Mogul Skiing - Approach: Modern Vs. Race

Approach: Modern Vs. Race

The general approach used by Olympians is to carry the body in the fall line as directly as possible carving tight, twisted turns off the front trough of the bump. This approach works exceptionally well when the mogul formation is uniform and speed is of utmost importance. This allows the skier the ability to use the mogul as a mechanism of speed control in order to keep as vertical a descent as possible. A more modern approach allows the skier to ride around the front trough and up onto the back crest of the mogul, retracting the lower body in the process. From this position the skier can then extend their lower section pumping off the back side of the mogul in which ever direction allows easy transfer to the next back side crest. This style avoids the troughs and ice patches keeping the skier in complete balance, torso over feet; centering each turn on a patch of fresh snow preceding the face of the bump. The turning mechanism becomes the extension and retraction of the legs rather than a twisting of the hips. This adds a certain degree of style and grace to the descent in a mogul field by allowing the skier to maintain a degree of kinetic energy due to turn shape and timing. This energy allows for powerful and precise turns in any condition field, uniform or random. Eliminating the interaction of extensive forces at the top of each mogul also provides a much easier transition of weight through the body, ultimately eliminating strain once practiced.