This is my shortest ever blog, but it may have a significant impact on your next ski holiday.
It’s your first day back on the slopes, and you want to hit the ground running. You don’t want to miss a thing, so you‘re up early, on the first chair, and skiing like a mad thing all day. It feels so good!
The next day you’re just a wee bit sore, but not enough to stop you.
But on the third day you hit the “Day Three Slump”. Your skiing seems to have got worse. Your energy levels have slumped. You hoped you’d get better; it’s frustrating. At the end of the week you feel you’ve made no improvement; got no better than last year. This is how your week may go:
I have a suggestion for “slump day”: take it easy, be patient, don’t push it, do lessthan you might.
Would it be sacrilege to suggest taking a later breakfast? An even greater sacrilege to suggest starting at 11:30 and finishing at 2:30? Or, if it pleases you, consider taking a half day out and visiting a local place of interest. You could spend an amusing hour or two in a ski shop trying to guess which of this year’s new wonder skis is actually last year’s but in different livery.
Tomorrow do just a little bit more. On day three you’ll be ready to fly; stronger, your muscle memories will have kicked-in. You’ll find yourself skiing better, not worse.
At the end of the week, you’ll be skiing better than last year, and you won’t get home feeling frustrated that your skiing is in decline.
Your week will go like this and end on a high:
It will be a better feeling and well worth a try!
Thank you Bob for this advice. I think I will do exactly this and take day 3 off. on every trip:
Bob, great advice which could save someone’s entire ski trip! It could have saved mine 15 years ago…I had just arrived in Utah, way out of shape, and woke up to about 8” of pow. Working much too hard on first run, I felt the odd sensation of a lower back muscle pull. The rest of my week was a sad 25% of the way I’d wanted to ski on that trip, and then I started doing exercises for my core all year long, and have never since pulled a muscle (where’s some wood to knock?!)
Core strength. Yes. At 71 started practicing Pilates almost daily and when I got to the slopes…those old tired quads just were gone! Yes I had altitude adjustment, big time coming from Miami to Snowmass. Yes the climate change affected me. But my body at 72 was not screaming out Enuf! Enuf! like it had so many times in my younger years. And if I don’t ski every black slope anymore…that’s ok. Been there, done that. There’s so much to enjoy when skiing…it’s even ok to quit before the last lift at 3:30 or 4:00pm!
We oldsters do need a smooth ride, and that means, for me, starting at opening bell and skiing on groomers or fresh powder before it gets rough. I don’t mind quitting by noon as much as skiing on what a (sailor) friend calls “harbor chop”.
Bob, Most excellent advice! To refute Mae West, too much of a great thing is too much!