Zack Simons
Age: 25
Ski Club/Team:
Sun Valley Ski Team and FSx
Hometown:
Park City, UT
Current Residence:
Ketchum, Idaho
School:
University of Utah (Economics, BS, 2003)
Ride:
2003 Volkswagen GTI, 20th Anniversary Edition
Other Rides:
Sector9 Longboard, Litespeed Vortex
Must Haves On The Road:
iPod, Computer, Cell Phone (and ideally cell reception and WiFi)
Last Albums Purchased:
Matisyahu- Live at Stubb’s, Masta Killa- No Said Date, Boysetsfire- The Misery Index
Playing As I Write This:
Mars Volta- Francis the Mute
Last Books Read:
Real World Photoshop CS, Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis.
Hobbies:
Telemark Skiing, digital art- graphic design and photomanipulation.


Top Recent Results:
1st Place Boulder Mountain Tour 2006
1st Place Owl Creek Chase 2006
1st Place Supertour Sprint Relay, Madison 2006
2nd Place Supertour 15k, Telemark 2006
2nd Place Supertour Sprint, Madison 2006
10th Overall US Nationals 15k CL, Soldier Hollow 2006
2005 Overall Sprint Champion, Super Tour
1st Place SuperTour Sprint, Madison 2005
3rd Place US Nationals Sprint, Soldier Hollow 2005
1st Place SuperTour Sprint, Madison 2005
2nd Place Supertour Sprint, Minneapolis 2005
4th Place Europa Cup, Bad Gastein, AUT 2004
1st Place-Team, NCAA Championship 2003

Why do you ski race?
I started ski racing because I loved skiing, it was something that I excelled at and it was fun. Now I ski race because I want to reach my goals, I want to win. There are few things that compare to the thrill I get out of winning a ski race… and now I’m dedicating my life to it. I couldn’t be happier about that decision.


Why are you psyched to be apart of FSx?
My first pair of skating skis were Fischers. Since then I have been on a variety of different brands for all sorts of reasons. I’ve always heard how great Fischer skis are and how easy it is to find a great pair. FSx gave me the opportunity to find out for myself.

After one year with Fischers on my feet I can tell you that it is true. Fischers are the best skis in the world, hands down. In one year I have a better fleet of skis than I was able to piece together in 7 years on another brand.

In addition to Fischer, Swix has the best poles in the world and excellent softgoods. The new long underwear line is exceptional. The Carrera racing glasses with the strap, C-8x, are the best glasses I have ever skied in. They have not fogged on me one time, not once, very impressive. Yogi Tea is also a company that I am proud to support… I recommend the Orange Moroccan Spice Tea.

What is the first thing you do in the off-season?
I do my best to convince myself (with no avail) that skiing does not own me. I do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I stay up until 3am for no reason. I sleep until noon. I try not to even think about skiing.

If the resources are available I shoot for some vacation time. Last year I went to Baja, Mexico with my buddies Andrew Newell and Andrew Johnson. This spring I went to Las Vegas for a few days and later found myself in Mammoth for some late spring skiing.


West Yellowstone Supertour Sprint - 2006

What is the first thing you do in the pre-season?
Last year it was bench press. I was trying to put on some muscle mass in my upper body. This year it was running. I took two weeks completely off from training, then another 2 weeks with 3 runs per week. During the runs I would cruise for 10 minutes, then hammer for 20, then stop. It was my way of getting into some running shape and keeping my V02 Max from plummeting.

Should we call you “Streetfighter?”
That’s for you to decide. I’m not sure it’s the most fitting name in the world, but frankly, I’m not opposed to it. The name itself was a marketing ploy, thought up by some dude in Austria and translated to English. My friends call me ZSi, Simmons or some variation of the two.

Should we still consider you a sprint specialist?
I would argue not. I have won Supertour distance races, I won a few marathons and I pulled down a 10th place in a 15k at US Nationals last season. My best chance for international success right now is in sprinting but I am aiming at all events. This season I am focusing on distance skate races and classic sprints. You never know, next year I could be focusing on the opposite, I could be a 50k skier. I like to think of myself as an all-arounder these days.


Boulder Mountain Tour 2006

Do you have any advice for the juniors of America?
Train your asses off. The best juniors in the world are training 700 hours or more. Hours are not everything but if you are comparing 450 to 700, they are. When I was a junior I was told hundreds of times about the dangers of overtraining and rarely was I told the huge amounts of training necessary to make it internationally. You have to put in the time. You have to push it. And you have to do it on a consistent basis. You can't take months off in the spring and you can't train 50 hours per month if you want to make it on the World Cup.

Another thing to remember is to listen to yourself. There are lots of fads that come and go with training. Sometimes people are doing tons of intensity, other times they are doing almost no intensity and lots of hours, sometimes its max strength, other times its purely specific strength. After several years of getting caught up in the fads, I can tell you, do what you need to do. Gather the information you need and make training decisions based on what you need to improve, not what the Norwegians or US Ski Team is doing.




IF YOU EVER HAVE QUESTIONS OR JUST WANT TO DROP ME A LINE, EMAIL ME AT: zacksimons[AT]hotmail[DOT]com