How to get ready for ski season with your riding friends

Get ready for ski season by counting back from your first day. Six weeks out, start building your legs and lungs. Four weeks out, get boots, bindings and a tune sorted while shops still have time. Two weeks out, check the car's tires and settle passes and the carpool with your group. The week of, plan an easy first day. Fitness is the one part you can't cram, so it goes first.

To put dates on it, this guide follows a hypothetical group in Denver whose first day is Saturday, December 12, 2026, at Copper Mountain, up I-70. These are planning reminders, not a promise that a mountain will be open or a personalized training plan.

When	Date in this example	What to arrange
Six weeks before	October 31, 2026	Start gradual conditioning suited to your current activity level.
Four weeks before	November 14, 2026	Check boots, book binding service and arrange lessons or rentals.
Two weeks before	November 28, 2026	Check tires, tickets and parking; estimate the carpool split.
The week before	December 7–11, 2026	Check operations and roads; write a meetup and regroup plan.
First day	December 12, 2026	Start on easy open terrain and review the plan together.

Six weeks out: start with your legs

For the Denver group, six weeks out is Saturday, October 31. The federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans set the baseline: adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening activity "at least 2 days each week." Even if you already meet that, a ski day will find muscles you haven't used since spring. If you don't, six weeks gives you room to build toward it instead of trying to make up the difference in one hard session.

Be clear about what that source measured. The guidelines describe what adults need every week for their health. They say nothing about what a ski day asks of your thighs, and nothing in them promises that six weeks will make anyone ski-fit. Is six weeks too short to change much, then? Partly, yes. Six weeks won't undo a sedentary autumn, and this guide cites no study tying six weeks of training to a better ski day.

The six weeks is a judgment, but the full guidelines document backs the reason for starting early. For adults not yet at the target, it says to increase activity "gradually over a period of weeks to months" to reduce the risk of injury, with strength work starting at 1 day a week before moving to 2. Six weeks sits at the short end of that range. If you're already at the target, it adds up to 12 strength sessions and 15 hours of cardio, enough to learn which muscles complain before the first chair finds them. The guidelines also support starting late over not starting: they say "physical activity has immediate health benefits" and that "any amount of physical activity has some health benefits," even if they can't say how much of it shows on the hill. Treat six weeks as a sensible minimum, not the ideal, and a later start as better than none.

Leg and hip strength, plus some mobility work, pays off on the hill. One rider shared an at-home yoga sequence for snowboarders and skiers built around the hips and legs. If you're coming back from an injury or have a health condition, ask a professional what suits you before you start.

Four weeks out: boots, bindings and a tune

For the Denver group, that's November 14, four weeks before the first day. Start with a test you can run on the couch. Put your boots on, buckled the way you ski, and wear them for half an hour. Pass: you can feel and wiggle your toes the whole time, and your heel stays down when you bend your knees forward into the boot. Fail: pain, numb toes or a heel that lifts. A fail means a boot fitter now, while there's time to fix it, rather than after a ruined first day. While they're on, look for cracked shells, worn soles, broken buckles and liners that have packed out.

• Bindings. Have ski bindings inspected and adjusted by a qualified shop technician, especially if your weight, ability or boots have changed. Snowboarders can check that binding screws are tight and that straps and ratchets work.
• Skis and boards. Look for core shots, damaged edges and dry, white bases. A tune and wax is a standard shop job.
• Helmet and goggles. Check the helmet's fit and condition and follow the manufacturer's replacement guidance, especially after an impact. Make sure your goggle lens suits the light you usually ride in.

If your first day falls on a holiday weekend, book ski school lessons and rentals now. Rental forms ask for height, weight and ability, and if a lesson booking asks which trails you ride, the glossary of mountain planning terms explains the ratings.

Two weeks out: tires, passes and the carpool

For the Denver group, that's November 28, Thanksgiving weekend. Check the chosen car's tire condition and tread before the trip, then read CDOT's Traction Law guidance for the vehicle and route. The I-70 corridor between Dotsero and Morrison has seasonal requirements from September 1 through May 31. CDOT's 2025 announcement describes chains or approved traction devices fitted to drive tires when tire standards are not met, including for AWD and 4WD vehicles. Carrying equipment is preparation, not proof that the car meets the restriction in force. Check COtrip before leaving and follow the current road instructions. For another route, use the official road resources; requirements and conditions can differ.

Then settle the group's plans:

• Passes and tickets. Compare passes, multi-day tickets and blackout dates against the days your group can actually ride, and check when the pass you want stops selling.
• Parking. Some resorts require parking reservations on busy days, and some make them free for full cars. Read the arrival page for the base you plan to use.
• The carpool. Decide who drives and how costs split before the first storm. The ski carpool cost calculator estimates fuel, parking and toll shares from your own figures.

The SkiBuds resort directory links each mountain's guide to its official site, so you can check arrival details in one place. If the carpool is short a rider, or you're short a crew, start with how to find ski buddies and the first meetup planner. The SkiBuds app is coming soon to iOS and Android; the guides and forecasts on this site work now.

The week of: plan an easy first day

For the Denver group, that's December 7 to 11. Ride below your usual limit on day one. Pick runs everyone in the group is comfortable on, agree on a pace and a regrouping point, and stop before your legs do. Fatigue shows up late in the day, so the last run doesn't need to be the hardest one. If your group mixes abilities, skiing with friends at different abilities has a rule for splitting up and meeting again.

Read the NSAA Responsibility Code together. Its first two lines, "Always stay in control" and "People ahead or downhill of you have the right-of-way," are the ones a rusty first day tests. Then read the forecast for the hours you'll ride, with help from how to read a ski resort snow forecast.

Backcountry travel needs its own preparation: training, equipment and the current forecast from your local avalanche center, which you can find through Avalanche.org.

A season countdown you can copy

"Season prep. Six weeks out: strength and cardio started. Four weeks out: boots passed the half-hour test, bindings checked by a shop, skis or board tuned, helmet and goggles checked, rentals and lessons booked for [names]. Two weeks out: tires checked for [route], passes or tickets sorted, parking rules read for [resort], carpool agreed. Day one: [date] at [resort], easy terrain, meeting at [public spot] at [time]."

Put your own first day's date in that last line tonight and count back six weeks. If that date has already passed, start the leg work this week anyway, and call a shop about bindings and a tune before you do anything else on the list.