Skiing, snowboarding provide range of health benefits

Few activities feel as invigorating as downhill skiing, the bracing air on your face and the rush of snow beneath you. Strapping on skis even once a year may bolster your overall health and happiness.

When we’re skiing or snowboarding, we’re living in the moment. One that research shows does wonders for your physical and mental well-being.

Unique workout

Skiing is a singularly good workout that is found to benefit cardiovascular health and to keep your body and mind active during the colder months. It engages almost every major muscle, improves your mental health, burns calories quickly and makes your body stronger, according to scientific studies.

When you ski or snowboard, you need to maintain your balance while constantly moving across the slopes, and swift changes in direction are terrific ways of increasing your flexibility and range of motion, especially as you age, the Journal of Sports Science reports.

After pushing yourself during a run and raising your heart rate, you get a breather riding the chairlift. A growing body of evidence suggests this interval style of exercise can provide a range of benefits from boosting your fitness levels to extending your life.

Exercise for all ages

Skiing seems to reinvigorate blood vessels and cell health, according to renowned Austrian cardiologist Dr. Josef Niebauer. “We see positive effects on arterial stiffness, a risk factor for heart disease and Alzheimer’s, which is a sign of rejuvenating arteries,” he said.

An excellent way to reduce stress and anxiety, skiing and riding provide an outlet for built-up tension. They’re also a great way to socialize in beautiful natural surroundings with friends or family.

In today’s digital world, the winter sport is an exhilarating and beneficial way for children to stay active and to combat obesity. It can also help their mental development. The sense of achievement that comes from learning a new skill or mastering a difficult run can raise their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Sierra ski getaway

With the first snowfall, my wife, Maria, and I take to the slopes of Mount Rose Ski Tahoe, as we have for 30 years. The ski-centric resort has no retail mazes or exorbitant prices, no trams or gondolas, no long lines or preferred parking. What it does have is unsurpassed terrain and the best snow conditions at the highest base elevation (8,260 feet) in Lake Tahoe.

“The high altitude typically means consistently drier and lighter snow throughout a six-month season,” marketing director Mike Pierce said. “When it’s raining at other places, it’s almost always snowing at Mount Rose.”

Accessible and affordable

This last family owned and operated major ski area in the Sierras is only 25 minutes from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport — a quick trip from Las Vegas.

You can grab your bags and gear, make the short drive up Mount Rose Highway, and ski within an hour of getting off the plane. Show your boarding pass at the resort for the day you fly in or out to receive a $69 lift ticket.

And you’ll have much more to do after the lifts close than at a ski village. Reno offers a wide variety of restaurants, top star entertainment, and an array of activities for kids and teens, including indoor trampoline parks, extreme golf, escape rooms, movie theaters, and indoor and outdoor ice skating rinks.

Family oriented

Accessibility and affordability are only a few defining attributes of the Nevada resort. High-speed chairlifts provide access to both sides of the mountain and maximize your time on the snow. There are covered conveyor lifts in the learn-to-ski area, and a mix of terrain from bowls and glades to moguls and chutes.

“We believe Mount Rose is a great destination for families,” general manager Greg Gavrilets said. “You can park close, ski together and enjoy the entire mountain and both lodges. The Lakeview Express chairlift that opened last year provides a beginner run from the top of the hill with expansive views of Lake Tahoe.”

Ski lessons

For your safety and enjoyment, you might want to take a private or group lesson. First-time packages include lift ticket, two-hour lesson and rental equipment. Rose Bud lessons are geared for kids who have never seen snow to those who yearn for steeps. All get hot chocolate.

“Lessons not only improve skiing and riding performance, but also people who learn to ski and snowboard tend to maintain a healthy lifestyle that benefits their overall health throughout their lives,” ski school director John Beesley said, based on his 36 years of instructional experience at the resort.

The Chutes

Mount Rose Ski Tahoe attracts world-class skiers to its easily accessible double black diamond runs in a 200-acre northern exposure horseshoe bowl. “What separates the Chutes from other steep resort terrain,” according to Ski magazine, “are their long sustained pitches of 40- to 50-plus degrees.”

The most dramatic avalanche-carved couloir is El Cap. Perched at the precipice, this 72-year-old stared down at 1,500 vertical feet of bumped bullet run. My heart pumped with the pulsating rush of the daring descent into the sheer saddle.

Maria, who didn’t start skiing until age 47, has more than a modicum of better sense, and superbly swooshed down a groomed slope in the stunning Tahoe setting.

David Coulson is a freelance writer, former journalist and journalism professor of graduate studies at UNR with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Maria Coulson is a freelance photographer, former civil engineering faculty administrator at UNR and graduate of the New York Institute of Photography.