Study shows moguls moving uphill!
Quote:
"What they're doing is they're scraping the bumps the snow is actually moving uphill just like you think it should but when the skier hits those bumps they scrape it off the backside of each bump and pike it up on the bump below so that bump is actually slowly moving up the hill," said Bahr.
WINTER PARK - After years of skiing at Mary Jane, Brad Peterman says he and his family have gotten pretty good at hitting the bump runs.
Additional Resources...
Professor Dave Bahr's Wep page
Study shows moguls gradually move uphill. 9NEWS at 5 p.m. December 9, 2006.
"We like the bumps here," said Peterman.
Even Peterman's daughter Nichole has already got the hang of moguls.
"Just go straight down keep your body facing forward and just turn your skis," Nichole said.
However, something the Peterman's do not know about moguls is that they move, and during a season they move up hill.
"That's weird. I never would have guessed it," said Nichole.
It is a discovery made by Regis University Professor Dave Bahr.
"People ask me if they put hay bails under these bumps. They just migrate into position so the question is, 'How are they moving?' I thought about it and realized pretty much the only way they can move is uphill and of course half the people I said that to said I was nuts," said Bahr.
Professor Bahr started his research last year by setting up a water proof camera to take pictures of a bump run at Mary Jane.
"Once an hour on the hour all day long everyday of the year and then at the end of the year we take all the pictures and combine them into a movie," said Bahr.
The movie shows that during the season, bump runs are moving a few feet slowly uphill, and the more skiers are pounding the bumps, the more the moguls move.
"What they're doing is they're scraping the bumps the snow is actually moving uphill just like you think it should but when the skier hits those bumps they scrape it off the backside of each bump and pike it up on the bump below so that bump is actually slowly moving up the hill," said Bahr.
Winter Park's Communications Manager Darcy Morse says the information came as a surprise to some.
"I'm sure there's people in the resort for years who have known this, but myself no I always thought they moved downhill with the skiers," said Morse.
Still the research could go a long way in helping the resort reduce the impact skiers have on bump runs.
Professor Bahr says that's one good outcome to the study, but there are others.
"We're studying things like LCD TV's and all sorts of chemical reactions, even the way spiral galaxies form just by looking at bumps," Bahr said.
of course moguls move uphill.
you dont see any at the bottom, do you?
