Continued support to our sponsor and credible legend, Warren Smith, a leading free skier and internationally qualified performance ski coach to athletes, instructors and the skiing public. Amongst his profession, Warren is known for being one of the most innovative instructors working in the Alps today and has earned a name for himself for the constant research and development he carries out combining ski technique, ski biomechanics and ski physiology. Warren is partnered with the likes of Protect Our Winters UK where he became one of their first ambassadors. Warren introduced us to POW UK and encouraged us to team up with the forward-thinking organisation, as they are a positive synergy for Boom Power and our ongoing project developments.

“The Warren Smith Ski Academy is famous for its level of excellence at training recreational skiers, ski instructors and athletes. The courses cater for intermediate, advanced and expert skiers. The concept of the courses are to build the individual’s skill and confidence to enable them to ski the whole mountain and not to be restricted by terrain.

Last year, the team travelled over from Verbier, Switzerland, to the UK to embark on the ‘Ski Technique Lab’ – UK national tour. Visiting over 20 locations all over the UK, the tour interacted with over 1,000 skiers and welcomed the opportunity to improve their skiing technique and fitness before the forthcoming ski season.

The ‘Ski Technique Lab’ is the off mountain product that my team and I offer to skiers. It comes in the form of a 90 minute presentation and testing. The presentation explains the most common issues that hold skiers back from their full potential. The testing gets the audience off their seats and working through a series of foundation tests which show if people firstly have the range of movement and stability needed to perform the sport of skiing technically correct. The findings year on year and in 2021 were no different – 95% of the 1,000+ people tested do not naturally have this range of mobility.

The ‘Leg Steering Range’ test mostly showed a 30 degree difference between left and right and more often than not was linked to the participants weaker turn. The ‘Ankle Flex Range’ and ‘Stability’ tests didn’t match what is required for skiers even at a basic level and nearly every participants legs wobbled when they attempted the ‘10 Second Lateral Control’ test. All participants have a three week program to make the changes necessary to reduce the risk of injury and most importantly enhance their overall performance on the mountain. These practical skills will undoubtedly create noticeably greater efficiency when skiing in the forthcoming season approaching us.

Our tour ultimately enables us to educate and pass on our wealth of knowledge to a wider ski audience to make life on the mountain safer, yet more exhilarating. The tour wouldn’t exist without the support of our sponsors, such as Boom Power. Thus, the whole Academy would like to say a big thank you to Boom Power for helping us to reach more skiers this year than ever before – we are beyond excited to get the season of 2021 underway!” – Warren Smith.