Skiing is considered by many to be a form of high intensity interval training. You make a hard run for a few minutes, then have a rest on the lift. Turning away from the health benefits argument for a second, this can present an issue for those looking to improve their skiing: it feels like practice only comes in short bursts, and that maybe they’d make a breakthrough if they could just make one or two more turns before they got back on the lift.

While you can’t make turns on the lift, the ride back up doesn’t have to be a complete reprieve from working on your skiing.

I’d actually been skiing for quite a few years before a ski instructor had me try this, and I do it pretty regularly now to keep my skiing form in shape. It’s a very simple thing:

Move your feet around in your boots while your riding the lift, and note how your feet feel against your boots when you move them in certain ways.

This might seem trivial on the surface, but consider this: your ski boots are your connection to your skis. They’re also how your sense the way your skis are moving underneath you, and how you feel the terrain under your skis. Being able to interpret what pressure in different parts of your boots means so you can translate that into skiing movements is huge. Also, ankle flexion is more important than many give it credit for. Just because your ski boots are rigid doesn’t mean that flexing your ankles doesn’t do anything.

So, being familiar with how your feet feel in your boots is huge.

While your on the lift, wiggle your toes inside your boots. Point and retract your toes. See if you can move your feet side to side and get some pressure on the sides of your boots. Get really acquainted with where you feel the pressure when you move your feet in certain ways.

You don’t go from being a green run goblin to being a ski racer in one run using this trick, but it’ll help you familiarize yourself with the sensations in your feet as you ski so you can stop looking down at your skis and make some proper turns. It’ll also help keep your feet warm on cold days.

So get out and make some turns on the way down, and keep improving on the way up!