One of the most important parts of your overall fitness as a skiier is to be sure that you have a great sense of balance.  This is especially true if you are a downhill skiier.  When you think about it, you have to be really flexible and able to adapt quickly to situations while zooming downhill at over 50 miles per hour.  Every time you fly down the mountain, your brain is having a massive ski fitness workout! Your brain has to keep you balanced while taking in all the information about the steepness of the mountain, the depth of the snow, the visibility, the obstacles, and all the other factors that change with each turn you make.

There are some very simple exercises you can do at home to build your balance.  Usually, they include standing on one foot and then switching to the other foot for extended periods of time.  These are great at helping you with your sense of “static balance”.  That is to say they help you with balance that does not move from side to side, and while you’re basically standing still.

In this article, I want to focus on helping you improve your sense of “dynamic balance”.  This is your balance as you move.

One of the easiest ways to improve your sense of dynamic balance is to spend time on roller blades or “in line” roller skates as they are also known.  When you “ski” on in-line skates, you will find it to be pretty easy.  Think about it:  you don’t have to worry about 7 feet of ski attached to your feet, so turning is really easy.  Most pavement where you would go and skate is going to be smooth and predictable. Finally, you’ll be using a lot of the same motions in going from foot to foot in this ski fitness workout.

So, what kind of a skiing exercise can you do with in-line skates?  Well, start by being a little creative to do some things which give you the opportunity to improve your balance.  Set up a slalom course using rocks, traffic cones, or even your kid’s toys to make a course that you can skate like an Olympic slalom course.  Treat the obstacles as “gates” and create a course with some challenging left and right turns, wide turns, and sharp turns.  Make it fun!

Another great way to build your dynamic balance on skis is to play roller hockey.  Basically, you’re playing street hockey on rollerblades.  Roller hockey gives you lots of exercise as you sprint for the puck, quickly change direction, and quickly start and stop your forward motion.  You will get great conditioning in your reactive movements and agility.  You’ll be getting into and outof body positions you would simply never feel while going up and down hills.  Just be sure to wear all the necessary protective gear you can get your hands on!

The steeper the incline you can skate on, the better.  If you set your obstacles (gates) on a moderately steep road, you will find it to be a super ski fitness workout. I highly suggest incorporating lots of turns, especially short turns.  Also, be aggressive in your attitude while skating.  Generate some speed between the gates, aggressively going after the next upcoming turn, rather than simply waiting for the turn to come to you.

Overall, you’ll find that as you play on skates, you will increase your sense of balance and equilibrium and that will carry over to your skiing.  The emphasis should be on doing things on skates that allow you to move independent of any specific skiing technique.  And don’t worry about gaining strength or strengthening your aerobic fitness.  Just make it fun!  If you put in some real energy and enthusiasm into the games you play on skates, you’ll get a better ski fitness workout, you’ll last longer, and you’ll have more fun in the process.

And, when the snow flies and you’re up on the boards again, you’l be ready to rip!