AIS SkiMo Testing Camp

Earlier this month a SkiMo testing camp took place for the first time at the AIS, taking advantage of a series of fortunate coincidences. SkiMo World Cup skier Kate Zander provided this report on her camp experience.

“Mid-September I mentioned to Finn (Snow Australia XC and SkiMo coordinator) that I would be coming ‘home’ to where I grew up, Canberra, this spring, for a visit. Finn mentioned there was a cross country camp going on the same week I would be there, with several other athletes interested in SkiMo already planning to attend. Several meetings with AIS physiologists later and we had two testing protocols ready to go – a VO2 Max test and a simulated 3-minute Sprint, both using SkiMo equipment on a treadmill. With fellow SkiMo World Cup skier Phillip Bellingham coming up from Victoria and SkiMo committee chair Brian Lichi driving down from Sydney, we had five athletes ready to give it a go.

Only once before had I done treadmill physiological testing, and that was back in University as a cross country skier and I had to run. This time, we had the mask on, which measures O2 consumption, as well as having our blood tested to see the pH and lactate, all while on skis with skins. So cool.  It really felt realistic with the gradient and the motion. We each started off at a set pace, and it got harder (faster) as we went through. I believe around 7min it got really hard, forcing a run or extremely quick turnover. I wasn’t quite ready for the ‘’wall’’ and found myself maxed out. Happy with my relatively high heart rate max of 186. The other data I didn’t understand initially but the reports are still on the way.

The next day, feeling a little sore and tired from the testing and jet lag (15 straight hours of sitting on a plane), I rallied for the sprint stimulation. I was using a team-mates’ ski equipment (thank you Ava) so wanted to practice the transitions before the test. Felt a little funny in ski boots, high socks, shorts and a tank top with a harness over our chest to arrest a fall if we slipped on the treadmill. This time I felt like I understood the speed required and transitioned quicker into the run and was more efficient. We started off ''skinning'' for a minute, stopped for a 10-second transition before boot-packing for half a minute, then after another 10-second stop for the transition back to skis we skinned to exhaustion (like the end of the VO2 test but in a much shorter time due to a higher speed).

Thank you to Finn for pulling it all together, AIS staff for taking on the challenge and running great tests, and to physiologists Eddie and Philo for disseminating the results (my head is still spinning). We look forward to seeing the results improve through the season and year to year!
What a neat pilot programme.”