Let me start off with something subjective first. I have a confession to make, and I'm not being sarcastic. I actually like Josh. His views of comp bump skiing are about as antithetical to mine as possible, but that doesn't bother me. I've read his posts bashing bump skiers for many years. It's pretty much guaranteed that I would argue with him. But, I really respect him, because he puts stuff out there, and it's pretty good. He has some interesting insights, and you can match it up with his skiing. Honestly, if no one shared personal videos in the forum, I wouldn't spend anytime here. Since I love moguls, Josh ends up being one of the most valued members of the forum, since he's one of the few people putting up mogul videos. A picture is worth a thousand words, and if we could all share videos while discussing, it could be incredibly productive. Unfortunately, it doesn't really end up that way for many complicated reasons based on group dynamics. So, really I don't have any issues with Josh other than how the anti-comp animus plays out with the group as people try to shout down opposite points of view.
Back to moguls. Long ago people would tell kids to ski across the hill instead of down the hill to control speed. So, that's the beginner's way, across, turn, across, turn. But then as you start getting better, you spend less time skiing across the hill. It's more satisfying, fun, more difficult and thus more challenging spending less time skiing across the hill. I remember seeing skiers link short radius turns when I was a kid, and I thought, wow that looks amazing and fun. I want to do that. So, I developed a goal to try to link short radius turns down the fall line. It's not long before that's easily accomplished on the groomed, so then I got into trying the same thing in the moguls. At first, I tried just as a challenge. At some resorts, moguls are the most difficult terrain, and short radius turns are very challenging. So, I would try just to see if I could do it. There were probably years there where I wouldn't actually call it fun. I just wanted to do it. But then, as it started clicking and you get the rhythm with that weightless feeling, it became one of the funnest experience in sports like skiing powder, and now I'll spare no expense to get that sensation. To get the feeling though, it's key to continue linking the turns at a reasonable speed. Many times, it's not easy to make that next turn. Many people give up. I never gave up, and I got rewarded for the effort, because now I can make that turn where most people can't.
So, subjectively, it's incredibly fun to make those series of turns. Objectively, it's very difficult to make that next turn, and it takes lots of experience, skill, technique, and discipline. There are few things that are as objectively clear as this. Either you can make the turn, or you can't make the turn. Then, once you can make those turns and you're having a blast, that's probably enough. However, to continue in the sport, taking video, getting coached, and subjectively meeting certain form challenges can add another dimension. There's a lot of similarity to carving in terms of sensation and working on form, but carving is more subjective. It's hard for some to know if they are really carving well or not without a judge. In moguls, you know if you've made that next turn. You know when you failed to make that next turn, and you can see other people coming behind you that fail to make the turn even when they are trying.
Personally, banging into moguls just to make the next turn is not fun or healthy, so I've given myself the extra challenge of accomplishing those quick turns without impact. As a start, for an objective metric, count turn frequency like I described in my other post. Turn frequency is 100% objective. If someone can achieve the same turn frequency as Nelson Carmichael in many of his modern videos, if they're turning on every bump without impact, and they're still not a convert to comp technique, then I'd take them very seriously (proven with video or in person).