Mogul Skiing Technique Guide
What to Do in a Bind
As with any sport, it's rather common to find yourself in a bit of a bind. Some of the binds we get into in the bumps are quite interesting. It's important to know how to correct the issue, and—if possible—stay in your line and keep moving.
One of the most common problems mogul skiers face is getting into the back seat or losing balance. In both of these situations, the key is to keep pushing forward. Don't bail and don't try to slow down when your CG is over your tails. You'll just fall. If it's a really serious situation and you need to stop immediately, by all means fall. Off course, it doesn't feel good, and it doesn't look good. Our goal as mogul skiers is to press on as much as possible, as long as we can maintain or regain proper posture. So if you find yourself getting in the back seat over your tails, or losing your balance, really push your hips and your hands forward as much as you can. Just keep pushing, pushing, pushing and reaching forward. Before you know it, you'll find that you're regaining balance and control, and you're still in the same line looking like a pro.
If your speed gets so far out of control that you can no longer reduce it with the techniques discussed in section eleven, then you need to try to take a couple of turns farther across the fall line around several bumps to bleed that excess speed. If you cannot do this safely and in control, then you need to do your best to create a safe, controlled fall to your side. Do not try to continue skiing if you cannot get your speed under control. Someone will undoubtedly get hurt. Do what you need to do to stop. Once you've stopped, take a moment and consider the cause of the excess speed gain. See if you can put the earlier techniques to work to try to avoid finding yourself in a similar situation again. One thing you don't want to do to stop is lean back on your tails while turning. This will actually make it worse, and your skis will shoot out in front of you and you'll land hard on your backside. Not good.
The final bind we'll discuss in detail is losing your line. Sometimes when we get out of control or see a nasty looking obstacle, we either intentionally bail out of our line or end up out of it by accident. If you can regain your control, then try to keep going in another line without stopping. As mentioned earlier, press forward. If the issue throws you around and you're not in solid control, it's okay to stop and find a new line. However, if you happen to be competing and skiing a course, then you really don't want to get out of your line. You'll definitely lose points or be DQed. If it does happen, do your best to press on in control and just finish your run as well as you possibly can. It's not the end of the world!
There are, of course, infinite ways to get in tough situations. The general rule of thumb is this: if you are in control or can safely regain control, push everything forward. If you are out of control and cannot regain control, you need to stop and determine why you lost control and make an adjustment based on this finding.
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