Going Fast Part III: Skimo Training Principles and a Plan

Last night as I got in the car, soaking wet, just having spent the afternoon climbing and skiing 5600 vertical in dumping snow, I turned to Bart and said, "well, that's all I can do." He said, "yep, that's it; that's what you are." And that concluded a two week build period during which I put in about 36 hrs and 47k vertical.  Between now and the end of February when I go to Andorra, I will taper down so I can be all I can be at Worlds.

This season is the first season I have prepared (and I use that term loosely) and followed a structured training plan for skimo racing. Thanks to my world class endurance think tank, I have put together a structure that has been beneficial and has led to some improvement. My think tank and mentors include Bart "Apollo Creed" Gillespie, Billy "Olympic Gold Medalist" Demong (I see into the future -- trust me), and Bad A$$ Brian Harder. These guys are great athletes and more importantly have a good understanding of endurance training. They have reduced my learning curve dramatically.

Since skimo racing is a newer sport and a fringe sport, there really isn't a lot of written discussion on how to train. A lot is unknown and a lot of voodoo is required.  But given the demands of a skimo race,  for the most part, basic principles of endurance training apply.  Here are a few of my thoughts and theories on how to train for skimo racing.

1. Periodization.  As with other disciplines like cycling, running and nordic skiing, a training plan should include a base period, build periods, rest periods, taper periods, and peak periods.  In addition to working physiologically, mentally, it's nice to break up your season into periods so that you can have short term goals, have something to look forward to, and see improvements as you continue to build up and peak.
2. Volume.  In any period, whether it's base, build, taper, etc., there is always a volume component.  There is always the question of how much should I do?  This is a complex question for lots of reasons.  How much depends on who you are, how much you can handle (fitness), and what phase you are in.  Too much in any phase is bad.  Too little in any phase is bad.  More is not always better.  If you are in a base or build phase, as much as you can handle is, for the most part, good.  If you are in a taper or rest phase, doing as much as you can handle is bad.  Amidst this uncertain calculus, however, one principle remains true: volume -- lots of it -- is required.  As Mark Twight says, there is no such thing as a free lunch.  Having a job and a family makes it tough for me to get all the volume I need/can handle.  This season, I have generally tried to get 10-15 hrs per week.  Rest weeks and race weeks I might get less.  Build weeks like last week, I might get more.  For example, last week I logged nearly 20 hrs.  A few of those hrs were downhill hrs at the resort with my kids.  One of those days was a 10,541 foot day.      
3. Intensity.  Like volume, intensity is always a component of each period.  There is always the question of how hard should I go?  It is well-proven that going as hard as you can all the time is not the proper way to train.  In fact, one thing Billy has taught me and one thing that I am learning to trust is that most volume should be at low intensity.  I have tried to incorporate this into my plan, but sometimes going easy is not possible, especially if you tour with Apollo Creed and Alex aka Ivan Drago.  On the other hand, it is important to do high intensity workouts.  Brian recently posted an interesting article about how sprint workouts benefit endurance athletes who don't sprint.  In my training, except for rest and race weeks, I try to do at least two sessions at high intensity.  I like doing 4 minute intervals, between 4 to 8.  I also like doing steady state 20 to 30 minute intervals.  The former builds speed and lactate tolerance.  The latter increases threshold and efficiency at threshold.
4. Specificity.  In order to ski fast, whether up or down, you have to ski a lot. While it looks pedestrian, skinning requires a special technique and employs specific muscle groups.  It goes without saying that, there is a lot of technique in fast ski descending.  Putting in ski-specific hours is an indispensable component of training.  Those hours allow you to hone technique and ultimately become more efficient.  Bart is a great example of this.  Of course, he has a good engine, but very few are as efficient on a mountain bike or cross bike.  One tough aspect of ski training is the fact that you have to have snow to ski train, which means you have to live in the right place or you have to travel a lot. 

These principles may seem pretty basic to those of you who compete.  Of course, understanding them in theory and actually applying them in training are two different things.  I have found it difficult to apply and to trust them.  For Type A, obsessive-compulsive, psychopathic, masochistic, over-achievers (like most of you) it's hard to force yourself to take it easy.  It's hard to force yourself to cut your interval session short if you are not recovered.  There is a tendency to go as hard as you can as much as you can.  In the end, as Billy told me a few days ago before he left for Vancouver, "you have to learn to trust yourself; you have to trust your training."  That trust component may be the secret of his success.

In conclusion, I think a weekly training plan for the weekend warrior should look something like this:

Monday - rest

Tuesday - 1-2 hrs, intensity

Wednesday - 1-2 hrs, endurance/recovery

Thursday - 1-2 hrs, intensity

Friday - rest or endurance/recovery

Saturday/Sunday - 8 hrs mixed endurance and intensity or race

Day 56, 10K, Skinny Skis and Happy V-Day

Met Jared at the bottom of Big today at 6:15. Little was closed for control work so the plan was to start at Brighton and head over to Little via Twin Lakes Pass. Hiking into Solitude from Brighton on the way to the pass, we felt like we were in a war zone. Multiple shots were fired about 200 hundred feet over our heads and snow was sloughing over our intended path. Not wanting to piss off the patrollers, or die, we turned around to see if we go get there from the base of Millicent.

These guys (Brighton patrollers just out of bounds) blocked the way.

They more or less ordered us out of there so we went down and across the way towards Peak 10420 from Brighton. On the way down that run, Jared hit a rock and compressed the edge on his $30,000 race skis. Big Bummer. By this time, the shooting had slowed so we tried to make a run through Brighton and Solitude again and found ourselves at the top of a nice powder run down toward the lake. Had to ski it. Then had to break trail back up to the pass where it was turning out to be a pretty nice day.

Jared led the way across the top of the slope pictured above and found a little wind loading but crossed without incident. I walked pretty lightly since I weigh more and would have been pissed to have my day ruined there.

Looking down into Wolverine Cirque. Best saved for another day.


Down into Alta, there seemed to be two feet of powder, untouched, down Patsy Marley. Would have been even better except I was all over the place on Jared's skinny skis and floppy boots. It's all about the up. It's all about the up. It's all about the up.

We headed over to Flagstaff to get in a couple laps but the Samurai was not immune to...

By this time it was HOT. Sweating balls hot. I was in a T-shirt, gloveless, and beginning to work. We had some food on top of Flagstaff and then on the way down, the Avy magnet triggered this:

Actually, he intentionally ski cut the slope above the gully, and was rewarded with a crack and a slide while he stood and watched from above.

Out of water and feeling feeble, I was starting to lag behind on the second Flagstaff lap. Jared gave me his water and I ate some Powergels and ended up coming back to life. We refilled water at the Goldminer's Daughter and then headed back over the pass, into Brighton, and down to the car. Good day. First day over 10K.

I guess 10,541 to be exact.

Day 54, Tanner's with Tanner, Almost

Set the alarm for 5:30 PM and woke up at 6:07 AM, already 7 minutes late to get Zack. Realized I forgot to switch the wash and pulled my dripping gloves and socks out of the dryer. Got ZF, then picked up Casey and his 210 cm skis that don't fit in my box and met Tanner at the BCC park and ride. Made an emergency dump at Seven Eleven and off we went. Rolling up the canyon it was snowing and Zack's Iphone told us the danger rating was moderate on the South aspects. There was also zero visibility. We didn't care. We were going anyway.

Heading up the biggest slide path in LCC

Once in the chute, we found a ton of avy debris covered in 6-10 inches of really low density powder. We skinned up the about 1000 feet, booted the next 1000, then skinned again another 600 across the upper bowl, trying to find the entrance to the upper couloir in the soupy fog. Entering the couloir Casey ruined our day as he dropped about 4 inches and we all heard a big WHOOMPH. If he wasn't such a fat ass we might have gotten first tracks from the top. Sufficiently spooked, we turned around as spindrift was pouring over the cliffs into the chute above Tanner puckering his already tight little butt hole.

On the way out, we were cutting through the spindrift loaded pillows when Zack made this happen:

It was 12" deep, 10 feet across, and ran about 20-30 feet, resulting in a partial burial of Zack's leg, chest, and arm. He had his pole raised high in the air thinking it would help us find him if completely buried. Probably another good sign that we made the right decision. Likely, we would have been fine but since we are respecters of the Lanche, we played it safe.

The way home:

Day 53, White Pine to Red Pine

Went out with Casey and Mar Dash this AM with intentions on skiing some lines in the Maybird Drainage viewed from the chute yesterday. Woke up though with snow in the Aves and a white out in the canyon. There was drifting along the ridges and not really knowing where we where going we stopped at the top of the trees below the Pheifferhorn. The descent mostly followed a stream gully that had a bunch of pillow-like features. I seemed really drawn to the stream itself and found myself on my back, hearing the water running under me. Not my best skiing performance. We skied the drainage out to the main creek, crossed without mishap, and Casey caught a ride from the toe of Tanner's back to the White Pine lot. Which gave us the idea of Tanner's...tomorrow?

Again no pics, not that today was worthy of pics other than me with my skis in the air, sticking out of the stream potholes. But once again, a classic:

A viking or a grench? You decide.

Day 52, Little Pine

Another nice morning in the Wasatch. Picked up Casey at 6:15, stopped at Seven Eleven to take an emergency dump, and started skinning up the chute around 6:50. We pulled into the chute and found the nice booter the Samurai's crew had left amongst the frozen roller balls/avy debris.

Casey starting to warm up:

Booted about 3000 feet then found a short section of skin track then booted another couple hundred to the ridge and over to the top of the chute.




Contemplating the route through the frozen bowling balls below:


Beautiful chute, straight fall line, sustained pitch and width, but the South facing snow...D-. But as today was about the adventure and the UP...I'll give it a B 8.5

Going Fast Part II: Lighten up?

Last ski season, I wanted to do a series of posts on traveling light and fast in the backcountry.  Here's one on waxing skins.  This post is on weight: the lighter your setup, the faster, higher, and longer you can go.  The tough question is, how fat? how thin? four buckles? no buckles? tail fix on skins or no? It's a tough question because there is a point of diminishing returns on both ends of the spectrum.  Too skinny and you won't be able to break trail or ski down fast.  Too fat and you won't be able go up as fast or cover as much ground.  Four buckles and it's going to add weight.  No buckles and there might not be enough support.  It's a trade-off that I've spent a lot of time obsessing about.

The other night, I pulled out my bathroom scale and weighed some gear.  Using a Sharpie, I wrote the weight on each piece.  The Insanes (the big fat ones) aren't mine, but I labeled them anyway . . . .

From December 23, 2009

Ski Weights:

164 Trab Duo Race w/ Low Techs: 2.1 lbs per ski, 64 mm at waist, race and fast touring.
160 Dynafit SR 11 w/Low Techs: 2.3 lbs per ski, 62 mm at waist, race and fast touring.
172 Dynafit ST 7 w/TLT Speeds: 3.6 lbs per ski, 74 mm at waist, fast touring, spring.
169 Dynafit Manaslu w/TLT Vertical: 3.8 lbs per ski, 95 mm at waist, touring, powder.
173 BD Havoc w/Dynafit Comforts: 4.7 lbs per ski, 88 mm at waist, rock skis.
183 Voile Insane w/TLT Speeds: 4.8 lbs per ski, 120 mm at waist, ????.

From December 23, 2009

Boot Weights:

Dynafit Zzero, four buckle, 3.6 lbs
Scarpa F1, 2 buckle, 2.8 lbs (I have modified F1s that I got down to 2 lbs)
Pierre Gignoux 444, 2 buckle, 1.4 lbs

From December 23, 2009

Skin Weights:

Pomoca Race for 160 cm skis: .2 lbs
Dynafit Speedskins for 160 cm skis: .3 lbs
BD Mohair Mix cut for Dynafit ST 7s: .6 lbs
BD Glidelite cut fo Havocs: .7 lbs
BD Ascension cut for Manaslu: .7 lbs

There are a lot of combinations with these skis, boots, and skins.  At the lightest end of the spectrum, the Trabs with PG 444s and Pomoca skins weigh 3.7 pounds per foot.  Contrast that with the Manaslus, Zzeros, and BD skins at 8.1 pounds per foot. That's a difference of 4.4 pounds per foot or 219 percent heavier -- huge, especially during a long tour.  If you think about it in pounds lifted per vertical foot, over a 10k vertical tour, that's a difference of 44,000 lbs!  I plan on using F1s with the Manaslus and will get some Dynafit Speedskins, which will bring the weight down to about 7 lbs per foot. 

One might suggest that the comparison above is misleading because my race setup is stupid light.  To a certain extent, I might agree, but the fact is, I tour a lot in that setup and have skied every condition imaginable in that setup.  Can I straightline Cardiac Bowl in that setup?  No.  Can I competently ski down Cardiac Bowl or a steep chute in that setup and have fun? Absolutely.  In fact, there are several ski mountaineers like Benedikt Bohm who have set speed records up and down 8000 meter peaks on similar setups.  That said, there are times when a race setup does not make sense, like on a big powder day.  Breaking trail on 65 mm waisted skis doesn't work that well.  And going down in 2 ft of fluff in that kind of setup is way too '80s and a bit irreverent.

Enter the Manaslus, or my "fat" setup.  Manaslus, F1s/Zzeros, and BD Ascensions are quite light.  There are very few, if any, 95 mm waisted skis out there that are as light as the Manaslu.  The Voile Insanes might come close.  I think Goode and DPS make some light carbon skis that have some girth.  Obviously, any setup that doesn't incorporate Dynafit bindings is more than a pound per foot heavier and, quite frankly, a waste of energy.  My guess is that most conventional backcountry setups are in the 9 to 12 lb range.  The Havocs, which are skinnier and which I used for years, are a full pound heavier. 

My friend Joey and I were laughing the other day about our touring setups in 2002.  I was on Scarpa T1s, Voile Mtn. Surfs/Rossis/Tuas, and Hammerhead bindings.  I think the Mtn Surfs and Hammerheads alone were over 8 pounds.  The T1s were probably another 5.  And that setup didn't even have a free pivot.  Uggh.

Assuming the goal is going faster, higher, and longer (and not making turns with "soul"), I think the question that should dictate backcountry ski choice is: what can I get away with?  This is a loaded question because the answer depends on lots of things like conditions, partners, terrain, route, distance, time, skill, and binding choice.  But generally speaking, in my not-so-humble opinion, most of us American backcountry travelers can get away with a lot less than we have or think.  In my mind, the less you can get away with, the better -- you'll go faster, higher, and longer.

Wackcountry Tour

This week my training focus was on high volume.  I did two interval sessions, logged 15 hrs, about 19k vertical, and about 35 miles, which is a lot for a working, family guy.  Probably 10 of those hrs were at "endurance" pace, or under 140 bpm.

On Saturday, I logged 6 hrs and about 8k vertical doing the Wackcountry Tour, which starts at Snowbird, ascends to Hidden Peak, descends Mineral Basin, ascends the same to Alta, descends Alta, ascends Grizzly Gulch to Twin Lakes Pass, crosses Highway to Heaven to Solitude, descends into Brighton, ascends Guardsman's Pass, and descends into Park City.  Our route, if you include the forced detours, ended up being about 18 miles and 8k vertical, and not a whole lot of great powder skiing.  Still, it was safe, fun, and a bit wacky.

The Stats:
- Time: 6 hrs
- Distance: 18 miles
- Vert: 8k
- Put in:  Snowbird viz a viz UTA Bus
- Take out: Park City viz a viz Rosie (Thanks!)
- Accomplices: Bart and Alex -- Note to self: make sure you start skiing in October so that you can keep up with these guys.
- Equipment: Alex, Voile Insanes, Dynafit Speeds, F3s; Bart, Dynafit ST 7, Dynafit Speeds, F1s; Me, Trab Duo Race w/Low Techs and Pierre Gignoux 444s
- Equipment blowups: 1 -- see below
- Food Consumed: 2 peanut butter and honey sandwiches, 1 coke, and 1 bottle of water.  Very hungry at the end.
- Friendly Resorts: Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude
- Not Friendly Resorts: Alta, Park City
- Faceplants: 2 -- me=1, Bart=1
- Entertainment for the Day: Alex

Exhibit A:  (As we are skinning up Snowbird after Alex slid down on his back) "Man, I sure could have used some Whippets."

Exhibit B:  We're ducking below a ridge, just out of sight of the Alta lady with studs in her face who had just denied us entrance.  Our plan is to rip skins, run across the cat track, and disappear down the slope.  Time is of the essence because we are sure the Alta lady has called for backup.  The problem is that Alex has to first, take off his pack; second, put on his bright fluorescent green jacket; third, take out his special Montana skin savers; fourth, figure out how to rip skins with skis on; fifth, untangle skins that got wrapped around the perimeter rope and his neck; sixth, fold his skins using said special Montana skin savers.

Exhibit C: We are skinning up in the Brighton backcountry and some snowboarders chastise us for going the "wrong" direction.  As Alex, a former bro brah himself, tells them, "Duh, we're in the backcountry and I didn't see a sign," the first one stacks it up and the second one piles into him.  They are strapped into their boards in a ravine, faces buried in the snow.  Stuck.  The second one gets up and gives us the finger.  We laugh.

Some photos:

Can someone tell me how these binding things work?

From December 20, 2009

Bart skiing Mineral Basin.

From December 20, 2009

Three sets of tracks. Bart on the left, Alex in the middle, me on the right. Alex made a total of 3 turns.

From December 20, 2009

Our exit: a 100 meter skate through White Pine to Hotel Park City. Then walk to the corner and wait.

From December 20, 2009

Um guys, I think my binding broke. Hmmm. . . Ya think? Alex skied from Solitude to Park City free heel.

From December 20, 2009

Alex's Version here.