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tball

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I bent my fair share of Volants in the bumps, including Machetes back in the day when I was skiing mostly Mary Jane. I had a friend that worked at Volant and could get dirt cheap seconds. I stopped asking for more after bending a few as they wouldn't even last a season.

Is the metal they are using in today's skis less susceptible to bending in the bumps? Seem like it might be, or maybe I'm just getting older, slower, and perhaps a little bit smarter. ;)
 

Wilhelmson

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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.

Cool. A friend who lived in Jackson for a while has a picture in his house jumping off a giant cliff with p50 on and still uses them. Maybe he didn't ski bumps much. They were great for carving.
 

James

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Is the metal they are using in today's skis less susceptible to bending in the bumps?
No. Volant had a stainless steel metal cap. The aluminum sheet in skis still bends. We just call it rocker these days, and it makes some things easier.
 

Wilhelmson

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lol, Joal from a few years ago.

Never warmed up to the Volants as a brand and have never demoed any but I am going to try these 185 SINs. They are in really nice shape. Bases and edges are near immaculate. Camber looks true. Review says all mountain ski, great edge hold, not very quick, lost in the moguls, nice groomer ski. The bindings were mounted for maybe a

https://www.pugski.com/threads/all-things-volant.1855/
 

geepers

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This is stated to be the mogul GOAT. No idea if true or not - he'd be 46 if it was taken this past season.

Pretty neat run.



For the Mac users...
Mogul Goat?
 
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Mike King

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I don't know what the issue is, but these embedded videos from Facebook do not play on my mac. That being said, it's been pretty dead around here, so it's good to see some activity in a subject that will surely generate yet another 12 pages of comments with no consensus, but lots of name calling about the style and technique of mogul skiing. Bully! (I might have been watching the Ken Burns film on the Roosevelts...)
 

geepers

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I don't know what the issue is, but these embedded videos from Facebook do not play on my mac. That being said, it's been pretty dead around here, so it's good to see some activity in a subject that will surely generate yet another 12 pages of comments with no consensus, but lots of name calling about the style and technique of mogul skiing. Bully! (I might have been watching the Ken Burns film on the Roosevelts...)

Placed it as a link as well.

On the "another 12 pages of comments"... Maybe, but it's still very good skiing, let alone from some-one who is 46. In terms of sustainability, be great if we could see him run the same pitch every couple of years for the next 20.
 

Unpiste

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I still can't see any facebook videos. I'm on a Mac. Surely all I need is to download some magic app.
Any suggestions, you tech wizards?
FWIW, Chrome works. (I'd recommend Firefox, but this page literally crashes the tab.)
 

Mike King

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This is stated to be the mogul GOAT. No idea if true or not - he'd be 46 if it was taken this past season.

Pretty neat run.



For the Mac users...
Mogul Goat?
That's fantastic skiing. Watch it carefully -- do you see any impact of the bumps? His anticipation, both in flexion and extension, is perfect and his Center of Mass doesn't really deviate much vertically as he descends. If he didn't need to use his hands, he could hold a cup of water all the way through it and not spill a drop.

Why is that important? Because that is sustainable mogul skiing.

Mike
 
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Plai

Plai

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Let's kill the "GOAT", "best" technique, and bashing about style please. That's not helpful nor the purpose of this thread.

Deb Armstrong sustainable bump video just published a few days ago

This reminds me of the bumps for boomers blue line technique
 

CalG

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Regarding Volant skis in the bumps. They were metal CAP construction. Once the cap was bent, it stayed bent. But remember, Volants were "cheater skis". ;-)

They came packaged with Bogner one piece suits with embroidered back pieces.
 

KingGrump

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Yup.
Same line through the bumps between those two videos. The intensity levels are different between the two skier.

BTW, Deb Armstrong taught at Taos for years before moving to Steamboat.
 
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Josh Matta

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her bump skiing video is way better than her teaching beginner video.
 

jack97

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Let's kill the "GOAT", "best" technique, and bashing about style please. That's not helpful nor the purpose of this thread.

Deb Armstrong sustainable bump video just published a few days ago

This reminds me of the bumps for boomers blue line technique

Yes, both vids are using the same tactics/techniques, using the neighboring or adjacent bumps and steering turns. Its an easy line and a good catch phrase to use when you're in the bump field. Note that both flex their hips & knees as they near or at the crescent of the bump. Armstrong does this through out the vid and BFB demo skier does this starting at 1:50. However, the word sustainable still confuses me in the context of your OP as well as Armstrong's usage.

Please, pretty please, drop words of wisdom, or better yet show me video, of how to be a more efficient (sustainable) mogul skier.

Using neighboring/adjacent bump is fine if the troughs connecting these bumps are not icey or the bumps are too far apart that you can pick up speed. IMO, other tactics. techniques and enhancement (more flex range) is needed to ski efficiently when the bumps and troughs deviate.
 

dbostedo

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...the word sustainable still confuses me in the context of your OP as well as Armstrong's usage.
It's basically referring to a low-impact style that can be done without causing a lot of wear-and-tear ... and therefore be sustainable over long days, many days, and into old age.
 

jack97

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It's basically referring to a low-impact style that can be done without causing a lot of wear-and-tear ... and therefore be sustainable over long days, many days, and into old age.

Some who can ski a direct line would say that they can ski this line over a long day, many days and well into old age. We now have former WC and Olympic champs going into their 50s and 60s basically using the same techniques, I have skied with former competitors approaching those ages. They are not going fast as in the days they were competing because they have skills and techniques to control their speed in a direct line. Furthermore, there is a certain level of fitness that is required and an efficiency that can only be obtained by practicing these techniques.

The word sustainable is confusing even in that context. I have seen newbies skiing the neighboring/adjacent line with high impact because they are still learning to get tactics and techniques ingrained into muscle memory. Even intermediate bump skiers can have high impact when the troughs and bump formation deviates from ideal.
 

dbostedo

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Even intermediate bump skiers can have high impact when the troughs and bump formation deviates from ideal.
Sure... but the idea is to learn not to ski that way and handle those troughs and bumps better. And good athletes being able to zipperline in a higher impact style into advanced age doesn't mean that most people can.

Maybe you should think of it as "more sustainable for more people".
 

KingGrump

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"more sustainable for more people"

Most WC and top competitors start skiing at a very early age. Their DNA are way different than the rest of us. I used to have dreams of playing in the NBA when I was a kid. Just wasn't in my DNA, I suppose. We all have constraints.

I believe the OP is in his early 50's, skis 15 to 20 days per season and want to learn to enjoy the bumps. I believe he qualifies for the "more people" category.
 
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