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Paul Shifflet

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The past several years I've decided to quit avoiding moguls or slowly gaping through. With tips here and elsewhere, watching others and... skiing moguls, I've gotten a lot better and can actually ski them. Especially smaller, softer bumps.

I usually practice moguls on "groomer days". That means I am on FIS SL tuned .05/3 or Head Monster 83s tuned .07/3, sharp tip to tail.

I'm wondering if I would find it worthwhile to add a real mogul ski to my quiver (even if it means swapping for a few laps in the bumps on those days), and if so, what would those if you "in the know" recommend? If not, should I have a pair of narrower all mt. skis with a more forgiving tune for mogul time?

If you want to make quick turns edge to edge, maneuvering in the bumps, there's nothing better. They smear very easily at low edge angles, but grip well at higher edge angles. The edges of small turning radius skis can catch in uneven terrain, so that it's hard to release for a rapid edge change. Mogul skis are good for icy bumps and for a narrow stance. If any of those benefits don't help your style or objectives in the bumps, then other types of skis are probably better. I see lots of people with the twister. I see a few in that last video I posted.
 

CS2-6

>50% Chicken Fried Steak w/w
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Ha! You got me!! I'm the little blonde in a bikini top and daisy dukes.

Ok, I have a confession to make. That wasn't me. I am, in fact, a brown haired dude, sitting 1,800 miles away from Killington when that video was made, and I do not own a single bikini top or daisy dukes. I was; however, seeing if a little "made you look!" gag could drive up the # of views for that video.

Maybe overestimating my own anonymity on these boards foiled my plot.
 

Guy in Shorts

Tree Psycho
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Buddy shot a lot of video over the weekend. Superstar Ladies rock in my skiing world.

 

Guy in Shorts

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LOL.

It seems they're up there just about every weekend logging video. Great stuff.

I was trying to spot a guy in shorts, but had no luck.
Tend to stay away away from the video shooting as I only have bumpers learners permit after 41 seasons of practice. Look at the Memorial Day Report on the KillingtonZone were Liv4ski posted several stills. I am the one wearing my Queen vintage shirt. The last little video in his post shows my free-heeling sidekick with myself on his heels. Taken at noontime on the Lower Superstar pitch. Trying to finish up the season injury free unlike the past two years.

http://www.killingtonzone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45154
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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Guy in shorts meets girl in shorts mogul skiing, "A touching story about love and loss. Guy meets girl, girl skis away, guy can't keep up, guy loses girl."

Ya, they're skiing away from the old guys with no shirts as fast as they can. My vote was for Killington on Saturday but my friends were being wusses and wanted to go mountain biking. Wrong choice since we can bike through the end of November or longer.
 

CS2-6

>50% Chicken Fried Steak w/w
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worthwhile to add a real mogul ski to my quiver
Depends on where you're at and where you want to be.

My personal, n=1, experience is that especially when learning (I know, that is counter-intuitive) to ski a direct line, it really helps to have a narrow ski (<80mm), with a long turning radius (>20m), a forgiving flex profile (soft in the tips and stiffer in the tail), and a traditional camber. It turns out, that description fits every mogul specific ski, and some all mountain skis. My buddy who grew up skiing Mary Jane can rip bumps relentlessly... on his Line Blends. But he learned how to on a pair of Solly 1080 Moguls. It seems folks who have already developed a feel for mogul skiing can shred them on nearly any set of boards.

If you're like me, and had never skied a direct line before, you're going to want a set of skis on the softer end of the spectrum. The Twister was great for this, but it is gone. I think I got the last available pair on the planet The K2 244 is the next best option, Fat-ypus B-Nasty is good too, but twice as expensive and five times harder to get a hold of. It sounds like the Fischer Gunbarrel is a little stiffer than the 244, but not dramatically so and would be another great option. If you've skied a zipperline or two in the past then you'll want something a little stiffer (F-17, Shaman, IDOne), but if that were the case I'm betting you wouldn't have asked the question.

For more, read here: https://www.pugski.com/threads/world-cup-mogul-skiing-equipment.12990/page-2
 

Guy in Shorts

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My buddy whom I call my mogul coach put his wife on a pair of F-17s for one run on Monday. She accused him of trying to kill her. She got the ski stuck into the soft bumps. High level bump skis are tough to pilot.
 

Guy in Shorts

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Still looking :)
We were step-up right in plain sight all four days. @Brad J was one pugger that found the party. Plan to hang slope side for the final three days of lift operation. Here we are on Saturday. Stop in next time.

IMG_5658.jpg
 

Guy in Shorts

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Do what you love & do it forever - Read the t shirt the Randy " The Hammer" Grasso was wearing one day this past weekend. I was following the one 74 year old that I could find watching him looking for the secret of being able to ski Superstar in the spring soft. Quite a few 60 somethings out there but not many 70 somethings. Had the chance to ski every different kind of snow textures and shapes over the past four day holiday weekend run. Having just turned 60 I know the odds of me being here in a decade are slim but screw the odds. Forever may be a stretch but is another couple decades too much to ask?
 

abcd

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We were step-up right in plain sight all four days. @Brad J was one pugger that found the party. Plan to hang slope side for the final three days of lift operation. Here we are on Saturday. Stop in next time.
Thank you! think I'm done for the season but better bumps are high on my list for the next year.

I noticed a lot of people were practicing side slips and side steps on superstar today. Is it for better uppar/lower body separation? :)
 

CS2-6

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Oh man, I dunno... First off, I am in no way an expert on anything on snow. There are lots of experts (and a few bump experts event) on this site, so anything they say that contradicts any of the following; well, take their advice over mine.

I wasn't familiar with either of your skis, so I did some internetting. I learned that the Volkl P50 f1 Energy is a [URL='https://www.skimag.com/gear/racer-ready-giant-slalom-skis-2002']consumer version of a Giant Slalom race ski[/URL] (a little [URL='https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/90003-feeler-Volkl-P50-F1-Energy-188cm-new']softer in the tip[/URL] than the race version) with a narrow waist (65mm) that is very quick edge-to-edge, is [URL='https://www.freeride.com/gear/skis/volkl-p50-f1-energy.html']stable at speed[/URL], is responsive, and rails groomers. What all that suggests to me is that this is a pretty durn stiff ski that likes to hook up into a carved turn. And those are two attributes that I personally don't like in a mogul ski. There are a number of folks out there who are very comfortable with short radius carved turns in the bumps (black line BFB skiing), and they might love a ski like this. But if you're looking to bump ski with more absorption/extension with a pivotted/smeared turn, these might not be what you're after.

The [URL='http://http://www.outdoorreview.com/product/product-archives/ski-equipment/alpine-skis/all-mountain/volant/machete-g.html']Volant Machete claims[/URL] to feature enhanced flex (how can they have much flex to speak of if they're all metal? are they really all metal or is this just a gimmick?), torsional rigidity (good for moguls), and a deep flex. It's reported to be a responsive all-mountain ski that some folks are apparently stomping jumps on. So even though it's wider than the Volkl, I'm guessing it's more forgiving and easier to break into a smeared turn. You might [URL='https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/20699-Volant-Machete-Charakter-amp-Weight']bend 'em crashing through the bumps though[/URL]...

So, if I lived under a totalitarian regime that only allowed two skis, the Volkl P50 and the Volant Machete, and I had to ski bumps all day on one or the other, without any prior experience with either one, I'd pick......... the Machete. Just because of the softer flex and inclination toward a steered turn. And the fact that it looks cooler.

Then again, as I understand it, some of the first mogul-specific skis were just GS skis without the metal and they grooved the zipperline just fine, so I could be steering you completely wrong. And remember, you're taking ski advice from a Texan. A Texan who skis bumps almost exclusively, but a Texan nonetheless.
 

Wilhelmson

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So, if I lived under a totalitarian regime that only allowed two skis, the Volkl P50 and the Volant Machete, and I had to ski bumps all day on one or the other, without any prior experience with either one, I'd pick......... the Machete. Just because of the softer flex and inclination toward a steered turn. And the fact that it looks cooler.

I skied the silver P50 in 188 for 10 years and they were stiff but pretty good in moguls (I'm not a ski expert either). At that length and my skill level they skied much better over or around moguls rather than trying to zig zag. I believe the green ones that were mentioned and maybe the orange ones (P40?) were more rec gs and stiffer. I don't have much experience with soft skis. These days I do fine on wider stiff skis, while I"m always trying to improve I don't obsess about it as long as I can beat my kid down the moguls half the time.
 

James

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There were a couple P40's.
The original P40 F1 was red with cream color. GS ski. (2000/01) I had that in 193. They also made other P40's in that series. I believe there might have been a creamsicle, orangey/white colored slalom one.
GS was pretty stiff, not a great mogul ski but you use what you've got.
They then went to a P40 series that was black with colored stripes. Yellow, slalom, Red, Green. I had a slalom one .
 

Paul Shifflet

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Around 2001, I walked into a shop on the mountain in California and said, "Give me your best mogul ski." They pointed me to the Volkl P50, and I bought it at full price. In short order, it bent. On warranty, Volkl sent me a brand new pair. Almost immediately, they bent. I called up Volkl, and they asked me what I was doing. I said I was mogul skiing. She said these skis aren't meant for mogul skiing and asked if she could send me a different type of ski. It turned out to be a blessing, because other skis were so much better. The P50 wasn't good for much of anything other than carving on groomers, but for that it was sweet. This was when I first began to realize that many people don't know what they're talking about when it comes to moguls.
 
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