 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I don't ski bumps particularly well, but I always enjoy them, they never intimidate me and I can safely pick up a fair amount of speed. In order of importance, these were things that made a difference for me when I was learning bumps. The list assumes that you're already a confident skier on smooth pistes.
- get fit before going on holiday because tired legs don't obey your mind's instructions. If you're unfit, leave the bumps for next year. Really.
- don't let your legs get too far apart or you'll do the splits and lose control
- plan your turns so that you exit onto the uphill edge of the next bump; that way, you'll use the mountain to naturally scrub off any excess speed
- pole plant very firmly but keep the pole close to you - again, because the terrain makes a distant pole plant an unpredictable one
- avoid long traverses. These unsettle your balance and make it difficult to initiate a turn; it's better to slow down and turn more often
- get some air from every bump just before you start your turn. Not because it'll help (it won't) but because it's such a waste of a good bump field to not have a little frisson of excitement!
Things that I've found make little difference to my bump skiing (despite much received wisdom to the contrary) are these:
- it doesn't matter whether you turn on the bumps, in the valleys or mid mogul. All of these strategies work well so don't fret about the rules
- Don't stress about flexing your knees and absorbing the bumps; you need to do this, but it's very difficult to achieve consciously. If you have a good stance on the smooth, you'll naturally adapt that to the bumps with a little practice
- for the same reason, don't worry too much about fore / aft weight distribution. If you get back, the results won't be pretty - but that's true wherever you ski. Get your stance right on easier terrain first
- I've never found that it helps to consciously drive in my tips before initiating a turn. Some people swear by this, though
I'm sure the pros on here will tell me that I have much of this wrong. If so, I don't care; for me, if there's no powder, bumps are what makes the sport worthwhile. I ski them dawn to dusk and love every moment of it.
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