The Start of the New Waterski Season part 2

Now the season has started, we asked a few skiers what they did in winter to stay in shape and how their season started. Last week, Frank Schulze from Fischlham, Austria shared his plan and tips for this year’s season.

Today, Rikos Zervopoulos shows us how he starts his season at Kaiafas Lake in Greece.

Taking a couple of months off skiing is very useful to me. My body gets to rest from over-stretching and my mind relaxes as well!

I usually ski 160 sets per year, starting mid February - beginning of March and finishing end of November or sometimes beginning of December if the weather is still good. During the competition season I get used to bad technique habits that I ski with. I realise and have a chance to correct any of those I can when I make my restart!

During those two months off, I train in the Gym three times a week, working a lot on my core while lifting some weights mostly for my legs. I also mountain bike a lot and that keeps me in shape and it’s great fun! I usually go for a small 1 hour ride once or twice within the week on the Ymitos Mountain in Athens and another longer 2-3 hours during the weekend at any mountain. I push myself on uphill pedaling witch is exhausting and I enjoy the adrenaline rush of downhill docents, which is similar to slalom!!

I started my season in February and I already had 15 sets. This year I started focusing on skiing wider. During the past years I realised that skiing 11m and 10.75m requires a lot of width. Especially for a shorter skier like myself (175 cm). I don’ t have a long reach, so getting wider is necessary!

Keeping two hands on the handle longer helps with that and I ski only 14m and 13m with two hands for a while. I will slowly start skiing 12m and 11m again after another 15 sets. I hope to get used to a wider skiing course view, meaning when to change edge and start reaching!

Rikos skiing 13m with two hands

Another exciting skiing year starts and I can’t wait until those competition days arrive!

Text, photo and videos by Rikos Zervopoulos