Do bumps make the man?

[JimG.]

No kidin, here in the East when there is 8 inches of fresh we call in sick to work.

And then head up the night before so we can be first on the lift line the next day when they drop the rope; or, get up early and hike up for a run before they open the lifts.

 

[awf170]

And if you're in a park, you're wasting your time. But thank you for doing so, as you leave the real terrain park less crowded for me.

Wow. Way to come off as a real jerk. People aren't aloud to do what they like anymore. Seriously though how is it wasting your time. As long as your having fun who cares. I bet a lot of park skiers think carving is a waist a time. How is your opinion any more valid?

 

[kingslug]

Not here on the east coast anyway.

In comparison, skiers who live in Salt Lake City literally choke on all the powder they get to ski in. But alot of folks I know from out west don't like to ski bumps, or hardpack, or anything else we get here in the east. In fact, they rarely ski anything other than powder. And if it isn't enough for them, they stay home. It sickens me to hear a buddy from SLC call to tell me it only snowed 8" last night and their going to sleep in because it just isn't worth it to get up to ski in only 8". Sickening.

I love powder, but I'd go nuts if I ever got that spoiled.

Just got back from Utah. The weather was all over the place which allowed me to make some observations. Our first day at Alta it was pounding very hard. Problem was, a lot of frozen moguls under all that pow. This sent a lot of people flying on their heads when they hit them. I imagine they are are not used to this. For Eastern skiers this would be no prob. I kind of liked hitting them as I was able to do them better than solid scraped up ones. There where a lot of areas 2 days later at Solitude that had a ton of frozen mank underneath. Very few tracks or anyone skiing it. I found it challenging but still not a prob as the powder on top made it nice. At Snowbird it was a blue bird day with a 13 inch dump to top it off. I found the skiers there where a notch above, especialy in the bumps. Some of those runs are very long, steep tight bump runs, but conditions made them easier than our ice runs.
As far as having to be a good bump skier to be considered and expert. I would say it depends on where you are. In the East I would have to say that the ability to handle moguls is key to being able to ski the hardest runs, which in turn would classify you as an expert. Out West is a whole other ball game. The steepest runs they have are usualy not bump runs but cliff areas and bowls with chest deep powder. Sick tree runs are also on the menu. I find that I can ski way steeper runs out west than here simply because of conditions. If those bowls where solid ice, no one would ski them...except for a true Eastern expert. It all depends on what you are used to and what you like.

 

[Grassi21]

This is a mini-tangent, but I thought it fit after the last post.

Kingslug, or anyone for that matter, I have a couple of newbie questions. You mentioned terms like blue bird day and mank in you post. Can you clue me in on these terms? This was my first "real" season. Although I have spent a decent amount of time on the mountain and frequently visited this forum, some of the terminology still escapes me.

I did some searches in the forum and tried a few keywords in Google. I came across this website (http://www.abc-of-skiing.com/skiing-dictionary.asp) but the terms I mentioned are not defined. Boiler plate is another one...

Sorry for the newbie questions and thanks in advance.

 

[dmc]

Bluebird day = sunny clear blue skies..

 

[dmc]

boiler plate = hard icey surface thats "untrackable"

 

[ALLSKIING]

Boiler Plate: Rock hard snow and Ice
Blue Bird Day: Bright Blue skies
Mank: Thats a new one for me but I think its like crust or frozen loose snow

 

[ALLSKIING]

Doug got there first.

 

[Grassi21]

Thanks to all. I feel more informed. ;-)

 

[kingslug]

I heard the term mank in Utah. Pretty much morning frozen deep snow. Very hard to ski. Even worse when a few inches of powder covers it and you jump in not knowing...ouch.

 

[salida]

I like to use Mank, with a "y", ie "Dude, with all the melting this week on the east coast, those tree runs are going to be pretty manky this weekend."

 

[Greg]

bump!

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

bump!

Has anyone else noticed that Greg is completely obsessed with skiing bumps?8)

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I was riding in the gondi at Whiteface about a month ago with 2 guys who had never been there before. They asked me what trails I would recommend they try. I asked them how well they skied and they responded that they where experts.One trail I told them to try was Empire, a steep, narrow bump run. They told me that they like steep, narrow trails, but that they don’t ski bumps.

When someone tells me they don’t ski bumps I take it to mean that they can’t ski bumps well. I think a lot of skiers who are experts often measure the abilities of others by how well they ski moguls. If a person can’t, doesn’t or won’t ski bumps can that person still be considered an expert skier if he/she does every other aspect of skiing very well. I say no, what do you think?

Outside of park skills (which may or may not be considered part of the all mountain skill package) I still say you can not consider yourself an expert unless you can ski bumps well.

 

[Jay's Dip Powcher]

I suck at bumps.....damn I am never going to be an expert now!!!
I would kill any green circle you throw in front of me though.....

 

[goldsbar]

A true expert can ski well and look good on just about anything. I'd exclude parks as that's - good or bad - almost a seperate sport. I'd also exclude big hucks - if the huck is so big you're landing on your back it doesn't make you a good skier (though you have a lot more guts than I do!).

Good mogul skiers are generally good all around. This doesn't always apply, though, as I've seen some that can't carve for s***. I'm not sure why any serious EC skier would avoid moguls. The trees are often bare dirt and carving is good fun but nothing ups the fun factor in limited snow conditions like moguls.

 

[Big Game]

If I couldn't ride the bumps I'd just be an over-weight out-of-shape putz who thinks he's better than me becuase he can go 0.5 mph faster than me on some sanitized (for your protection) blue square.

Bumps will make you pay for being a lazy P.O.S. the rest of the year. And I say good. It's God's what of telling those lazy P.O.S's that they suck and are a disappointment. Are they squandering their lives? You bet. But the justice is that it is their own lives they are squandering. But the injustice is that these people know how to bitch. And then we hear about it. Oh...my kids make me such a fatso....or my wife...or my job...wah wah wah. And these people know how to drink too. So that's great way to compensate. Get drunk and fat and laugh about being so drunk and fat ---as if somehow that dimishes the grotesque spectacle. If I was ever that pathetic I would jump in front of a freight locomotive. And hope that I wasn't so gargantuan that I caused the train to derail, spilling tons of valuable gypsum.

 

[Greg]

Good mogul skiers are generally good all around. This doesn't always apply, though, as I've seen some that can't carve for s***. I'm not sure why any serious EC skier would avoid moguls. The trees are often bare dirt and carving is good fun but nothing ups the fun factor in limited snow conditions like moguls.

Word! Carving? Who cares about that?

Seriously though, if I'm not skiing bumps, I'm making short radius, snappy turns along the sides of the trail. Sure, sometimes I let them run and it's fun to go fast now and then, but I'd much rather make 5X the number of turns at 1/4 the speed of your typical carving "expert" any day...

 

[ctenidae]

Bumps make this man's knees hurt. I still try them, though.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

If I couldn't ride the bumps I'd just be an over-weight out-of-shape putz who thinks he's better than me becuase he can go 0.5 mph faster than me on some sanitized (for your protection) blue square.

Bumps will make you pay for being a lazy P.O.S. the rest of the year. And I say good. It's God's what of telling those lazy P.O.S's that they suck and are a disappointment. Are they squandering their lives? You bet. But the justice is that it is their own lives they are squandering. But the injustice is that these people know how to bitch. And then we hear about it. Oh...my kids make me such a fatso....or my wife...or my job...wah wah wah. And these people know how to drink too. So that's great way to compensate. Get drunk and fat and laugh about being so drunk and fat ---as if somehow that dimishes the grotesque spectacle. If I was ever that pathetic I would jump in front of a freight locomotive. And hope that I wasn't so gargantuan that I caused the train to derail, spilling tons of valuable gypsum.

Great rant Big Game, we need more of those.