Preseason training and the role of resistance training

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Sounds like you have a good base plan. To customize your training is difficult without knowing your target areas. Since you blade try moving away from cross lateral activities like diagonal striding and replace it with bilateral movements like parallel blading. Since this still requires a commitment to the new turn you will gain the ability to project your center of mass (core) into the new turn. As you gain confidence with this on flat and slightly downhill terrain move onto uphill parallel blading. Don't worry too much about the simultaneous vs sequential leg use at first. As you gain experience move in that direction though. A tip that helps is to skate in a slightly lower stance to allow more leg push into the new turns. Especially in the finishing phase. The important thing is to simulate the ski movements instead of just striding.

Cross training is a good idea because it makes use of different muscle groups and movements. I find that anything I can do to stay motivated helps, and mixing your activities is a good way to keep from getting bored.
I try to get at least two full body workouts with weights in a week. Sometimes during the ski season I'll only get one in a week, but even that is enough to maintain a reasonable level of fitness if you've done your homework in the off season.
I'll also do a combination of mountain and road biking. Usually I'll start with the mountain bike in the spring until the weather starts getting nice, and then I'll hit the road. I'll try to get 2-3 rides of anywhere between 25-35 miles per week, which I can usually fit in after work, and will occasionally do some longer rides over the weekends. I'll try to maintain that into the fall as long as weather permits, and even through the winter, although thats not always practical. But if there's not too much snow on the ground I can usually get into the woods with the mtn. bike.
Cross country skiing is a great way to maintain your aerobic level. I'll occasionally make a weekend trip to a friend's in NH. We'll do downhill one day and Xcountry the next.
When the weather is bad, I'll hit the Nordic Track in my basement, or combine that with a weight workout.
Point is, almost anything that you can do is going to help, as long as you stick with it. And the older you get, the more important it is (I'm 53). People that think that they are going to ski themselves into shape are only kidding themselves. I know that last season I put a lot of miles on the bike, and it really made a huge difference in my skiing. Also noticed a big difference at altitude. The first day I arrived at Park City I was greeted by a foot of powder, and I could actually make it top to bottom without having to stop and catch my breath.

Mac,
Cross training is great stuff and it sounds like you do activities rather than just a gym regimine. However, what I was suggesting is a specific type of body movement not cross training activities.
Running, walking, regular skating (diagonal striding), XC skiing all use cross lateral based movements. As one leg goes forward the arm on the opposite side of the body makes a counterbalancing move forward.
Try walking but instead of allowing the counterbalancing arm movement, move the arm on the same side of the body forward. (Left arm forward as the left leg goes forward). Or try moving both legs forward at the same time.
Alpine Skiing, rope skipping, pogo sticking, two footed lateral hops, and parallel rollerskating/blading are all examples of the activities using bilateral movements.
Adding some bilateral based activities makes your training more sports specific. Which should help you take your alpine skiing to the next level without even being on the snow. Enjoy!!
JASP

Sounds like cross lateral movements which have a limited use on skis. Gaining the ability to produce locomotion without stepping or striding is different than these movements.
A lot of people confuse allowing the CM to move away from the feet with pushing the feet away from the CM using a strong leg extension. As a beginning point it is alright to push with the legs but as you become more proficient think about refining this and allowing the CM to fall forward (towards the middle of the next turn) instead. The legs extend as a consequence but only to the extent that they keep the feet in contact with the ground. I know I am doing the movement properly when I feel like my feet are a little behind the rest of my body and I need to pull them forward (underneath me) to avoid actually falling forward. Again I caution you to work up to this in steps, gain a feel for the movement before exploring how far you can project your CM. I can tell you from experience that cement is not where you want to do a face plant.

Can't help you much when it comes to rollerblading. I've thought about giving it a try, but have never gotten into it. Have always been an ice skater and hockey player, which I believe uses similar movements, but had to give up the hockey league a few years ago because it always conflicted with skiing.
I'll occasionally get out and do some jogging in the winter, but have never been able to make myself do it consistently. Guess I just wasn't cut out to be a runner. That's why I got into cycling, because I needed to do something areobic that I would stick with. And, like skiing, it's a gear oriented (and expensive) sport when you really get into it, so if you're a gear junkie it gives you another summertime hobby.
If you're looking for something that simulates skiing movements, why don't you check out the Harb Carvers. I hear that they are the closest thing to real skiing that you can do in the off season, but I can't say for sure, as I've never used them. It seems to me that there was a thread about them over here not long ago, and I know that Harb has a website for them.

I also was out playing on the blades. I agree that it is easier to do this once you have some momentum. My cub found a way to make the whole thing easier. She added the old high hands/teacup drill which quieted down my flailing arms and directed their mass in the same direction as my CM. When we attempted GS turns and constant radius sl turns we noticed the projection became a lot more diagonal and less lateral. About a thirty degree projection instead of fourty five to fifty degrees. Additionally, the transition became a lot longer, almost the two thirds we use on skis. Watching the difference between pushing off and falling forward (for lack of a better term) I noticed a really smooth transition and a more active pelvis. At some point we will film both so we can make the contrast and comparison job easier.
Anyway I didn't mean to hijack your thread, Sorry. Weight training applies to this in that I noticed that one legged squats or lungs would make this movement easier.

The part about skiing "top to bottom without stopping" may be an oversimplification, but the point I wanted to get across is that I don't remember having to stop, unless I wanted to check out the scenery, look at the trail map, plot my next line, etc. I never had to call it a day because I was too tried to keep going, or because of aches and pains. Of course, luck plays into that somewhat, as anyone can sustain an injury, regardless of how good of shape that you're in. I've been following a pretty regular workout program now for over twenty years, and I'm reaping the rewards from it. One of the main reasons that I do it, at least now anyway, is the fear that if I don't keep it up that I won't be able to continue to do the things I want to do as I get older. I think it's a fair assumption that if I hadn't stuck with an exercise program when I was younger, that I wouldn't be able to do the things that I do today, or at least not to the extent that I do. I find that most people who are more than casual skiers realize the importance of staying in shape in the off season, it's more or less a way of life.

Exactly! Use it of lose it...