Alright admit it......who sucks at moguls. I'll admit it, I suck.

[Snakeboy]

I don't agree with that.

the Short shaped skis are what fuck up a bump field.

Nope. Go to MRG sometime. One of the best things about that place is that good skiiers who know the hill set the lines. The bumps are in the exact same spots year after year. Even in totally crappy conditions, you can ski the bumps there because they dont get flattened by snowboards, that and bad skiiers.

I love when people say they are an expert skiier but 'don't ski bumps'. Must do the latter to be the former imo.

And yes this winter sucks a giant old fat womans rotten flappy vagina. Fucking moguls.

[StuntCok]

I love when people say they are an expert skiier but 'don't ski bumps'. Must do the latter to be the former imo.

.

A lot of "expert skiers" are actually technology enabled powder skiers (i.e. push pow from side to side with modern rockered fat skis)

[Tunco]

wtf are moguls?

They tell you where to go, kinda like restraining orders.

[BmillsSkier]

I know it may be poor form in regards to the title of the thread, but I can rip some zipper lines. I LOVE moguls.

Growing up at rinky-dink "resorts", before the days of park, in the hey-day of freestyle, and the emergence of moguls as an olympic sport all led to a perfect combination for a kid like me to start a life-long love affair with bumps.

I was lucky enough to be blessed with good knees, and good technique. So much that I got the "bump" up from crappy small area teams to Holiday Valley and skiing all summer in the bump lanes of Mt Hood.

There's some quality comments in this thread, and some funny ones too. Keep up the bump stoke!

[CarveMan]

A lot of "expert skiers" are actually technology enabled powder skiers (i.e. push pow from side to side with modern rockered fat skis)

To be fair there's an element of fitness and balls/guts as well, but you're 100% right.

[Bluebird]

Holiday valley doesn't put out any good bump skiers.

[Piggity]

I prefer nipple deep pow. But pointing them straight down bump lines, growing up ice coast, definitely helped me improve in certain areas. I think the skills learned can translate into other terrain, such as fast turns through deep snow in tight trees. The ability to switch lines without missing a turn can come in handy in many types of terrain. You can practice in bumps cause nipple deep days are far and few this year. Sorta like training for good days

[BmillsSkier]

Holiday valley doesn't put out any good bump skiers.

indeed!

This thread got me reminiscing about the old days of mogul skiing and on a google search I stumbled upon this gem from the forum:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...en-Plake/page3

In 1993 (ish...'92, 94?) Plake did the "down home tour"...it was a tour of America's smallest 50 ski resorts. I think it was his wife and his honeymoon. I also think it was a K2 thing.

We didn't know this, and one day at Boston Mills ski resort, we see this guy (mohawk was not up) r i p p i n g the bumps up on our 250' bump run at our little hill in Ohio. He was taking lap after lap, and we were completely opposite, watching this unknown (which is almost impossible in OH) skier just kill our bumps from the chairlift. Then, he took a massive yard sale. like....huge.

A little while later a bunch of our friends came out of the lodge telling us the Glen Plake was in the 'loft' (the upstairs area where us bad kids hung out) signing autographs. He signed my skis (not k2 verticals, dynastars...ummm...the pink ones). We totally hung out with him all night, played mini basketball and took runs in the rain, then back inside for more mini baksetball.

it was so fucking rad! I was like 13 years old, and he was totally all of our idols. He had a great time hanging out with us, and was just psyched to be out skiing, even in ohio, on ice bumps in the rain!

While I don't know if I know ANON or not, I know I got to share a few bump runs with Plake that day and that when he exploded it's because he bombed from the lift and hit the first mogul he could and LAUNCHED into the biggest 360 (helicopter back then) skipping about 1/3 of the field only to explode in a rut between two VW sized bumps. Rad day indeed!

Other mogul memories include:

Building jumps with Nelson Carmichel in OR, and watching Toby Dawson get jobbed by Dale Begg-Smith for Gold in SLC Olympics when his run was vastly more technical and more powerful.

+1 on whoever said that a true skier is evidenced by a groin-tearing spread-eagle in the middle of a bump field! Love it!

[bendtheski]

I don't think it can be stressed enough in all types of skiing, but especially bumps; fuck your turns, don't shit on them. This means skiing with your chest/pelvis forward, not hunched over and waiting for the next impact. A more upright posture means you'll be able to absorb more of the bump with your leg travel instead of being in a posture that already has you halfway through your compression.

Looking and planning ahead are important, but I think it's more a matter of skiing the terrain, rather than the terrain skiing you. Pull your knees up in anticipation of the mogul, punch your hands forward and turn on the back side. Don't wait for the mogul to drive your knees up and throw your weight back. Keep your hands out in front of you and limit your pole plants to wrist movement only instead of letting your whole arm travel down and back, causing your upper body to rotate and your weight to fall back.

Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate! Reacting to moguls is a sure trip to the back seat. Anticipation, forward hands and edge pressure, quiet upper body and a balanced and stacked body posture are your friends everywhere on the mountain, but especially in the bumps. If you do it right, not only does it not hurt, it can actually be one of the most rewarding feelings in skiing. Doesn't even matter if there's no one there to see it, although it certainly doesn't hurt.

I don't blame snowboarders or shaped skis for my sucking at skiing bumps anymore. Good bump skiers can always seem to make lemonade out of lemons. Chuck Martin, Donna Weinbrecht and Evan Dybvig epitomized this ability back when I used idolize them during my kmart days, and are probably still who I'm trying to emulate when I think I'm killing it on odd-ball, mish-mosh bumps which seem to have become the norm these days.

Anyone can ski a catted course or zipper-line and make it look good. I like bump skiers who can ski absolute dogshit and make it look like a zipper line, that IMO is becoming or already is a lost art.

Of course all of the above seemed much more important to me when I skied the east in the 90's. Now, not so much, but I'm not quite ready to admit I suck either...

FWIW, I wicked suck at park.





Look at me, I can ski with my feet together!!!

[Grape_Ape]

Nope. Go to MRG sometime. ...you can ski the bumps there because they dont get flattened by snowboards, that and bad skiiers.

This x1,000

[carvedog]

I snowboard though so I guess i don't have a short, quick turn. But was in a mogul field back in December, huge ass moguls covered in new snow, it was f-ing depressing, I barely made it out.

FIFY - anyone who uses the snowboard as a reason for not being able to ride bumps will stay stuck as terminal advanced beginner.

This is the reason most skiers hate snowboarders and why some of us boarders dislike them as well. Learn to fucking turn.

[BmillsSkier]

I remember back around 89-90 at a USSA bump comp at Mt. Brighton this snowboarder poached a run or two between competetors just to show how fast he could make turns in the moguls. Mind you this was on one of those old Burtons with the mountain on the tip and a flat tail and this guy just ripped. Snowboarders can make the turns fast enough if they want to so as not to fuck up a mogul field, it's just too hard and tiring for them to do it on the reg from the looks of it.

On a side note this event set off the epic battle that still rages to this day in non-skiing publications and tv advertisements selling minivans to balding 40 year olds: SNOWBOARDER vs. SKIER.

Mt Brighton was the midwest's Ft. Sumpter, and it was very dark times. Thousands fought; neon was bled; the poor monoskiers were completely wiped out, never to be heard from again, although I sometimes do hear whispers in the bar from time to time about the advantages of uphill edging - only to be quickly hushed back into silence...

[SterlingSpikeDancer]

...and watching Toby Dawson get jobbed by Dale Begg-Smith for Gold in SLC Olympics when his run was vastly more technical and more powerful.

I helped to build the course in 2002, and was standing on the starting line to view the comp. Unless I had to make a lap to clean up after the Japanese kid blew up on jump 1, but Dale SMOKED Toby in time and turn scores. I know the judges, and about the only thing that was the least bit controversial for the comp was that they did not know how to properly score J-Mo's Dinner Roll. Even though I never competed, I owe all of my skill to chasing competitors around the mountain and picking their brains whenever I could for tips. Kind of like the world's longest mogul clinic. It's still ongoing too.

Keep your hands out in front of you and limit your pole plants to wrist movement only instead of letting your whole arm travel down and back, causing your upper body to rotate and your weight to fall back.

This. My single biggest breakthrough came when I figured this out and also figured out WHERE to make pole touches, not pole plants. Reach over the crest of the bump and touch. That way you are staying forward, pressuring your tips and keeping your hands forwards too. Make little wrist flicks, not slalom skier pole plants.

Hammered bumps this morning in 5" of new since the trees aren't quite fully in out here, and it was NIIICE. Nothing like face shots when the snow is not so deep.

[shera]

Hammered bumps this morning in 5" of new since the trees aren't quite fully in out here, and it was NIIICE. Nothing like face shots when the snow is not so deep.

Me too. So much fun. I'm the type to climb on some big fat skis and do anything to find untouched snow with no bumps underneath, but not this year. and my skiing is changing, gotta roll with the skinnies. Bumps with a fat blanket of pow over them is fascinating.

[coreshot-tourettes]

People who can't ski bumps on their fat skis can't ski.

If you can't rip on bumps on your powder skis, ski bumps on your powder skis as fast as you can until you can't stand up, then do it again. Bumps occur in the BC all the time - natural terrain features, wind drifts, trees, rocks, etc. I have seen many a cat trip slowed down by people that were fine on open terrain but ate shit repeatedly for 300 yards because they couldn't ski anything variable, which bumps would have taught them.

[TomCrac]

It took me forever to finally get "ok" at bumps. Made a big difference when I got off of the 201 Rossi 9S's. It took so much more energy to ski the bumps incorrectly. Finally made some breakthrough when a friend of mine (good bump skier) told me I should commit to just blasting into them dead on and use that to control your speed, quick turn then blast the next one. Always liked his style... Blast a few then launch over a few, then blast a few, like an effing jack rabbit. Was turned off by the 90's style of mechanical zipper lines. Just seemed that there was too much emphasis on legs "perfectly" glued together etc. But I guess in a competion you need something to be xtra critical of. I wonder if the fact that I can barely dance has anything to do with my bump "ability".

[baron]

BUMPS are a TEST of SHIN LEAN ABILITY;slow it down ,square to the ski line,dont halve to bash em'. If your doin' it right ,you can ski skinny skis in nasty crud ! p.s. huckin dont mean theres ski ability there..iwas livin proof.X--tasmaniandevil

[warthog]

I know it may be poor form in regards to the title of the thread, but I can rip some zipper lines. I LOVE moguls.

Growing up at rinky-dink "resorts", before the days of park, in the hey-day of freestyle, and the emergence of moguls as an olympic sport all led to a perfect combination for a kid like me to start a life-long love affair with bumps.

I was lucky enough to be blessed with good knees, and good technique. So much that I got the "bump" up from crappy small area teams to Holiday Valley and skiing all summer in the bump lanes of Mt Hood.

There's some quality comments in this thread, and some funny ones too. Keep up the bump stoke!

x2- nothing to see at HV, move along.

Did you ride for their team, or just compete against them?
I was there from 92-96 in college.

I had to work or something the day Plake was there.
He launched the whole wall, and landed about 5 ft from the bottom- they built a jump off the fence that blocked you from Wyle E Coyote-ing it off the run by accident.
My old boss Moose was buddies with Plake, but I never got to meet him. I was pretty bummed.

I lived on Chute. Would park the car there, and rip it for hours straight.
They used to have the absolute best air in off the side of the initial catwalk. If you hit it right, you could go about 30 ft out, 10-15 ft off the ground, and just crush it.
That was back in the day of 3 ft dumps every couple weeks.

I think they averaged 250 inches every year I was in college.
It was meant to be.

[SterlingSpikeDancer]

People who can't ski bumps on their fat skis can't ski.

If you can't rip on bumps on your powder skis, ski bumps on your powder skis as fast as you can until you can't stand up, then do it again. Bumps occur in the BC all the time - natural terrain features, wind drifts, trees, rocks, etc. I have seen many a cat trip slowed down by people that were fine on open terrain but ate shit repeatedly for 300 yards because they couldn't ski anything variable, which bumps would have taught them.

I think that any good bump skier CAN rip bumps on their big boards. Although I like bumps, I am not good in the sense of "I should be competing", but I am not intimidated by any bumps runs, in any conditions, on any skis. Some days I take out the short skinny sticks/rock skis and still have a blast, and others I have the big planks on. I think that the cool thing about becoming proficient in moguls is that you have to make many different kinds of turns, sometimes in the course of the single run. Although I am a technically poor skier on hardpack/ice (I still don't carve like all of you East Coasters on ice), I can make any kind of turn, anywhere on the mountain. I guess the above statement points to the fact that you REALLY need to work to fill a cat with GOOD skiers!

[baron]

deep CRUD!!!!!! IS THE TOUGHEST BUMP SKIING TEST

[Captain Anal]

Never skied bumps in my life. I wish the people operating the cats weren't so fucking lazy and would just groom everything like they're supposed to.

[Ted Striker]

Keep your hands out in front of you and limit your pole plants to wrist movement only instead of letting your whole arm travel down and back, causing your upper body to rotate and your weight to fall back.

I once heard someone say that your poles should 'walk down the hill', which is a good way to visualize what you're saying.

[himavan]

I'm awed watching the pros rip pillow lines like they're zippering through some bumps (Mike D, etc. comes to mind) with incredibly calm upper bodies. It's inspired me to try (key word) skiing bumps on my bentchetlers...

On another note - seems like back in the day more snowboarders could ride bumps too. I remember watching a comp in Breckenridge back in '87 or 86 as a kid (I think it was one of the swatch snowboarding championships) and those guys were just ripping bumps with ease. The combination of their skill and neon one-piece suits if forever etched in my memory.

[BmillsSkier]

x2- nothing to see at HV, move along.

Did you ride for their team, or just compete against them?
I was there from 92-96 in college.

I had to work or something the day Plake was there.
He launched the whole wall, and landed about 5 ft from the bottom- they built a jump off the fence that blocked you from Wyle E Coyote-ing it off the run by accident.
My old boss Moose was buddies with Plake, but I never got to meet him. I was pretty bummed.

I lived on Chute. Would park the car there, and rip it for hours straight.
They used to have the absolute best air in off the side of the initial catwalk. If you hit it right, you could go about 30 ft out, 10-15 ft off the ground, and just crush it.
That was back in the day of 3 ft dumps every couple weeks.

I think they averaged 250 inches every year I was in college.
It was meant to be.

Bit of both, skied against HV in 96/97 then for them in 98.

It used to just puke up there. Last year wasn't bad, this year is pathetic. Zero cold Candadian air coming across the lake that is no where near frozen.

[BushwackerinPA]

practice this and you will never have sore knees again.