Summer Ski Training Without Snow? Inside Park City’s Sim.Sports

[Written by Guest Author Dan Stone]

Missing skiing in the middle of summer? Unless you’re flying to the Southern Hemisphere, your options are limited. Or are they? Just outside Park City, Utah, Sim.Sports promises thousands of ski turns without snow, lifts, or freezing temperatures. I spent three sessions finding out whether a ski simulator can actually make you a better skier.

To be honest, my initial minutes on the ski simulator were awkward since the lateral movements on the track aren’t as intuitive as the forward motion on the slopes. Fortunately, the basic concepts (balance, weight distribution/shifts, and pressure points) are comparable, and Sim.Sports’ Operations Manager Parker Nostrand is a very helpful guide up the learning curve.

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Parker was a competitive ski racer aiming for the U.S. Ski Team until a GS wipeout tore both intertransverse neck ligaments, ending that dream. Prior to the accident, he’d trained at Sim.Sports and, after a successful rehab, has coached 1,200 skiers at all skill levels, ages 3 to 85. “I train people how to carve and guide ski workouts,” says Parker. “Most clients will get in more than 2,000 turns in 25 minutes, more turns than a full day on the hill.”

His advice and critiques in my first session – to keep pressure on the glutes, inner shins, and inside small toe and to engage the core – were in synch with the best tips I’d picked up by trial-and-error over the years. My second session was even better as I realized that, yes, this could really work for me: the anxiety subsided and the coaching ramped up.

My instructor on the return visit was Asher Michel, one of the top free-mogul skiers in the country (check him out online – not on a different level, from a different planet). Genuine, encouraging, and low key in manner. No over-teaching, just well-timed advice throughout.

By the third session — this time back with Parker on the short-track simulator — I was working on transitions, timing and pressure management rather than simply staying balanced. On snow I generally ski north of 30 mph and, thankfully, stayed upright all last season. But three simulator sessions exposed just how many technical flaws still lurk beneath years of skiing.

The preteen who joined me is also psyched to return, to get reps in this summer and a head start on the winter. (Parker emphasized a goal of 5 degrees of additional angulation each session.) A new era of tech has made year-round skiing achievable and affordable for all ages.

No simulator will ever replace the feeling of skiing real mountains. There’s no chairlift, no snow spray, tress, or breathtaking views. But for building muscle memory, refining technique, and keeping ski-specific fitness alive through summer, I walked away convinced it offers something surprisingly valuable. I’ll certainly be back before the lifts start spinning this winter.