Spend August skiing in New Zealand while your friends and competitors sweat and bake in the heat.  Boulder Nordic Sport's New Zealand camp offers 6- and 10-day sessions with top-level coaching, video analysis and off-snow education. No matter what your ability, it's a fun way to dramatically improve your skiing while exploring one of the most incredible places on the planet.

For more information, see bouldernordic.com or call 720.227.9400.  Don't miss this trip of a lifetime.
 

BNS is sharing some of our retail space with Whitewater Tubing Co. from June 1 to Labor Day.  Whitewater rents and sells innertubes, life jackets and helmets for navigating Boulder Creek.  They are open 10-6 every day.  Check it out if you need a fun activity on a hot day.  http://www.whitewatertubing.com

BNS remains open through the summer with shop hours 12-5 Monday, Wednesday and Friday and by appointment.  We are running full service operations and summer is the best time to grind skis!

Our longtime neighbor, Alpine Base & Edge, moved into a new, much larger space at 2709 Spruce.  We're sad to see them go, but happy for them as they finally have enough room for all of their machines.  They are still the best Alpine tune in the region and their web site and phone number remain the same.

Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team coaches Eric Pepper and Adam St. Pierre are proud to announce PBVilleCamp09. The camp will take place from July 2nd-5th in Leadville, Colorado. The camp is open to juniors 13 and older who are interested in preparing themselves for next Winter's racing season and have significant rollerskiing experience.

This camp will focus on volume and ski specific training, taking advantage of the rollerskiing and trail running opportunities in the famed high altitude locations surrounding Leadville. Camp will be limited at 12-20 athletes, additional coaches will be brought in as numbers allow. To apply for the camp athletes must submit a letter of interest to Eric Pepper at etpepper@gmail.com stating their desire to attend the camp and their goals for summer/fall training.

 

Cost for the camp is $300 and includes coaching fee, 3 nights lodging, Thursday dinner, 3 meals on Friday and Saturday, and breakfast and lunch Sunday.  All transportation is provided once athletes arrive on location. Camp payment is due by Friday June 20th. For more information, full camp description, and questions please contact Eric at etpepper@gmail.com.

Summertime for most skiers means lots of cycling, running, kayaking, hiking and swimming.  Most of our summer activities tend to be heavily focused on the legs and endurance.  Stay in touch with your winter ski fitness by emphasizing upper body and core strength, as well as ski-specific power in the upper body, trunk and legs. 

 

In our experience as coaches, when athletes make a serious effort to improve core and upper body strength over the summer, they transition to snow much more quickly and tend to improve results dramatically.

 

These tips are easy.  Don't make it complicated.  It is more important to do it than make sure you are doing exactly the right exercises.

 

Tip 1: Develop a short, simple core routine and do it 20-30 minutes three times per week.  Get a medicine ball.  Core strength stabilizes your body so you can push harder with your arms & legs and therefore produce more power.  It reduces the probability of injury and improves technique efficiency.  We've posted our guide to strength training on our web site.  It's free - put it in your cart and check out to get an email link to download it.  There are lots of good core exercises there to use as a starting point.

 

Tip 2: Do ski specific upper body work several times per week over the summer.  Rollerskiing, Rollerboard, Ski Walking with poles, Double-Pole Machines, pull-ups and dips are all good ways to maintain and build upper body power and maintain neuromuscular memory.  Double poling on rollerskis is perhaps the most effective use of your time for ski training in the summer.  Yes, we sell rollerskis, so don't take our word for it.  Ask anyone who has rollerskied how dramatic their improvement was after the first summer of rollerskiing.

 

Tip 3: Work on technique and maintain ski imitation movements at least once per week in early summer and increase specificity through the summer and fall.  Now is the time to make technique adjustments as you have time to practice them and build them into habit before you are on snow and in a hurry to ski fast.  Rollerskis, skiing (see New Zealand, above), Ski Walking and rollerskiing without poles are all excellent ways to accomplish this.  Tackle one specific technique element at a time and work on it in bursts.  Like all training, you need to build strength and neural memory to turn technical adaptations into habit.