How Fly-Fishing Can Improve Your Mental and Physical Preparation for Skiing
New PSIA Alpine Team member Elle Matalavage takes advantage of fly-fishing opportunities at her local lakes, rivers, and streams to help her prepare for ski season. Here, she explains how wading and casting buoys her ski technique.
For additional offseason workout insights, check out the entire collection of posts from the PSIA-AASI National Team.
Q: What’s your go-to offseason workout or outdoor sport, and why is it what you like to do?
A: One of my favorite off-season activities is fly-fishing. When so many other activities are weather dependent, I love that fly-fishing is a sport you can do on a beautiful day or when there is less favorable weather. My favorite thing about fly-fishing is that it’s something my dad and I do together. He taught me how to fly-fish as a teenager.
Q: Do you teach or compete in this sport, or has it led to any great adventures around the world?
A: I don’t teach fly-fishing in any official capacity, but I enjoy helping friends get into the sport. Like skiing, it can be overwhelming when starting out. No great travels around the world yet! But I have fished many great bodies of water in the United States. I was very fortunate when I was learning. Spring Creek, a very well-known trout stream, is located in my hometown of State College, Pennsylvania.
Q: How does this sport help you set, train for, and reach new goals?
A: Fishing can make for great strength training if you so choose. If fishing by wading in the water, simply walking upstream as you’re working the water can provide great, low-impact resistance training. Walking through the water – as it’s so variable underfoot – can help with balance and coordination. Or when fishing from a raft or drift boat, taking your turn rowing provides a great full-body workout, especially in fast moving water.
Q: What can you take away from the summer sport that can be applied to your work on snow?
A: Like skiing, there are many moving parts in fishing. It can make for a lot to manage. Multitasking while fishing proves to be very physically and mentally stimulating. A teaching fundamental that this question reminds me of is managing emotional and physical risk. You have to make sure to manage your line and be aware of your surroundings, watching for trees or people on your backcasts, all while reading the water, trying to place your cast where you want, and keeping your footing.
Q: How does fly-fishing prepare you mentally for your work on snow?
A: Fly-fishing helps me prepare for my work on snow through being very familiar with patience! There are many early mornings or rainy evenings when I believe I did everything right to catch a fish, yet I strike out. Fishing also reinforces the idea that it’s OK to pivot or change things up when something isn’t working – to try a new idea or technique or switch up your whole setup. That openness can transfer to the hill when working on a tactic or shifting to a new tactic to have better ownership of a skill or technique.
Q: Do you have any other fun summer plans or good offseason reading suggestions you’d like to share?
A: I was just on Mount Hood coaching a four-day race camp for [former PSIA Alpine Team member] Dave Lyon! It’s really fun to coach kids from the previous summer, as well as work with my friends and fellow coaches.
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Teaching snowsports requires year-round physical preparation. To help keep your edge during the summer and throughout the year, pick up your copy of Fitness for Skiing and Snowboarding.
