In the absence of snow (General news)

Saturday 21 November 2009 11:09AM

I’m starting to get very psyched for this season’s ski-mountaineering races. The reasons for this are many. Firstly, it’s the most amazingly exciting sport; all the effort and exhilaration of fell running but with more speed (and fun) on the descents, more technique involved and in more spectacular scenary. Secondly, it’s exciting to be in something where I’m still so close to the bottom of my learning curve; the amount I could improve at running is certainly less than 10%, but in skiing it’s loads more than this because I can get both much fitter and much better at the technique, which is still pretty ropey given that I first learnt to ski only a few years ago. Lastly, this year the sport’s governing body have brought in a rule that there should be no modified kit. I bought all my kit second hand, and it’s all been heavily modified, both by those before me and then by me. The only option, if I want to be able to race, is to invest in a whole new set-up. As you might imagine, this is a pretty pricey affair! I find that this in itself motivates me to train – there seems little point spending a fortune on new kit if I don’t make myself as good as I can be in the meantime.

Psyche can be usefully directed into training, and I’ve got about two and a half months to prepare before my first races. However, I’m in Brussels for a few weeks so how do you train for ski-racing in a city with no snow and only small hills?

My plan is crude but feels effective; try and recall where hurt most when I last raced, think about what I can do here that replicates that pain and do it repeatedly. For now that means doing intervals on a turbo trainer (bike mounted on resistance rollers). Anecdotal evidence abounds for the cross-training benefits of cycling for running or skiing uphill – Rob Jebb, one of Britain’s most successful fell runners of recent years, and a real up-hill specialist, is also a top class cyclo-cross rider and Kilian Jornet, the current “wunderkind” of both ski mountaineering and mountain running, claims to split his (35-hour!) training week 50/50 between running and cycling.

For me I’ve been doing this for a week and a half now, and already feel fitter, both on the bike and on the runs in between (alternating one day training on the bike with one day running). It also fits what I used to find as a junior, when I both did more cycling and took my running more seriously – if I did less cycling I got worse at running uphill!

I’m hopeful it will work, but that’s just addressing the fitness side of things. Practicing ski technique sans snow will be more problematic, and this is no doubt the weakest part of my current game. I’m looking at getting some rollerskis to help with this, and having a few more technique lessons before the first races of the season. In the meantime, here’s a little video inspiration: Matterhorn world cup round.