Can't wait to bump it up

[KevinF]

2knees, lots of good advice. One thing I think is most important is staying off the backseat. If your weight/CM is not center then you; can’t perform quick rotary turns, can’t drive the tips down and use the full range of A&E. The montage I posted shows the bumper is centered.

Excellent points here. One other thing that I've learned is that you have to stay out of the front seat as well. A lot of bump skiers are concerned with keeping their tips glued to the snow (which, no doubt about it, is a good thing). To accomplish this, a lot of people will push their shins into their boot cuffs, hard. Then when you hit the next bump, there's very little absorption motion possible when your shins are glued to your boot cuffs. (Try it. Have a buddy try to lift your ski tip while you're leaning into the fronts of your boots. That ski won't budge upwards until you back off). Something has to give, so you get chucked into the back seat as the bump pushes you up. And then you're in the dreaded back-seat as you go over the crest of the bump because you were too far forward when you started going up the bump.

So I've always been taught to ski bumps from neutral. The amount of flexion required in the ankles, knees and hips to remain in neutral is constantly changing so neutral is definitely not a static, motionless, position. But it's where I always want to be. My boot cuffs are tight enough that I can feel contact on my shins and my calves at all times (assuming I'm in neutral). That's my signal -- if the pressure on my calves or shins starts changing, I do something about it to equalize calf / shin pressure.

 

[SkiDork]

BTW - a tip I was given a number of years ago by Dr NO from the KZone:

I was having trouble visualizing what he meant by "drive your hips forward when extending into the trough"

He gave me an easy (for guys) visualization tool - he said imagine you're screwing your wife etc. etc. - I think most guys can see what I'm talking about. It works well for me, FWIW

 

[jack97]

A lot of bump skiers are concerned with keeping their tips glued to the snow (which, no doubt about it, is a good thing). To accomplish this, a lot of people will push their shins into their boot cuffs, hard. Then when you hit the next bump, there's very little absorption motion possible when your shins are glued to your boot cuffs

Former mogul competitors and now coaches/instructors; Nelson Carmichael, John Smart, Chuck Martin and Dan Dipiro have said while centered (or stacked) to keep the shin pressure/contact to the tongues of the boots. IMO, their emphasis is not to absorb with the shins and ankles but to absorb by flexing with the knees and hips. All have stated to focus on bringing the knees up to the body during the absorption. Dan goes further, to anticipate and actively absorb when the speed gets high.

This method treats the ankle and shin as part of a structural element to the ski. Knees and hips does all the movement to prevent being knocked back due to the impact of hitting the frontside bump.


edit in red, sorry if offended anyone with my orignal remarks

I haven't heard from any competitive type bumpers or instructors teaching zipperline advocating the cuff neutral approach.

 

[KevinF]

jack97 -- I don't think we're very far apart. I didn't mean "cuff neutral" to be interpreted as a complete lack of shin pressure. I can certainly feel the fronts of my boots; I just don't have a lot of pressure there. As I mentioned in my post above, I don't see how you can effectively absorb if you're pushing hard against the boot cuffs.

I am a big fan of the back-pedalling approach in bumps, something I believe that Dan DiPiro isn't a big believer in (or at least doesn't use as his particular focus).

 

[jack97]

jack97 -- I don't think we're very far apart. I didn't mean "cuff neutral" to be interpreted as a complete lack of shin pressure. I can certainly feel the fronts of my boots; I just don't have a lot of pressure there. As I mentioned in my post above, I don't see how you can effectively absorb if you're pushing hard against the boot cuffs.

I am a big fan of the back-pedalling approach in bumps, something I believe that Dan DiPiro isn't a big believer in (or at least doesn't use as his particular focus).

Got it KevinF, I think the problem is shin pressure on the tongue is one of those subjective things. One person’s pressure could mean pressing down hard to someone else (along with all the variations in between). I think that was part of the problem when this was talked about over at Epic.

In terms of the backward pedal, I think it a great visual tool. However, I see two distinct movements; hip drive and tucking the boots underneath center. Both are part of the backpedal motion. What works for me is to think hip drive, with shin pressure; they complement to each other. Tucking the boots is something I don’t focus on; I guess it’s programmed in my brain as part of being centered when cresting the bump. I learned the hard way that if you’re not centered at this point, the extension will be extremely difficult to perform. If thinking about the backward pedal helps others to get them in the proper position, great for them.

 

[Deviations]

For some reason this thread reminds me of these guys:

I just want to.. BUMP YOU UP!

 

[dipiro]

Hey guys,

Stumbled across this bump thread and thought I'd just pop in and say hello. Love to see all this good bump talk!

Hello Jim G and Greg!

-Dan

 

[Marc]

Hey Dan, thanks for the *bump*...







DOOOOOH!



Oh, that's right. I went there.

 

[C2H5OH]

book on mogul skiing

Stumbled across this bump thread and thought I'd just pop in and say hello. Love to see all this good bump talk!
-Dan

I just ordered your book Dan, after seeng some realy good reviews here and on Amazon. Hope it will help me improve my mogul skills. My only concern (outside my poor abilities) is the ski length: is 192sm too long for muguls? It's a shaped Salomon Scream 10 Pilot and they are a great ski for any other terrain in northeast.

 

[JimG.]

Hey guys,

Stumbled across this bump thread and thought I'd just pop in and say hello. Love to see all this good bump talk!

Hello Jim G and Greg!

-Dan

Hey Dan, nice to see you around.

Got snow?

 

[Brettski]

He gave me an easy (for guys) visualization tool - he said imagine you're [edit]making love [/edit] to your wife etc. etc.

Now how am I going to able to ski moguls while I'm flat on my back?