Skiing Is Not a Winter Sport

When our daughter first started competitive freeskiing, we thought skiing was pretty straightforward. You ski all winter, the snow melts, you take a break, and then you start again when the lifts open. We were wrong.

One of the biggest things we didn't understand was just how important summer training is. We didn't even realize it existed, let alone how much of a role it plays in learning new tricks before taking them to snow.

What Do Freeskiers Do All Summer?

They jump into swimming pools, land on giant airbags and spend hours on trampolines. They work on air awareness, body position and strength, repeating movements until new tricks start to feel familiar.

A trick you see someone land in January may have started months earlier on a trampoline, water ramp or airbag. These training opportunities allow athletes to build skills through repetition before attempting new tricks on snow with a coach.

Where to Find Summer Training

Water ramps allow athletes to ski down a synthetic surface, hit a jump and land in a swimming pool. Major facilities include the Olympic Jumping Complex in Lake Placid, New York, and Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah.

Some clubs even have access to their own facilities. Bristol Mountain Freestyle in New York, for example, has access to a water ramp for year-round training.

Airbags offer another option, allowing athletes to practice tricks on dryland jumps before attempting them on snow. Freestyle America in Campton, New Hampshire, offers summer camps combining trampoline training, rails, conditioning and airbag sessions at nearby Holderness School.

Waterville Valley Academy/BBTS also offers summer freestyle training using trampolines, dryland ramps and an airbag at its Phil's Hill facility.

And then there are programs like Woodward Park City, where athletes can develop skills through trampolines, foam pits, skateparks and other action-sports training facilities. These environments offer another way to work on coordination, air awareness and progression, even without skis on.

These are just a few examples of opportunities we had no idea existed when our daughter started skiing. If your child is interested in freeskiing, search for water ramps, airbag facilities, trampoline programs or freestyle summer camps in your area. Ask local clubs and coaches where their athletes train during the warmer months. You might be surprised by what's available.

As parents who didn't grow up in this world, we assumed summer was the off-season. Now, our summers are spent traveling to training facilities, watching our daughter work on new tricks and getting ready for the next winter season. It's a side of the sport we never knew existed when we started.

Where does your skier train during the summer? We'd love to hear about programs other families should know about.

Skiing, as it turns out, isn't just a winter sport.