It’s hard to believe that we are only weeks away from the start of another ski season. The snow guns are blasting in Colorado. Some academies are heading to Europe for early season training. And the first World Cups will be in Soelden in less than three weeks. Even if it’s a little early for some of you, the excitement of the approaching winter is palatable as the temperatures drop and the leaves change color and fall to the ground.

In my final post from last season, I exhorted you to buy into the notion that Next Season Starts…NOW! In that post, I encouraged you, after a short break to rest and recover, to use the summer to continue to develop yourself physically, technically, and mentally. That progression continues as you get on snow in the next weeks and months. You are now entering a critical final preparation period in which you want to consolidate all of the gains you’ve made in the off season and fine tune your skiing so you are a lean, mean speed machine this race season.

Your motto during this final important prep period should be: “Money in the bank, baby, money in the bank!” (it won’t work unless you say “baby”). What do I mean by that?. Well, you should think of all of your preparations as deposits that you’re making in your ski racing “bank.” Your goal is to put as much “money” (i.e., effort, improvement) in the bank because you want to write as big a “check” as you possibly can when race season arrives.

Though your bank or credit card company will be happy to let you withdraw more money than you have available (for a hefty fee, of course), you just can’t do that in ski racing. The bottom line is that in our sport, you can only take out what you put into it.

I have two recommendations as you enter this final prep period.

First, assuming you’ve worked hard this off-season, if you haven’t acknowledged all of the deposits you’ve been making to your ski-racing bank account, now is the time to do it. Think of the hours of hard work you’ve put in in the gym, on the road, track, and field, and, of course, on the hill. Recognize the improvements you’ve made physically, technically, tactically, and mentally. Add up all those deposits and make note of the size of your account. Use that number to gain confidence in your ability to achieve your goals in the coming season; the more “money” you have in the bank, the more confidence you will have.

Second, in the coming months before your first race, ask yourself how you can put even more money in the bank. What do you need to really work on during this final prep period? More conditioning in the gym? More time tuning your skis? More time watching video? And, of course, more time devoted to your mental training? Whatever it is, identify what you need to work on most and really commit these next few months to making the most deposits to your bank account as possible.

Your goal when you get in the starting gate of your race of the season is to be able to say to yourself, “Money in the bank, baby, money in the bank!” Simply translated, this statement means “I’m as prepared as I can be to ski my fastest.” When you kick out of the gate, you’ll know you’re ready to make a big, fat withdrawal that will enable you to ski as fast as you can. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee success, but, at the end of the race day, what more can you do.

Want to make mental training a part of your final prep period training program? Take a look at my online mental training courses.