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Originally Posted by tdk6  I was just yesterday watching the "everyone can be an expert skier 2" by lito and he had lots of very good tips and stuff that I teach myselfe. For instance he talked about a slow entry I think. That you should not rush the turn but let your skis unwind into the fall line very patiently. This is exactly my advise also. Then he talked about a strong finnish where you run into the hillside of the mogul below and put a hook on your turn (he talked about a pre turn technique, same Im using). Very much like I teach and ski. If lito is turning to his right my line would be a bit more to the left and a bit more over the bump than lito. This way I need to flex a bit more with my leggs but the speed controll is more efficient since i dont hit the uphill side of the mogul, I crash into it with snow flying arround. Thats the velcro effect your coach was talking to you about.
In contrast to the FIS zipper line skiing that Lahtela & co and all other pros are doing we mere mortals need to ski slower. In the zipper line this is usually not possible, you go fast wether you want it or not. Especially if the track is hard and there hasnt been much snow fall. Its funny that some think that A&E cannot be used for speed controll. The demo the coach showed you sounds great. In zipper line skiing A&E is about the only option you have for speed controll and the leggs work like shock absorbers on cars while your body moves smoothly straight down the fall line. The heat generated in shock absorbers is slowed down energy. Same applies to skiers leggs. I usually ski the zipper line the other way arround if its soft enough and that gives me more upphill travelling which slows me down. Not possible in competitions.
You are right about the up-unweighting not being possible in moguls. This is one reason folks that learned skiing that way struggle in bumps. You need to let the bump lift you up but limit the movement to below your waist. As the bump starts to lift you up you let that happen for as long as nesessary but flex accordingly, just a hint more after the initial upward push so that you get unweighted. Some call this down-unweighting. Sometimes it lifts your skis up in the air but mostly you keep them on the snow, just with little pressure. Makes turning easy.
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There are some things in your reply that I disagree with:
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| In the zipper line this is usually not possible, you go fast wether you want it or not. Especially if the track is hard and there hasnt been much snow fall. |
This is simply NOT true. Mere mortals, such as myself, CAN control their speed on ICY bumps by simply using the techniques learned from the WC level skiers, and ski SLOW. Heck, most of the time I feel slow and wish that I could ski faster, no matter what the conditions. The same skills are used, but they all become more critical since a lot more "touch" is required in these conditions. Mere mortals who do not have proper mogul technique cannot control their speed in icy or deep, tight bump lines.
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| In zipper line skiing A&E is about the only option you have for speed controll and the leggs work like shock absorbers on cars while your body moves smoothly straight down the fall line. |
This also is simply not true, there is plenty of edge grip/control that happens in a mogul turn, including the pros in competition, but it happens at the beginning of the turn.
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| I crash into it with snow flying arround. Thats the velcro effect your coach was talking to you about. |
Not really... it is more suttle than that. With proper mogul technique, there is no "crashing" into a mogul. Snow may fly when the tips of the skis drive into the face of the bump and then you absorb and contain, but crashing happens when you come into a bump not being in a stacked position.
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| You are right about the up-unweighting not being possible in moguls. |
I never said it wasn't possible, as I see a lot of people upweight in the bumps. Possible... yes. Correct... no.
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| Some call this down-unweighting. Sometimes it lifts your skis up in the air but mostly you keep them on the snow, just with little pressure. Makes turning easy. |
A proper technically correct mogul turn, along with being in a stacked position make turning easier.
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| My physics dont allow for zipper line skiing anymore because of back and knee probles and simply being out of zipper line shape. |
Sorry to hear that your physical conditioning is holding you back. FWIW, I am 38, have a titanuim rod in my right leg, a deformed vertabrae in my lower back that causes me pain, and am currently skiing with a torn meniscus. But as my technique gets better, it causes less impact on my body and I am able to ski with these injuries.
This is the last reply I am going to make on this subject because it is starting to make my head hurt. The title of this thread should have been "Let's talk zipper line mogul skiing using techniques and concepts other than those tought by mogul coaches". My frustration with these types of discussions is that mogul skiing techniques are misunderstood by the vast majority of skiers out there, simply because most have not had training in the discipline of proper mogul technique as used on the WC.
I'm going skiing.
cj
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). Mid air corrections for proper edge set and direction on landing take their toll on my knee. I've finally gotten around to trying to improve my mogul skiing and these posts have helped a lot. It's not that I couldn't ski moguls without falling down; I always had to try every run at every mountain(with my one-ski SG quiver), just to say I had done it. It's that I didn't enjoy it, and felt like a bull bashing my way through a china shop.
