Pilates on the Slopes

My family and I are currently on a little winter vacation in a beautiful corner of the Austrian mountains. While my son is learning how to ski with the local ski school, I get to spend some time skiing myself. Despite the stereotype that all Austrians are practically born on skiers, I didn’t grow up skiing. I started much later but still, I’d consider myself a fairly decent skier by now. Good enough, at least, to enjoy being on the mountain rather than just surviving it.

Today, while I was watching other skiers and observing how they move (that must be the movement teacher in me that never really switches off ;)), and then playing around with a few different techniques myself, I thought to myself: Hey, this is a Pilates exercise.

As I linked my turns, the S-shape down the slope reminded me of a variation of the Dolphin on the Trapeze Table. The controlled, fluid swinging of the hips and legs from side to side and the rhythm of the movement, felt very familiar in my body. Just like this Pilates exercise, doing S-turn down the mountain requires stability through the center, while the pelvis and legs move in unison. Smooth and controlled but not rigid. Once I started thinking about the similarities of movement patterns, I couldn’t unsee them. Or unfeel them.

I started noticing more and more movement patterns that felt straight out of the Pilates studio. And it was not just the actual movements like trunk and pelvis rotation, hip internal and external rotation and so on that stuck out to me. I also felt a similarity in the quality of movement and the flow between stability and mobility. Skiing suddenly felt like Pilates. Just a bit colder, faster, and with better views (unless your studio is overlooking the ocean 😉).

As I kept thinking about different exercises and how closely they mirrored what my body was doing on the slopes, I was once again reminded of why I love and appreciate Pilates so much. While it can be fun to do Pilates for the sake of doing Pilates, it is even more satisfying to do Pilates so that we can do other things better.

Like skiing. Or running. Or biking, hiking, or swimming. Or getting down on the floor to play with your kids (or grandkids, nieces and nephews, pets, etc.). Or carrying groceries, navigating icy sidewalks, or simply moving through life with a little more ease and confidence.

This idea that Pilates helps us move better in real life was strongly emphasised in my most recent training with Polestar. Ever since I started their training, I’ve been paying closer attention to how the movements we practice on the mat or the equipment translate beyond the studio: how they show up in daily activities, in sports, and in moments that require adaptability rather than perfection. That's probably why I noticed it so strongly as I was making my way down the slope.

And while it might seem obvious that we exercise in order to move better in daily life, I think that especially in Pilates we sometimes lose sight of that. At times, I notice a tendency toward hyper-focusing on specific choreography, on rigid breathing patterns (here you need to inhale, here you need to exhale), or on isolated exercises performed over way too many reps simply to create a muscle burn.

To be clear: these elements can absolutely have their place within a Pilates practice. But when they become the sole focus, we may start missing the bigger picture. No one skis down a mountain, or walks down the street, thinking, “Now I need to inhale, now I need to exhale.” Movement in life is responsive, adaptable, and often beautifully messy. Just like when you miss a turn on the slopes and end up on your back with your legs going in two different direction.

Pilates, among many other things, is a training for the nervous system. Joseph Pilates called his exercises corrective exercise. They helps rewire and refine movement patterns. They create options. They encourage ease and fluidity rather than stiffness and control for control’s sake. Pilates teaches dynamic stability, because no, I am definitely not bracing my abdominals the entire time I’m skiing downhill. And it teaches movement integration. Rather than one muscle burning, the entire body works together to allow ease and freedom of movement.

Out on the mountain, my body isn’t thinking in muscles or cues. It’s sensing, adjusting, responding. Exactly the kind of intelligence we aim to cultivate in a thoughtful Pilates practice.

When Pilates shows up like this, outside the studio and without effort, it reminds me why I practice and teach it the way I do. I am not after perfect movement or doing random choreographies for the sake of choreographies. I am looking to simply move better. On the mat, on the mountain, and everywhere in between.