Preview the course.

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.

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 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.