This is the time of year when aerobic athletes are adjusting from dry-land training to skiing. As the wind-chill on the bike path becomes more biting weather is a factor during the transition.
"It is a good time for strength training," said Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation head coach Rick Kapala, who took a few minutes last week between hot waxing skis and fixing a snow-grooming machine at the Lake Creek training area to speak with the Idaho Mountain Express.
Kapala said the shoulder season is like a six-week mini-cycle for Nordic skiers to tune up their core strength and balance by using equipment like a roller-board and exercises like squats and lunges.
Ultimately, successful training should help skiers relax when it comes to race day so they can reach as deep as possible into the "pain cave" without grimacing and wasting energy with staccato, rather than fluid movement, Kapala said, wearing his coaching cap.
Uphill hiking on dry slopes like Carbonate Mountain in Hailey and Sun Peak in Sun Valley with classic skiing poles is also a good early winter training regimen.
Kapala said after a warm up, bounding and jogging along rolling undulating terrain at a near race pace represents what it is like to ski. But, if the snow is in early as it has been this fall, Kapala cautions adrenaline junkies against going out and hammering right off the bat.
For one thing, snow coverage can be irregular and tricky until sufficient snow has fallen for grooming machines to fill in the gaps. Also, Kapala says, as he tells his young racers this time of year, early season is about getting one's feet under one's self. In fact, his skiers ski between 10 to 40 minutes every day in the early season without their poles.
"No pole skiing helps you to stay in control and practice an effective athletic stance," he said, stressing the importance of standing fully on each ski and feeling in balance, which adds to developing good weight shift while skating. Kapala recommends as much as 45 minutes of no pole skiing.
Allowing time to adjust to colder temperatures is also important early season. He suggests that one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes as sufficient training time early in the season.
"Bodies are not yet adjusted to the cold," he said, explaining that cold weather training often coincides with the start of flu season. "With hard training the immune system is down. A lot of the kids take warm or hot water in their water bottles. They change into dry shirts immediately after training and change their hats so they don't get chilled."
People looking for help with technique can look to training services available through the Sun Valley Nordic Center. Three-time Olympian Jon Engen is leading a master's training program called F.A.S.T. for men and women and Muffy Ritz heads a program especially women skiers of all levels called VAMPS. The Blaine County Recreation District staff also leads skiing clinics from Galena Lodge to Quigley Canyon.
For Thanksgiving weekend many skiers in the Nordic community have descended upon West Yellowstone for some early season training, but as winter weather descends on the Wood River Valley leading into December, expert trainers and guides will be in full swing helping people improve their on-snow performance.
When it comes to equipment Kapala said he is impressed with the quality of skis even at the recreational level of performance. He said the more uniformly a ski spreads a skiers weight over the entire glide surface of the ski, the faster the ski. Reputable ski shops can help skiers pick the right skis. Flex ratings correlate to a skier's weight and skiing ability.
There are several opportunities to try skis at various demonstration days at the Nordic skiing centers around the valley. Kapala said his racers use all of the top ski brands and that ultimately skis are like running shoes, where one person prefers Rossignol another may prefer Atomic, the same goes for choices about ski boots.
Although skate skiing is the more popular sport on the local Nordic trails, the key to pleasurable classic skiing is finding a ski with the proper camber. Efficient kick and glide corresponds again to the weight of a skier so that the "wax pocket" engages fully when a skier kicks and slides appropriately without drag when the skier glides. A ski that is too soft for a skier will cause a ski to drag because the kick wax is still hitting the snow when the ski should glide freely. If the ski is too stiff, a skier will have trouble when setting the ski to kick.
Kapala said in terms of comfort and enjoyment, skiers should also pay attention to how their feet feel in their boots. Trouble with ankles and knees can be linked to how a person is standing on his or her skis. The key is to stand on a flat ski.
"(Skate skiers) are only on their edges for a moment," Kapala said. "Even on the side of a hill, you are mostly on a flat ski. It is the building block for your stance, balance and weight shift."
People who have trouble standing on a flat ski can often benefit from orthodics and a search for the right boots.
"The foot has to be able to relax," Kapala said, explaining that comfortable feet lead to more comfort throughout the body. "If your feet are clenching (because boots are uncomfortable) it compounds the negative feedback loop."
Like skis, ski pole technology has come a long way in recent years. Swix is the leading ski-pole manufacturer and the company makes some of the lightest high-end graphite poles available, but less expensive carbon and fiberglass poles now also use the ergonomic wrist straps, which like comfortable boots allow skiers to relax their hands and forearms.
"You don't have to have such fine control," Kapala said, explaining that comfortable hands protected with more insulated gloves helps skiers to maintain more fluid pole strokes.
Finally, when it comes to Nordic skiing, waxing is a common task that scares off some would-be skiers, but Kapala said there are some simple things people can to improve their glide.
First of all, keep ski bases clean. Racers regularly "hot scrape" their skis with a warm (not hot) wax. Kapala says to drip the wax on and avoid over heating the ski with a hot iron -- the base is plastic after all.
Run the warm iron down the ski from tip to tail without rubbing and then scrape. The technique will pull dirt out of the ski bases, which are a structured surface with pores that can accidentally be sealed with an iron that is too hot.
The second tip is after applying the proper wax for the snow temperature is to invest in a medium to stiff bronze brush to help improve the structure of the skis. Many races take their skis to technicians each winter who stone grind bases, similar to alpine skis, to maintain water-repelling structure.
Kapala said the more a skier waxes his skis, the faster the ski. But, he also adds there is no substitute for training well, resting and taking time to practice basic technique, particularly on steeper terrain, or even practicing cornering around slalom gates.
Also, Kapala said four to eight repetitions of hard intervals verging on race pace with a two-minute rest between each is the "meat and potatoes of a ski racing regime."
Galena Lodge opened early this year to Nordic skiing. Toby Ripson tested out stride and glide, Saturday, for the lodge's official opening. Photo by Willy Cook
