Fall ski training classes have started again for another season.

It is always a pleasure to meet another new class of students. I wait with anticipation, wondering about the diversity of the class and how many students will be very fit or a bit weaker. Of course there are students that are also returnees and you can see how much they have improved over the summer season.
The class started with the basic ski walk up a gradual hill. Weight on one bone supported leg with hip behind the ankle, then over the ankle and then a quick knee drop and then spring as the hips come past the ankle. If you did not take a step forward you would fall on your face. The landing for the next leg is once again in a bone supported leg position.
Then you worked on making sure there was a good weight transfer by ski walking up a series of pylons up the gradual hill.
The arm motion took some correcting, as some were not walking with arm and leg working in opposite movement.
On the way back down the hill you pretended to plant a pole and go around it with the shoulders over the ankles, and the hips dropped to load the leg muscles.
After much practice we switched things up and practised somewhat stationary double poling without poles. First we pretended to flick the water off our hands. The elbows did not straighten. Then you worked on elbows slightly wider then the hands. The stomach is stretched before contracting and hips come forward.
As you whipped the hands downward the knees collapsed as would happen when loading the poles by body weight, only as the hips starts to pass the ankles.
The tempo was increased to a very fast real racing tempo, while stationary and forcefully breathing out. If you blow out you will breathe in.
A core stomach exercise was done by one person laying down on their back and grabbing the other persons ankles. The person on the ground raise their legs to the person standing then had their straight legs thrown down wards, while the person on the ground tried not to have their legs be thrown to the ground. It is a very quick way of determining how strong a persons stomach is.
Then it was back to more ski walking up the small hill. This time on the way back down you paired up with grasped hands one pulling and one resisting back down the hill. Shoulders stay over the ankles, back upright, and hips dropped.
 next exercise had you skipping up the hill 2 skips on one side of the pylons and then on the other side.
Continued pulling going back down with partners taking turns on who was pulling from the downside of the hill.
Next exercise was to hop up the hill on one leg first on one side of the pylon and then the other side. Four reps up the hill with each leg doing it twice.

Homework is to try and get out and do at least a 2-3 hour ski walk on hilly terrain in one session with at least 5 hours of ski specific training for the week.
The class finished up with a bit of stretching though I like stretching in a hot tub.

A lot more was mentioned, but that is what we will mention for now.