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# Preview the course.
- URL: https://www.scottsemple.com/preview-the-course/
- Published: 2025-02-17T15:45:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-26T15:23:51.000Z
- Description: Redlining at a race pace is not the time to figure out where to go.
- Author: Scott Semple
- Tags: From Geek to Freak, Tactics

**During a typical skimo race**, racers suffer from panic-and-lactate-induced tunnel vision. Your **focus narrows** and your **decision-making suffers**. What you might notice with a resting heart rate becomes invisible at your anaerobic threshold—unless you've previewed the course and already know where to go.

To avoid losing your way:

1. **Contact the race organizers** and ask for:  
a. *A course map—*essential to efficiently preview the event; and  
b. *The location of the warm-up area*—a test of how serious the organizers are about holding a skimo race. (Sadly, the warm-up question is often met with confusion, but at least it plants a seed.)
2. Races are typically half-in, half-out of resorts. So it's a good idea to **go a few days in advance and preview**:  
a. *Course layout*—the general profile of the race;  
b. *Descents*—on-piste, off-piste, snow quality;  
c. *Transition zones*; and  
d. *Quality of flagging*—note if and where it’s less clear than it should be.1
3. **If your preview is close to the race**, *do not ski hard and do not ski all day*. A general training rule is to avoid strength training 7-10 days before an event. Downhill skiing is similar. If you ski too hard a few days out, it'll likely have a negative effect on your race. Be disciplined; save your legs for the race.

When route-setting, the brain has enough bandwidth to use a wide-angle lens; at race pace, a zoom lens.2 So what is obvious and well-flagged to a route-setter at a ski touring pace is very easy to miss at full throttle.

To avoid missing important decision points, **preview the course when you have time—rather than going off-course when you don't.**

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1. In six years of racing, flagging and signage was obvious only once: when it was done by a racer. Hat tip to [Eric Carter](https://www.ridgelineathletics.com/?ref=scottsemple.com) for making the route-finding dead simple.
2. To create a little empathy, I've often thought of gifting race organizers with goggles with two toilet paper tubes taped to them.