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Alpine Performance Labs Train better. Perform higher. This isn't just a gym - it's your mountain performance lab.

10/06/2026

Part 1 covered why winging it and feeling “fine” last season doesn’t mean your training was sufficient. Here is some of the physiology behind why your summer sport doesn’t prepare you for ski season.

Running cycles through contractions. Concentric on the flats and climbs, eccentric on the way down.

Skiing is mainly eccentric quasi-isometric. Meaning you hold a stance while oscillating between concentric and eccentric action through each turn.

This nuanced contraction shapes everything downstream, including energy system demands. Clearing metabolites depends on perfusion, and a muscle that stays contracted limits blood flow out and fresh blood flow in. That is a big part of the burn you feel on a long ski run.

This is just one of the reasons to train specifically for skiing. Stayed tuned for the next training tip.

10/02/2026

We’ve got one more month of Trail Run Club sunsets before we’ll start needing headlamps. Sneak in some extra miles with your favorite running community every Wednesday at 5:30pm, location changes weekly.

10/7: Nancy’s to Glassier
10/14: Lower Sopris Divide
10/21: Avalanche Creek
10/28: Sutey Ranch

Sign up for emails and texts to stay in the loop and get directions via the link in our bio. See you out there!

09/30/2026

Just because you made it through last season on trail legs and mountain bike fitness doesn’t prove your prep was enough.

That’s survivorship bias, and it’s an easy trap. Just like in the mountains, if nothing forced the gap to show up, you’d have a hard time knowing it was there.

The SAID principle, specific adaptation to imposed demands means your body adapts to exactly what you ask of it. Ask it to run, and it gets better at running. It doesn’t automatically learn to hold an edge, absorb a bump, or control a ski under load.

Different sport.
Different demands.
Different preparation.

The forecasters are loud this year, Super El Niño they say. If even half of it shows up, you want to be ready for openin...
09/25/2026

The forecasters are loud this year, Super El Niño they say. If even half of it shows up, you want to be ready for opening day.

Ski Prep gives you six weeks of snow-specific strength and performance training built around the actual demands of skiing and riding. Position, braking strength, power. Force plate testing before and after so you can see exactly how you improved.

Registration ends October 2nd, only one week left.

Link in bio to register.

Train Better, Ski & Ride Better.

09/11/2026

Most runners blow up on climbs because they’re running uphill the same way they run on flat ground, instead of treating it like the skill it is.

The fix isn’t just fitness. It’s also mechanics.

Four things to focus on.
1. Lean with your ankles, not bend at your waist.
2. Shorten your stride and let your foot land under your hips.
3. Drive your arms, on steep terrain your upper and lower body are working together.
4. The best way to get better at running uphill is to run uphill. Find the climbs. Do them regularly. The mechanics matter, but there is no substitute for the reps.

And when it gets steep enough, hike. Power hiking can be faster and more efficient than grinding and spiking the heart rate.

The best trail runners in the world know when to downshift.

Ski Prep is back by popular demand and early registration is open now through September 21.Six weeks. Twelve sessions. F...
09/08/2026

Ski Prep is back by popular demand and early registration is open now through September 21.

Six weeks. Twelve sessions. Force plate testing before and after so you can measure your progress. And programming written specifically for the demands of skiing and riding, delivered inside APL’s coached training environment.

The six weeks are built in three phases. Weeks one and two build the position. Weeks three and four build the brakes. Weeks five and six build the power. By the time the mountain opens you’re already capable.

Early registration pricing ends September 21 and enrollment closes October 2.

Link in bio to register.

Train Better, Ski & Ride Better.

Photos by Mathias Gruber

Caught coach Danny and crusher client Larry sharing the trail for about 30 seconds before Larry rode off into his mounta...
05/15/2026

Caught coach Danny and crusher client Larry sharing the trail for about 30 seconds before Larry rode off into his mountain bike race with ACC.

This is what training at APL does, it follows you out the door.

Between ACC races and joining us at trail run club, Larry is training 2x a week in the gym with us this summer while he preps for the Lead Challenge: 5 events, 282 miles, all above 10,000 feet. Trail marathon, a 50 mile MTB, the 100 mile MTB, 10k run, and the 100 mile run. Back to back across a two month span.

With just over a month out from his first Lead Challenge event, we couldn’t be more impressed with the work Larry is putting in.

Up up up!

We don’t guess. We measure.Every APL member gets a quarterly performance recheck and a momentum coaching call where we s...
05/12/2026

We don’t guess. We measure.

Every APL member gets a quarterly performance recheck and a momentum coaching call where we sit down with their force plate data and ask one question: is the training actually pushing the needle?

Since opening, we’ve tracked 19 mountain athletes through full quarterly cycles on countermovement jumps with force plates. 13 metrics every test. Start to finish.

The readout:
• 95% improved jump height (+10% median)
• Braking RFD up 30% (14/19 improved)
• Force at depth up 18% (16/19 improved)
• 15 of 19 shifted braking-dominant
• Faster absorption across the group

Output up. Brakes better. Stronger at depth. Absorption quicker.

That’s not luck — that’s what a well-built block is supposed to leave behind in the data. And it’s why we check in every quarter, not every year.

You can do more. You can take more. You can come back faster.

Address

826 CO-133 Unit A2
Carbondale, CO
81623

Telephone

+19702376762

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