Closed for too much snow!

By now I'm sure nearly everybody has seen or read the news, but the amount of snow we've accumulated out here in the Pacific Northwest is amazing! In fact, so much snow fell in a 2-week period that many of our local ski areas were closed due to avalanche danger.

Unfortunately, by the time the roads were reopened, the temperatures warmed up and the snow turned into what is famously known as Cascade Cement, so deep and heavy in some places you came to a complete stop in a foot or two regardless of pitch.

Oh well... the good news is the weather has settled down, the groomers have done their thing to smooth out the heavy stuff, and the sun is supposed to be out this weekend!

We need snow!

Well, I just went through my second weekend of giving instructor clinics without hardly any snow. Our entire group on newer instructors should be applauded for trudging up and down a small hill to practice our exercises and manuevers. They did a great job!

Interestingly enough, the hiking up and down the hill was much harder on my ACL-repaired knee than skiing was 2 weeks ago on the groomed slopes at Whistler. I ended up pretty sore!

It seems as if most ski areas around the country don't have much snow. Let's all do a snow dance!

Finally on Snow!

Well, the 6 months of hard work rehabbing my knee paid off, and my son and I went skiing this last weekend! All in all, it was a great time with decent snow, blue skies and less people that I expected.

I was actually surprised that I wasn't more scared about skiing since this weekend was the first time I had been skiing after tearing up my knee, but I guess after 44 years of skiing you can suppress that fear pretty easily. We managed to get in about 25 runs or so over the weekend and I will admit to starting pretty easy on greens and blues and staying away from most bumps (2 runs on black diamonds) until my knee is a little bit stronger, but from a technique and speed standpoint I really don't think my skiing was all that much different from any other first day of the season.

The only aftereffect is that my knee is slightly stiff (but in a good way) but I think that's attributable more to the 5 hour car ride home than the skiing itself!

Let's pray for snow as the ski areas everywhere seem to need it!

Going to Whistler!

Well, I'm off this weekend for our first days of skiing. Whistler is really the only area around with any kind of snow at all, and even that is fairly marginal right now (only 3 of 30 lifts open), but it sure beats not going at all!

It will be very interesting to see how my surgically repaired knee responds. I've worked really hard to get the knee back in shape and as strong as possible. Even though it's still not as strong as my non-injured leg, I think it's strong enough to ski.

I wonder if I'll be nervous? After 44 years of skiing you wouldn't think so... I plan on taking it easy for a day or so and work my way back to skiing hard and fast.

Pray for more snow!

Post-ACL Update

Well, it's been awhile since I posted... maybe it's because it's summer and all I've been doing is working and rehabbing my knee.

It's been 13 weeks since my ACL reconstruction / meniscus repair surgery and I feel pretty good about where I'm at in terms of my progress. My range of motion is nearly back to 100% and I don't find myself thinking too much about the knee anymore.

I've been doing a lot of balancing exercises to help me stabilize the knee, and of course riding the exercise bike almost daily. In particular I like using a Bosu ball as you really have to get in balance, which will improve my skiing.

I've also been concetrating on weight training and do a lot of sets (leg press, leg curl, squats) on one leg (obviously the repaired one), and rebuilding the muscle in the injured leg is a priority.

I'm feeling good about being ready for the season, and can't wait for the snow to start falling.

Let the Rehab Begin!

It's been about 36 hours since my surgery, and I feel good (I'm sure the drugs are helping). As a lot of you know, focus of the rehab is to get the knee working right away.

The CPM machine is great. It works the knee (flexion and extension) passively, and allows me to gradually increase the range of motion to the desired goal. My surgeon has set my goal is to at -5 for the extension and 90 for the flexion within one week (this is lower than some goals because I also had a meniscus repair). I'm only on my 4th session and am already at -5 and 50.

There are some other strength exercises they also want me to do (with brace on) and I will start these today.

ACL Surgery Today!

Well, I'm off to the surgery center for my ACL surgery... the good news is it's a week earlier than originally planned so I can start rehabbing a week earlier.

The bad news is that it's a week earlier than originally planned, so I'm about as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs!

Talk to you soon!

ACL Surgery on Wednesday!

My ACL surgery is this Wednesday at 1:15 pm... already the butterflies are forming!

I'm not all that worried about the results of the surgery, as my orthopedic surgeon has a great reputation and great outcomes (and I've known him for 20 years). I'm just not looking forward to the rehabilitation process.

I'll keep a journal of my progress here. If any readers have specific rehab ideas or effective exercises, let me know.

Knee Blowout!

Yikes, I tore my ACL this last weekend!

After taking my LIII exam on Saturday, I decided to test the 2007/2008 Volkl TigerShark that replaces the SuperSport. Very cool! The ski has nearly the same sidecut, but overall is around 10 mm wider, and of course has the adjustable titanium rods that can be turned on or off just by turning a dial on the tail of the ski. I give them a thumbs up.

Anyway, back to the knee. I was coming down Thunderbird at Mt. Bachelor (Pine Maarten chair for those who've been there) and was going about 35 mph or so, when all of a sudden I hit something (not exactly sure) and had the typical yard sale with 2 cartwheels! Unfortunately as I hit the ground the first time I felt/heard the "pop" they say you feel when tearing the ACL. At first I couldn't get up, but after a minute or so of deep breaths and relaxing I was able to stand up and ski to the bottom.

After our drive home (6 hours later), my knee was very swollen and on this last Monday afternoon, I went and saw my orthopedic surgeon... after my MRI on Wednesday, we've determined that we'll do the surgery on May 23rd. In the meantime, I've been riding the exercise bike twice a day and the knee is loosening up nicely so I'll be ready for surgery.

I realize the rehab is going to be painful and a chore, but I plan on being ready to go by December 1 and not miss a day next season!

PSIA Exam Results

Well, I took my LIII exam (skiing portion) and didn't pass, although both examiners felt that I was close... the main change they felt I needed to make in my skiing to pass was:

1. Widen the stance just a bit to make sure shins are kept parallel throughout the turn.
2. Make sure to lead with a strong inside half, so that the inside ski is more engaged throughout the turn.
3. Lower the hands slightly to better engage the lower spine.

All are doable, so I'll be working hard next season!

Crowds at Keystone!

After skiing with the crowds at Keystone this weekend, it's hard to imagine that skiing isn't a growth sport.

My son and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend skiing (he was riding) and the trip was well worth it. We got a chance to get back on snow and after a few runs I felt like I was in mid-season form, although who really knows?

My ski thoughts for the season? Becoming smoother in my skiing and making it appear as effortless as possible, regardless of conditions.

I can't wait to get on snow again!

Preseason Fitness II

OK, so I did a Google search for ski specific exercise programs, and found one that I really like. It's called FitSkiing by Andrew Hooge.

What I really like about it is that not only does it give you a specific program to follow for a 12-week period (just in time for the season!) but also has over 70 ski specific exercises.

I just got the book and have been following the plan for just a few days, and I like what I see so far.

Check it out...

Preseason Fitness

OK, so it's the middle of August, and the start of our ski season is really only 2 or 3 months away. It's time for me to start taking off the extra pounds I always seem to put on in the summer.

I try to be as consistent as possible, and workout 3 - 4 times a week. This year, I plan on working on three major areas: cardio, flexibility and strengthing the core muscles used in skiing. I'll probably do 30 - 45 minutes of cardio, and do weight training 3 times per week. I'll do abdominal work every workout.

Anybody out there have a favorite routine or program that's effective? Let me know...

PSIA Exam Success!!

I just thought I'd write a quick post to tout the successes of our ski school in this year's PSIA exams. We had 16 new instructors pass their Level I skiing or snowboarding exams (including my 14 year old son Spencer), 3 people pass their Level II skiing exams, and two other instructors pass parts of their Level II or Level III exams.

Not bad for a small independent ski school with all part-time instructors!

A Week at Mt. Bachelor

Whew!

After about 30 days of skiing, it's easy to think you're in shape. It's only when you ski for 6 days in a row that you realize you need to keep working!

My son, his friend Jake and I just got back from a great week at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. The trip was memorable for two reasons: first, the Summit chair was open nearly every day (it's often closed due to wind) and we were able to ski all over the mountain, and secondly, I got a good introduction to snowboarding.

Spencer and Jake teach snowboarding at the ski school where I teach skiing and they were great. In one run on the beginner chair, they were able to get me turning in both directions and I was able to spend the rest of the day practicing.

It's interesting how similar (and yet so different) the required skills are for skiing and riding. The main thing I struggled with was balancing properly on the board and executing the toe side turn. At first, I found myself leaning back, making it hard to turn, and as I got a little more comfortable sometimes found myself using too much inclination and putting too much edge onto the toe side.

I just need to keep practicing!

Ski thoughts

Finally, a year with a lot of snow! In fact, last weekend the road to our ski area was closed because of the amount of snow that fell (about 48" in three days)!

I've been working with a couple of my fellow instructors on our skiing tasks for passing our PSIA exams, and our former technical director had a couple of suggestions that really hit home.

First, he likened the "extension phase" of the turn as a relaxing of the legs, allowing them to naturally extend in the direction of the new turn, rather than some "forced" movement.

Secondly, he drew a parallel between skiing and ice skating. When you watch an Olympic caliber ice skater, they have very efficient movement patterns without wasted motion. In skiing, the skier should simply flow down the mountain, only using those movements that are required for the maneuver, and nothing more.

Makes a lot of sense, huh? I've been trying to incorporate these ideas into my own skiing and I think it helps.

What do you think?

I Love Corduroy!

Every time it happens, I cannot believe how much fun it is to ski on perfectly groomed corduroy. Check this out:


The local area where we teach had nearly the perfect day. The weather was cold and crisp and the the snow was groomed to near perfection (I must admit that the grooming at Deer Valley is supreme however...). Corduroy is the perfect snow to get back on skis, and I took advantage.

It was also the perfect day for getting used to my newest pair of skis (Volkl Supersport Allstar, 168 cm). I bought a pair of Fischer RX9's last year and really like them (their quickness is fantastic) but missed the solidity and edge grip of the Volkl. What was interesting was how very similar skis felt different from a balance perspective.

I noticed the difference when I was showing some other instructors some of the PSIA Level II tasks, particularly when doing turns on one ski. It was really good to have to adjust.

Anyway, can't wait till the weekend!

A Great Ski Getaway!

All I can say is after a great weekend at Mt. Baker is: I'm pooped!

As they've been advertising, Mt. Baker was open with more snow than any other area in North America, and while it didn't snow, the sun was out, the lifts were running and we skied the entire mountain.

A bunch of our ski school's clinic staff and I skied together on Saturday, and it's really a great way to get the season started, as the camaraderie makes it fun, and the competitiveness that I think almost everybody has keeps you going hard.

On Sunday (same beautiful weather), a smaller number of us skied with my son Spencer and his friend Jake. We had a great time, including watching them catch some air in the terrain park (I thought, albeit briefly, about trying to pull off a 360 like I used to 30 years ago... OK, I thought very briefly).

With the warmer weather, the snowpack was starting to look a little thin. The forecast for the week is to have reasonably cold weather but no precipitation until later in the week.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

2005/2006 First Day on Snow

Yahoo! Even though I've only been on snow one day, it already feels like a better season than last year.

I went to a local area, Stevens Pass. On the first run, we had beautiful cordouroy to get warmed up, and then had a day that was fantastic for the second day of the season. What a difference a year makes!

My skiing thought for the season? Fore/Aft balance... what's yours?

A common theme mentioned by PSIA examiners I've skiied with, as well as a CSIA (Canada) Level 4 examiner suggested that a lot of skiers tend to put too much pressure on the front of the boot, effectively locking up the ankle. I concentrated on maintaining a light pressure on the front of the boot, and reacting to changes in the terrain by flexing from the ankles "up".

Anyway, it felt very balanced... we'll keep working on it!

Time to get fit!

All right...

It's only July 24th, but the early season will be here in no time, so it's time to start thinking about starting my preseason workout routine.

This year's going to be really tough, because my work has had me travelling out-of-town nearly every week, so I haven't worked out much and had way too many dinners out and quick meals.

Here's what I plan to do:

1. Start an aerobics and "core" conditioning program right now!
2. Pay more attention to my diet on the road.

Are you ready? If not, it's time to start!

See you on the slopes!