Preseason Training - Eric Henderson

Second of the week, a few words from Karhu skier Eric Henderson, a Teton local whose guiding at Jackson and in Alaska require some excellent ski fitness:

When a client asked me recently what I do to train for the upcoming winter ski season, “Drink cheap beer” was not the answer he was looking for. I backpedaled through summer and early fall activities and quickly covered my tracks with a list of mountain runs from the summer, multi-day climbing excursions, 18-hour days moving food/booze from one side of the Tetons to the other (ah, summer catering) and regular training days of running and stretching.

It made me realize that in some way or another, I’m always training for skiing. Once skiing is in my subconscious, it's hard not thinking about it in every activity I do and how it relates to every carve I make. Which means I’m always training.

In practice, fall for me is the time to rest the body and soul and begin to visualize the up-coming season. Before the snowpack builds, I do a few four- or six-mile maintenance runs, some yoga for idiots, hunting, a little beer drinking and always catching up with friends. Because once the snow starts to fall, things pull in a little more – days filled with powder, countless telemark turns, a smaller core of friends, and thousands of feet of skintracks and bootpacks. As for the beer? It helps to add a little extra layer of warmth after such an active summer.

-Eric Henderson