Power Meets Endurance: Building the Complete Ski Racer
Loic Melliard of Switzerland | Photo: dustinsatloff
Power Meets Endurance: Building the Complete Ski Racer
Watch a World Cup downhill and you’ll see two things at play: raw power and relentless endurance. Think of Alexander Kilde charging through a turn, his legs look like they’re forged from steel. That kind of strength keeps skis locked on edge against brutal G-forces. However, if strength alone were enough to win races, the podium would be filled with bodybuilders. Ski racing demands more. It requires the stamina to hold that power together from the start gate all the way through the last, leg-burning turns.
Why Both Matter
Strength is the foundation. It’s what allows athletes to drive skis into the snow, explode out of transitions, and stay stable at speed. This is the anaerobic system—fast-twitch, oxygen-free energy.
But endurance is the glue. Downhill races last nearly two minutes, and giant slaloms aren’t much shorter. By the final gates, oxygen is everything. Without the aerobic system, muscles fatigue, technique falls apart, and races are lost in the closing stretch.
Great ski racers master the balance: explosive power to attack each turn, and the endurance to keep attacking when their legs beg to quit.
The Training Approach
This balance doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from smart, targeted training. Skiers build power with heavy lifts, plyometrics, and core work. They stack endurance with conditioning circuits, intervals, and volume. Then they tie it together with lactate-threshold training, the kind that makes legs burn but teaches the body to fight through it.
The formula? Block training. Athletes cycle through phases that focus on strength and endurance, allowing one system to develop without erasing the gains made in the other. Over time, it creates the hybrid engine that ski racing demands.
Why Start Now
Every turn, every run, every race takes reps. That’s why pre-season training is the key to success. Without it, athletes show up underprepared, limiting their ability to train, race, and improve once the snow arrives. With it, they hit the mountains strong, durable, and ready to push through fatigue when it matters most.
This fall, Kirkwood Ski Team athletes have the opportunity to solidify that foundation. Dry-land training begins September 18th at South Shore CrossFit—a program designed exclusively for our athletes.
Led by Athletic Director Kylese Markt, a former Nor-Am racer, CrossFit competitor, and sports psychology expert—along with the KSEF Head Coaching staff, this program builds the strength, endurance, and mental resilience needed for a championship season.
The Takeaway
Looking strong might turn heads in the lodge, but it won’t put you on the podium. Racing fast requires the full package: power, stamina, and the mindset to keep firing when the course is longest and the legs are heaviest.
That’s why we’re calling on every Kirkwood athlete to put in the work now. Join us for dry-land training, build your base, and step into this season ready to ski at your absolute best.
KSEF Dry-Land Training
📍 South Shore CrossFit
📅 Starts Thursday, Sept 18 | 3:00–4:15 PM
👥 Led by Athletic Director Kylese Markt & KSEF Head Coaches
For more information and to sign up:
Athletic Director: Kylese - Kylese@Kirkwoodskiteam.com
Program Admin: Dana - Dana@Kirkwoodskiteam.com
Don’t wait for winter to get ready. Train now—ski stronger later.
#KSEFStrong #NeverWasteADay #StokeLevelSolid
