park skiing help

Question
hey
I'm an advanced all-mountain skier(I'm a pretty aggressive skier, and I normally ski blacks and double-blacks, trees whenever I can), but I can't really do anything in the park.
I want to start freestyle skiing, with the hope of eventually taking it to the rest of the mountain.
I was wondering if you could please help me with:
-Some summer training i could do
-Twin tips that are around $500 or under which would work well for a beginner in a snow park, but work just as well when I take them on hard runs. They also have to be able to handle well in powder and icy conditions.
Thanks a lot,
Emma

Answer
Hey Emma,

There are a number of cross training sports that will help you get ready for the ski season. Bicycling helps build stamina, leg strength, and also your core, mainly your abs and low back. Rollerblading improves balance, leg strength, and if you can find a skate park, you can start learning tricks that will cross over into freestyle skiing. You may even find some other freestylers there that could help you learn. Swimming is great exercise for whole body conditioning and building stamina. Windsurfing is my favorite sport for whole body strengthening. Strength training in a gym is also good as it helps tone the overall body. You don't have to work so hard to be a buff muscle head, just work enough to build strength and tone.

As for which skis to look for, I can't help you much there. I don't freestyle and don't really keep up on that type of gear. I've switched to telemark skiing and don't have any downhill gear anymore. I do still snowboard though. I would suggest you look up some ski magazines online and check out gear reviews. Freeskier, Skiing, Ski, to name a few. Just Google freestyle skiing for plenty of information. Sorry I couldn't help more with this part of your question.

Hope this helps.
Keep on skiing,
Windlover