The lifts have closed!

The lifts in Val d'Isere have now shut for the 2015-16 season, although the lifts in Tignes remain open for another week.  We woke up this morning, on the 1st May to a fresh snow fall overnight. There was up to 40cm of fresh snow up top and it has continued snowing all day. What a great end to a fantastic ski season.

Our exciting news is that we will be open for the summer.  A large reason for this is increasing client demand for physiotherapy in Val d'Isere, Tignes and surrounding resorts during the summer months, especially with the increasing popularity in alpine summer sports. However on a more personal note my gorgeous little girl is progressing so well with her french language that we are keen for her to stay immersed during the summer.  I will be sad not to return to the Blackberry Clinic (www.blackberryclinic.co.uk) where I have spent the last 9 summers working, however I am very much looking forward to a summer in the Alps.  I'd like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Dr Simon Petrides and the Blackberry team for having me back each summer and for being such a fantastic team to work with.

Dr Simon Petrides and I at the London 2012 Olympics

We're very much looking forward to our first summer in the Alps and being able to take part in some of the fantastic summer alpine activities on offer here such as hiking, trail running and biking. For mountain bikers, chairlifts are adapted to carry bikes and are free to use over summer.  The Col d'Iseran is a popular challenge for road cyclists and is renowned for being one of the highest roads in Europe.  There is also golf, climbing, fishing and summer skiing available.  The water sports in Tignes will also be a treat with a huge waterside into the lake and pedalo's, paddle boards and kayaks available to hire.

On an injury prevention note, this past week I have been seeing people who have returned to running or cycling for the first time in six months and overdone their initial sessions.  The knees seem to have taken the brunt of this with meniscal (cartilage) compression injuries, patella femoral dysfunctions and soft tissue trauma resulting.  When you reintroduce a sport that you have not done for a while, pace yourself and gradually increase the intensity, frequency and distance.  If you have spent the last six months in ski or snowboard boots, then your body will need time to adapt to new activities and new demands.  Do not expect to restart at the level you finished last autumn.  Too much too soon will result in injury so ensure your training is progressive.  Adapt your training in the gym or general conditioning to prepare for your summer sports e.g. if you are a tennis player you will need to focus lower limb exercises on cutting and changing direction and upper limb work on strength, control and plyometrics in a range of planes and movements.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our friends and clients for all your support this season.  We would also like to thank the tour operators and ski schools that kindly recommend our services to their guests and clients.  We could not run without your support and we will maintain our commitment to you by continuing to strive towards clinical excellence in both our injury management and eduction.  I also need to thank an amazing team for a fantastic season. We've had great fun, excellent training sessions and incredible client feedback.  A large focus for us as a team this season was on the functional fascial system and we have had some great results incorporating this to improving ski performance.

If you have enjoyed our blogs, please continue to follow us on social media as we will continue our blogging during the summer.  Please also share our blogs with your friends and invite your friends to like us on Facebook.  We really appreciate the support, hope to continue to grow our profile and welcome new followers.  During the summer, our blogs will initially focus on summer sports, with a guest blog on springing into action with steady pace running coming soon.  In the autumn our focus will be on preparing for the season ahead and getting fit to ski.

Finally, I'm proud to say that I've done what I set out to achieve this season.  I've produced a regular blog on ski injury prevention, ski fitness and seasonal life.  As I've said before, I'm new blogging so any feedback is most welcome, as are suggestions for future topics.  Blogging is not without its challenges, mostly finding the time to research and write regularly.  Thank you to my husband for putting up with me tapping away on the computer in the evenings, for putting up with my lack of conversation and the late nights!

Disclaimer:

The purpose of this blog, is to provide general information and educational material relating to physiotherapy and injury management. Bonne Santé physiotherapy has made every effort to provide you with correct, up-to-date information. In using this blog, you agree that information is provided 'as is, as available', without warranty and that you use the information at your own risk. We recommend that you seek advise from a fitness or healthcare professional if you require further advice relating to exercise or medical issues.

LSA

       Bonne Santé          info@bonnesantephysio.com         0033 (0) 4 79 06 07 27

Please like us on Facebook to stay up to date with news and developments: Bonne Santé Physiotherapy 
Follow us on instagram: Bonne_Sante_Physiotherapy

Follow us on twitter: @valdiserephysio