Downhill Skiing: I Think I'm Doing It Wrong

MonsteRawr

So, I went skiing with the husband yesterday. We were out on the slopes for about 2.5 hours, during which we were continuously riding the lift up and skiing down. (Meaning no breaks.) Afterwards I went to put the activity in my exercise diary, and I was speechless when I saw how many calories MFP said I had burned. Over 1,000!

I'm a little suspicious of this number. Granted, skiing definitely burns some calories; I get tired just walking around in those stupid boots! But so many! Especially when half that time is spent standing on the lift. (I'm still a beginner.) But a search of other online calorie calculators seems to back up MFP's numbers.

So I'm wondering, when they ask how long I was downhill skiing, do they mean how long was I actually going down the mountain, or how long was I participating in the entire activity that we refer to as skiing? I just don't want to go and eat an extra 1,000 calories that my body didn't burn because I misunderstood the question!

I look forward to hearing some thoughts on this puzzle!

Stephanie

poustotah

Skiing actually does burn that many calories!!! I was skeptical too and I busted out my HRM and logged about 3 hours and came up with 1200 calories!!! That included the lift riding and the walking around and I probably had a hot chocolate in there somewhere. So log it up lady and love that calorie burn!!!

erickirb

You have to back out the calories you would have burned at rest if you didn't ski as it is already taken into account in your calorie allotment by MFP. say you burn 1.5 cals/min at rest, you would have to back out 270 (180min x 1.5 cal/min) calories from the total which would give you 730 (1000-270).

That being said the 1000 would most likely be the time you actually spent skiing, not riding the chair lift so that 2.5 hours may be more like 1 hour of skiing, the only way to get a good estimate of the burn would be to use a HRM.

gehlerc

Hi Stephanie,

I don't have the answer. Just wanted to chime in and say I have the same question. I tend to ski frequently in the winter because it is my husband's passion. I've been at it for about 7 years now, I guess, and would say I'm at the upper level of intermediate. But, I never feel as if I've burned as many calories as the databases say when I'm done.

I'll be eagerly watching this thread to see if anyone knows the answer. In the meantime, happy skiing!

Coni

julwills

Skiing is a great workout! Even while you're on the lift your heart rate is still up so you're still burning calories. I love it!

happy_jax

I am always surprised myself how many calories you.burn...sure, I'm tired and you ache the next day but the numbers are HUGE!!

The past few times we have been on ski holidays though, I have taken my HRM - and the numbers ARE accurate!! And you DO count the whole time you are out there on the mountains!

If I ski in one of the indoor snowdomes, I tend to burn about 20% less than those figures - and if I ever do a day or two at ski school at the start of the trip, they are ALWAYS a lot less than when you just take yourself off (so much more waiting around!) But even as a beginner, if you are taking yourself off and constantly "on the go" I would take the figure MFP gives you.

....ooh I CAN'T WAIT to go skiing again!!!

Have fun! x

sonyaejacobowong

It is true! My kids race on the race teams and it is hard to keep weight on them. My husband's belt goes down one notch...and I drop almost two sizes (even with the apres ski beers) We go every weeked from Dec-May. I downloaded ski track app and the app times the minute you get off the chair and on the snow. In 4 hours I had a little over 2 hours on the snow. BUT the HRM is the best way to do it. The reason being that on the lift you are not at rest...completely. It takes me 6-9 minutes to get down a ski run and that much to get back up on the chair. My heart takes at least 3-5 minutes to return to what I feel is a rested state. My guess is out of every 20 min about 15 are at varying degrees of cardio. But your HRM won't lie.

areinders1

The topic title caught my eye.....
How should I record it? How do you record it?

At our small hill it takes about 9-10 min to go up the chairlift. and about 2 min to ski down. I am an advanced skier, but I am skiing with my kids, and so I am not going at my maximum.

The other day I recorded 12 runs in the morning.
So do I put down that I skied for 12 runs x 12 min. = about 2.5 hours...
or do I put that I skied for 12 runs x 2 minutes = 24 min. of skiing.....

The comments here suggest I put down the first.....but I am not skiing for 10 min per run, that is standing in line or riding the lift...

Thoughts? Comments?

Daisyisacat

I ski every weekend - I time 3 runs to get an average and then count the number of runs. Where I ski the runs are fairly short - so even though I am on the hill for 4 hrs I am only actually skiing for 1 hr, the rest of the time you are on the lift or in line. I record only 1 hr not 4 hrs - you wouldn't count the time driving to the gym so I don't think you should count time on the lift.

Mr_Knight

An HRM is an absolutely *terrible* tool for guesstimating calorie burn on an activity like this. It will overestimate drastically.

Divide that number by about 6, and you'll be in the right ballpark.

AnnaZimm70

I log an estimate of the time I actually spent skiing (not standing in line and riding the lift). If I am undercounting, I'm okay with that. If I really am burning more as some of the early replies suggest, I have no complaints

meshashesha2012

wouldnt riding the lift back up be considered a break? surely you cant consider that time as exercise?

unless you're cleaning at the same time

dlin04

Skiing is usually very cold. Have you noticed that while you are skiing, despite having freezing wind blowing past you at 30 mph, your ears are totally warm and your toes feel toasty? Also you feel just a little warm in your jacket?

That's your metabolism running on high. Skiing, of course, does have different levels of effort that I rarely see reflected on fitness websites. 1200 calories may be a bit high, but for some it's low.

elisabeisme

activities like this are measured as average burn during the activity. that means for the amount of time you are actually doing it ... the time you are skiing down the hill.....not the time you are riding in the lift or waiting in the line.

however, the amount of time you are waiting in the line is not complete non-activity time. in skis, you are doing an ever so slight bend at the knees - the first part of a squat and also sliding forward like a really slow cross country ski. getting on and off the lift is a bit like calisthenics.

Personally, I would split the total time out there as part skiing and part walking.

SoUncreative

as a professional ski instructor and an avid calorie counter, I struggled with how to enter my snow time as an excericse. obviously being out "on the slopes" for 6 hrs in one day does not mean "skiing - moderate" or "skiing - vigorous" that entire time. a day on snow is highly variable depending on terrain (green/blue/black) and agressiveness of style (race speeds with super carved turns -- slow speeds hop turning the bumps -- relaxed expert skier on easy slopes with kids/family -- beginner working hard just to survive) and then there's all the lift time and simply walking around the lodge in those heavy alpine boots and skating across the flat areas.

I am inclined to agree with elisebeisme in that the time should be broken down a bit. It never occured to me to count the lift line as walking time! it takes a fair amount of balancing effort even just standing still in skis, plus in line we slowly move forward. ditto -- taking a lesson should count as anywhere from walking to skiing-moderate because again it takes balancing effort to stay in one place on a slope and you are working hard to try the new things/tasks the instructor suggests.

most people have no idea how long a lift ride takes or how long it takes to slide down from top to bottom. those two times are necessary to get a reasonable estimate for entering the day's activities. when you have an idea of how much time was actual skiing, then decide how much effort you exerted (relaxed, moderate, rigorous). MFP seems reasonably accurate in suggesting calories burned in xx minutes. snow sports are ridiculously demanding!!

having said that, burning 1200 calories skiing should NOT be permission eat extra to "replace" those calories. I target eating maybe 1.5 times my normal .... I need the fuel to ski more but can only eat so much at a sitting! any leftover excess calories are a wonderful weigh-loss bonus. if I eat to replace all the burned calories, it just makes my body continue wanting that many calories for the next week even when I'm not skiing. then the season ends and if I'm not careful, I keep craving and eating that way and almost always gain 2-5 # in april.