Bumps for Boomers - Technique Summary and Video

[mdf]

I see many people who are long time groomer only skiers who are intimidated at the thought of bumps but have the desire to ski the whole mountain. Most want to take it step by step and refine things on the groomers and move into the bumps.

It is great if you have beginner bumps in less crowded areas which we have at Snowmass.

Doing one bump at a time at the beginning shows people that they can stop and takes away the anxiety about choosing a line.

So are you saying you get a significant number of students who say, "I've been skiing for 20 years and darn it, I am finally going to learn to ski bumps!" ? I'm surprised.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

So are you saying you get a significant number of students who say, "I've been skiing for 20 years and darn it, I am finally going to learn to ski bumps!" ? I'm surprised.

They usually don't show up saying, " I want to ski bumps". They usually show up at Level 6 lesson and say that they want to be able to ski steeper terrain with their husband/wife/children. They usually say that they don't like bumps but after further discussion, we realize that they have never spent much time in bumps and have decided they don't like them without having spent much time learning bumps.

 

[James]

I had a friend once who I set up with a lesson with Bob. When they met he told Bob he defintely didnt want to do bumps. After like a half hour Bob said something like "we really need to do bumps" and had him in the bumps. He still talks about what a great lesson it was.

 

[Guy in Shorts]

Standing on top of Superstar in May looking at the WROD gets my heart pumping.

 

[john petersen]

why isnt that a video!?



JP

 

[ksampson3]

I think that a lot of you are missing the point of this clinic. I took it two years ago and it was excellent. When we got there, they separated people into two groups. Basically it was a group of us in our fifties and another group in their sixties/seventies. A lot of the folks that took the class weren't the most athletic folks, so the idea of teaching them a way to negotiate the bumps without torching their legs for the day was pretty appealing. The student to instructor ratio was really low; either 3:1 or 2:1 depending if Joe spent the morning/afternoon with your class. As noted above, one of the main techniques that was taught was the pivot slip - or as the instructors called it "drift". The idea was that you're not using a ton of energy bending your knees all of the time. You "drift" from bump to bump. This was really appealing if you have knee issues or typically aren't in the best shape. Not everyone is a hyper fit, master skier. A lot of other ground was covered in the clinic, not just bumps. I learned a lot about turn initiation, ankle flexion, looking where you are going to plan for the next turn, etc. Yeah, I know, all of this stuff is covered in "regular" ski lessons. Putting it all together with the bumps instruction really made it come together. Just my opinion.

Oh yeah, if you get Alan Bush as your instructor, you hit the jackpot.

 

[mdf]

Standing on top of Superstar in May looking at the WROD gets my heart pumping.
View attachment 24748

Mid-winter I am not that much of a Killington fan, but I love the place in the late spring!

 

[KingGrump]

Both the green line and the blue line are setting up skiers for high impact skiing through moguls, in the approach and cresting of a mogul.

I believe the B4B program is designed to provide the exact opposite result - namely low impact bump skiing.

Disclaimer: I have not attended a B4B session so I really don’t know what they actually teach there. OTOH, I have viewed a few of their videos on you tube. That should qualify me as an expert on the subject. Well, on the net anyway.

 

[karlo]

I took it two years ago and it was excellent

believe the B4B program is designed to provide the exact opposite result - namely low impact bump skiing.

@ksampson3 took it and said it works. I stand corrected.

 

[KingGrump]

They teach something similar to B4B at Taos. They call it the wide line. Low impact bump skiing tailored for the big steep bumps commonly found at Taos.

 

[Paul S.]

But you CAN cut and paste the video URL if you wish.

How do I find the URL?

 

[Kneale Brownson]

How do I find the URL?

If you have the video open in your browser, the URL address is in the line at the top of the page.

 

[jack97]

My goal is to be a decent bump skier before I get too old. This approach is helping. Must, must hurry, as available time is diminishing.

IMO, if you want to get better at the bumps, you have to seek them out.

I always thought of Cannon as a racer's mountain where the natural terrain as well as the mountain is not protected from the wind. The bump runs can be brutal. If you ever get a chance go to Wildcat, the place is setup to protect the natural trails. This past season the place left half their trails ungroomed for the majority of the season. Lots of areas where the trees and small ridges protect the trails from the wind. That said, I haven't been to Mittersill since they opened it but I figure the higher elevation at Wildcat and how the Presidential Mtn range traps the cold to allow for a better chance of snow rather the other stuff.

If you want to take a day or night trip to southern NH, try Pat's Peak, they have a trail call Hurricane that they leave ungroom for the season and will touch it up with man-made when the surface gets icy. Vid of trail in the first 7 sec.

 

[PTskier]

The original video shows speed control by what he calls drift and what I call curving side slip. Same thing. Different wording might connect better with different people.

I disagree with the instructor with his lack of counter. I like the upper body always facing down the bump run. I also strongly disagree with the way he holds the pole plant and pivots around it. Make the pole plant, then get off it and counter the other way. I think he's teaching a bad habit. I want to be ready for the next turn before my skis are headed down the fall line. I'm looking one or two bumps ahead. This one looks good to turn on..that one looks better...plant, I'm turned, and looking ahead for the next one. The steeper the hill the more I reach down, way down, the hill ready for that pole plant.

Ways to be doomed on a bump run--
--Lean back toward the hill. Gott'a get the head & shoulders out, way out, down the hill.
--Twist the body around toward the hill. Face the body down the bump run.
--Sit back on the heels. Gott'a stay balanced on the balls of the feet.

My ankles don't flex much in my 130 flex boots that work great for me. By pushing the feet forward to lighten the tips when they need to go up a rise on the snow, or pulling them back, sometimes way back, to get the tips down to the snow works every time.

A friend got a great bump lesson at Whistler where he learned about the Green Line, the Blue Line, and the Black line to ski. He tried to explain it to me. Does not resonate for me. Different people, different learning styles. I can ski his Green Line as slowly and as smoothly as he skis it, but I don't see it as a line. That's just me.

 

[Cuff]

This reminds me a lot of the old Lito Tijeras Flores videos and his bumps clinics.

It is a great way to start and a good skill to have when confronted with bumps way out of your comfort zone, wherever that happens to be..if you are starting it may be moguls like the ones in the video. Or it may be humongous ice bumps on Mary Jane or in thin cover where you have to go slow.

Either way practicing skiing super slow motion always a good drill for me. It usually reveals whatever my bad habit de jeur is.

Bumps for Boomers WAS an evolution of Litos (Breakthrough on Skis) that he taught in Aspen. After he injured himself and couldn't teach anymore, Bumps for Boomers was born.

 

[KingGrump]

Just listened to the sound in the vid.......... a solid teaching tool........... but he could have thrown in a "Wee" every now and then!

I think it is a good way to begin, provided you don't stay there.
How does this green line / blue line thing work? Is it presented as a progression, or a long-term choice?

Don't know about whether B4B teaches the green line, blue line as part of a progression.

For me it is indeed a part of my bump skiing progression. The next logical step in the my progression is the Maxwell "wee" coupled with the pterodactyl like arm flapping.
@mdf, do you remember we (you, me, @JohnL, et al) did the "arm & wee" thing in the bumps on Wildcard during the W/B gathering. I tell you, looks a bit funky but it really works.

BTW, @mdf , I heard you "wee-ing" in the double black trees off the Crystal chair the next day. So it looks like a good thing to have in our repertoire.

Next up - the TSV wide line.

 

[robert57]

They usually don't show up saying, " I want to ski bumps". They usually show up at Level 6 lesson and say that they want to be able to ski steeper terrain with their husband/wife/children. They usually say that they don't like bumps but after further discussion, we realize that they have never spent much time in bumps and have decided they don't like them without having spent much time learning bumps.

Thats me. 60, groomer (started skiing in my late 40's). Would like to open up more terrain. There may be different ways to do it but this seems to me to be a way to start at least. Fun is the eye of the beholder and for me whilst I can zip down a groomer I ski because after spending all year in an office I like to spend a few weeks out in nature every day enjoying the views,the company and often the silence.
As Nancy says I haven't spent much time learning them. So this is the year. My partner is going to do the women's ski course whilst I give this a go. I might look slow but I will be in new terrain, for me that will be fun!
ps: thanks for all the views above unusually sober for an internet forum.

 

[wyowindrunner]

terminology: flexion, extension, avalement, dolphin, jet, pivot slip, schmeer

Some one had mentioned the lack of leg movement as a benefit and perhaps for the green line sideslipping it works. When my skiing becomes stiff legged, not using most of what JP mentioned above, especially avalement, I recognize it as a sign of fatigue. Time to take a break or head for the house.

I also strongly disagree with the way he holds the pole plant and pivots around it. Make the pole plant, then get off it and counter the other way. I think he's teaching a bad habit.

Holding the pole plant and pivoting around it is a good way to get the hand-arm-shoulder dropping and get a person in the back seat. An open wrist while planting is not a good habit either unless it is used as an intentional pivot point while skiing slow. Maybe this demonstration consisted of exaggerated movements for illustrative purposes.

The first thing that struck me was how short the guy's skis look

Took a couple bump lessons at Steamboat years ago. The instructor was of a shorter stature- was on some Volkl 's @150. He put schmeering in my toolbox. My dedicated bump skis are a pair of Salomon Shoguns @164 -deeper powder bumps -and some old K2 Silencers @159 for hard to 4-6" or so of powder .The Silencers are extremely quick- weigh nothing. Just picked up some Kastle FX85's @165. Looking forward to seeing how they ski- seem pretty light also. Think that being light and quick on the ski is imperative to bumping. Compare it to trail running - a light footprint and shortened strides for quick adaptation to the ever changing surface. Used to ski bumps years ago on some Salomon equipe super axe 3v @168. Kinda heavy in comparison but I was younger then.

 

[DavidSkis]

The original video shows speed control by what he calls drift and what I call curving side slip. Same thing. Different wording might connect better with different people.

I disagree with the instructor with his lack of counter. I like the upper body always facing down the bump run. I also strongly disagree with the way he holds the pole plant and pivots around it. Make the pole plant, then get off it and counter the other way.

Maybe this model is built (in part) for people who simply can't separate. I see lots of older people who seem to lack that ability. And it's frustrating for the learner to be forced to work on a movement they physically can't produce. I run into this often teaching in my ski club, and can't always tell whether some limiting movement patterns are old-person-stiffness, or just bad habit.

Once the biggest barrier to technique development is a physical limitation, maybe you would get more mileage by accepting it and instead working on tactics.

 

[karlo]

@robert57, the OP states

"Ski slower to minimize the need for dynamic flexion and extension movements"

Take the class that develops extension and flexion of ankles, knees, and hips with upper and lower body separation. I assure you that, then, you will be able to ski down the moguls shown in the video slower and with less fatigue.