Tips for riding moguls

A snowHead

I am a pretty decent rider, can ride (not just "get down") pretty much any piste, and now do about half of my riding off piste / side piste. But on moguls (even on blues and reds) I suck Mad

and look like a 2 week rider.

So, ass the thread title says - what is the secret to, or do you have any good tips for, riding moguls?

A snowHead

im no good boarder, but do ok on moguls, including a few reds, some o-p and a random double diamond I found in whistler! lol

I always try and use the moguls to turn off, rather than in the bottom grooves of the moguls where everyone else skis, a surfey kind of feeling, or slash turns in a pipe maybe???. Here is more snow meaning its not like glass like the rest. This may not be the correct way to ride them though.

Someone will probably just come and say be more committed and aggressive, and make sure you're bent at the knees more and load the edges....or something

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

dennisp is right. Pick a line through the mogul field and treat it as a narrow pipe with breaks in it.
Tips are keep your head up and looking forward, not at the nose of your board and the current bump your on, and keep your knees really soft so you're prepared for the transitions. Try to use the pitch of the bumps to control your speed rather than speed checking the board.

Beware of homp-homp brigade coming down from above who are too preoccupied with reliving 80's ski classics and humming 'Popcorn' to look ahead.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

I seldom see anyone riding bumps on boards. I'm way rusty at it as I don't ride at resorts much these days.

I don't think there's a particular secret, it just takes practice and sound basic technique.

Some thoughts, some of which may be obvious:
- Pick your bumps carefully. If there's no one on then they're probably out of condition.
- Ride them when they're ripe to soft. Boards work fine in bumps which would probably be too sloppy for skiers.
- Start on small stuff, work your way up. You'll learn more riding fast through small fields than sideslipping the big stuff.
- Avoid the sort of places novices go so they can say they "rode a black run". Those people get in the way, tend to cut traverse lines, and sit on the best bits of snow.
- Use your eyes and pick your line, so you are focusing a bump or so ahead.
- Don't stand around at the top of steep sections, just check for rocks and then ride straight down the middle. Novices tend to stand around giving themselves the willies, and they avoid the steepest most direct lines, which are actually usually the easiest bit.
- Ride the fall line. Don't traverse (traverse lines are like roller-coasters and they lead nowhere useful).
- Use the right board. I ride race boards at resorts, but for bumps it needs to be a slalom board (read: shortish and flexible). You need something nimble at relatively slow speeds. Ballet gear should be fine, although you don't see many people riding it in bumps so maybe not.
- Use as much leg action as you can manage - both push and pull to smooth it out.
- Avoid getting into the back seat, which may take a conscious effort sometimes to push forward.
- Don't swing your arms around.

As far as where you turn, well it all depends on the bumps I'd say. Me, I'm generally trying to dump speed, so I kind of slash the board into the line to do that. For in-condition bumps the line should be pretty obvious to follow and you'll want to be turning at pretty much every bump. Learning to turn on demand is best learnt elsewhere.

After Apocalypse Snow I didn't see any 1980s ski films, but you shouldn't have problems with people from above if you stick to the fall line. Mogul slopes are probably safer than general pistes for sitting around on, but I'd still not do it.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Now if he can just get music and and his gal, who could ask for anything more!

After all it is free

Thanks for the tips guys

I slide down and flatten them

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I ski moguls but the technique should be very similar for snowboarders;

You don't want to carve but slide "skid" on the base of the ski / board to turn.
You want to absorb the bumps by "crouching" into them and extend your body (but not fully) when in between a mogul.
The idea is to ski / board the channels between the moguls and absorb when a mogul is coming your way. You can't always ski the channel so you will need to absorb, either some or all of the mogul. Ideally the corner of the mogul but it doesn't always work out like that.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I should of said; you can put your turn into the absorption but you don't have to, that's your decision in the moment, depending on the circumstances. wink

snow reports

I love moguls on a board, but like everything there is a technique, pretty easy too after some practice.

find a 'nice' mogul area. ie moguls upto 20cm or so. The big 1m moguls on a board suck no matter what.

1 - be brave and keep the weight forward to begin, back foot it all goes wrong. Pick the groove line around the moguls not turning on top and sliding down the back. Keep the weight forward ! back foot very light so that you can whip the board round very fast, check the speed by sliding into the uphill face of the next mogul.

ok so you've got the hang of keeping the weight forward to slide the board round quickly, check the speed on the face of the next mogul then follow the groove line and repeat.

2 - next step is to refine this but you need the above confidence of weight on front foot. Keep a 60:40, 50:50 stance, again you would follow the groove line between the moguls, but this time instead of having the weight already on the front foot like in the first above just throw the hip onto the front foot as you start turn, deweights the back, whips the board round then shift the hip quickly back and stamp on the back foot as you check any speed on the face of the next mogul, throw the hip forward and into the next turn and repeat.
By just throwing the hip a bit forward to turn allows you to quickly then change to stomp the back foot and check the speed. If you try and ride as in the first exercise with the weight constantly on the front foot it is then very hard to check the speed and you soon cartwheel. (but its ok for practice on an easy set of moguls) For me it is just a subtle hip move forward, turn, hip back stomp the back foot.

keep knees nicely bent and flexible throughout.

Works for me, have fun.

Straightliiiiiine!

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Thank again for tips.

I do lessons of some sort every time I go to the mountains. Usually a couple of hours private lessons early on so I have something to work on for rest of the weekend/week (I do lots of Thurs-Sunday trips). Have never asked for lessons on moguls specifically, though, so that's a good idea.

Next trip is Tignes in early December so will probably book some time with Alliance or Neil McNair (I've had a number of lessons with them in the past).

Help!!

Tips for riding moguls

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