Squats, yeah, 100′s of em. Hip thrusts. Jazzercise. Billy Blanks Cardio kickboxing. Zumba!

Mmmmmmm…right.

This is EVI and we aren’t gonna give it to you like that. If you like flying down a mountain on skis, we’ve been training for it by going up. Walking, hiking, trail running, biking…doesn’t matter, but get started. Gaining 2000+ ft of vertical over 2-3 hours will get you in shape no matter who you are or how you do it. So how’s it gonna help?

Lungs: check, gotta get that cardio pumpin’ ready for long skins and long descents.

Legs: yeah, your quads always hurt for the first few weeks of ski season. Often forgotten is training the other half of your thigh, the hamstring.

Sore knees and ankles: add strength with joints that flex better and work at off angles.

Feel: Nothing like getting a feel for the mountain. Know the rolls, the dips, and the holes before you go. Especially important this year is finding out where the pine beetle kill has impacted your favorite tree lines. The Vail Daily has a great article on the epidemic, looks like 80% of lodgepoles will be down in the next couple years.

So what are you waiting for? September and October are training months at EVI and we’ll keep you posted on what we’re doing so you can do it too.

You gotta get up to get down.