Dan Dipiro's Mogul Book

I agree---the book is full of solid ideas that will work. Two comments:

1) The book tells you "do this" or "practice that". This is very good, but for a beginner who does not know how to side-slip or pivot-slip, this book does them no good. They will need an instructor or lots of practice on the slopes. To me, the book is written for folks who know how to ski already. But then, most new skiers don't move right to the moguls---so he hit his audience.

2) Not sure how many ski instructors he spoke with in doing research---I do know he read PSIA books (which, in my opinion can be better written) or how many mogul lessons he took from instructors (incognito)before coming to the conclusion that instructors do not teach 'his' concepts. I dont think Dan ever takes credit for coming up with this method, he simply put all of the ideas in writing---and very well at that.

As posted on another thread--I am a LII PSIA instructor who has been concentating on my bump skiing for the past two years---I can say that my skills have improved 500% or better. I believe I am to the point of knowing what to do---generally---but need to own the skills in muscle and mind memory. I have heard each and every idea (not the jumping chapter--yet) expressed or "preached" by my LIII clinicians and some Alpine Examiners. Example---not one person in 2 years has ever told me to keep my "normal" stance---rather they all have said something to the effect of..."when skiing moguls, we want to narrow our stance" Example #2---I took a 5 day clinic this winter. For 5 days all I heard was...."Be the KING---King's don't bow or bend over, they stand tall and look with pride over their kingdom, don't you want to be the King???"

To me the title was created out of "sour grapes" or "economic advantage" We all want to learn secrets or expose "dirty laundry" Just like the news at 11:00 "blood leads". I admitt, if the book title read..."how to ski moguls and win Gold" I most likely would not have purchased it. I am glad I did. I will use it as a reference and lend it to peers.

I agree with you, Roundturns. I also just finished his book. I, too, felt I skied moguls much better before I started really working on movements to eliminate the vestiges of my "old-school" style. My mogul skiing took a nose dive. When the moguls get particularly nasty, as they tend to get around these parts, I felt like I was cheating when I felt I needed some of those "old-school" movements I was trying so hard to unlearn. DiPiro's book was the validation that it wasn't cheating and some of my "old school" movements have significant value in bumps. I need to seriously reacquaint myself with the steering-dominated turn.

I got Dan's book about a week ago, and have read it several times now.

I skied a lot in the 70's, not so much in the 80's and 90's. Since taking it back up in the last 5-10 years, I have worked hard to remove all traces of my old "sperm turning" style.

I sucked in the moguls since I started again. I took some lessons, and was taught the 'mogul survival' method that Dan has described. I didn't understand how I could suck so much, when I used to be able to ski moguls in the old days.

While reading his book, I'd think "I know how to do that!" and then the next chapter I'd think "I know how to do that!"

I've been skiing twice since I got the book, and I am easily 10 times better in moguls as a result of the book!

I'm not great, but at least now I've got something to work with.

My take on the book is that mogul skiing is all about "skiing the fast line slow".

Now, as well as working on my mogul skiing, I'm working on seamlessly transitioning back and forth between my old style and my new style.

I owe Dan a beer if I ever meet him!

Definitely, Roundturns, definitely give me a holler next year. Maybe two old farts can show 'em just how it is done.

Kudos to those who can ski better by reading a book. Good instruction teaches you how to ski in the bumps and not the other way around (ski the bumps).

RW

It is nothing more than a simple reminder of techniques or movements or a way of looking at things that we already know, but somehow managed to forget about them over time.

I was jumping this weekend---got good air (for most 42 yr olds) No spins or splits. Will have to work on the mogul jumps later.

Hi everyone,
Many thanks to all of you who are giving my book a try. May you all have fun in the bumps!
-Dan DiPiro

Dan---so answer the question. (we won't tell anyone, as you can see---many folks on this site are ordering the book)

Was the title based from research and truth, in your honest opinion. Or was it designed to capture the buying audience?


PS...thanks for the book and would love to ski the humps with you---humps being bigger than bumps.

I ordered the book from Amazon a couple days ago, and am looking forward to reading it. I like what I have heard so far.

Greg,

A good question… and here’s my answer.

Had the book not been based on my actual, extensive experiences with, and heartfelt beliefs about, mainstream mogul-skiing instruction, I would not have been motivated enough to do the project and see it through to publication. It was a ton of work and I could not have found motivation enough had the project been based on boloney. The writing wouldn’t have held together, either. A good book can’t be held together by bogus ideas or marketing fluff. Its ideas have to be real, have to ring true.

As for my “research”…. Some years after my retirement from competition, I returned to my home mountain – Cannon Mountain in Franconia, NH – and joined the ski school. I taught full-time for two years, and part-time for three. Throughout all of these years, I attended our ski school clinics avidly. I spied and eavesdropped on my colleague’s mogul lessons, and on PSIA exams and clinics given in the moguls. I read PSIA mogul-related articles. I also watched my colleagues (~120 of them) ski the moguls, and listened to them talk about mogul skiing. (By the way, for the mogul-skiing instruction I did during these years, SKI Magazine recognized me as a Top-100 instructor for bumps.)

I get my mogul skiing knowledge from years of competition. I competed in two freestyle national championships, qualified for a third (injured, didn’t ski), and qualified for NorAm competition, too. At one point, I was ranked 21st for moguls in the U.S. These days, I keep my hand in the competitive realm by coaching young mogul skiers at Waterville Valley Ski Area in northern NH.

Since becoming a coach at Waterville, I’ve been able to watch the Waterville instructors ski the moguls, and eavesdrop on their in-house mogul clinics and mogul lessons. I even get to watch the children I coach ski through the moguls right next to Waterville instructors. An interesting comparison.

Over the years, I’ve also skied all over the northeast and made many trips to Colorado and California ski areas, so I’ve observed mogul lessons, now and again, at other areas, too. Based on all of these experiences, I believe that…

• Most instructors don’t ski the moguls with a very high degree of comfort, primarily because they aren’t equipped with the right training to do so.
• Most instructors don’t ski the fall line in moguls and don’t teach their students to do so, even though fall-line mogul skiing is attainable for the fit, advanced skier. In bumps, most instructors ski and teach a round, meandering line more reminiscent of groomed-trail carving than of the skiing done by experienced mogul skiers.
• Most instructors have a far greater understanding of alpine racing techniques than of mogul skiing techniques.
• Most instructors cannot explain the technical advantages of skiing with one’s feet together in the moguls.
• Most instructors cannot explain why a heavily steered turn can actually be efficient in the moguls.
• Most instructors tend to think of heavy steering as a necessary compromise or necessary sloppiness, when it can, sometimes, in fact, be good mogul skiing.
• Most instructors have never heard of controlling speed with absorption and extension.
• Most instructors who teach mogul skiing spend far too much time talking about the turn and not nearly enough time talking about absorption and extension.
• Most instructors do not stand tall enough in the moguls to maximize performance and ease.
• Most instructors are completely unaware of the equipment tweaks that can make mogul skiing easier and more enjoyable.

I have other heartfelt beliefs about the way the instructing establishment views and treats mogul skiing, but these ideas are the ones most central to my book.

I’m receiving lots of positive responses to the book, and believe it is striking a chord with the downhill skiing masses. I take this as an indication that my ideas are at least somewhat well grounded in fact… in what’s really, actually going on out there in the mainstream instructing world.


Happy bump skiing to you, Greg, and to everyone! And many, many thanks for buying, and liking, the book!

-Dan DiPiro

P.S. Careful about offering me a beer, Lurking Bear... I may track you down some day.

Dan---I totally agree with the points and instruction in the book. It works. Period.


I ask the question only because your experience with ski instructors has been very different from what my instructors have been teaching me over the past two years. There may be a movement in ski teaching; you may be in the forefront. I know Rusty gave you some contacts in PSIA. Are you a member? Join, share your knowelege and assist in rewriting (or adding to) the mogul chapters.


Thanks for answering bluntly. I am pleased to see that you did not name it for the shock factor, but disappointed in the realm of ski teaching that a book like this needs to be published.


Note: It is my experience at our hill, we might get one bump request days or weeks apart. I always volunteer for it. And I teach drills/theory similar to the concepts you wrote about--before I read your book. I also like to believe that I am well within the realm of PSIA instruction.

Hey Dan,

Glad to see you posting here!

This was a good year for me on the slopes, I went from barely staying on the blue trials in the NE hills to being able to maintain control and turns on the black runs thanks to practice and good instruction.

However on my last ski day looking for steep trails, I wandered over to a mogul course and basically got my butt kicked all over (Onteora @ Belleayre). I made it to the bottom soaked in sweat and lost track of the amount of times I released from my bindings.

Some research on the fourms led me to your book which I finished over the weekend and I'm already looking forward to next season! Lot's of good information in there. It seems I was doing everything wrong, wide stance, backseat, and miserable attempts to traverse the hill.

Do you have any hints on the types on off-season conditioning workouts that would help me with the bumps? I'm not that young anymore (36) but my legs are in decent shape from regular running and I've added rope-jumping to my routine.

Thanks,
-Pete

Hi Pete:

Thanks for buying a copy of my book, and I'm glad you found some useful info in it. As for conditioning...

Sounds like you're already a pretty fit guy; regular running and rope-jumping are great. I work on overall cardio with running and cycling; leg strength with hiking and stairclimbing machines (when I get to a gym); core strength with sit-ups and various Swiss-ball stuff;and flexibility with a bunch of different leg and back stretches. I also generally watch my weight and try to begin the ski season as light as possible. Strength + light weight = better endurance and fewer aches and pains!

Lots of skiers like "plyometrics" for developing "explosive strength" and quickness, and I'll occasionally play with this sort of... well... jumping around.

Make sure, though, that you keep your summer workouts fun and easy enough so that you enjoy them and stick with them right up until, and through, the beginning of ski season. A complicated, lengthy regimen will do you no good if it has driven you crazy and made you quit by July! I figure there's lots of fun to be had working out, so why not have it? For me, that means running, cycling and hiking in pretty places. Be sure to keep it fun, Pete.

Best wishes,
Dan

P.S. You're five years younger than I; you've probably got plenty of rippin' left in you, so long as you go about it right!

Greg,
Sounds like you and your colleagues are doing some good stuff down there in MD. Keep up the good work, and thanks again for liking the book. Enjoy your spring and summer.
-Dan

Just putting my $.02 in here. After this thread started I ordered the book from Amazon, it came today and I've read half of it so far. I like it a lot. I like that it's not too long too. Just right.

Now I have to wait a long time to try it out. It will be in my hands again in October along with the other books I reread every preseason (Lemaster, Elling in particular.)

Best of luck with your Publishing venture Dan!

Ron and Phil - you raise an interesting subject about how different people learn in different ways. I learn well from books (of course only after spending a lot of time on snow applying what I learned.) I learn well from stop action photos, but not from video for some reason - unless it's slow motion. I don't learn that well from watching other skiers frankly, it all happens too fast for me.

Phil, yes the book has photos, but they are it's weak point.

What Dan does however is in a very clear way explain what expert mogul skiers are doing. In a way the book makes it seem simple.

For me, not a good mogul skier at all, it will help to have something to aim for.

For you Phil, presumably a good mogul skier, it will give you some ideas that perhaps you haven't thought about. Please let us know.

Dan, I think it's awesome to have someone of your knowledge and experience here at Epic Ski.

I have always been a big fan of bumps and there was a time that's all I skied, all day or all night.

Had the pleasure and luck to ski with some very good bump skiers over the years. Made me better as an overall skier.

I wish everyone could learn to ski them. It would make the whole mountain an open playground for them. Your expertize can make that possible for many of them.

Please be gracious enough to stick around and help some peoplehere. I'm gonna check out your book. Where can I get one?

Continuing my post; the photos are in black and white and do the job, but just barely. It is not a glossy, fancy book, but a couple of steps up from self-published. That being said, I think this is a GOOD thing, not the lack of a lot of great photos, but the fact that someone like Dan can share his ideas with people.

It's sure a lot of steps up from reading about skiing moguls on epic!

Phil, Lars:

Thanks for giving the book a try. You can buy a copy from my own retail Web page at www.LearnMoguls.com. It's also available on www.Amazon.com and www.bn.com. On Amazon, do a word/book search on "skiing," then arrange the books by best-selling. I think mine is third on the list, today.

You can also order it in your local bookstore... although Borders seems to have trouble bringing it up on their system, for some reason.

Skimangojazz:
Always glad to hear that a reader likes the book.

Happy spring and summer, everyone.

-Dan DiPiro

Needless to say this little thread helped you there

There are lots of us on epic hungry for knowledge. As Lars said I hope you stick around. Put something in your calendar to return here next season and spend a little time in this forum. You'll be an incredibly valuable poster, and might sell a few books too. :

Steve

I'm just wondering if this meandering line is not more appropriate for many of us. Can an older, less athletic skier who is not blessed with ultra quick feet and young knees still expect to be able to zipper line a steep field of gnarly, ice moguls? I am very interested in improving my bump skiing, but I have doubts that this approach is feasible for me--and many others. Am I wrong?

i beg to disagree.

next time your in Colorado please come by Mary Jane.

painting with such a broad brush may well sell books, however, it is patently incorrect. don't know how well you ski bumps, however, would love for you to come by and meet a couple dozen pros who ski bumps 100 days or so per annum and i think we do a fairly decent job.

RicDeC58:
As I say in my book, not everyone is destined to ski the fall line on a steep icy bump trail. But what about softer, smaller bumps on a moderately pitched trail? Wouldn't it be fun to ski these sorts of bumps like a true bumper? It's far more attainable than most people think. And even some of the steep stuff is far more attainable than most people think.
-Dan DiPiro

Rusty Guy,

You come from one of the mogul skiing capitals of the world, Winter Park. I'm sure you do have a couple dozen instructors who can rip the bumps, but I don't think they're representative of the thousands upon thousands of instructors all over the country at big and small areas. I say "most" instructors, not "all" instructors, and I really don't think I'm "patently incorrect" in doing so. Take a look at the average ski school at the average ski area in this country and tell me how many mogul skiers you see among its ranks.

As for my mogul skiing ability... well, the last time I was at Mary Jane was to compete in the 1986 Freestyle National Championships. I made it to 21 on the national mogul points list back then, so I was okay, and can still rip it all right for a 40 year old. I'll be sure to look for you on Mary Jane, if I head your way.

If you guys are still open, ski a few western spring bumps for me, friend.

-Dan DiPiro

i still contend it is a tried and true way to sell something to say....i know something that others don't.

it won't endear you to the many professionals who do, in fact, have a clue.

rather than bash others.....merely present your case.

today i taught a group in a bump lesson. they indicated their intent to return tomorrow and asked what i was doing. i told them i would be teaching, however i said we have quite a few great pros whom i enjoy skiing with and encouraged them to try various teachers. we all have a different "eye" and a different perspective in terms of what prepares a student to progress.

i think the students were surprised that i didn't suggest i was the font of all bump knowledge.

lord knows i'm not. there are lot's of ways to skin the cat.

i also tell students to run not walk from anyone espousing "one way" to do anything. i feel this is particularly the case in bumps

go over them, around, them, between them, beside them.

be imaginative, creative, and have fun.