Backcountry skiing, mostly because of the need to skin uphill to the top of a mountain, is a great cardio workout. But you never see nutritional drink products geared specifically toward backcountry skiers. Image a Gatorade-style commercial of free-heelers ripping up the slopes, then hiking back up for another lap as they sweat neon green. Skiers simply get no love like football players (or even skateboarders) get from the big companies. But that’s just fine, because now we have our own sports drink.
Iced Sports Drinks is a Salt Lake City based company committed to making a better, more healthy sports drink for skiers, mountain bikers, mountaineers and endurance runners. The drink mix is a non-gmo, mostly organic mixture of complex carbohydrates and electrolytes, with no artificial flavors or colors.
I took a bottle of Iced Sports on several trips into the backcountry to test it out. According to the packaging directions, drinking it after one hour of activity is recommended. I ended up drinking about 8-ounces after every lap, and I do feel like it gave me a boost. However, I got the ultimate test on a day that I forgot to pack any food. Surprisingly, the drink mix sustained me for three backcountry runs near Reynolds Peak in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Although I was really hungry, Iced Sports Drinks, with its 130 calories per-serving, sustained me all morning and my body never bonked.
Another great thing about Iced Sports Drinks is the taste. It comes in two flavors, Wild Citrus and Raspberry Lemonade. Both give just a hint of flavor to water without being overpowering or syrupy like most sports drinks in the market. Iced Sports Drinks also leaves very little aftertaste, which is good when you want to think about skiing instead of the stale taste in your mouth.
Drinking Iced Sports Drinks is also a good way to support the local community. The company was founded by Raili Taylor, who is a ski mountaineer and climber living in Salt Lake City. She worked long hours with sport nutritionists to come up with the best drink mix possible that meet the needs of people who live to have fun outside.
You can purchase Iced Sports Drinks at IME, located at 3265 E. 3300 S. in Salt Lake City, or you can buy it online at www.icedsportsdrinks.com.
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