This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Tuning up the equipment for the ski season is pretty straightforward.

Make sure the boots fit, save up for a lift passes, sharpen up the ski edges and maybe buy a new parka.

But what about tuning up the body to be ready to tackle "the greatest snow on Earth?"

University of Utah physical therapist Linda Scholl says skiers should be thinking about that aspect of winter sports more often, using the autumn and summer months to make the most of carving the slopes when the snow piles up.

Scholl helps teach an eight-week ski fitness class at the university's orthopaedic center beginning October 8th — featuring multiple intense exercises and educational information twice per week to help participants avoid injury and get back into winter shape.

"We work your tail off, but then we also make sure that you're ready to go for the weekend and you can hammer it hard on the weekend," Scholl said.

From the fitness class to trail running, Salt Lake Running Company co-owner Debbie Perry said winter athletes should focus on building muscle and leg strength by running in the earlier months.

"If people want to hang out in the mountains in the winter, the best thing to do is to hang out on mountain trails in the summer and fall," Perry said. "That's what's going to get them muscularly ready for having a lot more fun in the winter and not feeling so trashed."

For road runners, she recommends mixing in one trail run per week and gradually upping that number, making sure they're outfitted properly with the right shoes and clothes.

"No one really wants to ski in cotton anymore and neither do people want to run in it," Perry said.

The North Face Endurance Challenge at Park City Mountain Resort on Saturday and Sunday offers everything from a 50 mile to a 5K race for prospective trail runners.

North Face representative and Sochi silver medalist Devin Logan, a freeskier, is participating in the 5K as a "little tune up" to see where she stands before ski season.

"My body is feeling good and I wanted to set a goal for myself," Logan said. "I've never been a runner really, but it'll be really nice and casual and a fun event to participate in."

Logan works out five times per week, but said if that isn't necessarily realistic, skiers just need to get outside and get moving as a start.

"If you can make it two days a week to just get the heart rate going or get outside to go for a nice, long hike, that pushes yourself too," she said.

Local professional skier and peak runner Julian Carr's training regiment is more intense. Carr said he trail runs to "bag a peak at least three times per week" — including Grandeur Peak, Mt. Olympus and Pfeifferhorn — to get into skiing shape.

He recommends trying to improve time on each run, bringing a light rain jacket as the weather gets cooler and bringing water and energy chews as a "nice treat" when the summit is reached.

"Trail running touches on some of the cornerstones of the human athletic experience: lungs, muscles, agility and grit," he said. "These translate directly to winter and skiing."

Winter is approaching swiftly, and the experts agree preparation turns the beginning of ski season struggles from black diamond difficulty to a bunny hill.

"If you don't have that time and you try to ski yourself into shape, you usually end up making poor decisions," Scholl said. "When your friends are around and your ego takes over and you're like 'oh they're going to do one more run,' and you're not physically ready for it, you're putting yourself at risk."

bsmith@sltrib.com Twitter: @BrennanJSmith —

More info

For more information on The North Face Endurance Challenge, visit: https://www.thenorthface.com/get-outdoors/endurance-challenge/utah.html

For more information on the ski fitness class, visit: http://healthcare.utah.edu/orthopaedics/ski-conditioning.php

For more information on Salt Lake Running Company, visit: http://saltlakerunningco.com/