When skiing moguls you must try extra hard to avoid having high edge angles. Why?

If you are on easy groomed terrain - and you are standing directly on top of your skis without adding angulation - the bases of your skis wiil be relatively flat to the snow. However, if you are skiing in a mogul run and you are standing directly on top of your skis the edge of your skis will likely have a high edge angle relative to the slope on the downhill side of each mogul.

What this means is that when you ski moguls you need to be keenly aware at all times of the ever-changing slope of the terrain underneath your skis. Just by virtue of the fact that when your skis become perpendicular to the fall line slope on a mogul means that the edges of your skis will be at a high edge angle relative to the slope underneath your feet. And when your skis are on a high edge angle you will carve and increase your speed.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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We hear a lot in skiing about the concept of “weight transfer”. We don’t like this term. You will find yourself becoming a much more effective skier if you replace the words “weight transfer” with “balance transfer”. Skiing is not about transferring weight. Skiing is a balance sport and what you really want to do is transfer your balance. If you think good balance is important on groomed runs, good balance is MUCH more important in 3 dimensional terrain where you find moguls and powder. Think “balance” transfer rather than “weight” transfer and you will become a better skier.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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Learning to ski moguls and powder can be intimidating. When you are learning to ski either, minimize the number of simultaneous “yikes” factors - those things which raise your anxiety level. Your own personal “yikes” factors might include: flat light, ice, an overly steep run, whiteout conditions, wind, poor visibility, crowds of skiers, etc. You will learn faster if you are not distracted by these conditions. Example: don’t try and ski a steeper run on a flat light day. Make sure you reduce the number of anxiety factors when you are trying to learn new skills or when you are trying to step outside of your comfort zone.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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When you initiate a turn you want to extend (extend legs to stand tall) but it is important that you simultaneously extend and move your torso and upper body down the hill in the direction of the turn. If you extend straight up vertically you will likely find yourself in the back seat and out of balance. Why?

The answer is simple. If the hill has a downward slope and you extend vertically then the skis will be at a downward angle but your body will remain perpendicular to vertical. If you diagram that you will quickly see that there will be a larger angle between the tip of the skis and your body than there is between your body and the tail of the skis. By definition that means that you are in the back seat with excessive weight on the tails of your skis. That means that you will be out of balance and it will be harder to initiate turns.

The bottom line: commit to making each turn by extending your upper body downhill toward the turn rather than just extending vertically. You want to remain approximately perpendicular to the angle of the slope directly underneath your feet and skis.

And, think about this … if you are turning on a mogul then it is important to be perpendicular to the angle on the back side of each individual mogul rather than the overall angle of the run you are skiing.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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We previously mentioned how a narrow stance improves balance in moguls and powder because of the greater likelihood that both feet will be on the same consistency of snow. Another important benefit of a narrow stance is that it makes it easier to step to, and increase the weight on, the uphill ski prior to initiating a turn.

If you have a wide stance, it is much harder to step to the uphill ski and it requires greater movement of the upper body. The wider your stance the more your upper body mass needs to move to re-establish balance and the greater the chance you have of becoming uncentered and out of balance. If you have a narrow stance, and both feet are directly underneath you, it is easier to re-balance on, and shift your weight to, the uphill ski with less upper body movement.

The bottom line: the quieter your upper body is, the better skier you will be.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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A major obstacle to better skiing occurs when a skier initiates a turn with a stem (slides the tail of the uphill ski out to get a headstart on making the turn). If you stem your turns you will forever be a terminal intermediate skier. And if you stem your turns in moguls and powder it creates instability and a risk of crossing your ski tips.

To prevent stemming your turns, always begin each turn by stepping to, and balancing with the majority (roughly 70% ) of your weight on, the uphill ski prior to initiating any edging or rotary movement to begin the turn. Why does this prevent a stemmed turn?

The next time you are on your skis, stand and balance with the majority of your weight on your uphill ski. Then try and stem the uphill ski. It is virtually impossible to stem a ski that you are balanced and standing on.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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Most skiers incorrectly believe that they need substantial forward momentum in order to initiate a turn. Not true. You can easily make a turn from a dead stop merely by flattening your skis on the snow and by extending your legs and torso into the direction of the turn that you want to make. When you discover that you can make a turn without a lot of forward momentum, your anxiety drops, you become more relaxed and you will make more patient turns - which facilitates your ability to stay in balance … particularly in the bumps.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

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Many skiers stand at the top of a mogul run and plot a detailed route through the bumps, determining where each and every turn will be made.

We don’t recommend that. Why? Because mogul and powder terrain is inconsistent and, as a result, you are likely to miss a turn or decide to turn elsewhere when you get a closer look at the situation. A better strategy is to focus on just making one turn at a time.

As you initiate one turn, pick the location where you want to make your next turn. That both simplifies the planning and decision process and breaks a large series of moguls into a series of individual turns. Said another way: eat the mogul run one bite at a time. It is easier and a lot less stressful.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

Skiing tips are brought to you by BUMPS FOR BOOMERS® - Aspen skiing lessons for those who want to learn the skills to get off over-crowded groomed runs. BUMPS FOR BOOMERS® is an adult specialty program of the Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen • 1-970-989-2529

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Do you prefer tired arms … or tired legs?

In order to stay centered and balanced over your base of support (your feet) you need to keep both of your arms up, forward and quiet (free of excessive movement). If you don’t, you will likely sit back and your center of mass will be behind your feet. In that back position the only thing you have to hold you upright is your quads. Now you know why your quads are sore at the end of a day of skiing.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

Skiing tips are brought to you by BUMPS FOR BOOMERS® - your mogul ski instruction headquarters in Aspen. BUMPS FOR BOOMERS® is an adult specialty program of the Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen • 1-970-989-2529

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Most skiers believe that you are always supposed to ski in a forward direction.

However, let us offer a different perspective. I spend a great deal of my time alternating between skiing forward, sideways and backward. The direction you ski doesn’t really matter as long as you remain in balance. By using a flatter ski (smaller edge angle on the snow) I can drift sideways. Or I can point my ski tips high in the fall line which will cause me to ski backward.

Why would I do this? Answer: to practice balance under any condition and to control both my speed and direction in order to make a turn at a precise point in the snow. This gives me a degree of precision that enables me to always stay in balance and to turn exactly wherever I desire in mogul or powder terrain. Try it the next time you are out on the ski slope.

To your success in becoming a better mogul and powder skier.

Skiing tips are brought to you by BUMPS FOR BOOMERS® - your best source for both mogul and powder skiing lessons. BUMPS FOR BOOMERS® is an adult specialty program of the Ski & Snowboard Schools of Aspen. Programs are taught on Aspen Mountain. • 1-970-989-2529

See the Aspen ski area with your own two eyes via our exclusive Aspen Webcam.

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