Warmup Pub

Skiing is an athletic endeavour - as athletic as you care to make it, but increasing the range of motion and the forces acting on the body may lead to injuries, if the body is not prepared for them (muscles, tendons etc).

A very simple warmup of the muscles and joints before skiing goes a long way in preventing injuries.

Plan to warmup every day and especially before you attempt to ski steeper than usual or faster than usual or poor snow conditions or do some range of motion drills.

Pre-warmup

It is best to do warmup and stretching after activating the muscles and joints, so it is ok to take 1-2 runs on a short green/blue run without surprises, to activate the body. Or do some skating at the bottom of the run or some such activity to activate the body.

If that's not available, start warmup easy and increase intensity after 1 minute or so.

Warmup and stretching

Here are some ideas. Do as much as you want from this, but make sure to do something. I always make sure to warm up my legs, back and neck each and every day.

Warmup while skiing

Some prefer to warmup while skiing and take the first 4-5 runs on short simple slopes, ramping up the range of movement and intensity and warming up in the process.

It is slightly riskier since you can always be surprised by a snow snake or a blind skier and forced to react and this is when injuries usually occur (back, muscles, tendons etc).

So... sure, but be careful. Always do a proper warmup before attempting drills.

Mind, body, snow

Every morning start with a warm up run or a few. Focus on mind, body and snow.

Get your mind into skiing mood. Shift your attention to skiing, choose what you'll work on, how you'll ski that day. Will it be fast? Will it be slow?

Warm up your body. Ramp up the speed, but start gently and ski with a lot of movement in all planes, to warm up.

Lastly, during the first warm up runs, checkout the snow conditions. Pay attention to how the skis react and adjust accordingly.

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