A Winter to Remember

This winter has been the snowiest in recent memory. Many of my fellow New Englanders are suffering doldrums from the constant coating of the white stuff but not me. With Mandy buying a new Snowmobile and my time at the mountain this snow has made for the best winter ever. The weather has been very kind to me in particular every Saturday has been clear and bright, there is nothing worse than teaching ski lessons in the rain. This past weekend the snow conditions were insanely good, hard packed tight corduroy (what can I say I'm a New England skier). The rain then cold snap has also been great for the snow mobile trails, smooth and easy riding (minus the rock hard snow banks).

This being the first time either Mandy or I have driven a sled we're still getting the hang of it. It does take some of the fun out of your ride when you have to pick yourself up out of the road and flip your sled over before the distant headlights become a looming disaster. Trudging out into the woods in the dark to help you sweet little wife get her sled unstuck from whatever new pitfall she has found and inevitably gotten herself stuck in. It's all good though with each painful mistake that doesn't kill us we get that much closer to being good with the sled. We have even started making our own modifications, just like real sled owners (no yuppies here). Just before Valentines Day we installed a second seat from a kit, disregarding the signs all over the box that said "Product must be installed by a Licensed Ski-Doo Dealer". I'm please to say that we managed just fine and didn't even have any "spare parts".

Hopefully the weather will hold out and we'll have "date nights" on the sled through the end of March. Then it's 9 months of anticipation until we can start looking for snow again.

Cheap Lift Tickets- Get Some

Want to ski on the cheap this season, but volunteerings not up your ally? Here's the skinny on a new deal for you.

Having been a college student I understand the quest for cheap/free skiing. I admit, I've abused friendships for skiing hookups. Now, for the sake of kharma, I'm prepared to be exploited since I have the hook-up. The trouble is that I only get so many passes a year and I'm an insanely popular guy. So although you can't all ski for free I still want all my friends to ski affordably. Fortunately, for you all there is a new website that offers ski tickets at discounted rates- liftopia.com.

The site is easy to use. You can choose the mountain you'd like to ski and look at a calendar to see when the skiing will be cheapest, or you can pick the day you want to ski and compare the cost of tickets at all the mountians in the program.

This weekend I ran into Mando's Aunt Pam in the parking lot of the mountain I volunteer at she and her grandsons had purchased lift tickets for the day for $7.00.

$7.00!?! That's less then the price of a hot chocolate in the lodge for a days skiing.

Now the deals aren't always this great and it looks as though the deals get better as the date you are skiing gets nearer, and there are a limited number of "hot" tickets available, but it can't hurt to check it out before you drive up and pay $60.00 for a few hours of bliss.

10 Ski Hangover Tips

I love how tired being outside in the cold for a full eight hours can make you. You could almost call it the skiers hangover.

The first day back on the hill is always one of the most tiring. You start using muscles that your body forgot it had and has let shrivel up like grapes to raisins. Your boots feel more like a medieval torture device than a tool for enjoyment as they smash your metatarsals together the agony altering your mental state to one that is not conducive to fun.

Then there is the burning, forced into an unnatural knee bend for hours at a time your leg muscles build up enough lactic acid to dissolve a VW Beetle. Much like drinking however these unpleasant side effects are no deterrent. Knowing full well the torment our bodies will suffer we shrug as we hit the slopes saying "But it's so much fun".

As I sit here fighting to keep myself upright, (can you say weak core muscles) I think a list of tips for preventing and recovering from the Skiing Hangover might be in order:

1. Drink Lots of Water- besides the loss to sweat your body loses a ton of hydration through the rapid movement of air across your skin, and the water will help your body to flush out the acid that has built up in your muscles which is causing your soreness.
2. Moisturize- I'm not any sort of metro-sexual (not that theres anything wrong with that) but lotion is a must for skiers. That tightness in your face and the itching all over is a direct result of the sweat, wind and cold dry air drawing all the essential oils out of your skin. Your skin will recover much faster if you replace your lipids.
3. Eat Chicken- or any other sort of protein rich food really, using those muscles that you haven't used in 9 moths causes little microscopic tears to the muscle fibers, your body needs protein to repair those fibers which in turn creates more muscle.
4. Stretch out- Stretching is a great way to release the lactic acid that has built up in your muscles, if it burns without hurting then you know your doing it right. Each time you build muscle mass without stretching the muscle actually shortens a tiny bit. Over time this shortening will reduce your flexibility which increases your risk of injury
   
5. Sleep- your body is most efficient at repairing damage and building muscle when it is at rest, getting a good long nights sleep will help you to feel renewed.
6. Check your gear- Ski gear is expensive but having an equipment malfunction the next time your out could completely ruin the experience (imagine yourself chasing a ski all the way to the bottom because the brakes have seized up)
7. Keep your gear clean- Sounds obvious but ski gear is not the easiest stuff to wash, well it's not bad to wash its just not easy to dry. Over time the salt and sloughed off skin cells collect in your gear and begin to fill up the oh so important dead air space. Your wicking layers are also heavily effected by body cheese build-up which limits their ability to move moisture away from your skin.
   
8. Check you feet and shins- The marriage between your feet and your ski boots is the most important component to your successful skiing. If your boots are loose and rubbing then not only are they causing you discomfort (and probably blisters) they are also increasing the distance you have to move your foot to activate your skis.
9. Make plans to ski again- nothing takes my mind off of the discomfort of post skiing soreness like picturing myself attacking the slopes again. I always visualize myself a little better than I have in the past.
10. Ski Sooner- When the soreness in your muscles is ALMOST completely gone is the best time to get back out there and do it again. Your body will try to add more muscle to compensate for the new workload. If you wait long enough between ski days you'll constantly be in a first day mode and your development will be slow.

And now it's time to practice what I preach time for #1. followed by 8 hours of #5.