Are you excited for the coming ski season? Have you started to train? My ski season had an early start. I just returned from a week of training and racing with a Masters race camp in Valle Nevado, Chile. Our group of four swept many of the medals in the South American Championship races with just two days on the snow. We won a total of 21 championship medals and had the fastest overall times. What did we have in common, besides winning medals? All of us trained on Skier’s Edge machines during the summer.
My summer employment as a river guide keeps me active, but doesn’t strengthen and condition the muscle groups I need for ski racing. The days when I could just jump onto a course without any preparation are long gone. From what I remember of my college racing days I thought that “12 oz.” curls were all the exercise I needed. As I got older, more “mature”, and more focused, I realized how important pre-season dry land training really was. I learned that I needed to make a solid pre-season effort if I didn’t want to end up with something tweaked.
In my current situation I have about 6 to 7 weeks to prepare for the beginning of each race season, so I need to make the most of my workouts. I am not independently wealthy… I can't put my hard earned money into equipment I'm not going to use. That said, I bought my first Skier's Edge machine about 8 years ago. It remains in the exercise room along with my newer model. My wife and I still use both machines as the basis for our dry land training. To this day there is no better way to train, strengthen, and condition the ski-specific muscles.
For about the cost of a full set up: GS skis, plates, bindings, and a race tune, I have the best ski simulation and work-out tool available. It’s comforting to know that a Skier’s Edge machine will stand the test of time… unlike my new computer and last seasons slalom skis, which are already outdated.
Recently I was able to visit the Skier's Edge headquarters. What impressed me was the passion these guys have for skiing and this product. The team is constantly tweaking, adding on, and trying to improve the Skier's Edge. As a person who lives and breathes skiing and ski racing, I felt like they were literally working for me. This is not some “fly-by-night” exercise product like we've all seen before. I am grateful to these guys for developing and continuing to improve this product, they’ve been at it for 20 years–they’re here to stay and I’m glad.
As a University ski coach I find the Skier’s Edge to be very beneficial when working with racers of different ability levels. Our team includes racers from the basic NASTAR level all the way up to ski academy graduates. No matter what level my skiers are, they use the Skier’s Edge every day in training. I recently added the “GateKeeper” and “LifeBeat” feedback accessories to our machines to make our workouts more calculated and progressive. Now we can track things like the number of turns made, speed of turns, percentage of travel used and calories burned. We’ve also been using the Slope Simulators for the past 2 years. This accessory has allowed us to fine-tune our forward race position and keep us out of the back seat.
As fellow Masters Racer and Slalom World Champion (older group) Victor Roy put it, “You must train your brain to tell your muscles to break old habits and assimilate the new.” Currently there is nothing as well-built, durable, and sport specific as the Skier’s Edge. It allows Americans “on vacation” to jet-set around the world and win ski races!
