This advanced level plan is intended primarily for skiers who will skin or climb to the top of their objectives. It will also serve well for heli or lift-assisted skiers looking to improve their all mountain skiing. The plan is not for novices and assumes you have solid physical conditioning, no current injuries and have been very active over the summer but are looking to put the final touches on your fitness during the fall.

The backbone of the program is the aerobic base you bring to it. If the thought of skinning or climbing two-thousand feet in a day leaves you short of breath this is not the plan for you. In that case you should start with our Uphill Athlete 8-week Ski Hut to Hut Training Plan.

The early weeks include extensive aerobic workouts to support the uphill part of your ski day along with mobility, core and functional strength workouts. By week 6 you will be into the very demanding muscular endurance ski specific segment of this plan. The final six weeks of this plan are a mix of challenging muscular endurance workouts and aerobic training.

Gear requirements for this plan are a barbell and a squat rack. The total weight necessary will vary between athletes.

This plan is based on your RPE, or “Rate of Perceived Exertion,” where workout intensities are guided by how hard you are working based on your perception of effort (how hard the workout feels to you) rather than by heart rate. This plan is an adapted option for those who want to learn to calibrate their true effort levels in their workouts.

Whether you use an RPE-based or heart rate-based training plan, we recommend that you use a chest-strap heart rate monitor and GPS watch to log all your training.