come back fill it up and walk out. = free drink.

i use this every day i ski. works like a charm.
 
just read the whole thread its money.
make friends with patrolers, not the stupid ones, they know where everything is and usually let you chill with them
be social people like to laugh so let um
take breaks if you are having trouble with something you know you can do stop go to another feature do something cool to get your confidence up go back to what you were trying and stomp it
 
I haven't worn mine in years. If your going to, not in trees. If it get's snagged it's a hell of a pain. Or if you fall in a tree well with them on, they can pin your hands down leaving you immobilized.
As far as it goes for cold hands, I learned its bad to curl your hands inside your gloves. It feels good but the fingertips of your gloves get colder making the process useless once you have to put your fingers back out. Keeping your core warm means your fingers and toes will usually be warm, a trick for better circulation is jumping on the spot while skiing and rolling your shoulders.
Thats all i can think of right now.
 
I found this out from running cross country, but when you stretch, make sure your body is warmed up first, otherwise you have a higher chance of damaging a muscle or joint. jog half a mile, do a continuous warm up, and strech afterward. dooont bounce the stretch, ever. keep it steady
 
man, lots of good info.
- but if you have a problem with cold feet try taking your liners out of your boots everynight and drying them. like stick them in front of a fan or anywere with good circulation. youd be surprised how much your feet sweat.
- i know this is pretty sketch, but my only pair of boots is some salomon spk's and when in powder. they let some snow in through the top area above the toe. i solved this problem by putting duct tape across that area. works pretty well. sketchy but works wonders for keeping my feet warmer and dryer.
-if you get cold limbs try putting more layers on your core/upper body. if its cold out your body will lessen blood flow to your extrimites (i.e. hands,feet, junk) to keep your core temperature form lowering. so layer up. and the same same works in reverse if your really hot, just take off an extra shirt or fleece, or open your jacket a bit if your hot or hiking.
-i know for most this is common sense, but really try not to sweat before getting on the hill when your putting all your gear on in side the house or car. because wunce you start sweating itl make you really cold when you actually start riding.
hope this helps

 
Ski socks are not about Thick, thick, thick!!!!!!!!! Thinner socks can be just as warm and are better in properly fitted boots then thick quote unquote warm ones. A little space in the boots allow warm air to be in there and provide better circulation.
 
Not true..... yes you should put straps where they touch...
but it will not affect your camber.... hense why ski racers put 4 straps on a pair of skis.
1 tip, 1 infront the binding, one behind the binding and 1 tail

 
Don't curl your hand up into a fist when your fingers get cold. it will make the finger part of the glove colder and won't do you any good when you put your fingers back in the slots.
 
Thread is money

- put duck tape right under your handgrip of your pole, this always comes in handy sometime

- automatic hand-dryers in lodge bathrooms can be used as free boot/glove warmers

- most of you probably know this but always pack your lunch if you have time, foods expensive in the cafeteria

 
or just cough up the 10 dollars for a lock, it goes a long way

scrape the snow off your toe piece of your boots by scraping it against the toe piece of the bindings

 
-if you dont have good food at your house stop at a gas station. good food at a fraction of the cost of resort food.

-never buy chicken and frenchfries it a rip off

- buy the fountain soda its about half the price of normal stuff (and you can make graveyards)

-bring cup of noodles because you can always get free hot water and they are delicious for a low price
 
On, I have dropped my pole(s) more than once and had to hike up to get them.
Always stay hydrated on the mountain, I do this by just drinking lots of water every time I go inside, and before and after skiing, since I don't like carrying bottles or packs.
When buying new boots, if you plan to keep them for a long time and use them hard, order some replacement lugs (the little things that are screwed on to the toes and heels of your boots, not all boots have them), right off the bat and keep them in a safe place, because when you do need them they can take a long time to come.
 
Additionally, if you put paper in the liners (i.e. old newspaper), it will absorb a good amount of the moisture from your boots. Drying boots regularly also cuts down on nasty foot odor.
 
this used to be the same with me. i enter the feature looking over my right shoulder and when i get to the jump, jib, rail whatever i move my head to the left.

one thing to remember is to look around your shoulder not over. its easier to see, its a ton more comfartable and after a couple switch runs your neck, head, and body get used to it and then bam you can look over your dominant spinning shoulder.
 
1. Liftlines often run in cycles. It can be cycles where 15 minutes the lines could be really long, the next 15 they're pretty short. If you get in one of the low liftline cycles, you can pretty much stay in it for much of the day.

2. Go to a bootfitter. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to go to a bootfitter if you're looking to buy a new pair of boots. They can literally create a specialized fit for your foot. If you have a pair of boots that you don't want to replace but don't fit as you would like, take them in! Often, a bootfitter will be able to make a boot fit at no cost whatsoever to you. Connected to this point, support your local shops. They're not going to stay in business if they don't have established customers like you coming into their shop. The internet is great, but not for ski gear, when we have awesome shops like Evo, Sports Creel and Causwell (and, before it closed, Jibij) around that need your support.

3. Support the non-resort-run establishments at your resort. These businesses are often local and wouldn't survive without your support. In addition, they often have lower prices than the resort cafeteria, saving you money. These points hold especially true at smaller resorts (i.e. Whitefish, not Vail; Schweitzer, not Deer Valley), but there is some truth to them at all resorts.

4. Avoid walking in ski boots on paved walkways. The pavement/paving stones can eat away at the bottom of your boot. If you do this too much, you will cause serious harm to the toepieces of your boots.
 
not only will they be easier to get on, the boots will keep their shape. leaving the boots unbuckled and open will deform the shell
 
way to say the same thing that other people have said 40 times before. wear mittens. they are sooo much better than traditional finger gloves. when it gets into the 25-30 degree range pull out your park gloves.
 
true but when you put your fingers back in, they will actually have some warmth in them so if you do it enough then the gloves will get warm again... but ya if its really that bad, just get mittens
 
I tend to have an iron grip on my poles and it saves me the need to put the straps on all the time. If the pole gets snagged, I have the option of letting go so that it doesn't tear my arm and shoulder.
As for what was said to avoid walking on pavement, sometimes thats unavoidable and in stead of having to carry your boots and wear shoes, there are rubber soles you can buy to place on the bottom of your boot. It gives you more grip, makes walking slightly easier and protects your boot. Their about 20$ canadian.
 
Put an extra bandana in your cargo pocket. Nothing feels better than taking off that frozen one off and putting on a dry one half way thru the day. Also good if some one is bleeding or if you just wanna wipe your nose or clean up some goggles.
 
this.

made the mistake of putting my cell in my pants pocket yesterday and i now have nice crack in the screen..

probably been said, but keep your boots buckled like you would have them while skiing. when you are not skiing, its better for them. Also take the liners out and let them dry, wet boots = cold boots.
 
when you curl your fingers up you can stick your hands under your armpits so the fingers of the gloves wont get cold
 
Cotton is death. That's what has been drilled into my head.
It gets it absorbs water easily and takes a while to loose it. When you dress up, the worst thing you can do is wear cotton tall t's and hoodies, those get wet, cold and frozen and you look pretty noob when your freezing and trying to defrost your clothes under the hand dryer.
 
such good advice about food, cup of noodles are the best on a ski day cheap, delicious, and after the noodles are gone you have a nice warm broth to drink.

stretching and a warm up run is so key to giving you a nice day on the hill
 
Proper way to put on boots. TONS of people don't know this, and bitch about shin bang till the end of time. Work your way top down. Upper buckle, or upper wire ( for all you fulltilt fans out there) has to be as tight as you can with out cutting off circulation. Then work your way down to the toes. Super simple.
Never, ever, ever wipe the insides of your goggle. The coating on the inside of your goggle lens is totally different then on the outside. If they are fogged to all hell, go inside and warm them up. If you wipe with any sort of moisture, they will scratch like crazy.
If your toes are frozen most of the time it is snow that has gotten in your boot ( or un-dry liners like someone else mentioned) melted, and refrozen. The best way to prevent this is two fold.
One : put a grocery bag over your liner. Works like magic. Keeps the outside snow from getting in, lets your ski socks do the job.
Two: Duct tape on the open seams on the boots. On typical 4 buckle design boots the front seam is the biggest problem. Even the SPK is prone to it. The only boot that works really well for this is the fulltilts.

Eat a huge breakfast, med lunch, and small ass supper. With two snacks in between. The first snack being bigger then the second. The idea is that when you eat breakfast you are supercharging your body for the rest of the day of being awake. Supper is getting you ready to do nothing for 8 hours. Makes sense right. High protein in the morning, with high fiber at night. You want carbs at night for the sheer fact that they take so long to turn into useful energy.
Great skiing exercises: The Captain's chair leg raises. Works all the muscles you use in the air. Anything from your obliques, to your lower abs. Do 3 sets of 15 to start then add more to your sets. Then once you can do tons of them, work on doing it with your legs straight. After that try doing as many figure 8 shapes in the air with your legs straight. Then also do them while turned on one side, and then the other. After this your skis will feel so light in the air.
Squats will also do wonders for your skiing. Same thing as before, Three sets of 15 with a weight that is 70% of what your max push is. Then every time you go to do them increase your interval. Either a larger set, an extra set, or more weight. It is up to you. Find a full squat rack. Don't use the machine, since the they don't work the stabilizers as well.
Calf raises with dumbbells works incredible. Same rules for how much to do and what weight . The movement is simple, just grab a dumbbell that your going to use. find a good step with two hand holds very close by. Then step on the step with just your toes on it with your right foot. Use just your toes on the step, let the rest of your foot hang off the side. Then let your left foot hang toes down in the air. Grab the dumbbell with your right hand while you keep your balance with your left hand. Slowly raise your self on your tippy toes with your right foot, and come back to your foot being flat in one solid motion. That is one. Do a full set, then switch feet.
To measure how well your doing do the invisible chair. Get a baseline before you start your regiment, and try for every workout. I usually start harder on these three basic workouts at the beginning of september to be ready for ski season, and keep hard on these all season long. These are just the real basics that i use. They will make your skis seem lighter, landings will not be as rough, and your ollies might just be that might higher.

Some resorts have different ways to get free seasons passes by volunteer work. Sometimes these are called " Boot Packing passes". If your resort has a trail crew, or even talk to patrol about it. The one system i know is that you work for 9 days out of the whole season and get a free pass. It is very hard early season work, but a free pass is a free pass.
Some of this stuff might have already been said.....so whatever.
 
Another great exercise: lunges. Builds great core strength and explosive power from your ankle to your hip.

Technique:

Take an olympic (45-pound) bar and put it on your shoulders like you would for a squat. Stand straight up facing a mirror. Stride out with one leg much farther than a regular step, at least twice as far. Keep sinking until your other knee is just above the ground, and then pull the leg back so your standing normally. Alternate legs, 10-15 reps each depending on the power vs. endurance you want and your experience lifting. Once those reps are easy, add some weight to the rack. It's important that you really stress powering off the lunged leg when you go back to the standing position. Lunges will help your skiing and pretty much any other sport you do, whether its lax or basketball or whatever.

Another set of exercises I've picked up that helps overall athleticism is hip/groin stretching. Really improves your overall athleticism and agility. Great for skiing and football/bball/lacrosse/soccer.

1st: Side-to-side leg swings. Give yourself something to hold on to, like a squat rack. From a standing position, swing your right leg as far right as it will go and then as far left as it will go. You should feel the stretch in your hip at the top. It shouldn't be violent, but there should be some speed to the motion. Across your body once is a rep. Do 20, then switch and do with your left leg.

2nd: Front-to-back leg swings. Same principle as side-to-side, but swing your leg as far forwards and backwards as it will go. Again, you should feel the stretch at the top. Do 20 with each leg.

3rd: Side lunges. Get in a wide stance with your feet about a foot to a foot and a half outside shoulder-width on each side. Starting from neutral, lunge your hips directly right so you feel the stretch in your left groin and right hip. Your right knee bends and your left knee stays straight. Hold it for 3 seconds, then slowly come up and go to the left with the reversed technique. Your feet don't move at all, it's just your hips going each way and your knees bending as you go side-to-side. Do 10 each way.

Do that set of exercises at the beginning of every workout and you'll be amazed how much more fluid your hips will be and how much more agile you'll be as a result.
 
-keep tips up (can get confusing on twin tips)...

-check for loose clothing and equipment...

but really, invest in a thermos (sp?), before filling with tea, pour boiling water and leave that in there while your other water boils, (this will allow the actual tea to maintain the heat for longer, since the tea wont loose heat warming up the thermos) so, when your actual water is finshed boiling pour it into a tea pot/w.e. and put 1-2 bags of tea in it (depending on size of themos) now, i like to add alot of sugar, this will renergize you, now take this themros and throw it in your car, leave it there, when you come back from the slopes, youll have warm sweet tea waiting for you, trust me, its awesome for the ride home

*pro tip* buy 2 thermoses, one for lunch, one for after
 
you can also throw a water bottle into a coat pocket. they are usually big enough, and it comes in handy when you are hiking. they aren't as big as a camelback too
 
So true. Hell when I'm really in the swing of things I try to wax 2 times a week or more. I love having my skis fast. Definitely keeps your bases in better shape too.
 
you take off the factory de-fog coat. it could just make an ugly smudge on the inside of your goggles or your goggles will just defog like a mother fucker
 
this might have already been said but

the cheaper the pole, usually the stronger it is, and if they do break then it is not a big deal.
 
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