Bored?
Stuck in lockdown with nothing to do?
Reminiscing about that time you were in the mountains skiing freely? Look no further, here’s my guide to lockdown.
I’ve seen some great, some not so great improvisations on social media coming out of the ski world in the last month, from make shift chairlifts in the garden to climbing around the house as if you were on the Matterhorn. Here’s some of my favourites that maybe you can try yourself:
1: Making a ski resort in your garden.
This man wins Dad of the year, he’s built an actual mini ski lift and slope to entertain his children, 10/10 for effort and creativity. Growing up I was obsessed with skiing, so I could only imagine as a child what it would’ve been like for my dad to build a ski resort in my garden. Although it probably wouldn’t have been as smooth as this.
(Video has been removed unfortunately!)
2: Make a ski movie at home.
Ski movies are on repeat in our flat, especially now that it’s the only skiing fix we can get, so when we saw this from movie maker Phillipp Klein we were mind-blown. So how about making your own ski movie, from the living room. yes, that’s correct, check out Philipps Movie – Freeride Skiing at Home – A Ski Movie:
3: Training for skiing while staying at home.
I like to work on balance to improve my skiing through balancing on foam rollers, slack lining or one-legged squats, but this is just taking it to another level. See if you can match pro freestyle skier Andri Ragettlis stay at home challenge by getting creative and setting up your own assault course around the house, just like this one:
4: Skiing (??) skill development
Another balance and coordination activity which is key for good skiing. Here’s a challenge from us, can you beat Summit instructors Nick and Alex doing ski keepy uppies, let’s see if you can. (No toilet roll was wasted in the making of this film)
5: Alternative fitness programmes
Fitness forms a huge part of skiing, so why not get ski fit for when the time comes. Looking for inspiration, then here’s a throwback to 2015 where Summit instructor David, can give you some top alpine ski training that can be done in the back garden. Warning, viewers may find some scenes upsetting:
In all seriousness, I’ve been able to stay fit during Zermatt lockdown through workouts on the balcony using my skis as weights to working on my core strength, a stretching routine to prevent injuries and also speed up recovery, running 5k up and down the river trying to beat my flatmates times and mountain biking up towards the dam or down to Visp and back.
6: Practice your mountain skills
This one’s for the off-piste skiers. Transceiver searching is a paramount skill which can never be practiced too much, I try to spend as much time as possible practicing with transceivers through the winter, so I thought why not hide some around the house or garden and get searching, set yourself a time and see how you get on, anything under 3 minutes is a good time.
Here’s one I set up for Summit instructors Nick and Emily:
Also, here’s a link to Henrys Avalanche Talk, where there is some great in-depth knowledge on transceiver searching and generally being safe whilst skiing off-piste. https://henrysavalanchetalk.com
Well, there’s a few things to help keep you entertained while we are all still in lockdown. Hopefully it’s not much longer and we can start getting back towards normal and then start looking forward to skiing again, in the mean time have a great summer.
