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Question: Moguls - can you learn to ski the zipper line when you're no longer a kid?

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So I did ask, and my instructor would be willing to give me a private lesson on zipper line bumps, but if classes go anything like this past weekend, there won't be need any time soon ... we worked mogul technique hard, and I made a lot of progress. As long as group lessons are helping, hey, perfect.
 

DobeMom

Certified Ski Diva
what is a zipper line?

Hello Divas!

I'm new to bumps... What is the zipper line?

Also, I've always been confused as to exactly which line to take...:confused: I always thought I was supposed to turn on the top of the bumps (the pointy top of the bump, not the uphill side of the bump), then I found out last week in class that the top of the bumps is the uphill side! :doh: Also, my instructor said something that made sense: imagine hot fudge being pour from the top of the run, then follow the path that the fudge flows downhill. Is that what you mean by the "gentler" way of skiing bumps?

Thanks!
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Have you ever seen a mogul competition? If not, Gloria linked to a video example. The skiers go straight down the mountain, allowing their knees to flex over the bumps rather than turning around them. That's the zipper line. If you watch, you'll see that the skiers stay within a corridor that's pretty much just as wide as their shoulders.

As for learning to ski bumps - well, I'm still doing that, but I can tell you that there is no one way to ski the bumps. I think your instructor's hot fudge was a description of skiing the fall line, which is the path of least resistance down the slope. It's good to be aware of the fall line and not fight it. The thing about bumps is, if you take the hot fudge description too literally, you'll end up in the troughs all the time, and that's not always fun or easy.

As you gain experience on the bumps, you'll find that you're turning all over and around them - you might turn in the trough, or you might turn at the top, or you might turn on the back or front side. You might make turns that are smaller, bigger, or just the same size as the mogul. (Smaller = more than one turn per mogul. Bigger = more than one mogul per turn.) Sometimes you'll edge, and sometimes you'll flatten your edges to scrub speed.

Sometimes the downhill side of the mogul is called the "black" side of the mogul. It's usually the steepest part, so turning on it may result in a faster run than if you ski on other parts of the mogul.

I'm hoping others will chime in, as I am by no means an expert, although I'm an avid bump student and hope to be good at them some day =)
 

Karanp

Diva in Training
zipper line??

Hi Girls,

I'd love to join in on the discussion on mogul skiing and I think I can contribute, but I'm a little embarassed that I don't know what a zipper line is. Please define? Thanks.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Take a look at the video Gloria linked. That's the zipper line.
 

Karanp

Diva in Training
skiing moguls

Wow, there is a lot of really good detailed and technical advice in this thread. Here's what I focus on (and don't focus on) when I ski bumps. To me it's about quads, not about knees, and staying really low to suck up the bumps. It's about always, always pushing my shins into the front of my boots so my weight is on the front of my skis and I never get thrown into the "back seat". I keep my hands in front of me all the time and my pole action is more a flick of the wrist. Reach forward with alternating pole plants to initiate each turn. My body will always follow my hands. Don't drop your arms or your body will twist sideways and you'll lose your position. I always look at least two bumps ahead of me so the bump doesn't take me by surprise; my body is skiing on the bump I'm on, but my brain is two turns ahead. I try not to miss a turn, it's actually more work to recover from a missed a turn; commit to turning on every bump. Do this and you'll be getting whoops from the chairlift in no time.
 

Skiing B

Diva in Training
My husband, at 55 yoa and and overweight was skiing the zipper line on steepest bump run on Sugarloaf, yesterday. We were picking the deepest, fattest line and skiing one section at a time with my 11 year old daughter. Of course they had an excellent instructor...me. At 47 and in good shape I was doing okay too.

My husband can stay in the line and ski it quite slowly and in control to demonstrate for my daughter. You can ski the zipper line slow, fast, or in between when you have the technique. Yes, WC fast is hard on the bod as are other WC events. But just like making giant slalom or slalom turns, you can make them fast or slow to suit your aggression.

Bump skiing is a different type of skiing and needs to be approached differently and certainly you don't start off on the double black diamond trail.

I recommend buying the book "Skiing, and Art, A Technique" written by Georges Joubert, the famous French ski coach. You can buy it for $ .89 used on Amazon. Much of the material is dated as shaped skis were not yet invented in '71, but is still one of the best written how to ski books ever. The section on skiing moguls taught me better than any instructor. Mogul specialists still ski on straight skis and with their feet together so the this book still applies.

Georges Jobert explains the term he coined called avalement flexation. You don't just let the mogul push your knees up, you actively pull your knees up with your abdominal muscles as you feel the ski tips go into the bump, then you extend your legs as you angulate and edge into the back of the bump keeping your skis in contact with the snow full time.

This is best practiced on an easy slope with one mogul. Approach the mogul in a high slightly flexed stance with your hands out in front waist high and slightly spread. As skis contact the bump pull your knees up in front of you as they ride up one side of the bump, then push down on the back side. Anyone viewing you from the waist up only would not know you went over a mogul. Practice this then start turning on the back side of the mogul, then add more moguls. Then add a bit more steepness. Practice on every bump on every trail. Start thinking of the bumps on traverses as chance to practice mogul skills. Suck up bumps by pulling your feet up and then pressure down on the backs of the bumps.


For 89 cents plus $4 shipping, read the section called "The Symphony of the Moguls". The diagrams and explanation are much better than I could every paraphrase here.

Some tips I will give are:
  1. Keep your hands in front.
  2. One mogul is a training tool, a field of steep moguls is intimidating.
  3. Keep your upper body and hands quiet.
  4. Use your wrists for pole plants to keep your hands in front and quiet
  5. Start fairly high so you can pull your knees up as you ski into the mogul and absorb.
  6. Extend your legs to edge into the back of the mogul.
  7. Think of brushing the backs of the moguls with your edges.
  8. Look three bumps ahead.
  9. Control your speed by absorbing and by edging into the backs of the moguls.
 

RockiesGirl

Certified Ski Diva
Wanna ski bumps efficiently...?

...then contact Brian Olson at Keystone Ski School. Seriously...! My husband and I 'found' Brian last season and he changed the way we skied bumps, and we are 41 and 45 years old!! We're still working at the zipper line but after only 2 lessons, we can now confidently ski black diamond bump runs with no problem. We'll definitely be hooking up with him again this season. PM me if you want his email address.

:thumbsup:
 

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