Snow Skills

One of the most challenging parts of skiing moguls is controlling your speed; it’s tough to find the room to turn when the terrain is dictating where you can go. The key to speed control is found at the base of each mogul; that’s the relatively flat area that extends out from the slope of the trail, on the uphill side of the mogul. The base is where you want to transition from turn to turn, so your path in the moguls should focus on ending and starting each turn in that area.

By using sideslip turns, you can use the shoulders of each mogul to reduce your speed through edging and also direct yourself toward the next mogul base with steering. As you reach the base, start a new turn and turn so that you end up on the shoulder of the mogul, now sideslipping and choosing the next base you’re going to turn on. This pattern should allow you to control your speed, with these additional thoughts:

• Start out slow and work to keep that pace. You can always speed up if desired; it’s much tougher to try to reduce too much speed.
• Forget about trying to make round turn shapes; you need to place your skis where the terrain is most appropriate. Let the skis take the path that’s easiest to maintain balance.
• Take advantage of every opportunity to slow down! Accept that you’re going to be making many turns; a tighter turn pattern will be slower than a broader pattern with fewer turns.
• Set a goal of doing a set of 5 to 8 moguls, then stopping, resetting yourself and then starting another set.

It takes discipline to hold you speed in check in the moguls; be satisfied with slower speeds and shorter sets until you’re very comfortable with that speed.  With that comfort, then allow yourself to increase speed in small doses and practice thoroughly at each speed level.