Author: Ski NASTC

A few slides from Portillo….there are lots more! 

Greetings NASTC Nation, we hope you’ll peruse our website soon and get yourself signed up for one of many exciting ski clinics this season. We consider ourselves so lucky to get to ski with and know you all. The 20th anniversary Portillo trip was a huge success. We look forward to many more. Call our office or email us anytime you have a skiing-related question or just want to touch base.

One of our clients said it best recently:

I appreciate the compassion all of you (trainers) expressed for the sport as much as the friendship blend that created an extraordinary experience of fun, laughter, friendship and skill building. Although the coaching and training are far valued, I believe your core/bedrock is in promoting an enthusiastic environment that cultivates a greater level of skill and confidence.  I look forward to participation in future event of this nature and caliber.

Greetings NASTC Nation! We’re in the news again – check it out! And join us for some rock climbing NOW on Donner Summit, some of the best granite in the world and super fun for the whole family. Our Portillo, Chile course is filling, this is our 20th year taking a group down during the 3rd week of August! We hope you’re all doing great this summer and enjoying life without snow…don’t worry winter’s just around the corner here at NASTC. 🙂

http://www.moonshineink.com/current-print-edition

http://theweeklymagazineonline.com/2013/07/wet-n-dirty-2/

The Alpenglow Mountain Festival is underway!  Check out this link for all the cool outdoor events happening this week. http://alpenglowsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Alpenglow_Mountain_Festival_Schedule.pdf 

Make sure you stop by Donner Summit on June 30th for the rock climbing event.  You will be able to check out and try all the latest and greatest in climbing gear. 

Every recreational athlete needs one of these:  

A foam roller is a key tool for soft tissue recovery and continued optimal performance.  

Runners, cyclists and skiers especially experience tightness along the iliotibial band (IT Band), tensor fascia latae (TFL), glutes, hamstring and quads.

The IT Band is made up connective tissue and is part of the TFL, it provides lateral stability to the knee joint and aids in flexion and extension of the leg.  The TFL works with the IT Band and glute to stabilize the pelvis over the femur head and to help stabilize the knee during extension.  Extension and flexion are key movements in running, cycling and skiing.  The IT Band and TFL become inflamed and tight from overuse.  This is where your foam roller comes in.  Foam rolling increases circulation to flush out the muscles, it puts the muscles and fascia tissues into a stretch and smoothes out knots built up in the muscles and connective tissue.  It improves flexibility and mobility because of it helps the stretch and lengthen muscles and connective tissue.  If that is not incentive enough, it is like having your own personal deep tissue massager at your beck and call.  As ski professionals we are on the snow almost daily and ski aggressively just about every time we click into our bindings.  To be able to ski at this level repeatedly without injury is a priority, the foam roller is one of the tools that we use on a daily basis to maintain the optimal peformance of our bodies.  Skiing at a high level of performance puts a lot of physical demand on your body, and if restrictions start to creep in due to fatigue, overuse then we compromise our ability to perform at our best or to make changes in the our skiing that we desire.

With that said….not all foam rollers are created equal.  The higher the density of the foam the stronger force is applied to your soft tissue – think big huge massage therapist with massive biceps and forearms.  If you are an avid recreationist and are running or riding your bike weekly, you will want a stronger density foam roller like the one in the picture by Trigger Point.

Think back to when was the last time you made turns.  May? April? March? Before then?!  Your body needs a fair amount of repetition to be able to perform movement patterns sub-consciously.  If you were in the midst of changing something in your skiing when the season ended, you can pretty much count on startin g from scratch again next season, unless you get on skis at least once during the summer season.  Have you heard the outliers theory that you need approximately 10,000 hours to become a master at a movement.  We are all masters of walking, because since they day we learned to walk we’ve logged in more than 10,000 hours and therefore we are all world class walkers.  Most of us are not shooting to be world class, we just wanna be good and have more fun, so 10,000 hours might not be our target number but the concept remains the same, you have to put in the time and practice if you want to be good at something.  However, if you practice the wrong movements, thenyou become really good at those wrong movements, which is why all athletes have coaches.  Someone to tell them they are on the right path and call out mistakes or inefficiencies when they see them being made.  You can be certain that the U.S Ski Team is not spending their summer boating or drinking cocktails in St. Thomas, they are in the gym making getting stronger and faster and most importantly they re-locate to the Southern Hemisphere to getting crucial training time before the season starts.  Summer is crucial training time, because once the snow starts to fly in the Northern  Hemisphere it’s too late, they need to be in prime form.  Same holds true for recreational skiers, wanting to improve their skiing, there is not enough time in the season to make changes stick and then reap the benefits from your hard work.  Summer time skiing reduces the time those muscle groups and neuro-muscular patterns we use in skiing have to “sit and collect dust,”  you reduce the time it takes to fire everything back up to optimal performance again, because your mental and muscular recall will be quicker.

For those of you who find doing balance and strength poses in a room decked out in Buddhist decor with a someone verbally guiding you to let the light in to heart chakra is not your thing, but are still seeking moments of clarity and tranquility within your mind, try rock climbing.   Much like Tai Chi, rock climbing centers the mind away from the external world.  Climbing is usually done in beautiful outdoor destinations away from the hum of city traffic.  There is a natural peacefulness to your setting.  When you are climbing, you don’t think about anything else except for the rock in front of you.  You are harnessed into a rope and your guide has got your back with regards to safety, so any fears or anxiety from safety concerns dissappear.  Your mind is focused on finding the next hand or foot holds.  You don’t have an opportunity to think about that looming report deadline, what the stocks are doing, or how are the kids going to get to soccer practice next Thursday, you are very present in the moment.  Stress and anxiety melt away as you focus on the route up the rock before you.  When you get to the top, there is rush of feelings of accomplishment and exhiliration.  Even though you  may be physically fatigued, your mind will feel rejuvenated just from having the time to shut out external stress quiet down and have a singular focus.  Usually when you get to the top, you are rewarded with some outstanding views.  Rock climbing is a great alternative to yoga and a fun and different way to experience the outdoors.