Mogul Skiing Technique Guide
Quiet Upper Body

     To be successful in the bumps, and to look like a fluid bump skier, you need to have what is referred to as a quiet upper body. This means that your lower body (your skis, boots, knees, legs, hips, etc.) need to be doing all of the movement and the work, and your upper body must remain as still as possible. Yes, your arms will be moving a little bit for pole plants, but we’ll cover that technique later.

     As you progress down a bump line, you will be turning your skis, absorbing the shock, moving up and down, maybe taking a little jump here and there. As long as you are in the bumps you should try to keep everything above your hips as quiet as possible. Your shoulders must always remain square down the fall line. This sets your entire body in the mode of skiing the fall line smoothly and properly. If you watch the pros on TV, you’ll notice that they’re flying through the bumps, turning and absorbing faster than the speed of light. Yet through it all, their upper bodies remain nice and still, and directed straight down the fall line.

     Consider the image below. As you can see, my legs are initiating a turn. However, my upper body remains square to the fall line, and is still while my legs and wrists do all the work.

     Any excess movement in the upper body can cause trouble in the bumps. It can move your CG (center of gravity) and cause you to lose your balance. It can also dampen the effectiveness of absorption and extension, and it looks just plain sloppy. A quiet upper body = success in the bumps.

     This all works hand-in-hand with the previous section. Keeping your upper body still will help you to keep your head up, and looking down the fall line. Vice-versa, looking ahead a few bumps and keeping your focus down the fall line will also help you to keep your upper body still and your stance tall.

Drills:

     As with the topics covered earlier, the place to practice is on the groomers. Schuss yourself to a medium-pitch intermediate trail. Keeping your eyes focused ahead of you and down the fall line, make quick short-radius turns. Pay close attention to keeping your upper body still, and not turning your shoulders with your skis. A good way to hone this skill is to pick an object like you did in the last section, and focus on it again. This time, instead of just looking at it and skiing toward it, pick your arms up (bent at a 90 degree angle at your elbows) parallel to one another, one on either side of your eyes. Try to ski down to that object, keeping it between your arms at all times. Be sure to make your turns like always, but remember to keep your upper body still enough to keep that object between your arms. Hint: it might be helpful to do this without poles. But if you do take your poles, use your pole straps and let them hang from your thumbs to keep the sharp tips pointed toward the ground, and not out toward the poor skiers in front of you!

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