Hopping over moguls

[Seldomski]

Dream I have is to get good enough in moguls to purposely launch over a mogul here and there for fun at times. Is there a suggested progression for learning how to get a little bit of air in moguls with this end goal in mind?

I did find this video that talks a little bit about it with a couple shots of getting a little air in bumps.

Anyone have suggestions for where/how to build up to this skill before taking it into the moguls? Or other videos about how or where to play with this?

I'm not interested in getting air for spins or other tricks, just trying to get another tool for some more fun or ability to hop over tricky bits and maintain better flow.

 

[Chris V.]

I think Guy covers the essentials. If you're lucky, you'll have terrain features like in the video to play around on. It's very similar to dolphin turns. For practice, also see if you can find a spine deliberately set up in a terrain park, or accidentally created at the edge of a groomer track. I suck at dolphin turns, they're athletic, but I try to incorporate "dolphiny" moves. In moguls, the hardest part, IMHO, is mastering the quick movements and making very quick decisions.

 

[crgildart]

This is essentially the same as ride up the front and turn down the backside of the bumps. That was taught to me way back in 1975ish in intermediate lessons as a kid. I guess it's a lost art as the unweighting manually no longer happes as much in the shaped ski era...

But we used to do it manually without the terrain assist.. and with the terrain assist it was practically cheating.. and a useful tool to see the bumps as an advantage instead as as a detriment. Stuff gets real though when it gets steeper and taking that long to finish your turn generates too much speed to feel comfortable hitting the next bump..

 

[Crank]

It looks to me like the guy in the video is mostly pre jumping. Similar to downhill racing technique where they try to pre jump rollers to get less air. You can do this but more fun I think is to just not absorb and let the bump launch you.

Yes to landing on tips/shovels. Gotta make them tips dive.

 

[1Turn2Many]

Pick big bumps. Ski faster than your ability to absorb them. Airtime is guaranteed.

 

[Seldomski]

Pick big bumps. Ski faster than your ability to absorb them. Airtime is guaranteed.

True. I'm just wondering if there is a less violent way to go about this. In blue bumps, I have tried skiing them fast and sort of skimming the tops with larger turns. That is pretty hard on my body though. I'm thinking more about how to do this on purpose for a bump here and there.

Does this just start happening by itself unconsciously after skiing enough bumps fast enough? Or is it something I have to really think about to have occur?

I guess I could try not absorbing here and there and see what happens?

 

[geepers]

True. I'm just wondering if there is a less violent way to go about this. In blue bumps, I have tried skiing them fast and sort of skimming the tops with larger turns. That is pretty hard on my body though. I'm thinking more about how to do this on purpose for a bump here and there.

Does this just start happening by itself unconsciously after skiing enough bumps fast enough? Or is it something I have to really think about to have occur?

I guess I could try not absorbing here and there and see what happens?

Basically eliminated all unintentional aerials a while back. Occasionally a fit of youthful exuberance overwhelms and will take a little air on the last bump of a pitch when it's shaped just right and the landing area is good.

Could lower the risk by taking the bump to the side - less acceleration than in the fall line.

 

[Mike King]

Go to Whistler/Blackcomb and hire Guy Hetherington to teach it to you...

 

[Tony S]

There is skill and then there is athleticism. Plenty of things we admire in others' skiing require both. Many of us here are doing okay on the skills but are not the athletes we once were (or weren't).

 

[slowrider]

I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was. Toby Keith

 

[Bad Bob]

A little spine or the downhill edge of a shallow road works well for this too.

There is skill and then there is athleticism. Plenty of things we admire in others' skiing require both. Many of us here are doing okay on the skills but are not the athletes we once were (or weren't).

This sums up most of my skiing though. Jumping does not hurt a thing, but landing can.

 

[cantunamunch]

. I'm thinking more about how to do this on purpose for a bump here and there.

Take the broad hint and practice on a terrain park ramp?

There is skill and then there is athleticism. Plenty of things we admire in others' skiing require both. Many of us here are doing okay on the skills but are not the athletes we once were (or weren't).

Yep. None of us, not even those of us who were weightlifting monsters at 25-30, have that number of fast twitch fibers anymore. And athletic balance correction in a new skill is *all* fast-twitch.

Corollary: there's only so much practice you can do before you will tire those remnants out for the day and you need to do something else, like easy blues with no chance of falling.

 

[Seldomski]

I dont ski as well as many older than me so I have some hope yet... I guess that will likely be true forever in my ski career!

Sounds like I should get some terrain park lessons to work on air sense. Anyone have good resorts/ski school experience for this?

Not looking for massive air here, just um, tactical air??

 

[KevinF]

This is a skill that I've played with from time-to-time, with a success rate of exactly 0%. I have seen many instances of the easiest way out of some nasty looking section is to simply jump over it...

The commentary above regarding the athleticism required to properly time such a move, coupled with me being the poster child for "White Men Can't Jump". Like I said, limited success rate.

Getting the timing down in a terrain park seems like a reasonable way to approach things -- it should at least help you get the "jump" timing right. I can see the difference in difficulty from successfully executing a jump in the terrain park to successfully executing it in a bump run is, ummmm.... substantial.

 

[Noodler]

If you consider that the primary skill for great mogul skiing is A&E (Absorption and Extension), then the tactic to "air out" from the front side of a mogul to the back side of the next row is to simply stop the absorption. If you do not actively absorb, you will get air if you're directed over the crest of the mogul. The only timing really needed is for the extension off the mogul crest to ensure you have enough air to get to the backside of the next row. Play with this idea, it's lots of fun. Just make sure you pull your skis back under you and get your tips down for the landing.

I've been doing this since I was in high school (a very long time ago ). In fact, when I was on a college trip to Snowshoe, there was an on-slope photographer that actually captured me at the start of this airing out over the moguls on Cupp Run. I recently snapped a pic of this photo hanging on the wall of my den. At the time I called this "doing wheelies"...

 

[4ster]

The trick is the “pre-turn” or carve up the backside of one mogul sort of a wind up to release & airplane turn over the trough & land on the back/downhill side of the next bump.
I agree trying it for the first time in a mogul field can be intimidating with possible undesirable consequences.
Your local terrain park may have built features that with a little imagination can be useful. Be discreet though, sometimes the park builders only want their features used a certain way.
Little side hits on the edges of cat tracks or natural half pipes can be useful.
Learn to double on smaller rollers etc.
There are tons of natural features out there to learn something like this & it is a skill that is super fun & useful in all kinds of terrain !

I was 63yo when these photos were taken…

 

[cantunamunch]

It's been a month, OP, how is it going?

 

[Seldomski]

It's been a month, OP, how is it going?

Did a trip to Salt Lake city about 2 weeks ago. 4 days of skiing. I played a bit in the bumps to get a bit of air here and there. Mostly in the lower angle terrain and across the fall line. It's a work in progress for sure... no spectacular wipeouts. No video either for the peanut gallery .

I typically avoid getting airborne while skiing. Getting light to pivot skis, sure. It was something different and a little fun to play with. Probably won't get to ski again this season, but will keep messing with it next season.

As @Noodler mentioned, it's basically failing to absorb on purpose. Let's you pop up a little. Not getting more than a few inches of air right now... my cartilage hasn't kept up with my weight over the years...