On 2004-12-21, Stephen B. penned:
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
almost everything that I learned came from those last few hours. I
now have two great, concrete techniques to use in the moguls; one
will keep me from lifting my inner ski; the other will help me keep
the speed I want in the moguls without going too fast or exhausting
my thighs as much as I have been.

What were those hints?

Stephen NYC

Oh, you think it's that easy, do ya? Just ask and I'll give up these secrets?

Okay, maybe I will. But please bear in mind that:

[disclaimer]

I'm trying to describe in pure text what was shown to me repeatedly with
words, gestures, and examples

The advice given to me may not apply to you, as your bad habits may not be the
same as mine

As always, if I report something that's completely wrong, it's my error and
not the instructor's

This advice is worth exactly as much as you've paid me for it, and is
guaranteed for the same amount

[/disclaimer]

Anyway. There are several ways to ski moguls. I can't help you with the type
you see on TV, where the skier's knees are just bouncing up and down and
there's no apparent lateral motion. Even if I had the guts and reflexes to do
that, I value my knees pretty highly.

No, I go for more of a weaving approach. Ideally, I'd thread my way around
moguls and make steady downward progress. Right now, there's a good deal of
horizontal movement, and I typically make 3-5 turns, then have to stop and
evaluate. Both of my mogul instructors have pegged me as a "shopper,"
traversing half the slope looking for that perfect line for each turn, then
failing to commit enough when I do find something.

There's also a psychological element to my difficulty with moguls. The
ex-boyfriend who introduced me to skiing believed that anything other than the
above-mentioned knee-bouncing approach to moguls was sinful, as it would
scrape snow off the moguls (nevermind that that's how moguls are formed in the
first place). No, his advice to me, then a beginner/low intermediate skier,
was to go straight down the mogul run and just learn to move my legs fast
enough for the speed I accumulated. I wonder why I had such a hard time
learning mogul skiing from him?

Okay, on to trick number one. This addresses several bad habits: back-seat
skiing and lifting the inside ski are the two obvious ones. When you're in
the transition, skis somewhat horizontal across the mountain, take your
downhill ski (the one that's about to become the inside ski), slide it forward
just a hair, and put pressure on the outside edge. In other words, make sure
that you're actively using that inside ski rather than just bringing it along
for the ride. If you ice skate, this is a lot like what iirc are called power
turns. Obviously, your outside ski still needs to do its normal thing, but
the important point is that your inside ski is no longer just dead weight.

Trick two may be harder for me to explain. Maybe I can start by describing my
bad habits. Apparently, I try to scrub speed as soon as I start going
downhill by skidding my skis, then abruptly forcing my skis into a turn across
the front of the mogul. (Front? Back? The side closer to the bottom of the
slope.) Problem number one: I'm trying to dump speed during the part of the
turn that most wants to go fast. Problem number two: I dump so much speed
during the downhill part that I don't have enough momentum to get around the
next bump, and I often have to pole around the next turn. In order to get a
smoother, more controlled run, the idea is to go ahead and let speed
accumulate as my skis point down the mountain. Rather than forcing an abrupt
turn too soon, allow my skis to turn on the back of the next mogul, not on the
front of the current one. (Again, assuming front to be the side closest to
the bottom of the slope, which may be the opposite of the proper definition.)
During this transitional part of the turn, where my skis are more horizontal,
I can scrub speed, even allowing the skis to go uphill a bit if I need to. By
allowing myself to gather speed when my skis point downhill, only controlling
speed during the transition where they point more to the side, I get a cleaner
turn, more control, and less burning in the thighs. I also don't end up stuck
on top of a mogul as often.

The instructor also claimed that the best line is often a turn for every two
moguls, rather than one. We both observed that double black moguls seem
easier than blues, but we had different reasons. My instructor believes that
double black moguls are shaped by better skiers and are therefore more
regular; I believe that the extra steepness helps even a slowpoke like me get
around the turn, whereas on a blue it's easier to get stuck.

As with just about anything else, keeping your body mostly pointed down the
mountain while your skis are doing whatever they need to do is important.
This is where pole planting comes in; if you reach out with your pole and
"tag" the mogul around which you plan to turn, it gets your body up front and
facing forward.

I hope all of that made some sense, is somewhat accurate, and is somewhat
useful.

--
monique
Longmont, CO