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DavidSkis

Thinking snow
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Sep 14, 2017
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Toronto
You're on your level 3 exam at the top of Superstar at Killington. (Pic stolen from Guy In Shorts - I love how there's a dude sideways on the right)
superstarmay17-jpg.24748

You MUST turn using the blobby rectangle-shaped "bump" because it's in your path. You cannot ride down the left side, as that takes you out of the bump field. Also, it looks in the picture like the frontside of that is squared off vertically (no ramp up it).

What line would you take on that bump? Bonus points for actually drawing on top of the pic.
 

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
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I don't see snow on any of the other trails, so I'm thinking this is late March at the earliest. Sun is out and has been for a while, so the snow is soft. I'd aim for the pointy knob right on the edge of the shadow and try to blow that sucker up. I'd flex as much as I can going over the top and reach down into the trough as I turned right toward that nice round one with the really, really white face. Hopefully I'd have spray on my goggles. If the snow was firmer than I think it is, I'd take a different line. My last name starts with T, so I'd already have seen a dozen people hit that thing....
 

Magi

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I see three lines:

1) Ride the trough around it to skiers right.
2) Ride the mogul in front of it on the ridge to skiers right, then turn onto the bump below and behind it.
3) Double off the mogul in front, land on the top and then proceed as normal.
 

Rod9301

Making fresh tracks
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Left turn right before the bump, the finish the turn in the front of the bump, once the skis are on top, still facing left, pivot to the right, while of course absorbing. Then a quick left, absurd the bump below it and pivot right.
 

Guy in Shorts

Tree Psycho
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Tricky question to answer. That ugly blob was formed over two weeks of folks taking the side entrance to get out onto the headwall. Many of those same folks side slipped their way across the headwall too afraid to point them down the hill (The Chicken Line). That blob was really double the size that it appears to be. Spent the morning trying to attack that bump from all sorts of angles. Gave up opting to avoid it the remainder of the weekend. Many amazing soft lines were to be found without dealing with that monster.
 

crgildart

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I see three lines:

1) Ride the trough around it to skiers right.
2) Ride the mogul in front of it on the ridge to skiers right, then turn onto the bump below and behind it.
3) Double off the mogul in front, land on the top and then proceed as normal.

3 would be my first choice..
 

4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
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Sierra & Wasatch
Approach from the right
Uphill 340*, land on downslope of the same bump
Bank off backside of sunny bump below
Work it over the crests the rest of the way down
Till I go switch & grab the hat off the cutie on the right while straightlining the rest of the slope...
B32BD416-B57B-4746-B4A0-795B4D676F0D.jpeg


Bonus points for milking the bump in question
Triple points if I can get the grab
 

john petersen

working through minutia to find the big picture!
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Level 3, you say?....well, creativity, versatility, adaptation. It may not be about tackling that bump every time, but perhaps showing a little creativity outside the box of a standard zipper line. how about a few rounder longer turns mixed in with a dolphin or leaper here and there. maybe slow line fast through the bumps (unless given a specific task through them) or 5 zipper line turns followed by a lane change and a schmeeer.......

To work WITH the mountain instead of working against it is what I like to do....Im off to skiers right, dream about that move 4ster mentions and then play around and look for fun and different lines....


JP
 

tball

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View attachment 33285
SuperstarMay17.jpg

A bumper will ski a great zipper line even where one doesn't exist. The ideal is someone watching from the bottom will have no idea there isn't a perfect zipper line all the way down. Ski straight down the fall line and absorb any funky bumps and make turns where bumps don't exist trying to maintain a consistent rhythm. The better the skier, the more consistent the turns. It's okay if you need to switch lines, please just do so discreetly to avoid offending any dolphins. ogsmile

Sorry to intrude, but it's worth pointing out the style described below may be popular with some ski instructors it's not the way bump skiers do it.
Level 3, you say?....well, creativity, versatility, adaptation. It may not be about tackling that bump every time, but perhaps showing a little creativity outside the box of a standard zipper line. how about a few rounder longer turns mixed in with a dolphin or leaper here and there. maybe slow line fast through the bumps (unless given a specific task through them) or 5 zipper line turns followed by a lane change and a schmeeer.......

To work WITH the mountain instead of working against it is what I like to do....Im off to skiers right, dream about that move 4ster mentions and then play around and look for fun and different lines....
 
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john petersen

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ahhh, different strokes, tball.....keep in mind too, there was once a day for some of us where all we did was zipper lines....yeah, its fun, dont get me wrong, but these days, for me its about a larger and different type of playground....I didnt say NOT to get into the zipper line, I just said there were other options to play with. My mindset is actually just like 4ster....get in there and play around.

As far as "some ski instructors"...there are all types of them too.....did you know Ballou, Lipton, Rogan, McGlashan, HWSNBN, JF B, et al are all ski instructors? How do they do in the bumps?

its all good and its all fun. and thank you for saying "its not the way bump skiers do it" as opposed to "its not the way only good bump skiers do it"...cause there is a difference, eh? I like to think of it as referring to a mindset/skill set as opposed to only a skill set?.... ;)

Im assuming that one ideal would be a classic bump skier banging a zipper line in competition.......another ideal could be a combo of this and park and pipe, and the best and humorous is PChewn's second example above!

;)

JP
 

HDSkiing

You’re Sliding On-Snow; Don’t Over-Think it!
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View attachment 33285
View attachment 33288
A bumper will ski a great zipper line even where one doesn't exist. The ideal is someone watching from the bottom will have no idea there isn't a perfect zipper line all the way down. Ski straight down the fall line and absorb any funky bumps and make turns where bumps don't exist trying to maintain a consistent rhythm. The better the skier, the more consistent the turns. It's okay if you need to switch lines, please just do so discreetly to avoid offending any dolphins. ogsmile

Sorry to intrude, but it's worth pointing out the style described below may be popular with some ski instructors it's not the way bump skiers do it.

I'm not sure what a "Bumper" is? Someone who likes the bumps, skis them fast only in a zipper line, gets lots of air?

I'm also not sure what the "popular" Ski Instructor technique is either. I teach using the green/blue black line method which could be the complete line or apply only to one bump at a time.

Most students in the bumps like most of the skiers on the slope will be intermediate/advanced of varying ages, athletic abilities, and fitness levels who may be from sea level trying to get better. You won't see many Instructors demonstrating a zipper line approach. In fact when I ski in my jacket, whether it's with a class or doing something else I dial it back to about a 7 for a whole variety of reasons. Some days I rarely get out of a wedge, sone might construe that as a "popular" Instructor style...

I was a "bumper" in the 70's, shorter skis and snowboards have changed the moguls (whether that's good or bad is another discussion). How rutted/hard/icy the bumps still rule the day. My favorite conditions, are a foot of fresh powder over the bumps, we can all be zipper line Heros then lol. But mostly it's just fun as is the challenge of skiing bumps in all conditions adapting as you go.

The OP was about a L3 exam in the bumps which I don't believe has a timed mogul run, so speed would not be the goal per se.

I guess I'm just cautious about applying generalizations into a sport that is more art than science.
 
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tball

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As far as "some ski instructors"...there are all types of them too.....did you know Ballou, Lipton, Rogan, McGlashan, HWSNBN, JF B, et al are all ski instructors? How do they do in the bumps?

I've seen lots of excellent videos of those guys ripping straight down the zipper line without any "rounder longer turns mixed in with a dolphin or leaper" thrown in just to demonstrate they can. It's when one starts doing the latter (AKA bailing out of the zipper line) that it's distasteful to my eye, at least if it's presented as high-level bump skiing. You can either stay in the zipper line or you can't. If you can, the next step in skill and creativity is to do it faster.

To each his own (edited )..... ogwink

Here are a couple great videos of Jonathan Ballou skiing nice lines:



I'd just hope line selection as demonstrated in those videos would be the goal of an L3 exam. (edited)
 
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tball

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I'm not sure what a "Bumper" is? Someone who likes the bumps, skis them fast only in a zipper line, gets lots of air?
Yes, with the exception of getting lots of air. The rare lines with true airs are usually exclusive to bumpers on freestyle teams.

Here's a nice example of what bumpers look like and how they ski:
The knee patches are always a good clue. ogsmile

Edit to note that I'm not in or associated with that video, nor do I have knee patches.
 
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JESinstr

Lvl 3 1973
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This thread brings to mind a day long ago when I was out clinicing with our French Canadian (Former Olympian) assistant director and someone in the group said "Pete, how do you ski the bumps?" to which Pete replied, "Well, it depends on zee bump" ogwink
 

crgildart

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The knee patches are always a good clue. ogsmile

Edit to note that I'm not in or associated with that video, nor do I have knee patches.

Poles that only come up to their waist another clue..
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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Capture.PNG
While it's probably a lot steeper than it looks, I'd approach from the left hit it on the sunny spot, maybe riding it to the right otherwise turn right left right lining up for one of the two sunny moguls. Hopefully I can ski better than I can draw.
 
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Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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L3 exam you say and you can't determine your line? Very easy solution here; just go straight.
After launching off the 3rd bump or so you should have a very spectacular (and memorable) crash that will leave a lasting impression on the examiners. This will give you an entire year to continue to work on your bump skiing, provided you heal fast enough, to try again.



InkedSuperstarMay17_LI.jpg
 

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