Tom GellieBig Picture Skiing Pty Ltd · Coach/Director

Do you treat skiing like the sport it is with your preparation?

15 Oct 2025 · 0 min

Watch on YouTube

0:19

In this conversational YouTube segment, Tom Gellie and a fellow skier discuss how to approach back‑country skiing as a true sport, especially during a four‑day helicopter‑skiing expedition in Japan. They stress that while many can ski a single day, sustaining performance over multiple days requires deliberate preparation. Key points include: the necessity of eight hours of uninterrupted sleep without phone distraction to promote recovery and bone density; a nutrition plan centered on 0.8‑1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, regular meals and snacks (e.g., bars on the lift) and avoiding reliance on energy drinks or beer; consistent hydration; and a structured warm‑up routine that incorporates yoga, cycling, and jump‑rope to raise core temperature before strapping into boots. The overall message is that treating skiing with the same discipline as high‑performance sports—through sleep, nutrition, and targeted warm‑ups—enables skiers to stay strong and enjoy successive days on the mountain.

Everyone can go ski one day, but how are you on day 2 or 3 or 4? You know, people start to fall off. Ah bro, I need a half day off. I'm gonna— you know, I'm like, bro, we're in Japan. Like, we're— you know, it's, it's day 4 of the helicopter ski trip and like, you're tired today? Did you eat breakfast? No. Like, show me what you ate for lunch. Like, it cannot include a Monster Energy and a beer.
There's not many other sports where you might be up at like 7:30, on the lift at 8:30, going hard, and then the day ends at maybe 4.
We can still take those lessons out of high-performance Olympic-level skiing and say, hey, you know, let's get a— every few, you know, every hour, let's eat a bar on the lift. Look, you can do that. Like, just make sure some water. Are you laying in bed for 8 hours without looking at your phone? Yes or no? Not looking at your phone 8 hours. I need you to rest. If you want to recover, grow a body, get stronger, build bone density, have you like lay in bed for 8 hours. And usually the 8.8 grams or gram of protein per pound body weight. I stretch and I warm, and now the best athletes are doing yoga before they go on the hill, and I'll get on the bike and I'll be prepped and I'll jump rope. And so by the time I strap in the boots, I'm actually warm like I'm actually going to go do a sport, and I'm treating skiing like a sport.