Do bumps make the man?

[highpeaksdrifter]

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...

Not me, I get bored going slow. I also like to use a variety of turn shapes. I have a friend like that though, he makes about a zillion turns coming down the side of a trail.

 

[Greg]

Not me, I get bored going slow. I also like to use a variety of turn shapes. I have a friend like that though, he makes about a zillion turns coming down the side of a trail.

I got that from just that one early-season day skiing with you last season. Hopefully we'll get on some bump runs together this year, HPD!

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I got that from just that one early-season day skiing with you last season. Hopefully we'll get on some bump runs together this year, HPD!

We will and I'm looking forward to it. I hope to make some AZ midweek gatherings. Now that you're a passholder at Hunta we should shoot for one there.

 

[Greg]

We will and I'm looking forward to it. I hope to make some AZ midweek gatherings. Now that you're a passholder at Hunta we should shoot for one there.

Already planning a 12/15 jaunt. Keep an eye on T&E.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Already planning a 12/15 jaunt. Keep an eye on T&E.

Is JimmyG goin, cause I don't know if I can listen to his crazy talk all day. :lol: ;-)

 

[jack97]

Bumps make the man?

I was sizing up my daughter for coming year, see what she out grew and what she needs. She wanted to keep her old skis, it goes up to her adams apple. She want them short, she thinks it will help her manuever better in the bumps.

 

[JimG.]

Is JimmyG goin, cause I don't know if I can listen to his crazy talk all day. :lol: ;-)

Originally I would have said you're safe because I'm supposed to go to Tucks on the weekend of 12/16-17 for an AVI 1 class. I'd probably take the 15th off but I'd drive up to Tucks that day...considered a morning trip to Hunter, but it's totally out of the way and in the wrong direction.

But the start to the season seems delayed a bit. I don't do forecasts, but intuition tells me that this poor start is just a smoke screen, that the heavy snows are just around the corner. When is the issue.

Whether the weather cooperates is up in the air, so I just might be there HPD. If I am, I'll make sure to have alot of crazy talk for our chair rides.

 

[Greg]

Whether the weather cooperates is up in the air, so I just might be there HPD. If I am, I'll make sure to have alot of crazy talk for our chair rides.

After meeting both of you and knowing how each of you love the bumps, I'm going to guess that you two will likely get along very well.

 

[dmc]

Originally I would have said you're safe because I'm supposed to go to Tucks on the weekend of 12/16-17 for an AVI 1 class. I'd probably take the 15th off but I'd drive up to Tucks that day...considered a morning trip to Hunter, but it's totally out of the way and in the wrong direction..

AVI Class has a waiting list...

I seriously doubt you'll make it in... I may have to cancell too... I have to be in North Carolina Monday AM...
So Hunter on the 15th sounds good...

 

[JimG.]

AVI Class has a waiting list...

I seriously doubt you'll make it in... I may have to cancell too... I have to be in North Carolina Monday AM...
So Hunter on the 15th sounds good...

Ugh! I thought we were all set to go.

I guess I'll be at Hunter on the 15th.

 

[Jellis]

mmmm, women bump skiiers, now thats something I would like to see done in a sports bra.

Pig, why don't you have some respect for the female members on here?

 

[AHM]

There are some other aspects that make an expert

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.

Yep, you need to ski bumps well to be considered an expert, but you also must be able to handle adverse snow conditions like cut up, wind pack, sun crust, variable, scoured, and boiler (gotta be able to ski boiler bumps as an eastern expert).

Many of the skills I have seen listed are more geared towards the "resort" expert. I realize this will get some of you in a huff, but resorts are pretty manufactured (yep, hear ya about Jackson etc (Bird is very safe). Variable snow conditions are the norm in true off piste skiing. It can be blown off on top, nice pow in the middle, and absolute junk and avi debris on the exit. The true all mountain expert needs to handle all these types of snow conditions, without it really affecting the turn quality, in good vis or in bad.

Finally, a good expert will handle the mental aspect of exposure. Exposure adds a new dimension to the above skills, because when the run has a great deal of exposure, it is hard not to concentrate on that aspect. You might be fine on a steep run like White Nitro or FIS (good consistent pitch), but place the entrance to that run on an 800 ft cliff, with some rocks to get by and a 90 degree snake of a bottom terminal cliff, and all of a sudden a resort expert is no longer skiing like an expert. The exposure is in their head and their turns are suffering.

So just being a hammering bump skier won't cut it everywhere, but ya gotta be able to ski bumps for sure.

 

[JimG.]

Yep, you need to ski bumps well to be considered an expert, but you also must be able to handle adverse snow conditions like cut up, wind pack, sun crust, variable, scoured, and boiler (gotta be able to ski boiler bumps as an eastern expert).

Many of the skills I have seen listed are more geared towards the "resort" expert. I realize this will get some of you in a huff, but resorts are pretty manufactured (yep, hear ya about Jackson etc (Bird is very safe). Variable snow conditions are the norm in true off piste skiing. It can be blown off on top, nice pow in the middle, and absolute junk and avi debris on the exit. The true all mountain expert needs to handle all these types of snow conditions, without it really affecting the turn quality, in good vis or in bad.

Finally, a good expert will handle the mental aspect of exposure. Exposure adds a new dimension to the above skills, because when the run has a great deal of exposure, it is hard not to concentrate on that aspect. You might be fine on a steep run like White Nitro or FIS (good consistent pitch), but place the entrance to that run on an 800 ft cliff, with some rocks to get by and a 90 degree snake of a bottom terminal cliff, and all of a sudden a resort expert is no longer skiing like an expert. The exposure is in their head and their turns are suffering.

So just being a hammering bump skier won't cut it everywhere, but ya gotta be able to ski bumps for sure.

This might sound obvious to alot of folks, but for me the impact of exposure has alot more to do with knowing or being told what's there and the consequences and less to do with the actual danger. If a guide tells me there is an 800 foot cliff that I have to avoid by making a 90 degree right turn, I concentrate on making sure I nail that turn.

I guess the best way to put it is that uncertainly about hazards and obstacles in the BC are more debilitating than the actual hazard itself. This explains why I seem to ski so much more fluidly the second time down a line I had previously never skied before.

 

[SkiDork]

IMHO, if you're a hammerin bump skier you're an ace in all areas of skiing. There's no faking it in the bumps.

 

[Skibum_dan]

Man. Interesting thread. I think that rather than attempting to answer the original question I might follow the train of thought some others have touched upon too. Do you need to be an accomplished skier/rider in mogul skiing, woods, steeps, groomers, slalom, park, pipe (everything else I might be forgetting) to be considered an expert skier/rider? I know of people who would consider themselves expert racers but who shy away from any kind of park trickery or don’t often think to look off the trail for their runs. There are people who soar high through the air with grace in the park and pipe, ride rails and consider themselves experts in the park and are fine with the fact that they are not the next race-atron 5,000. There are back-country skiers/riders who go to great lengths to earn their own turns in the most remote areas, who might measure skill level on things like preparedness and calculating decision making just as much as they would the actual skiing of the terrain. I could keep going with this but I’ll just assume the point has been taken. There are many ways of going down the hill. I would say that an accomplished mogul skier would certainly have the quick response time, stability under foot and dedication to a line that would transfer to many of the other styles of going down the hill.
Do you need to be good at everything to be an expert skier? This seems to be the question. My answer….who cares. I am out on there to have a fun time and ski whatever I feel like skiing on any given day. Do I focus on my abilities? Absolutely. For me it is more fun if I can perform one aspect of my skiing better than I did before. I am just not going to get hung up if I don’t get down the hill first, fastest, biggest, bestest, bestester, 100% times infinity better than the best……officially called! No do-overs!!!!111@112:smile:

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

IMHO, if you're a hammerin bump skier you're an ace in all areas of skiing. There's no faking it in the bumps.

True, but there's no faking it anywhere on the mountain. You got the goods or you don't, technique will be evident.

 

[SkiDork]

True, but there's no faking it anywhere on the mountain. You got the goods or you don't, technique will be evident.

One can be a sweet groomer skier, but SUCK in the bumps. But it doesn't work in the reverse...

 

[Big Game]

Great rant Big Game, we need more of those.

Thanks bro. Yeah, it's like is there any question? If I couldn't ride bumps, I'd really feel like a big ol' pu$$y. And if you can't ride bumps, then you should never go in the woods. And if you never go into the woods, then you really should sell all your equipment and purchase the most expensive coffin you can buy. You will impress more people with your snazzy style at your wake then you ever could possibly on the hill. Not to say impressing people is what its all about. Unless your better than a lot of people. Then it is.

 

[jack97]

True, but there's no faking it anywhere on the mountain. You got the goods or you don't, technique will be evident.

IMO, only true if a zipperline can be made (exception; natural bumps with lousy lines). Some would argue that even with an available line, they would prefer tranverse and making rounder turns, in my book they don't have the technique yet.

 

[EPB]

I may have said this before at the beginning of this thread last year (or a different thread completely), but the true expert skier is someone who can adapt to what's lying in front of them. Be it a slick groomed run after a rain/ice storm, or a gnarly chewed up bump run, a true expert has the experience and confidence in their ability to hande tough runs with some style. I also think that a true expert should feel comfortable in the air, who can go airborne without losing balance, but i dont think the expert skier needs to be able to do tricks like a park rat or anything like that. Basically anybody who is a true expert can look down a run, without talking their game up and nail it. Form has to be good, but I think its alright if people have to stop a couple times on a long bump run, because after all were all human, but being an expert skier is about being good in any condition and having style and class too.