Mogul Tips, from Donna Weinbrecht

[ski diva]

Donna Weinbrecht is an Olympic Gold Medalist and world champion mogul skiing, and in the following interview she gives a lot of great tips for skiing the bumps. Well worth the read:

From the April 4, 2013 issue of a local VT paper, The Mountain Times:

Ski & Ride: How do you control your speed? Especially on bumps as steep as Outer Limits at Killington?
Donna Weinbrecht: It depends on your level, but if you're skiing Outer Limits, I assume you're an intermediate to expert skier. For intermediate levels, I recommend practicing a fuller turn to control speed. You can hockey stop on the front side of a bump with your skis facing the trees, and hold that position until you're ready to rise up and complete the turn on the back side of the mogul. This is the breakdown of movement for absorption, which is the key to skiing moguls. You can do this progression very very slowly.
Experts skiers will be able to take a more direct line with their tips pointed down the fall line. In competitions we use moguls to generate speed carving on the front and back side of the bumps.

S&R: What terrain is best for practicing mogul technique?
DW: When I teach clinics at Killington we practice a lot on the flats. This is where we try to fix bad habits, like pole-planting into the body or way off to the sides. We practice a lot of quick turns and temp changing. In moguls you have to be somewhat aggressive.
Upper and lower body separation is key to skiing moguls, your upper body needs to face down the hill while your lower body remains loose turning from side to side and absorbing the terrain (rather than letting the terrain through you.)

After we practice good technique in the flats, we move to an intermediate bump run, something not too steep and where the moguls are a bit looser and we practice our techniques there. It's a build up to process.

S&R: How do you visualize your run when you stand at the top of a bump run?
DW: I always look for a rhythmic decent. We call it a 'line.' I visualize the first six good turns before I even move; I call it my game plan. Then I keep my eyes up. I am always looking at least one to three bumps ahead. For experts you are never physically where you are, you learn trust and efficiency always making a plan down the line. Sometimes when nothing is there and I need a new line, I go over the top and just hit it, I make a couple of turns down the spine until I am able to find another sweet line. Again, this requires looking ahead and really understanding the anatomy of moguls.

S&R: When you look down a mogul field do you focus on the troughs or the peaks?
DW: At first I look at the troughs to see the line, but then I look up and over them. The game plan comes from the trough but when I'm moving I am looking at the peaks.

S&R: How do you find a rhythm that you can sustain without blowing out of your line?
DW: A good rhythm is only possible with good technique. Once the technique breaks and you get thrown into the backseat you're going to blow out of your line. This often happens when people get stiff, stop looking up, stop reaching forward or when the absorption is in the back.

Remember your upper and lower body separation. Keep your shoulders back and your stomach tight always looking down the hill. Resist collapsing, like when you get punched in the stomach. There should be tension in your upper body while your lower body stays supple.

S&R: How do you "absorb" a mogul with your legs so you don't catch unintended air?
DW: The key is ski to snow contact. Experts use their tips to drive into the bump, when I feel the ski flex, I am pulling up with my legs. Use your hips and tips to rise up the crest. Use your extensions, we do not ski in a squat or straight legged. When an expert is skiing bumps you won't see the base of their ski.

People most often get air when they get in the backseat, when this happens think about pushing your hips up and through and using your full extensions.

S&R: What role does pole-planting/pole positioning have in mogul skiing?
DW: Pole-planting is quite important for rhythm. You should be planting mid-girth to the top of a mogul, not in the trough, that's too late. Your pole should not break into the body or to the side, this will put you in the backseat. Rather your poles should be comfortable out in front and slightly to the side of your body. Swing your shaft out, punch and release. It is good to practice pole-planing in the flat area too, as many approach bumps with bad habits that will make them more difficult to ski.

S&R: What is the most common difficulty people tend to have when learning bumps?
DW: They get stiff or otherwise loose the good technique they had when skiing the flats.

S&R: How do you help them overcome that difficulty?
DW: We practice the breakdown of movement for absorption very slowly, hockey stop down and release. People are often very shocked at how slowly I can ski moguls with good position. When they get comfortable with this, we practice fluidity stepping on the front side [of the mogul] and rising up with hips forward.

Sometimes we go back to the flat trail and practice keeping the lower body loose and the upper body down the hill, not facing the trees like most are used to in a hockey stop.

S&R: If you had one tip folks to practice while spring skiing bumps, what would it be?
DW: Have fun it's just mogul skiing. Remember your sunscreen and smile!

 

[mustski]

I never did master bumps. At the end of a bump run, I always felt like the score was Bumps 5 - Mustski 1.
Donna's explanation was as good as any I've ever heard.

 

[Olesya Chornoguz]

Those a great tips! I want to try to learn bumps this season. I tried skiing some bumps last season and even has a lesson, but it was quite difficult.

 

[Gloria]

Just a little bump bumping.

 

[jellyflake]

Great tips!!
Plus: never forget to breathe :D

 

[segacs]

Watching those Olympic mogul skiers really makes it easy to visualize a lot of these tips. Those ladies really master the upper/lower body separation and the absorption of the snow.

(Now if only I could apply these tips to my own abysmal moguls skiing... easier said than done, eh?)

 

[marzNC]

 

[ski diva]

I like how you bumped up the bump thread.

Of all her tips, this is my favorite:

S&R: If you had one tip folks to practice while spring skiing bumps, what would it be?
DW: Have fun it's just mogul skiing. Remember your sunscreen and smile!

 

[marzNC]

All the talk about bumps and trees in the other thread reminded me of this one. I like to re-read good stuff about technique. Makes sense in a different way after more experience and lessons.

 

[skibum4ever]

I was humbled last season by Big Sky, which has a lot of bumps. I am hoping to progress on bump skiing this season, whether or not I make it to Big Sky.

Mammoth Divas, maybe a shared bump lesson?

In the meantime, can anyone suggest their favorite bump technique DVD, maybe "Bump Skiing for Dummies"?

 

[mustski]

I was humbled last season by Big Sky, which has a lot of bumps. I am hoping to progress on bump skiing this season, whether or not I make it to Big Sky.

Mammoth Divas, maybe a shared bump lesson?

In the meantime, can anyone suggest their favorite bump technique DVD, maybe "Bump Skiing for Dummies"?

Truthfully, I never enjoyed bump skiing enough to want to master it. At this point, I prefer to preserve my knees. I'm happy enough to just ski the smallish bumps that build up after a good snowfall and avoid the seriously huge ones at Mammoth.

 

[marzNC]

Notes from the other thread . . .

I started skiing bumps and trees only because my ski buddy liked them. We started skiing together out west in 2010. We weren't doing particularly difficult terrain, but he enjoyed the challenge. What I discovered during a SLC trip the next season was a reason to ski trees . . . plenty of powder in the trees several days after a storm when easier terrain was tracked out. To gain confidence skiing trees, it's a lot easier to practice on bumps where you don't have to worry about running into a tree. We went to Big Sky the next season. It's a great place to explore soft bumps and glades. By then, I was really having fun even though I was just starting to link 4+ turns.

Last winter my ski buddies and I had a lesson with @snoWYmonkey. We said that doing better in bumps was a common interest, even though we were at different stages of comfort. She did a great job making it easier for each one of us to handle bumps, as well as know how to practice on baby bumps.

Couldn't tell you exactly why, but I have no doubt that what I learned in JH was why I was having so much fun on the bump runs at Stowe during Diva Week East. Didn't matter if they were icy or not. Also at Whiteface on a long, long bump run that was not exactly icy but was definitely refrozen and pretty solid.

I think having a stronger core and better balance has made a difference too. Hard to say because I've more high level lessons at the same time as I've been doing more year round ski conditioning.

 

[marzNC]

In the meantime, can anyone suggest their favorite bump technique DVD, maybe "Bump Skiing for Dummies"?

From the other thread:

I'll join the chorus of skiers who want to learn/improve their bump skiing. It's becoming really limiting not being able to handle myself in mogul terrain.

I came across a website called "Bumps For Boomers" that had a really interesting discussion of tactics for all levels of skiers. I hope to be able to apply their green/blue level tactics this winter. https://www.bumpsforboomers.com/introduction-safe-mogul-skiing-tactics

I also want to work on having patience with myself when learning new techniques. I tend to get frustrated/upset with myself if I'm failing to grasp a new concept during a lesson. I need to remember that this is supposed to be fun above all.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

I rather enjoyed the bumps for boomers videos and article. I personally tend to teach the blue line approach for bigger firmer bumps and troughs on small soft bumps. The green line approach I find good for making it safely down a bump run, but it lacks flow, and flow is what makes linking moguls so fun!

 

[Skisailor]

I was humbled last season by Big Sky, which has a lot of bumps. I am hoping to progress on bump skiing this season, whether or not I make it to Big Sky.

Mammoth Divas, maybe a shared bump lesson?

In the meantime, can anyone suggest their favorite bump technique DVD, maybe "Bump Skiing for Dummies"?

I think Lito's Bumps and Powder video is great. Helped me tremendously. Most of the video addresses bumps. He also addresses the myth that bump skiing is necessarily hard on your knees within the first couple of minutes. It certainly CAN be. But there is no reason that it has to be.

I'm kind of amazed but the whole thing is up on YouTube for free. Wow.

Have at it.

 

[marzNC]

for 2015-16

Thought of this thread for a somewhat different reason this time. The discussion was about trees, not bumps. The reason I started working on bumps a while back was because I'd discovered that trees a few days after a powder storm are good places to find soft snow. Made sense to me that it was a lot easier to learn better tactics for wandering in trees on bumps. Then there is no worry about hitting a tree so can concentrate more on dealing with the uneven surface.

Somewhere I saw something like this as a progression for tree skiing:

short turns on easy groomed
short turns on steeper groomed
short turns on easy bumps
harder bumps
easy trees aka glades with more space between trees and not too much pitch
. . .
tight trees on steeper terrain

 

[bounceswoosh]

for 2015-16

Thought of this thread for a somewhat different reason this time. The discussion was about trees, not bumps. The reason I started working on bumps a while back was because I'd discovered that trees a few days after a powder storm are good places to find soft snow. Made sense to me that it was a lot easier to learn better tactics for wandering in trees on bumps. Then there is no worry about hitting a tree so can concentrate more on dealing with the uneven surface.

Somewhere I saw something like this as a progression for tree skiing:

short turns on easy groomed
short turns on steeper groomed
short turns on easy bumps
harder bumps
easy trees aka glades with more space between trees and not too much pitch
. . .
tight trees on steeper terrain

I agree with this - I call bumps less assertive trees - but I also find it easier to find flow in the trees than in the bumps. If there are lines in the trees, they are typically much more elegant and slalomy. Rarely huge ruts. I've felt like I was in a slalom run going too fast in (moderate - next to light blue runs) trees, but somehow it feels amazing and exhilarating, whereas in bumps I feel out of control if I start gaining speed. Part of this may be the visuals of the ruts psyching me out - I've dealt with some pretty crazy ruts this year by skiing in the summer at St Mary's, so I'm hoping I'll find bumps less intimidating this season.

 

[Olesya Chornoguz]

I agree that for me also trees are somehow easier to find flow in. Easy trees that is. I wouldn't dare to venture in steep, tight trees yet. I agree about what you said about ruts in bumps @bounceswoosh , I feel the same way about them.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I agree that for me also trees are somehow easier to find flow in. Easy trees that is. I wouldn't dare to venture in steep, tight trees yet. I agree about what you said about ruts in bumps @bounceswoosh , I feel the same way about them.

For some reason, in bumps, I have a vivid mental image of the sensation of my knee snapping. I don't have that skiing trees.

 

[Olesya Chornoguz]

For some reason, in bumps, I have a vivid mental image of the sensation of my knee snapping. I don't have that skiing trees.

Yikes! I have an image of going into the big bump rut, then not being able to turn, then injured too. The ruts are scary.