t21

need any good tips on how to ride moguls,i've search through the forum but not much has been discussed.i'm hoping somebody can help me on how to on these bumps.thanks

gopro005 001 - YouTube

CheoSamad

Keep your knees loose to cope with the impacts of the inconsistency of the terrain. Avoid going over the tops of them. Stay loose and agile. Be ready to make tiny corrections and be ready for rapid direction changes.

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Crush a bit, little bit. Roll it up. Take a hit.

Bones

Hard to say from the video, might be easier from a 3rd person perspective. It's also hard to see the terrain variations in the video.

But

You are very upright, ie your leg seems pretty straight. And while I can't really tell where the bumps and dips are, I also can't tell from looking at your leg. Meaning that it doesn't look like you're absorbing anything.

Try to "actively" ride the bumps. By this I mean that, you want your lead knee/leg to bend as you ride up a bump and extend as the tip of your board goes down the other side. Try actively pulling up your lead foot as you contact a bump and then actively push it down into the following dip. The idea being that your board never leaves the snow, but your center of gravity stays relatively unchanged.

The mental vision I always have is standing on a teeter-totter straddling the fulcrum. Pump your legs and make the ends of the teeter totter go up and down, but keep your upper body quiet and over the fulcrum.

And get lower

NWBoarder

While I'm no expert, and can't watch the video while I'm at work, my piece of advice for mogul riding is to look for the lines that run between the moguls. Don't go over the top of them, stay in between them. Also, try to visualize your line ahead of time. In other words, always be looking ahead 2-3 turns so you know where you want to be before you get there. Lastly, stay loose. Moguls are mean to snowboarders, especially if you are riding them rigidly. Where's Snowolf? He'll have some good advice for you too.

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onefutui2e

i've started tackling moguls myself since the end of the last season; it's upsetting that i'm one of a few in my group looking to take on this challenge as most people i know have given up. i say screw that; i figure i want to use the whole mountain, so why limit myself and look away from the challenge? but that's another debate.

from my personal experience, i found what really helps is to just REALLY take your time. i usually carve through five or six of them, then i stop, scan the trail and look for a new line to take. rinse and repeat. as i grew more confident i started to take them faster or go longer before i need to reassess my situation. it's very tiring at first because you're no longer bombing down a run but rather methodically dissecting the trail. another tactic i found that helps is that i've noticed that skiers seem to always be able to pick the best lines. it's almost like an instinct to them so i just follow them through lol.

as a challenge, i feel that moguls force me to be really aggressive on my carves and learn how to swing my board around when needed. sometimes i need to throw my shoulder into it which i've been told is a bad habit and am trying to correct. at the very least since i started to take them on my carving has become a lot sharper and my ability to scan the terrain as i ride has increased, picking out sketchier spots and either anticipating them or avoiding them. in short, it's all a learning process!

Bayoh

I too started tackling moguls this season. I've mostly just thrown myself down them without getting any tips or instruction so I have no idea if I'm learning improperly or not heh...

What I found that's making me much more successful in carving back and forth through them is to keep low and my weight centered on my forward foot. By keeping my weight on my forward foot I could whip my tail back and forth much quicker in better rhythm with the moguls. By staying low and keeping your knees bent like Bones' said, it's much easier to ride out the bumps.

Also starting my turns a bit earlier than I expected helped me. I found myself many times spotting a turn, but instead of following the mogul's natural line, I slid over it as I was still transitioning edges. The quicker I transitioned edges after a turn, the better I could setup and sort of slide my board into the natural line of the moguls.

... I'm by no means an instructor though... so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Ryan_T

I hate moguls.

I try and follow the lines the skiers take. It requires some very rapid direction changes, or sometimes hopping over the top of one. By this I mean if I'm forced to go on top of one, I've had better luck hopping off it to the nearest ski track instead of going down it properly. The reason for this is because that slight bump normally ends up giving me a decent speed boost unless I nip it in the bud. A voluntary hop is better than an uninvited acceleration.

I'd love to hear better ways to tackle these.

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caneyhead

I too like moguls now and then. Great workout. Lots of bumps this year. I like bumps on skis too.

Only advice I have is "Milage". Got to be able to think a bump or two ahead. That means autopilot for the bump your on. That comes with instinctive movements.

In my opinion bumps help u place turns exactly where u want them thus helping with all other aspects of riding.

Psi-Man

I have chased my mogul skiing buddies for years, and I can tell you with certainty that a rockered board makes it a lot easier. I ride a NS Premier F1, and the way it pivots (stealing the term Snowolf used in his Heritage review) in the bumps makes it easier and a hell of a lot less tiring.

jyuen

never quite understood why some snowboarders are so fascinated with moguls... moguls are made for skis :P
i avoid them whenever possible because i just don't think they're fun at all.. but that said.. stay low, keep knees and hips relaxed and bounce around i suppose...

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