osicommunitycoachesnetwork-blog

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Paddling Preparation

Hi Team! 

Paddling is certainly on my mind in these last weeks of winter and for my last Team OSI post, I decided to make a video on how I prepare for the kayaking season. Hope you enjoy these 3 hot tips and I look forward to hitting the water and seeing a few of you out there soon!

https://vimeo.com/322269373

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Q&A with Coach Dustin Williamson

By: Justin Fereshetian

Dustin Williamson is a member of OSI’s Community Coach Network and is actively involved in coaching teens in his community. Check out our conversation to see how he’s involved, what inspires him to do so, and why it’s important to him.

1. What’s your name?  

Dustin Williamson

2. Where did you grow up?   

Auburn

3. What town do you currently reside in?   

Turner

4. What ways do you participate in outdoor sport?   

I coach high school Nordic skiing, I am also an avid runner

5. What inspired you to get involved in outdoor sport?   

I enjoy being outside year-round and there is nothing better than doing a Nordic ski with bluebird skies and corduroy conditions.  

6. What is it about the outdoor sports you do that excites you?  

The camaraderie, the exercise, being outside. It gives me more energy and keeps me healthy. Nordic skiing and running are some passions of mine.

7. What sport(s) do you currently coach? (Where, how long, what age level?)

Nordic skiing, Leavitt Area High School, 16 years, ages 14-18

8. What other sports have you coached in the past? (Where, how long, what age level?)

Cross country running, Leavitt Area High School, 15 years, ages 14-18

9. What encouraged you to become a coach?     

I enjoy being outside and working with student athletes. It is a great way to give back to a sport that I love and a way to share my passion. Watching the team improve and working together always gives me great joy.

10. What sparked your interest to join OSI’s Coaches Network?  

It is always great to network with other coaches and to have resources available. It is a way to improve professionally and to work together to get more people to enjoy the outdoors.

11. What do you hope to see happen in your local community in terms of outdoor sport?  

We are starting up an elementary Nordic ski program and our goal is to increase participation in Nordic skiing and to have fun. We want to get the community involved, see families out skiing, and have fun while doing it.

12. What strategies and tactics do you use to create an active outdoor lifestyle in your athletes?     

Being active and being outside during the winter are great for your health and your body. I am an active person so I practice what I preach and model it.

13. Did you have a coach who had a positive impact on you? Can you explain who it was, and what they did that was so impactful?    

Dan Campbell. He showed me how to be successful, when to be serious, and when to be a little bit crazy.

14. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure song?    

A little Def Leppard or Motley Crue does the body good.

15. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?   

Baby octopus. It is weird to a lot of people but not to me because they are delicious!

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Q&A WITH TEAM OSI COMMUNITY COACH NICOLE CARUSO

By Erin Fay

Last month I sat down with Nicole Caruso to talk about her experience with the Coaches Network and as an outdoor enthusiast in general. When you meet Nicole, you are instantly greeted with a joyous hello and an infectious smile. She, like most people in Maine, wears many hats. She is a mom, a community volunteer, yoga instructor and the Outdoor Leadership Instructor at the Waldo County Technical Center.

Nicole first got involved with OSI through our equipment rentals and has become a repeat user and now community leader workshop participant. She believes connecting with our natural world is an essential component to appreciating all our planet has to offer. By creating opportunities to engage in the outdoors (early and often), it allows the chance to create meaningful, personal relationships. It is Nicole’s belief that a strong relationship to the natural world is vital to any community’s long-term well-being. I encourage you to read the following conversation with Nicole to learn more about how she connects to the outdoors with her students and family.

1. Name?

Nicole Caruso

2. Where do you live?

Troy, Maine

3. Where did you grow up?

Manahawkin, NJ (“The Pine Barrens”)

4. How do you enjoy your time outdoors?

Anything at the beach--most especially sea kayaking. Backpacking. I am also, developing a love for skiing.

5. What do you get personally from being outdoors and/or engaging in outdoor sport?  How does engaging in outdoor sport enhance your family?

Peace of mind & perspective; humility; connection; fresh air; long story short, the outdoors makes me feel most alive. My first career path had me primarily indoors, wearing a suit and pantyhose, and sitting in hours of traffic each day on my commute--I didn’t think I could survive a lifetime of working in that kind of environment. Spending time in nature is the highest priority in my professional and personal life. Our family life centers around time together in the outdoors.

6. How would you describe the outdoor sport community where you live?  How are you involved?  What do you value about being a part of that community?

My husband and I purposefully chose Maine to settle down and raise our family because the culture in general felt so grounded in connection with the natural world. I greatly appreciate and value the close connection to place that most people here have and LOVE hearing people’s stories about how they grew up, the ways they live off the land, and the ways they recreate.

We landed here when I started my job as Director of Adventure Experiences at Unity College in 2006 so feel lucky that we became involved with the outdoor community from the day we landed. It’s been a lovely experience transitioning to the high school realm and connecting with students and their families as well as connecting with my own children’s school community.

We all interact with nature in our own unique ways--whether we hunt, fish, paddle, hike, backpack, snowshoe, ski, snowmobile, horseback ride, cycle, or garden. Even when it may seem we come from totally different perspectives, we ultimately have this one thing in common: connection with the natural world.

7. With an active family, how do you find time to fit it all in?  (community involvement, family recreation, personal recreation, teaching etc.)

[Laughter] Well, I’m not sold on the idea that there really is a way to “fit it all in” or find the holy grail of “work/family balance”. However, here is how we, as an active outdoors family, balance all of our needs as best we can:

Both my husband and I work full-time and teaching takes tons of additional out-of-class time in terms of planning, grading, and logistics. So, early on, we were both determined to carve out a career path doing something that we loved and felt meaningful in terms of its impact on the community. That goes a long way in feeling like work-time is an extension of your being and not something to merely be “endured” for most of your waking hours. Next, we just sort of follow our kids lead as they move through their various stages of development. Testing out new activities and seeing what feels like a good fit for that phase. Our son, for example, hated cross-country skis when he first donned them at age 4 (he tossed them aside after his first fall and put his snowshoes right back on, thank you very much!) but now at age 7 we can’t keep him off the slopes on downhill skis. Both kids started paddling in our laps stuffed in a kayak together, progressed to being towed by us in their own boat, to paddling solo and loving it. 

Each season has its favorite focus now: kayaking, hiking, fishing, and camping in the summer; snowshoeing, xc skiing, and downhill skiing in the winter; hunting for my husband in the fall; and swimming at the YMCA in fall and spring. We make sure at least one full day each weekend is dedicated to outdoor activity with as much as possible fit in everywhere in between. We also create the opportunity for “outdoor play dates” as much as possible with friends.

8. Name a Teacher / Coach that had the biggest impact on you and why.

My senior year high school English teacher. She cultivated my love of writing and helped me to believe in my ability to do so. She also inspired me to start journaling through her utilization of music as a prompt. She was magic in the classroom!

9. What was your intention when signing up for the team OSI Coaches Network?

To connect with a larger network of professionals working with youth in the outdoors; to seek additional resources in terms of professional development (in particular, local and affordable) and access to a wide array of gear

10. Do you utilize OSI’s resources (equipment, curriculum, workshops ect.)? How does this help you and your community?

Access to affordable gear rental helps me to provide a wider array of experiences for my students than I would otherwise be able to; the professional development opportunities meet my needs to stay current as a professional AND MOST IMPORTANTLY they fit within my time and budgetary constraints by being held close to home and at affordable rates.

11. You attended OSI’s Ski Leader workshop earlier this year. What are some of the highlights of your workshop experience?

EXCELLENT! So much fun! I loved the PITCH/DEMO/DESCRIBE/DO model that was presented. While generally speaking, most experiential educators generally use a model loosely along these lines, OSI’s 4-point model helped to bring clarity and precision to the technique teaching process. I really think my xc skiing lessons went better this year because of the training and the 4-point model in particular. THANK YOU!!! I would highly recommend OSI trainings!

12. What excites you about OSI?

EVERYTHING!!!

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Q&A WITH TEAM OSI COMMUNITY COACH WHITNEY CONDIT

By Josh Firmin

Skier, baker, mother, coach.  There are few hats that Whitney can’t wear, and she rocks them all with a remarkable poise and style.  I first had the pleasure of meeting Whitney several years ago through a local weekly “big kids” ski night on the ANSA trails and I working with her and a handful of other Bill Koch League volunteers in a coach education workshop.  As an Team OSI Community Coach, Whitney is helps coordinate the local Bill Koch League and OSI’s seasonal ski lease for area skiers. She works tirelessly to share her love of Nordic skiing, and outdoor sport in general, within her community and she does it with a passion that is highly contagious.    Spending time with Whitney just makes you feel better.  Enjoy this interview with Whitney and if you happen to cross paths with someone grinning ear to ear on the Auburn Nordic Ski Association’s (ANSA) Nordic ski trail network, there’s a fair chance that you’ve crossed paths with Whitney Condit.

1.     Name?

Whitney Bell Condit

2.     Where did you live?

Auburn Maine

3.     Where did you grow up?

Michigan

4.     How do like to enjoy your time outdoors?

Hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, skating, running, biking, swimming...… most anything!

5.     What do you get personally from being outdoors and/or engaging in outdoor sport?

Exercise, perspective, a reminder to live in the present.

6.     How would you describe the outdoor sport community where you live?  How are you involved?  What do you value about being a part of that community?

We happened into a home that is across the street from the nordic trails maintained by the Auburn Nordic Ski Association.  We started as members, then became more active in club operations, and before we knew it, my husband became the president.   We love being part of this group of people from around town who are unified in their love of outdoor winter recreation.  

7.     With an active family, how do you find time to fit it all in?  (community involvement, family recreation, personal recreation, baking! etc.)

Honestly, this is an on-going challenge.  I don’t fit it all in, but do work to try to find a balance and what “balance” looks like changes with the seasons.  Winter is by far the busiest time of year for me and our family, so finding balance seems the most elusive in the winter months.  Still, I relish the times we do go skiing or snowshoeing as family, but many times it is more like divide and conquer.  Bruce, my husband, is a winter sports fanatic, so he is often the catalyst for getting us outside to play.  Because I run our local Bill Koch XC program, my to-do list sometimes keeps me from getting outside as much as I would like, but I am working on that. I will say that baking generally trumps getting outside because I have many people I like to bake for to show my gratitude (like the bus driver for my son’s bus who graciously allows a half dozen extra students to ride to our house for middle school Nordic ski practice across the street… and of course I have to feed those skiers as well ;-). But I realize my kids are going to be grown up and gone before I know it, so being around to (feed and) support them, their friends and their team is what I want to be doing right now.  Having said that, I am trying to carve more time for outdoor play for myself, and I’m always glad when I do.

8.     How did you first interact and/or become involved with OSI?   What OSI resources and or experiences have you used and/or engaged with?  How have you used them?

Both the people and the resources have been invaluable for our local ski community.  I first learned of OSI when we had just taken over our local Bill Koch ski program and were looking for help in taking the program to the next level.  We met Josh, who was an invaluable support in providing references for lesson plans and games in what has now become the OSI Curriculum Guide.  We brought our coaches to trainings to enhance their confidence and expertise. We have taken advantage of the Nordic ski equipment lease program for both our Bill Koch kids as well as the middle school Nordic team – without the lease program, I doubt if many of these kids would have been able to get out on snow.  

Finally, I must say that I am a big fan of Frank, the lease equipment guru.  I always bring him a baked goodie (or three) to let him know how much I appreciate all he does.

9.     I know your son participated in an OSI trip several summers ago.  How did that experience impact him?  

He had a tremendous experience.  He had never been on a canoe trip of that magnitude and in his words, he said it gave him “another perspective of nature” and I think he relished the increased independence.  Bruce and I noted a boost in his self-confidence and the whole experience energized his interest in doing not only more canoeing (“next, the Allagash!”), but more outdoor adventuring.  I am hopeful that as he gets older, he will be able to become more involved in Team OSI and all it has to offer.  He loves to be active and outside, so Team OSI would be a great fit.  

10.     Being involved with your local Bill Koch League, you’ve experienced first-hand how meaningful coaches can be to participants.  Any personal “coach” stories you’d like to share?  

While it isn’t a specific story, I am struck each Sunday when I am “coaching” the 5 -7 year olds in our BK program how completely into fun they are.  I find it rewarding and energizing when they look at you like you are the queen of fun, because we just play game after game and have adventure after adventure on skinny skis for one full hour every Sunday. Play with a purpose… it’s the best way to teach kids to do anything!  Think about the skill you want them to learn and master, then pick (or make up) the right game and poof! it magically happens.  And I might add that all that playing is a blast for me as well!

11.     Is there a teacher / coach that had a significant impact on your life?

My middle school English teacher, Mrs. Clark, was a remarkable woman and taught me to just keep at it; whatever you may be struggling with, don’t give up, believe you can do it and dig in. At that time in my life, she may have had more confidence in me than I had in myself, so her support and encouragement was a gift.  She modeled tenacity.  

12.     I’ve heard through the grapevine that you have a knack for creating delicious baked goods.  Do you have a “baking reputation”?  How do your baking skill complement your outdoor pursuits?

I certainly enjoy baking for others… it’s like giving everyone a bit of love in baked form.  I believe in gratitude and letting others know when you appreciate them and/or something they have done.  Baking feels like one tangible way I can express my gratitude.

13.     What excites you about being involved with OSI and the Community Coach Network?

Speaking of gratitude, I am so grateful an organization like OSI exists!  It is exciting to watch as OSI grows, evolves and finds new and innovative ways to live out its mission.  As a community coach of sorts, I am so glad to have the Community Coaches Network as a resource, as well as a place for connection.  I am excited to watch it continue to bloom!

Of course, no Q&A is complete without some “favorites” too.

1.     Favorite or “go to” baked treat?

Muffins of all types

2.     Favorite quote?  

“Don’t believe everything you think.”

3.     Favorite song you are embarrassed to admit you like?

“Brand New Key” by Melanie or “Let it Go” from Frozen.

4.     Favorite way to wake up in the morning?

With snow falling outside

5.     Favorite pizza topping?

Caramelized Onions

6.     Favorite film?

The Scarlet Pimpernel

7.     Favorite outdoor destination outside of Maine?

Visiting a childhood friend’s magical place on a little island in the Adirondacks.

8.     Favorite outdoor destination in Maine?

Oooo.  It is hard to pick just one.  Acadia, Baxter and any body of water, big or small.

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GET STARTED IN THE NETWORK

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GOING SOLO?

By Mike Smith, Program Director & COO

Outdoor pursuits often idolize the individual, portraying the lone climber, skier, or hiker in relation to a vast, wild landscape. Certainly, the act of engaging in any of these sports is deeply personal and we are reliant on ourselves to see them through. So why is it then, when I think of my path in the outdoors I can’t help but think of others I’ve shared it with?

The reality is that while we might be alone in physically performing many outdoor sports, these activities are far from solo endeavors. From my earliest days joining my middle school ski team, to my most recent travels kayaking in foreign countries, a strong community has kept me coming back for more.

There are the obvious roles that others play in our outdoor adventures, like helping us manage risk by setting up safety in sports like backcountry skiing or whitewater paddling. Then there are the logistical benefits of having others around when it comes to things like running shuttle on the river, or carrying the extra rations of food to  the campsite.

The real benefit of peers in the outdoors for me, though, has always been about creating a community I get to share experiences with, while also each other to improve. A strong peer group can create the ultimate environment in which to grow. They can offer enthusiasm, feedback, challenge, and support when necessary.

If you look at any outdoor sport that sees rapid periods of progression, you can usually trace it back to a group of peers putting in the time and energy as a community, pushing each other to grow. It’s the same reason in competitive settings you’ll find “training groups”. Having the support of others can do magical things for us all.

I have been fortunate throughout my career in the outdoors both personally and professionally to be surrounded by incredible friends and mentors. Some of this has been luck, but I also think luck is something we create and attract. That is to say, if you know what you’re looking for, you’re much more likely to find it. I figured out early on that I was only willing to spend my time pursuing outdoor sport with people that enriched my experience. This meant that I was looking for a few key characteristics. I wanted to engage with peers that were –

Motivated

Humble

Displayed good judgment

Consistent in their efforts

Supportive

Maybe your list looks a little different, but what matters in the end is that you know what you’re looking for. Having shared goals and interests with those around you is powerful and can do wonders for our progression and enjoyment of the outdoors. At the same time, the opposite can have devastating effects, either making us feel socially uncomfortable or worse, putting us in actual danger.

Knowing how to surround ourselves with those that can help us grow in the ways we care about isn’t just a useful skill for outdoor sport, it’s an invaluable skill for life. It’s often said that we are the average of the small handful of people we spend the majority of our time with. So, if you dream of growing in outdoor sport, sharing in memorable outdoor experiences, and exploring your own potential, consider the community of peers you surround yourself with.

At the end of the day, it might only be you that sits in that kayak, rides that bike, or walks your shoes to the summit of Katahdin, but the people you surround yourself will often determine how much you enjoy the experience, how soon you’re back out there doing it again, and where you go next.

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TRYING SOMETHING NEW

Justin Fereshetian, Team OSI Head Coach & Initiative Coordinator

Often it can be a little overwhelming when you’re trying to learn a new skill and understandably so. We all like to feel successful at the things we do but rarely do we find that success the first time around. The fear, anxiety, and self-doubt that can arise from not being good at something right away can prevent us from even attempting to learn a new skill. Those feelings and perceptions, at least in my experience, are almost always self-imposed as a lot of us are our own worst critics. As a result, you could greatly reduce your experiences, personal growth, and opportunities to add to your own skill set by not trying something new.

One way of overcoming this that I’ve found most helpful is swapping out an unrealistic and self-limiting mindset with an open learner’s mindset. This mindset is about believing it is okay, even good, to be bad at something right away. Becoming good at something involves a progression from beginner to mastery and this progression something that takes a lot of time and a lot of deep concentration to engrain the new skill into our memory. So rather than getting discouraged when you’re struggling with learning a new skill and thinking that because you don’t understand it right now you’ll never understand it, instead realize that it’s totally normal to not understand a new skill right away. The good news is that with focused effort and attention over a sustained period of time you can develop this new skill. Honestly, it wouldn’t be as rewarding if we could just skip all the struggle and effort that it takes to get to the end result because we wouldn’t have that deeper knowledge and understanding of what it took to get to that point. Also, there’s so much that we learn about ourselves throughout that struggle that we only gain through that experience.

So the best thing we can do is to be content with being bad right away and allow ourselves to take that first step in trying something new. When we do this we open up a new door that has a wealth of new experiences that we might have never encountered otherwise.

A personal anecdote of a situation where I experienced this for myself was this past spring when I attended the Southeast Whitewater trip as a coach/participant. This was a very eye-opening experience for me because prior to this trip I had very minimal skills or understanding of how to kayak, so on the water, I was at the same skill level as many of our athletes, but off the water, I was co-coaching with Mike, Josh, and Seth. While I was aware that this could be a challenge to bounce back and forth between these roles, I found that I really enjoyed it. Not only that but this was a week-long trip that was very paddling intensive. There was no better way for me to develop some of the basic skills than by just jumping in and giving it a go. As a result, I found that I was really enjoying it, and now I’ve even started acquiring my own equipment because of how much fun it was. It wasn’t just the paddling that was fun, it was being a beginner again that was also fun.

I enjoy a lot of different outdoor sports, but most of them I’ve been doing for a while now, so I’m past the beginner stage in most of them. What I enjoy most about being a beginner again is that the progress I can make in my skill development is much larger than the progress I can make as an expert. So take the next step to develop a new skill at the expert level is much more complex and as a result, requires much more time and effort for a small or incremental improvement. But as a beginner, I’m able to make bigger or more noticeable improvements more quickly. It’s a breath of fresh air to be able to do so.

So don’t let being bad right away prevent you from learning a new skill, because you don’t know you’re missing as a result.

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A COACH'S IMPACT

By Head Coach | Justin Fereshetian

My middle school Nordic ski coach, a man named Liam Cassidy, had a tremendous impact on me. He fueled my love of outdoor sport, and particularly cross-country skiing. What made Liam such an influential coach for me was his pure enjoyment of the sport. It was infectious. His enjoyment wasn’t just limited to Nordic skiing either. He had a pure love of the outdoors, living a healthy lifestyle, and active life in general. He always seemed to have a positive outlook on life, and he made team practices the most fun part of the day. So much so that I, along with my teammates, never wanted our practices to end and were always looking forward to the next one when it was over. 

I think what we can all take away from my experience with Liam is that as coaches or adults who work with younger student-athletes, we have a large capacity to impact the individuals we work with. As coaches, we often get caught up in the details of how to most effectively teach these hard skills and techniques associated with our preferred sport, and while that’s very important, sometimes we can forget the importance of simply having fun outdoors. Creating a fun environment around outdoor sport has a massive impact on a young person’s experience and potential for lifelong involvement. Kids are smart and can pick up on more than we realize, so if they can tell you’re having fun it’ll be so much easier for them to enjoy the experience as well.[m1]  While I have many to choose from, I’ve highlighted a few of my most favorite memories from my time as an athlete under Liam’s coaching. 

I’ve had many coaches over the course of my life, and several of them had more knowledge and expertise than Liam did in the sport of skiing, training physiology, and waxing. To this day, however, I still use several of the drills that Liam did with us in middle school because they’re still effective and relevant. Liam had a good knowledge of the sport and was effective at coaching technique, but it was everything else that he brought to each session that really made an impression on me. 

For instance, he was always so excited to get out and ski each day it was hard for us to not get excited as well. And when we were out there with him, it was more like he was playing on the snow than he was skiing on it. This wasn’t just when we were playing games either, which we did a lot of, it was while we were skiing down the trail. He was like a kid in a candy store when he was on his skis and it made the experience so much more enjoyable for all of us. 

Games were a centerpiece of Liam’s practices. “Sharks and minnows” will always have a special place in my heart for the sheer simplicity of the game and the level of enjoyment and awesome ski agility skills you learn intuitively while playing it. Liam always played the games with us too, which made it more fun. 

I have many great memories from my years skiing with Liam, (like his awesome renditions of popular songs) but one of the best memories I have is of an awesome snowball fight we had as we were returning from watching my older sisters race at their high school state meet. It was hands down the best snowball fight either of us ever had because we each saw the huge snowbank and with one glance at each other knew an epic snowball fight was in store. We hurled snow and dove around attempting to avoid each other’s barrage until we were exhausted and surprisingly neither of us incurred any injuries, or hard feelings, and there was no loser either. We both won the snowball fight because we enriched our experience from a day that was already filled with great skiing. (Now I’m not recommending that every middle school coach has a snowball fight with their athletes, in fact, I would say that in general that should be avoided. But in this case, it was perfect.)

Another awesome memory that I have with Liam is the friendly competition he and I had going while I was on the high school team about who could get the most days of skiing in over the course of the season. Anytime we saw each other, on or off skis, we’d give our count as a way to encourage each other to get out more often. 

The culmination of all of these experiences has left a lasting impact on me in terms of how I value and appreciate outdoor sport in general, including, but not limited to, nordic skiing. As a result, I can confidently say that skiing will be something that I will do as long as I’m physically able. 

All of us as coaches and leaders of younger people can take a page out of Liam’s book and make fun and enjoyment a priority in our respective programs. Why will our participants want to continue to be involved if they’re not having fun?

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TEAM OSI SUMMIT:  A chance to join the Team OSI community through new experiences.

Last Summer we held our first Team OSI Summit. OSI staff and twelve high school aged students from across the state spent a week in the Katahdin Region of Maine whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, and exploring Maine’s beautiful wilderness. Though this experience was intended to introduce participants to new outdoor sports, throughout the week it was apparent that a community of young outdoor sport enthusiasts was formed.

Today there are so many ways for young people to connect through social media and other forms of technology however, nothing builds friendship and community quite like shared experiences and interests. The Team OSI Summit is an experience rooted in offering opportunities for high school-aged individuals to try new experiences, make new friends and join a community of likeminded outdoorsy individuals.

This Summer, we are hosting our second Team OSI Summit, July 13th through July 17th at the University of Maine campus in Orono, ME. We encourage you to share this opportunity with any high schooler or rising high schooler you may know. If they seem unsure or even question why they should join us for a week in July I have included a few talking points to encourage them to join in on the fun.

Making New Friends:

The Summit experience provides an opportunity to meet new people with similar interests in outdoor sport. High schoolers from Maine will join us for 5 days where they will problem solve, play games, learn from each other, share meals together and make friends by experiencing new sports.

Trying New Experiences:

Summit goers have the chance to participate in white water kayaking on the Penobscot River, mountain biking on the Penobscot NEMBA Trails, and trail running on the University of Maine Trails. These opportunities are for all levels of paddling, riding and running. The Team OSI Summit’s goal is to introduce folks to new experiences and start the process of developing their skills in outdoor sport pursuits.

A Community of Outdoor Sport Enthusiasts:  

JOIN TEAM OSI! At the conclusion of the Summit athletes will have the opportunity to join the Team OSI community. What does this mean?

- Access to join any course on our calendar

- Invitation to our community team gatherings (there are 4 a year!)

- OSI exclusive outdoor content

- Access to our coaching staff

This year’s Team OSI Summit is going to be a great experience. We hope you are interested in encouraging the high schoolers in your life to join us for all the fun this July!

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NEW YEAR, NEW ADVENTURES

Joshua Firmin, Team Head Coach and Initiative Coordinator

Ah, January.  The winter solstice is solidly in the rearview, the snow is (hopefully) piling up, and a fresh calendar is hanging on the wall.  A new year.  A new beginning.  Along with the accompanying celebrations, ringing in the transition from December to January creates an interesting dichotomy.  On the one hand, it’s a time of reflection.  An opportunity to look back on the past twelve months, acknowledging and learning from the accomplishments, failures, struggles, and triumphs we’ve had.  On the other hand, the arrival of the new year is also a time to look forward on things to come.  It’s a chance to dream, plan, and prepare.  Reflection and projection co-existing in the same space.  

As passionate pursuers of outdoor sport, the next 12 months represent a blank canvas of possibility.  Where to go? What to do?  When to do it?  For many this can seem like an incredibly daunting task.  How on earth can you possibly know what you want to be doing next October?  Interestingly, that is the rub.  You can’t know for sure what will happen in the future but by taking the time to think about what you’d like to be doing it’s more likely that you’ll realize your aspirations when the future becomes the now.  Creating intention for the upcoming year helps define the path to follow to reach your goals.  

Now, where to begin?  There certainly isn’t one “right” way to map out the year, and not every technique is going to work for every person.  A method that I’ve employed is the “Giant List” approach.  It’s remarkably simple, extremely flexible, and very effective.

The first step is to make a big list capturing all the objectives for the coming year.  No idea should be considered too lofty or inconsequential to make the cut.  If it’s in your head, put it on the list.  Don’t get bogged down in the details at this point, it’s really more about big picture concept.  Think of this master list as a “working draft”; it’s totally subject to change.  This simple act of writing down (or typing up) your aspirations is very significant.  Taking the initiative to capture your thoughts helps make them real and having a list to look back on helps keep you honest.

Once you have a thorough master list, the next step in the process is organizing it. Depending on your preferences there are bunch of ways to break things down.  You might try organizing by sport season or the seasons of nature.  You could even arrange the list by month.  What’s important is to arrange your goals for the year in a way that is going to be meaningful and useful to you.

After your list has been spruced up and arranged in a logical way, you can start looking at the prioritization of each item.  How important is to you to complete what you’ve put down?  How difficult or attainable are the things you’ve listed?  Considering these questions helps you direct your focus to the things that really matter to you.  This part of the process also demands a certain level of self-honesty.  It’s great if your list includes multiple “stretch” experiences, but if they are all prioritized as super important it may be tough trying to accomplish them all in one year’s time.  Be realistic about the time and resources your list items require and focus on the things that are truly important.  

This is also the place to start getting a bit more granular with the experiences on the list.  Let’s imagine, for example, that hiking Maine’s famous 100 Mile Wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail is on the list.  If you have never been on a multi-day backpacking trip, that is a pretty big undertaking. What are some smaller, specific steps that you’d need to take to get prepared?  Doing a handful of smaller shakedown hikes to dial in your systems and gain confidence are component experiences that support the ultimate goal.  Not everything on the list will require dissection and being realistic about what you are capable of accomplishing will help with this process.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this writing, it’s important to remember that your list will evolve over the course of the year.  Interests change, circumstances change, life changes.  The “giant list” is a great way to chart out the big picture path of outdoor sport undertakings but it is by no mean intended to be followed as dogma.  Quite the contrary.  It’s really more of an annual handrail, there to support you when needed.  It’s important to remain flexible for the unexpected opportunities that arise.  Are you really going to turn down an amazing opportunity because it “wasn’t on the list”?

Finally, once you’ve done the heavy mental lifting of getting your list in order put it where you will actually look at it on a regular basis.  This entire exercise is in vain if the list is buried in a notebook or lost in a jumble of icons on a computer desktop. Regularly review your list and seeing what you wrote down helps keep you stoked and motivated for the next adventure. Not to mention, it feels pretty awesome to cross things off the list.  Who doesn’t love that?  

I’ve started my list and so far 2019 is looking like quite exciting.  A big one for me this year is hiking Mt. Katahdin. It’s an experience I like to make happen every year and it didn’t happen in 2018.  It should come as no surprise when I admit that it wasn’t on my list last year.  Funny how that works.  I also have both races of the Maine Whitewater Championships Race Series on the radar for 2019.  

Have you started your list yet?  Not sure where to get begin or looking for things to add?  OSI has a calendar full of awesome outdoor development experiences for our team members to take advantage of.  From outdoor sport workshops to coaching opportunities in the field with our athletes there’s something for everyone.  The best part is that its only January, so you can get a jump on your list now and start preparing for maximum fun in the coming 12 months.  Here’s to a new year filled with new adventures for all.

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DESTINATION : PARC DE LA GASPESIE

Mike Smith, OSI Program Director & COO

Season’s Greetings folks. I hope this brief note finds you all enjoying the holidays with friends and family. This is one of my favorite times of year, not just because of the celebrations, but also because we’re officially at that point in the winter season where days have started getting longer again.

As we ring in the new year and say good bye to the holidays, the real winter season is just beginning. From casual weekend ski sessions with friends, to citizen races, to epic backcountry tours, the best of the season lies ahead. For me this means turning my attention to planning at least one special adventure with friends before the seasons change in a few months.

I love skiing in all forms – uphill, downhill, groomed, backcountry, skinny skis, powder boards, free heel, and fixed. Among my favorite ways to explore on skis, though, is deep in the mountains, touring the backcountry. As a resident of the northeast, there’s no better place for this within a day’s drive than Quebec’s Parc de la Gaspesie.

North of the Maine-New Brunswick border lies Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula.  Stretching out into the St. Lawrence Seaway, this rugged piece of Quebec is home to the Chic Choc Mountains, and some of the deepest snow found in eastern North America. The park is home to both luxury accommodations at the impressive Gite du Mont Albert, as well as backcountry huts that span the Chic Choc and McGerrigle Mountains.

Cross-country skiers seeking groomed tracks, backcountry tourers looking to break trail, and downhill enthusiasts seeking powder lines can all find skiing to suit their heart’s desire here. Whether for a week or a weekend, the experience of skiing in the Gaspe is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.

To prove it, this winter we’re taking members of Team OSI’s Community Coaches Network up to the Gaspe for three days of skiing and hut living. We’ll be staying roadside in an 8-person hut for a long weekend in February from the 7th to 11th. From our base folks will have the opportunity to ski groomed trails, enjoy backcountry day tours into the mountains, or skin and ski laps on one of the many surrounding mountains. If you’d like to join Josh and I for this weekend, shoot me an email or message on slack. We have just a few spaces left.

If you’re curious about exploring the Gaspe on your own, check out these resources –

https://www.sepaq.com/pq/gas/index.dot

https://avalanchequebec.ca/conditions-chic-chocs

http://villagegrandenature.com/

As a skier and resident of the northeast, the Parc de la Gaspesie should be on your bucket list. We’ll have future Community Coach Network development opportunities that will take us to this winter playground. It’s an adventure, though, that’s ready and waiting for you as soon as you’re willing to head north.

Wherever this winter finds you, I hope it’s memorable. If you have other gems you think everyone should see and ski in the northeast, we’d love to hear about them. Until then, see you on the trails.

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WARMING UP

Justin Fereshetian, Team OSI Head Coach & Initiative Coordinator

The winter months of the year can pose an additional challenge for outdoor sports enthusiasts like you and me because getting warm and staying warm is more challenging as a result of the colder weather. Erin Fay shared in an earlier post some good resources for dressing and layering well for outdoor activity in the winter (so you should check that out if you haven’t already), but instead of talking about layering I want to talk about some different strategies and actions we can take to warm our body up for winter activity.

I think it’s safe to say that most of you understand that it’s beneficial and good for our bodies to warm up prior to exercise, but you might not know how a warm-up can differ based on the intensity that we’ll be exercising at.

It should be noted that my main background with outdoor activity in the winter is largely from a nordic skiing perspective as a former racer. That’s not to say that these ideas can’t be applicable across other sports because they most certainly can. This is just where my perspective comes from, and I know it’s one that many of you have some experience with. Also because of my nordic background, the way I refer to my intensity and volume is by measuring heart rate and time respectively. If you’re unfamiliar with using heart rate zones this article by Polar talks about some basic guidelines to get you started. It addresses it from a running perspective but it can certainly be applied across any endurance sport.

Now let’s dive in!

Warm Up for High-Intensity Exercise

The main goal with warming up prior to an effort like a race or hard intervals is to prepare the body to be able to perform it’s best during the effort. You can think of it as waking your body up gradually and gently, rather than with crashing symbols if you were to skip it and just go from resting to racing. There are a few basic rules of thumb that I make sure to address in my warm up. While I do have a warm-up guideline that I follow, it’s just that, a guideline rather than a strictly followed routine.

This allows me to adapt it depending on the specific circumstances of that day. I feel like a lot of racers either get too fixated on their warm-up routine and end up getting in their own head when they end up deviating from it slightly, or they don’t have a warm-up plan at all. That’s why I make a conscious decision to call it a guideline.

Here’s the guideline I follow for any warm up I do –

1. I start with easy movement and mobility to get the blood flowing.

2. Then I spend some time in the middle working through the “gears” or heart rate zones I’ll be using in the effort.

3. Then a little more easy skiing with mobility.

4. Finally, I have some time built in to change layers, use the restroom, drink water, and have a light snack.

Specifically here’s what that looks like for me at a race –

I like to begin my warm up an hour out from my specific start time, so if it’s an individual start I like to use the exact start time that’s on the start list as my gauge for when to begin rather than the start time for the first person on the list.

Here’s how I might specifically apply my warm-up guideline for a distance race (5km and up) –

• 20 minutes of easy skiing at Level 1 (check the article I linked above from Polar if you don’t know what this means) with some dynamic mobility exercises near the end (I’ll talk about these in the next section)

• 3-4 minutes skiing at Level 3

• Equal time recovery at Level 1

• 1-1.5 minutes skiing at Level 4

• Equal time recovery at Level 1

• 4 minutes with a 10-second all-out sprint at the start of each minute (4 total), with very easy skiing until the start of the next minute

• 5-10 minutes easy skiing at Level 1 with some more mobility to shake out any minor lactic acid build up and bring the heart rate back down

If you’ve been keeping track this puts me somewhere around 45 minutes of movement prior to the start of the race. The remaining 15 or so minutes prior to my start are for taking care of any last personal tasks like –

• changing layers (I get cold hands very easily, so I’ll change to a dry pair of gloves at the minimum)

• having a light snack like a gel or something that won’t irritate my stomach

• getting a drink of water again

• using the restroom

• heading to the start area at least 5 minutes before my start

Once I’m at the start I like to keep my jacket on until about 2 minutes before my start and keep moving by jogging around and doing more mobility exercises to keep the blood flowing and my muscles loose and ready to perform well.

This is what I’ve found to work well for me, but it can certainly be adjusted and tailored to fit your needs. I like it because I gradually work through each heart rate zone that I intend to use in the race or interval. Usually, the first time you attempt to do a hard effort it’s a shock to your cardiovascular system and your body isn’t able to perform as well either. Your body is pretty amazing, by working through each heart rate zone individually prior to the race itself, your body is now on high alert and doing what it can to be better prepared to be able to perform that effort the next time you ask it to.

Warm up for Low to Moderate Intensity Exercise

That process above is great when I’m doing a race or a hard effort, but even when I’m going out for an easy ski warming up is still very important. It will just look a lot different. When you’re racing or doing hard intervals, you’re asking a lot of your body, so you have to be very diligent to make sure that your body gets the memo “Hey body, I’m about to work really hard, and I need you to be ready to perform your best”. Whereas prior to a lower intensity effort we still need to wake the body up and get it ready to work for you. Instead, it’s more like you telling your body “Hey body, time to wake up, I’m not resting any more”.

What I like to do here is build the warm up into the workout itself. I’ll do this by starting off the first 10 minutes easier than I intend to ski for the remainder of the workout to establish blood flow to all the major muscle groups and after about 10 or so minutes of easy skiing I’ll stop for a few minutes to do some mobility exercises.

Since skiing is a full body exercise I make sure to address my legs, arms, and torso with the mobility exercises I do, and I like to do so in a dynamic rather than static way. That means that I’m stretching by working through the range of motion with gentle continuous movement rather than just doing a standard stretch where you find that stretch and hold it. There’s some research that indicates that static stretching prior to exercise actually reduces muscle strength. The specific mobility exercises that I like to do include leg swings, both forward and back leg swings, as well as side-to-side leg swings. Then I also like to do arm circles, I do these with one arm at a time and gently swing it around like a windmill (or like I’m playing the air guitar) forward for about 30 seconds, then backward for an equal amount of time, making sure to do both arms of course.

Then I make sure to do mobility for my torso across its three planes of motion: flexion and extension, bending side-to-side and rotating or twisting. This mobility work paired with my easy skiing warm-up that I did just prior leaves me feeling loose and ready to continue on for the rest of the session. If it’s really cold I try to keep this brief or make sure that I do a short loop for the warm up and come back to an indoor space to do the mobility exercises.

These dynamic stretches and/or mobility exercises (I tend to use those terms interchangeably) are the same ones that I’ll mix into my pre-race warm up as well. I find these to be universally applicable to many different activities as well.

Don’t take my word for it though, give these ideas a try for yourself and find a warm-up guideline that fits your purposes.

Happy adventuring!

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COLD WEATHER PREPARATION

Erin Fay, Team OSI Head Coach and Initiative Coordinator

Have you ever ventured out into the winter wonderland looking like Randy from the film A Christmas Story? A lesson I learn and relearn every winter season is how important it is to have a good layering system and to be prepared for the winter elements. Today I am sharing two articles from REI that I find helpful in preparation for winter season activities.

The first article is titled Layering Basics. In this piece they break layering down into an understandable sequence that allows you can create an easy layering system that works for you and your personal thermostat. The most important take away that I get from this article is that staying warm in the cold doesn’t need to be complicated, especially if you think about these 3 layering components.

1. A Base layer that wicks moisture from your skin

2. A Middle layer that insulates you from the cold and

3. A Outer layer that protects you and the underlayers from wind and        rain/snow.

The second article is titled Cold-Weather Hiking Tips. This article covers how to prepare yourself for all of your winter weather adventures. Although the article specifically talks about hiking, the topics they cover regarding food and hydration and cold-related injuries is very applicable to any winter season activity. I encourage you to read this article and refresh your winter activity preparation skills.

Be safe and have a wonderful winter season!  

Erin Fay

Team OSI Head Coach

Initiative Coordinator

207-692-7321

erin@outdoorsi.org

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THE SEASON OF GIVING

Erin Fay | Team OSI Head Coach and Initiative Coordinator

I was fortunate to grow in up a family that had a firm belief in giving back to the community that nurtured and supported us, as well as to those that were less fortunate. My family still practices giving back although our interests and communities may be a bit different from when we were younger. The first experience of giving that I remember was when I was 11 years old.  I was participating in a community Easter egg hunt and every kid was entered into a raffle to win a brand-new bike. At the end of the event they announced the winner of the raffle and to my surprise (even to this day because I never am picked for raffles) I was the recipient of the new bike!

Now, I was excited to say the least, however I was also worried. See I taught myself how to ride a bike that previous summer on my sister’s hand-me-down bike that had pedal breaks and was ill fitted. So, I made a deal with my family that I would to extra chores around the farm and keep my room clean all so that for my soon-approaching birthday I could get a purple mountain bike that had lever breaks and fit me just right. When I heard that I was getting this new bike from the raffle I was struck with worry that all my hard work at home would be for nothing and that my dreams of the purple mountain bike were gone.

While I was walking up to receive my winnings and thinking through how I could convince my parents that I had a need for two bikes, I saw a mom comforting her son because he really wanted to win the bike. At that moment my 11-year-old brain saw this as the perfect way to not put my purple birthday mountain bike dream in jeopardy and I wheeled the bike over to the mother and son and said something like “I saw you were sad about not winning the bike. I am getting one for my birthday, so you can have this one.” To be honest I do not remember much about the moments after this other than the strong hug that the mom gave me and the thank you note I received a few weeks later with a picture of the boy riding his bike in his driveway.

This past year I was talking to my parents and I were going through some family photos and there were a few pictures of me on my purple birthday mountain bike. It brought up a conversation about that one time I was picked in a raffle and won the bike that I then gave away. I recounted what I remembered about the event and mostly how I had my heart set on the bike I had chosen. What my parents remembered was the thank you that they received from the boy’s family stating how the family didn’t have the funds to buy the boy a new bike and how he was still riding the bike he learned on. My parents shared that this act of kindness (which they were surprised to hear was for far more selfish reasons) not only made them proud parents but reinforced our family’s practice of supporting and giving back to the community that nurtures and supports us.

The Holidays are the time of year when we are especially encouraged to give. Some call it the “season of giving”. We give gifts, donations, and our time to our communities and community members in need. The idea behind this is noble and many organizations and families in need get the bulk of their donations and assistance during this time of year. This season I encourage you to take time and reflect on what and how you have given, as well as what you have received from your outdoor community. How you can pay that forward and give back to your communities that nurture you and your passions and pursuits?

Cheers to adventure, good friends, and nurturing the community that nurtures you.

From everyone at OSI, we wish you and your families a very happy holidays and an amazing New Year!

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THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Joshua Firmin, Team Head Coach and Initiative Coordinator

Outdoor sports are lifetime sports. Sports like cycling, skiing, and hiking can be enjoyed throughout the entire arc of one’s life.  One might even argue that participating in these activities actually helps keep you young.  This month we’ve been exploring the idea of “habits” and how they apply to life and sport.  While aging is inevitable, incorporating some simple self-care habits and practices can help insure that growing old doesn’t mean slowing down.  

As we say goodbye to November (Snow-vember anyone?), I wanted to share a short film that explores the idea of longevity, the so called “Fountain of Youth”.  In addition to some gratuitously deep Japan powder skiing, the film provides insight on what it takes to stay active past a perceived “prime”. While still a few years away, I fully intend on skiing long enough to get the ultra-cheap “Super Senior” ski passwhen the time comes.  Wherever you may be in life’s journey, remember that age is just a number and not an impediment to living (and enjoying) life on your own terms.    

Salomon TV: Fountain of Youth

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GETTING FORWARD

By Mike Smith, Program Director & C.O.O.

Across all sports there are common themes. Take vision for example. Your eyes, and consequently your head, lead your movement. This is true in kayaking, skiing, basketball, table tennis, and countless other activities. The first step towards initiating a downhill turn on a mountain bike is looking through the turn. Want to stand taller on your classic skis? It helps to look ahead, and not down at your toes. Your vision leads your movement.

Another common theme is the idea of getting forward. In some sports this is called an “athletic stance”. In mountain biking we often talk about the “ready” position, and in paddling we talk about an “aggressive” posture. Even in running we talk about our hips staying ahead of our feet rather than behind. The theme is the same across the board, to perform well, we have to be forward.

What is this idea all about, and why is it so important? For starters having a forward body position, in whatever way our specific sport dictates, means that we are being proactive rather than reactive. It means we are anticipating what’s coming next which means we are more prepared for whatever it is – an obstacle, a change in direction, or even throwing our next trick.

Being forward also means that physically our body is more calm, ready, and engaged. We can experience this just sitting in a chair. Feel the difference between fully reclining back versus being forward on the edge of your seat. Neither requires a lot of effort.  If you suddenly had to move, though, which position sets you up to do so? When we’re forward our major core muscles can engage, allowing us maximum control over our movements. When we lean back we lose the connection between our upper and lower body by unintentionally turning off the muscles that allow us to bend and twist.

When we’re forward we might not feel as stable as we do when we are fully reclined, but that’s a static sense of stability. We are engaged in sport, which means we’re being dynamic, so we’re seeking stability that comes from continued movement, not from staying still.

Getting forward can be challenging in outdoor sports in particular, because it requires a mental shift as much as a physical one. A fellow whitewater coach I know teaches people to run their first waterfall by talking about “climbing down the waterfall”. What’s he really saying? Get forward, all the way down the drop. Think about that for a second though. Any one of us when faced with plunging over something that’s naturally intimidating like a waterfall would be scared. And what do we do when we’re scared? Without thinking we almost always back away. We freeze. We resist.

This is one of the great challenges of the outdoor sports we pursue. Skiing down a steep slope, mountain biking through a technical rock garden, paddling down through crashing waves, and even hiking to a distant summit can fill us all with a sense of fear. That fear can translate into a physical posture and movement that makes us less capable of performing the task at hand. Instead, we have to learn to get forward.

Notice I didn’t say we shouldn’t be scared. We’ve talked about fear in previous team articles and posts, and we know it’s not something to just dismiss. What we need, though, are tools and habits to help us work with fear. Getting forward is one of the most important habits you can develop as an athlete. When I’m skiing a slope that’s challenging, or sitting above a waterfall I’m about to run, telling myself to not have fear isn’t very useful. Cueing myself to get forward, however, is something very tangible and tactical that I can focus on. Running a big drop in a kayak, for example, I’ll repeat to myself “spot your landing”. That helps me remember that at the moment I start to fall, I should be forward, looking to where I want to go, not leaning away.

Learning to get forward, whether on skis, on a bike, in a boat, or on our feet, requires practice. This month in our posts we’re diving further into techniques that you can apply in the outdoor sports you coach and take part in for yourself. Be sure to check them out, and play with the ideas to see what works for you.

With our students we can also help them think about how getting forward, as a habit, can apply to their daily lives. Outdoor sports aren’t the only place we find the value of getting forward, overcoming our natural tendency to resist or shy away, can help us be more successful. Think about the situations that they find themselves resisting - a challenging homework assignment, entering a new social scene, having difficult conversations with friends and family.

These are just a few examples of times in their lives where the natural tendency is to lean away and resist the moment. What would happen, though, if they learned to lean in, to get forward, to find stability through moving into the moment, rather than digging their heels in trying to keep the moment at bay? As is often the case, the answer we find on the river or trail, holds true to the rest of our lives. Learn to get forward, and we can learn to be calm and ready, prepared to handle whatever comes next.

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BEING FORWARD ON SKIS

Justin Fereshetian, Team OSI Head Coach & Initiative Coordinator

It certainly seems like we’re being blessed with an early start to the winter here in Maine and with that comes getting the skis on snow again after a long off-season. I know that a number of you on our coaches network participate in some capacity with Nordic skiing whether you enjoy to do it yourself for exercise, or you teach or coach others how to ski or improve their skiing. And even if you don’t specifically work with Nordic skiing, these same principles can be applied across many other sports and applications.  That being said the importance of a forward body position is hugely important when skiing for a number of reasons.

The first reason is that you take the laws of gravity and use them to your advantage. I like to think of skiing and in particular double poling, although this is certainly applicable for most skiing techniques, as a controlled forward fall. You can see in this image of Kikkan Randall racing in a World Cup event in Davos that if she didn’t have poles in her hands she would fall on her face because of how forward she is. She is using the laws of gravity to apply more force and power to her poles than she would be able to if she were standing straight up. You can see the potential energy that she has stored up ready to propel her forward down the trail.

As a result of this forward body position, we’re able to ski with more power and more efficiency, which are the second and third reasons why this position is so important. If we’re standing straight up while skiing we’re only able to move forward as a result of our muscles doing lots of work pushing us forward. Our muscles have to work so hard because they have to overcome our own inertia. If you’ve ever done the drill where you get your skis to glide forward from a standstill on flat or even slightly uphill terrain by simply leaning your entire body forward while your skis are in a “V”, you find that it doesn’t have to be really strenuous work to get your body moving forward and overcoming that inertia. Then when we couple the natural gravitational pull that the earth has on our bodies from that forward position with the force of our muscles, the power we can generate is exponentially higher. It’s also more efficient because it allows us to cover more ground with each stroke while using the same amount of, or even a little less force from our muscles. And instead of having to overcome our own inertia with each stroke, we are constantly doing that with our forward body position, so that our muscles can help us to continue to build on that. This is extremely helpful in longer races where you have to use thousands upon thousands of strokes to get to the finish. Even if you’re just out for a recreational or an easy training ski, if you’re able to do so more efficiently it’s more enjoyable and may even lead to one of those days where you just don’t want to stop.

I’m sure that for some of you this may not be entirely new, but maybe there’s one piece of it that you can use or maybe just hearing it from a different perspective allows you to understand it better. Either way I hope this is useful for you, and I’d love to hear about any other ways you’ve tried to teach others or yourself how to ski with a forward body position. If Nordic skiing isn’t your thing how do the principles of a forward body position apply in your outdoor sport?

If you want to dive deeper into some of the science behind skiing technique and why some ways of skiing are faster and more efficient there are lots of good resources to check out, one of them being https://xcskination.com/home/  as well as this video from crosscountryskitechnique.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXRmc-XAbZo

Enjoy this early start to winter!