All about Moguls

Every good bumps run in the world breeds its own little clique of initiates. These are expert mogul skiers, who hug the fall line where normal skiers are forced into desperate traverses; absorb bumps that throw others into the air like rag dolls; and, most annoying of all, seem to be enjoying themselves. What is their secret?

Unfortunately, there is no single answer. Fall-line mogul skiing requires a reasonable level of strength and fitness, sound basic technique and good balance. Some specialized techniques will enable you to cope with the violent undulations in the terrain as you perform your turns. But equally importantly, you need the cognitive ability to read the terrain: expert mogul skiing depends on recognizing patterns in the moguls and responding quickly. It is this path-finding skill, rather than any technique, that can be most difficult to master.

In previous chapters, you have learnt how to cope with moguls; the emphasis has been more on survival than enjoyment. This chapter introduces fall line mogul skiing. And the real secret to mastering the bumps? Get out there and ski them!

As you hit each mogul use your hips, knees and ankles to absorb it and keep your arms in front of you at all times. Your centre of mass should follow a straight line.

Absorption

By allowing your legs to flex under you as you ski over each mogul, you reduce the pressure between your skis and the snow. Once your skis have passed over the crest, extend your legs strongly, maintaining contact with the snow.

Exercise

Practise this next time you find yourself in an easy mogul field with a good safe run-out area. As you reach the last few bumps, let your skis run straight down the fall line. Keep your head and upper body calm while using your legs to smooth out the moguls. Allowing the moguls to flex your legs is fine, but you need to push down actively into the troughs to keep your skis on the snow. Notice how the force on your skis is also smoothed out.

Another good way to practise this is to traverse at a moderate speed or perform giant slalom turns through a mogul field (making sure first, of course, that the path is clear).

Keep your upper body from rising and falling as you pass over the moguls, and push your arms forwards as you absorb the bumps.

Tip

Your upper body must remain calm throughout, letting your legs absorb the mogul under you. Don't let yourself fold forwards from the waist.

Path

Check your speed.	Point your skis downhill.	Let your skis run.

Compression turns help to smooth out the effects of violent rises and falls in the terrain, and are a valuable addition to your skier's tool-kit. But on their own, they will not transform your bump skiing: you also need to modify your path through the moguls.

As you pass over the crest of a bump, there is a limit to the power with which you can re-extend. You cannot guarantee that your edges will work effectively on the downhill side of every mogul. All too often, trying to apply your edges results in an uncontrollable skid down the flank of the mogul and into the trough. You must learn instead to stay off your edges on the flank of the mogul, turning only when the terrain provides you with something against which to bank your skis.

Eliminating The Sideslip

In order to ski this route, first learn to check your speed against the front of a mogul. Select a mogul on an easy slope and perform a pre-turn against its uphill side, planting your pole on its crest. Progressively exaggerate the preturn, until you are checking strongly on the front of the bump.

Once you have your speed under control, try letting your skis point straight downhill as they pass over the crest of the mogul. Don't steer, just relax and let them accelerate. Only when you reach the front of the next mogul, and the terrain comes up to meet you, do you steer your skis into another quick check. Repeat the whole process and get into a rhythm: check and run; check and run.

Lining Up

Any mogul slope with a large number of good skiers should develop regular moguls with obvious lines to ski.

The Road Less Travelled

Look ahead, not at your skis!

Even among expert skiers or experienced alpine racers, a remarkably small proportion is truly skilled at picking their path through a mogul field. That is why you often hear excuses about skis being too long for the moguls. Remember the following points:

• Use the fronts of the moguls. Let your skis bank against the bump as you finish the turn, instead of skidding down the flank on your edges.
• If you lose your rhythm, point your tips down the fall line to the front of the next mogul, where you can check your speed.
• Look ahead. You should always have a general idea of your route through a mogul field before you push off. Plan the first four or five turns, then keep looking ahead at least one or two turns.

Compression Turn

Once you feel comfortable absorbing moguls by flexing and re-extending your legs, you are ready to use this in a turn, called a compression turn. Try it first on an isolated mogul.

Tip

Keep your arms in front of you at all times. Plant and release your pole as far as possible using only wrist action.

Approach the chosen mogul.	As your skis ride up the mogul, allow your legs to flex and plant your pole on the top	As your skis pass over the crest of the mogul, steer them into the fall line.
Extend your legs actively to keep your skis in contact with the snow.	Finish the turn in the normal stance.

Once you have eliminated the sideslip, you are only a short step from 'real' fall line mogul skiing. Follow the same line, but round out your turns by checking less abruptly, against the sides, rather than the fronts of the moguls.

Look ahead and plan your turn.	Check smoothly and powerfully on the first mogul.	Let your skis run towards the fall line.
Steer your skis through a rounded turn towards the front of the next mogul.	Finish your turn strongly on this mogul and anticipate the next.

Speed

You should quickly master fall line mogul skiing in easy bump fields. When the slopes become steeper, however, you may find speed control a problem. One way to deal with this is to skid into more powerful checks (this should feel similar to performing short-swing turns). An alternative technique is to modify your path through the bumps, either by turning every second bump or by steering your skis further from the fall line each turn.

The ideal route is direct and fast.	If it's too fast, absorb the moguls and skid down their flanks.	Alternatively, skid into more powerful checks...	.....or try steering your skis further from the fall line each turn.

Perfect balance means allowing your centre of mass to drop back as you absorb a mogul, to balance your deceleration.

Balance

The secret lies in the braking that occurs each time you absorb a mogul. It is like standing in a train as it slows down: you lean back, but the deceleration keeps your weight squarely over your feet. If you don't get it right, you topple forwards. Similarly when you absorb a mogul, your skis slow down. You must let your centre of gravity drop behind your feet or you will fold forwards from the waist.

Once your skis have passed over the crest of the mogul, however, they are no longer braking. Your weight must once again be forward, over your feet. (If you continue to lean back once the train has stopped, you fall over.) To avoid being thrown back onto your tails at this point, keep your arms in front of you as you absorb the mogul.

Poles

Plant your pole early and further down the fall line than usual.	Keep your arms forwards.	Allow your pole to release as you pass over the mogul.

Your pole plant is even more important in mogul skiing than when skiing the flat. Any fault in your pole plant is instantly transmitted to your body, resulting in a loss of balance and control. Work on improving your pole plants and your mogul skiing will improve dramatically. If problems persist, try using a shorter pair of poles for skiing bumps.

Life In The Fast Line

Bump skiing can be a very exhilharating experience. But it should also be a very personal experience: there are as many ways of skiing bumps as there are skiers on the mountain.

Advanced

If necessary miss the trough altogether and use a pre-jump to land on the front of the next bump.

Once in a while, every self-respecting mogul run will throw at you a bump so deformed that it defies the usual techniques. The best plan is to change lines to avoid these maverick moguls. Often, however, you are on them too quickly. This is where three special techniques come in: a foot thrust or a pre-jump can help you to negotiate moguls that sit across your line like park benches; hip projection gets your skis back on the snow after you have absorbed particularly big bumps.

Foot Thrust

If you see a particularly steep mogul coming, push your feet forwards to anticipate the impact. This will prevent you from folding from the waist.

The Pre-Jump

If you think even foot thrust will not keep you from being thrown forwards by a mogul, you have no choice: a pre-jump is hard work, but gets you out of trouble. As the mogul approaches, jump, lifting your ski tips, and land on the front of the mogul.

Hip Projection

After absorbing a particularly big mogul, use hip projection to push your tips back down towards the snow. Project your hips forwards while pushing down through the balls of your feet.

To avoid folding, use foot thrust To keep your skis on the snow, use hip projection.