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How To Effectively Train Boot-packing and Running Technique for Skimo Racing

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Kilian Jornet on a way to winning his fourth Pierra Menta. Photo by Jocelyn Chavy.

Technique for boot-packing and running seems fairly straightforward since walking and running are the most natural movements to humans. However, several critical details do make a difference in efficiency.

The weight of the ski boots, loss of ankle agility, snow and handling of the ski poles all add to the complexity of simple movements we are born to easily master.

Training for effective and efficient boot-packing for longer (slower) races should be somewhat different from training for fast sprint races and running so we are discussing each on its own.

This article is an excerpt from our Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing ebook.

Boot-packing for longer races

Usually, in longer races, boot-packing is up a steep slope with skis attached to your backpack. The important thing is that you use double-poling technique for this – planting both of your ski poles at the same time.

How to train:

Find a safe, steep slope (30+ degree) where you can set up 30-100 m (100-330 ft) vertical boot-pack. The right snow density for setting up a boot-pack track should allow for at least half of your boot’s sole to form a step.

Perform 3-6 climbs during which you double-pole on every third or fourth step.

Throughout the first half of the arms motion, you are using your arms for pulling, while in the second half (once ski poles’ handles are below your shoulders) you are using them for pushing, finishing with a full extension.

Intensity will be dictated by terrain but you can easily incorporate such a boot-pack section into your tempo intervals (zone 3).

It’s less suitable to incorporate these into your VO2 max intervals (zone 4) because of the time required to transition unless you are planning on performing the whole interval by boot-packing.

What elite racers do:

All elite racers use the double-poling technique during a boot-pack. They plant their poles, hunch themselves with their heads tilted down, then pull and push with force while their feet are doing three to five steps in one cycle. Their cadence (step frequency) varies greatly depending on the slope angle and depth of the track.

Boot-packing for sprint races

During boot-pack sections in sprint races or short (or lower angle) boot-pack sections in longer ones, the technique is the same as described above but since it’s performed on much shorter climbs, the cadence is higher as well as the force that is used for double-poling.

ISMF photo.

How to train:

Find a safe, 30-40 degree slope that will accommodate a 15-30 m (50-90 ft) vertical boot-pack. The snow should be fairly hard as the ideal foot penetration depth for good steps shouldn’t be more than just above your boot soles.

Perform 6-10 climbs with the double-poling technique described in the “boot-packing for longer races” above, but with your arms maximum force pulling and pushing on your poles while running (not walking) up the track.

These should be maximal speed efforts, so heart-rate intensity is not important, with about 1-2 minutes of recovery between the climbs.

What elite racers do:

All top sprint racers are very fast going up short boot-packs, covering four to six strides per every powerful double-poling cycle with a cadence of around 90-100 steps per leg per minute.

In the video below, around 30sec and 1min 30sec, you can watch elite racers running up during a sprint race at the 2019 World Championships.

Running in skimo races

Some races have flat or almost flat sections that are covered on foot (with skis on the pack) that could be on snow or on dry ground (gravel, pavement, grass). These sections are covered by running.

How to train:

To train for running on the snow, complete 6-10 maximal efforts of 10-15 seconds with 1-2 minutes of active rest between.

Use double-poling technique and lean into the stride, just like you would running in shoes, planting your poles far ahead of you and doing about 6-8 strides per double-poling cycle.

Best is to practice on groomed or hard-packed snow with minimal or no foot-penetration.

To train for running on dry land, complete 5-8 efforts at speed of zone 2-3 intensity and 10-20 seconds in length with minimal or no recovery. For these, you can carry poles in your hands without using them for half of the efforts while double-poling during the rest. Avoid doing these at your maximal speed as running on dry, hard ground in ski boots is quite taxing on all your leg joints. The ideal surface is grass or soft-packed dirt.

What elite racers do:

On-snow running sections are regularly featured at the top of boot-packs at various levels of competition, while dry-land sections are almost exclusive to long races that are in the spring months such as Pierra Menta, Patrouille des Glaciers, etc.

Top racers perform double-poling during the on-snow sections and usually carry their poles on dry land to prevent from breaking their pole tips.

Mental Skills for Racing: Visualization

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Mental training is a commonly overlooked aspect of preparation for athletic competition. At best, most of us use only a few mental skills to cope with the difficulty of training and racing. In this article, we will take you through a few skills that will come in handy during a skimo season.

What is Visualization

Visualization is a method for practicing skills without actually physically performing them. It’s possible to use to practice technique (including transitions), overcome distractions, and prepare for more general race situations. Visualization training requires nothing more than a quiet space and some free time. Many strategies exist for visualization and the following are some that work best for us.

Lenzi leaving for a boot-pack in front of Jornet. ISMF photo.
Perfecting transitions through visualization is very effective. ISMF photo.

Preparation

Start by identifying visualization scenarios in three categories: Techniques, Distractions, and Racing Situations. I like to write things down so I start by dividing things I want to practice into three columns with the above categories as the title.
Technique visualization is used to develop a specific skill. In skimo, transitions are a good example of a technique that many of us need to improve and in which visualization can be employed.
Distractions are any type of adverse event in a race from which you must recover. A crash, a failed skin, or a frozen water bottle are all possible examples of distractions.
Racing Situations are more general, such as a start of a race, passing a competitor, skiing a difficult descent and so on.
In each column, on your piece of paper, write down as many scenarios of possible visualizations that you can think of. They can be specific to a single race or general to the racing environment. Once you’ve identified a handful of each, choose one at a time to visualize. I try to only do one or two scenarios per visualization session so they can remain clear in my mind rather than confused with many. You can do your visualization entirely in your head or write down some prompts (action steps). Notecards can be useful, writing the scenario on one side and then written prompts taking you through the visualization on the other – this way you are building yourself a library of scenarios and actions for future reference.

Visualization

There are several important things to include in the visualization process but most important is that it is as polysensory and positive as possible:
Polysensory refers to including as many senses as possible. While visualizing, you should not only see the scenario but also feel it. In a racing situation, this might include a cold, biting wind, fatigued legs, and the taste of blood from exertion! Include as many physical sensations and environmental conditions as possible.
Positive means that all visualizations should be resulting in a positive outcome. If you visualize yourself failing, you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead, always visualize yourself at your best! In the case of visualizing distractions, while you are initially experiencing something negative, through the course of the visualization, you should be realigning with it in the best possible manner and reversing it into something positive. A good way to think about it is to consider the problem or distraction and then think, if my coach was standing next to me right now, what would they say? You will picture the best version of yourself in that scenario.
Visualization can include a combination of 1st and 3rd person perspective. Some athletes like to see things through their own eyes while others like looking from above and seeing their body move through the action. I believe a bit of both is best – 1st person allows you to best feel the physical and emotional sensations while 3rd person allows you to see your body acting perfectly.
Finally, visualization should include all the emotions associated with that particular scenario. If you are visualizing a distraction, try to internally feel the frustration and panic initially but then regain composure and experience the confidence as you quickly act to correct the problem and finish stronger than before.

Putting it all together

Here is a particular situation (starting a race) and my visualization process:
I’ve got all my gear prepared perfectly – skis are waxed, skins are glued, and everything else is dialled and fits like a glove. I’m just finishing my warmup and even though the weather is a bit cold, I’m quite warm. I ski up to the start corral and feel my heart-rate settling as the race official checks my beacon. After I drop my jacket and pull up to the start line, I feel a bit of a chill but also the excitement of the race about to start. Standing still, my heart rate increases as I tense up. With a few deep breaths, my heart rate stabilizes. I relax my grip on my poles and get positioned for the start. The gun fires and I take off running, keep breathing, smooth stride, poling fast…
Do you use visualization to improve your skiing? What other mental skills do you use to prepare for training or events?

Skimo World Cup Sprint: Video Transition Technique Analysis

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skimo-racing-transition-world-cup
Sprint races are not really my forte when it comes to skimo racing. However, they are incredibly spectator friendly (good for the sport) and allow mortal athletes to closely watch the top guys.
After a quick spin, but not quick enough, around the sprint track at the recent Alpiniski World Cup in the qualifying round, I made a point to post up at the transition areas to watch the race leaders and their technique. I shot four videos from the men’s semi-final rounds and the final. Because the race also served as European Championships, there was a strong field in attendance.
There are three transitions in the race: 1) skinning to boot-pack where skis get attached to the backpack, 2) boot-pack to skinning, and 3) skinning to skiing or skins off for the descend. In a sprint race, every fraction of a second counts at each transition so regular practice is an absolute must.

Skinning to Boot-pack

In this semi-final round we see two Swiss athletes (black suits) using a “kneeling technique” to transition into the boot-pack. Notice their fluid movements when the bindings are released and stepped out of. The skis are put on the pack and then the poles grabbed before standing up.

The slow-motion section shows the faster Swiss athlete using the kneeling technique.
In the third clip of this video, we see athletes putting their skis on their packs without kneeling. This technique appears to be slightly faster but the margin of error makes it essentially the same.
Transition times (in seconds) are listed with each clip for the athletes followed and times are from the moment the poles hit the ground to the moment they come off the ground:
#8 – 7.4s
#24 – 7.7s
#1 – 6.9s
#7 – 7.0s
#9 – 7.4s
#67 – 8.1s

Boot-pack to Skinning

Here we see the athletes putting their skis on at the end of the boot-pack. It’s not a very technical movement but notice how they stay bent over the entire time. They drop the skis, open the bindings, step in to each, and THEN stand up with the poles.

Times for the first two were as follows:
#5 – 6.5s
#2 – 7.3s

Skins off: Skinning to Skiing


The mythical double-skin rip is pretty standard fare on the World Cup.
The first clip shows Italy’s Robert Antonioli into the transition first, he went on to become the new European Champion. He actually makes the transition look pretty mellow.
The carefully watch the last guy into the transition (Swiss – #4 – Yannick Eccour), he is the fastest of the group and looks very smooth. After that you will realize that Antonioli made few errors – he didn’t get his heels clicked in at once and took few pulls to get the skins off – but Eccour is flawless.
For the double-rip, watch #69 (Austrian). The key is to lock the heels first with a little hop, then bend forward to reach both skin tips and rip simultaneously. Some subtle differences to the Italian style! Also, notice the Austria athlete clipping his clip-in style ski poles simultaneously while already fully parked in the transition. It takes him more time as the others, using traditional ski poles loops, take their poles off while still moving forward. And final interesting points is that five of them are using the same ski poles from Leki.
Their times were as follows:
#2 – 10.7s (Antonioli)
#1 – 12.1s
#5 – 14.6s
#7 – 13.4s
#69 – 13.8s
#4 – 8.5s
Study up the videos and practice your technique! A few tens of a second in a sprint and even an individual race can make a big difference!
For more skimo racing technique tips see our Manual For Ski Mountaineering Racing e-book.

Book announcement: Manual for Ski Mountaineering Racing is coming soon

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It has been over a year since Eric and I started working on an idea I have been thinking about for a while. Today, we would like to present you with a cool project we are just finishing and you will be able to get your hands on very soon.

Fast-track your skimo learning

The Manual, as we refer to it, is going to be an e-book that you will be able to read on your phone, or iPad, or laptop, or just simply print out.
We believe the main benefit of this Manual is that it will allow you to speed up your skimo learning curve by at least a few years. You will still need to train, but inside the book we reveal and answer as much as possible yet in a length and format that will take you no more than a day to study.
We didn’t strive for a skimo encyclopedia but rather for a practical tool that you can easily and rapidly learn from.

Skimo technique videos

On top of the manual itself, we have been developing a series of informative technique videos. We are going to start by releasing skimo transitions videos during the next couple of days so you can start practicing speedy transitions for your first races. The cool thing is that we are linking to all of those videos from inside the e-book to make your learning experience as smooth as possible.
Here is one of the videos (click on the “gear” settings button to see it in HD):

I want it, when is the release date?

If you can’t wait to read it then send us your email through the form below and we will let you know a couple of days before it will be released.
The price will be $17 per copy but the first 20 people to email us here will get a 20% discount towards the purchase.
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"] In case you missed it, here is a sample, most of a complete chapter from the e-book on skimo racing strategy that we released for free a few days ago.
Thank you and we wish you many happy early season turns!
Stano and Eric