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

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0:19

In this conversational segment, Tom Gellie and a co‑host discuss how to treat skiing as a true sport, especially during demanding multi‑day helicopter ski trips. They highlight the rapid fatigue that sets in after the first day and stress the need for structured preparation. Key recommendations include eating real food (bars, balanced meals) instead of relying on energy drinks and beer, staying hydrated, getting eight uninterrupted hours of sleep without phone use, and consuming roughly 0.8 g of protein per pound of body weight to support recovery and bone density. They also advocate a dynamic warm‑up routine—yoga, light cycling, and jump rope—so the body is truly ready before strapping on the boots. The overall message is that disciplined nutrition, rest, and warm‑up practices can sustain performance across multiple ski days.

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.