Slow Line Fast Bump Skiing done slowly.

[François Pugh]

Great video, and drives home the point that once you have a good smooth short radius speed controlling turn to go as slow as you want to, and the ability to move your feet up and down to track with the undulations in the snow, bump skiing is smooth, easy, and easy on the knees. I don't think I would call it slow line fast though.

 

[Josh Matta]

It is "slow line fast" if you under stand the concept. I am skiing my line which is slow as fast as possible. It doesn't mean its fast, it doesn't mean its slow, its just means that I am controlling direction and where I am going is controlling my speed. I am not controlling speed though skidding, pushing, or pivoting but only though my choice in path, and again I am skiing thatpath slow as it might be, as fast and as aggressive as possible.


I think this video outline the concept better than even my words can convey,

 

[François Pugh]

Okay then, if I understand you correctly, you could not have skied that exact line any faster than you did if you had wanted to. In other words there is nothing you could have done to ski that same line and gotten to the bottom sooner. If that is the case, I concede you were skiing the slow line fast. It just didn't look like it to me, but you were there, so you would know. Sometimes it's hard to tell (for me) from a video.
Cheers, and thanks for posting the video.

 

[Zentune]

Nice Josh

Here's some slow roundish off piste skiing with small to medium bumps--filmed during a level 3 training session I was leading....focus was on slow round and smooth

 

[agreen]

Great skiing Josh! For me as a relatively new bump lovin skier this style doesn't look boring at all but instead looks inspirational and a way I can continue skiing bumps for many many more years. As a recent epic transplant I was hoping to find some good mogul discussions over here and glad I did.

Do you think shorter poles are as important in this style as opposed to a more direct zipperline approach?

Thank you

 

[JsNeagle]

@Josh Matta I've been practicing the "Jonny to Jerry" style of mogul skiing. I channel Jonny Moseley until my legs give out, at which point I become an excellent candidate for "Jerry of the Day". Your thoughts?

 

[mdf]

Nice Josh

Here's some slow roundish off piste skiing with small to medium bumps--filmed during a level 3 training session I was leading....focus was on slow round and smooth

I like your next video suggested by You Tube (labeled 00067) because the view from behind is not used very often. It makes it easier to imagine following along.

 

[john petersen]

there is really some great content here, very glad I migrated over!

JP

 

[Wilhelmson]

If I"m taking it slow and smooth I like to mix in some pivots for the fun of it, like turn turn pivot, turn turn pivot pivot. Not pivoting to slow down, but quick pivots on top of the mogul. Then the same technique makes steep icy moguls easy because you are on the slower line and the pivot turns into a quick adjustment to correct your line or avoid an obstacle.

 

[Josh Matta]

Great skiing Josh! For me as a relatively new bump lovin skier this style doesn't look boring at all but instead looks inspirational and a way I can continue skiing bumps for many many more years. As a recent epic transplant I was hoping to find some good mogul discussions over here and glad I did.

Do you think shorter poles are as important in this style as opposed to a more direct zipperline approach?

Thank you

I think having the right length poles is important for skiing if you are pole touching.... too long of a pole can cause your hands to fall back, have really high hands, and/or put people in the backseat. to short of a pole can limit a skiers range of motion. I personally use 125cm poles in basically all freeskiing.

@Josh Matta I've been practicing the "Jonny to Jerry" style of mogul skiing. I channel Jonny Moseley until my legs give out, at which point I become an excellent candidate for "Jerry of the Day". Your thoughts?

I think you should ski like Jeff, your better at offensive turns in the bumps than mosley. by offensive I mean using line to control speed. but I usually ski really hard till I have to ski in this video.

If I"m taking it slow and smooth I like to mix in some pivots for the fun of it, like turn turn pivot, turn turn pivot pivot. Not pivoting to slow down, but quick pivots on top of the mogul. Then the same technique makes steep icy moguls easy because you are on the slower line and the pivot turns into a quick adjustment to correct your line or avoid an obstacle.

yeah pivoting is not better.....but its nice to know how to pivot. In case you actually need it.....

The entire point of this video was skiing a slow line, a pivot is always a fast line being skied slowly.

 

[Josh Matta]

there is really some great content here, very glad I migrated over!

JP

there is, and I am hoping it stays that way with that said anytime someone says "I like to" we have mix and subjective opinion in with objective facts.

 

[markojp]

I like to suck less and generally ski like I've done it before... or at least fool people into thinking I have.

 

[agreen]

I like to ski bumps with a more direct approach with shorter poles. About 110

 

[JsNeagle]

I think you should ski like Jeff, your better at offensive turns in the bumps than mosley. by offensive I mean using line to control speed. but I usually ski really hard till I have to ski in this video.

Wow! Thanks! To be honest I think I ski too fast in the moguls most of the time. I tried really hard this season to focus on rhythm instead of speed. I'm also usually skiing bumps on center-mounted park skis, which I feel like have a minimum speed in the bumps. There's so much tail behind me I feel them catching at slower speeds.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

It is hard with skis like that, it feels like those tails are really driving you down the mountain.

 

[john petersen]

I like to suck less and generally ski like I've done it before... or at least fool people into thinking I have.

ha ha ha!...yeah...good one. Its great when you can fool them AND yourself....makes for a great run!

JP

 

[karlo]

Since you mentioned it....


Just mess'in with you. . Completely agree with your premise. Bumps aren't the killers they're reported to be with the right tactics, some skills, and mind set.

(I'm glad Eric makes a bobble squaring up and getting back and in on one of his left footers... even the best are are worthy of both emulation and critique... quickly corrected though... the dude kills it like few on the planet.)

I think both video's, Josh's and markojp's, exhibit relatively slow and controlled skiing, with the exception of the very last segment of markojp's clip of Eric Lipton. Eric actually achieves quite a lot of speed control by using air. I also think that the skiing shown in both clips utilize a high level of skill. Both utilize turns that start high and early, and utilize significant extension of legs for better absorption at the bump, skills that the vast majority of recreational skiers cannot or do not do. Anyway, I think these videos of smooth bump skiing are great; they show that it can be done. They also can be used to point out the specific skills needed, which can be developed on un-bumped terrain.

I also think that instructors tend to go nuts amongst themselves, at PSIA clinics or assessments. Go to YouTube and search Sodbuster. You'll find an Aspen Academy video of instructors being assessed for their bump skiing skills. Some of these guys are just pounding it, which is great. But, isn't the point to demonstrate that you, as an instructor, can show a student how bumps can be skied dynamically, yet smoothly and at moderate speed? What are some of these instructors thinking?

 

[Mike King]

I also think that instructors tend to go nuts amongst themselves, at PSIA clinics or assessments. Go to YouTube and search Sodbuster. You'll find an Aspen Academy video of instructors being assessed for their bump skiing skills. Some of these guys are just pounding it, which is great. But, isn't the point to demonstrate that you, as an instructor, can show a student how bumps can be skied dynamically, yet smoothly and at moderate speed? What are some of these instructors thinking?

Did you mean this?


If so, that was the regional (PSIA Rocky Mountain) tryouts for those that would be sponsored to attend the demo team selection. That portion of the tryout focuses on personal skiing. It wasn't an assessment of teaching. And there are some students who ski at this level -- so the issue is not dynamic skiing at moderate speed, but dynamic skiing at full speed.

Mike

 

[john petersen]

yes, Mike makes a good point....much of what instructors do in clinics does involve personal skiing. (with how it relates to the clinic focus or task at hand) I believe we do this so that our performance of fundamental movements can be solidified for better understanding....which translates into better instruction....If we can own the moves, we can relay them in hopefully non technical terms to others.

These tryouts go a step beyond that, though.....to be sponsored to a higher level, you need to bring what ya got!

JP

 

[Mike King]

There are three individuals in that group that made the demo team and at least three others that made the semifinal cut.

Sodbuster is one of the steepest runs at Highlands. And the bumps are generally pretty large.

Mike