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Hints for Early Season Limited Terrain Open

deadheadskier

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I am a big proponent of #5.

I am very happy to go mountain biking or hiking until more terrain is open and, hopefully, more natural snow falls.
I believe you live in CT yes?

Mountain biking and hiking is pretty well done up here in NH now. Trails are too wet. I mean if it's a nice 50 degree sunny day I could possibly go for a walk in the woods locally I suppose. But those days also might produce some nice spring skiing conditions on the slopes that are open. That was certainly the case at BW two weeks ago. This Tuesday it was pretty well packed and loose powder conditions up there and no crowds.

I'll be at Wildcat on Sunday. It could very well be a frozen granular mess. Take a few runs and hit the bar if it sucks. Better experience than any hiking I might do locally.

I guess to each their own, but the WROD skiing in 2016 is far better than the WROD I grew up with in the 80s and 90s.

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crank

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CT yes. Hitting the trails at BLue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill, NY today.
 

dlague

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We have been out four times since October 23rd. We had only one day where conditions and crowds were not optimal which was our first day at Loveland. The other three days were pretty sweet. And things are just getting better. I would do it all over again. I will quote an earlier post - the sirens calling for early season turns are hard to resist.

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BenedictGomez

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I am a big proponent of #5.

I am very happy to go mountain biking or hiking until more terrain is open and, hopefully, more natural snow falls.

I'll add hunting to the hiking and mountain biking. November and December are great for putting deer in the freezer. Made 5 pounds of venison jerky on Tuesday.
 

dlague

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I have been reading a lot about legs feeling beat. One of the best best eccentric exercises is to hike up hill and then run down. It works the muscles used in skiing. We hiked a lot this summer and generally ran back down. Result - 4 days so far and not early season leg issues. In fact we feel as if it were mid season.

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bdfreetuna

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keep the faith
Yeah dlague last summer I hiked a lot.. big long hikes and frequently, real leg burners. I have a tendency to semi-trail-run or jog downhill on hikes anyway, if I'm able to. Barely flinched at the start of last ski season as a result.

This summer was a lot lower energy for me for various reasons. Barely hiked after I had to abort an attempt up Madison Gulf trail due to bad weather earlier in the summer. Can definitely feel the difference.
 

wtcobb

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I have been reading a lot about legs feeling beat. One of the best best eccentric exercises is to hike up hill and then run down. It works the muscles used in skiing. We hiked a lot this summer and generally ran back down. Result - 4 days so far and not early season leg issues. In fact we feel as if it were mid season.

+1. I did a lot of trail running this summer and I've felt better than ever to start the season.
 

BenedictGomez

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I have been reading a lot about legs feeling beat. One of the best best eccentric exercises is to hike up hill and then run down. It works the muscles used in skiing.

Just from whatever exercises & life activities I normally do all year, I can ski groomers all day long, cold turkey, at the start of a season and my legs are fine.

When the first trees open, however, I can ski them one day okay, and the next day by noon my legs are jelly. So this tells me that either:

A) Groomer skiing and mogul/tree skiing uses very different muscle groups
B) My mogul/tree skiing technique is crap
C) Both A & B

In any event, I need to start doing tree/mogul specific exercises.......like yesterday.
 

dlague

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I just want to give a word of caution about running down hill. That adds impact on the knees and ankles, even more if you have a pack on. When you are younger, it seems okay, but when you get older, that impact starts to add up and take a toll. You can strengthen muscles, but cartilage, what you have is all you'll ever have. Make sure you are doing very soft landings with each landing of your foot, use your knees and ankles to absorb the shock, skipping works pretty good. Or better yet, preserve those knees for later in life.

Pitch has a lot to do with it. If too steep, then it bothers my knees, so we run sections that are not so steep. Also running downhill on pavement is much different for me than running downhill on dirt trails. Dirt trails have varying terrain and turns which ofthen require using the balls of the feet, side stepping and down stepping.
 
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