If you only bike when the weather is nice, you aren’t getting the most out of your sport.
If you only hike the trails or ski on nice groomed, lift-served runs, your horizons can be broadened.
Whatever your favorite outdoor sport, there are almost always ways to get more out of the act ivity.
Perhaps it’s strengthening your body so you can do your sport more often without hurting afterward. Or perhaps it’s figuring out how your outdoor play can raise money for charity.
“Sometimes it’s as simple as just being in good shape,” said Keith Rollins, an avid backcountry skier and manager of Sturtevant’s Ski Mart. “You can do more and you enjoy it more when you are in good shape.”
We talked to five outdoor gurus and collected five tips that might just help you get more from your favorite activity:
YOGA
Any outdoor athlete plagued by nagging injuries would be envious of Jason Edwards.
Edwards is a 51-year-old guide for International Mountain Guides who’s as active as climbers half his age. Over the summer, he became the first person to make one-day climbs of Mount Rainier’s challenging Liberty Ridge 25 years apart. Most people need three days to climb this route.
Edwards has climbed the 14,411-foot Rainier more than 315 times, has reached the highest point on every continent and has been relatively injury free. He credits luck and genetics, but he’ll tell you the real secret is yoga.
“I believe yoga has allowed me to be super active, and has warded off many potential injuries,” Edwards said via e-mail. “It’s amazing that I am able to still run down trails with speed and not incur injuries that might otherwise plague me like other people.
“While moving quickly down the trail, I trust that my feel will adjust to the trail in the proper position, and my knees, legs, and body will do what’s needed to move efficiently and safely down the trail without injury. Yoga has also allowed me to continue my rock and mountain climbing at high intensity levels, without injury.”
BACKCOUNTRY GEAR AND SKILLS
Washington’s Cascade Mountains are 80 miles wide in some areas and more than 220 miles long. If all you ever ski are the six Cascade ski areas you’ll only experience 8,708 acres.
Rollins says advances in ski gear have made it easier for people to tour the backcountry and ski new terrain.
“I’ve gone out to East Peak (outside Crystal Mountain’s boundaries) some days and it’s all tracked out,” Rollins said.
But Rollins believes some of these backcountry skiers are tempting fate. Once last season he encountered a group of skiers who’d managed to get themselves stuck in deep snow without an idea where they were or enough food to sustain them for the long hike out.
Rollins gave them directions and all his food, then notified the patrol at the nearby ski area.
While fat skis make the backcountry more accessible, Rollins says a skiing buddy, an avalanche beacon, a shovel, probe and route finding skills are all a must. But if you have the right equipment and skills, you’re sure to broaden your skiing experience.
RAIN GEAR
If you are only a fair-weather athlete when it comes to your sport, you aren’t getting as much out of your sport as you could.
Just ask cyclist Eamon Stanley.
“If you don’t ride in the rain, you only ride three months out of the year,” said Stanley, who works in the service department at Tacoma Bike and commutes and even ride double centuries (200 miles) in the rain. “... Riding in the rain is like driving at night. You just need the right equipment.”
Stanley says riding in the rain is a good way to experience areas that would otherwise be crowded in good weather.
Also, it’s a good way to be in good shape when the ideal riding season rolls around.
To be rain ready, Stanley says you need fenders, good brakes and light for your bike and at least a rain jacket for your own comfort.
There’s plenty of other gear that will make you even more comfortable, including wind and rainproof tights, gloves and shoe covers. He says many year-round riders even have a second bike geared specifically for the rain.
“It can be very enjoyable,” Stanley said of rain riding. “I’d rather be riding on a lovely 75-degree summer day. But given the choice between 45 and rainy and not riding, I’ll take 45 and rainy.”
RAISE FUNDS
So you do yoga, know how to work a compass, work out rain or shine and ski the backcountry. But do you earn money for cancer research every time you break a sweat?
The Plus 3 Network is a website that allows every recreational athlete to do exactly that.
Simply register at plus3network.com and pick a charity for which you want to raise money. You’ll be assigned a sponsor that will make a donation to that charity every time you log a workout.
“By doing good for yourself you are doing good for society,” said Joe Fabris, co-founder of the site based in Redwood City, Calif.
You can earn a penny for every mile you ride, 30 cents for an hour of physical therapy, 6 cents for every mile you walk or other amounts for just about any activity. It might not sound like a lot, but the pennies add up over a year of exercise.
“A woman told me once she’d never be able to write a $500 check to charity,” Fabris said. “But she was able to raise $500 for charity just by working out.”
The Plus 3 Network has raised more than $180,000 for charity since it was founded in October 2008.
Not motivation enough, the website also issues monthly standings to show you how you stack up against other athletes around the country. It issues challenges that allows you to win prizes and let’s you compare your workouts to your friends.
Workouts can be logged manually or by uploading information from a GPS device.
ROUTE FINDING SKILLS
If you’re just hiking trails you aren’t experiencing as much of the outdoors as you could.
Last week, Carl Fabiani retired after 45 years as the trail foreman at Mount Rainier National Park. The News Tribune asked him for his five favorite hikes. Three of the five were off trail.
“Some of the best places to hike aren’t official trails,” Fabiani said.
But you shouldn’t be hiking off trail unless you have good route finding skills. In fact, most outdoor experts would tell you route finding skills are a must for any hike.
Knowing how to work a map and compass could be the difference between an epic trip to places the masses never visit and a night stranded in the cold hoping a rescue team will save you.
Craig Hill: 253-597-8497
craig.hill@thenewstribune.com
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.