Conquering the Moguls

Since I began skiing, moguls have always been my nemesis.  Even with a good skiing foundation, I still find myself chickening out and skiing horizontally across a mogul line or going full speed and blowing up into a full yard sale on the hill.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to push my skiing to a higher level, so I made it my goal today to ski some solid mogul lines. 

After giving my legs a good stretch, I warmed up on some corduroy before hitting the bumps.  I practiced the advice I received from a freestyle mogul coach last weekend - ski more on the balls of your feet and feel the front of your lower leg against the tongue of your boot.  Practicing this forward stance really helped me ski the full edge of my skis and carve all the way through each turn on the groomed surface. 

Because it's January 3rd and we received 3 inches of new snow, I thought it appropriate to ski the bumps on Three O'Clock.  Again focusing on a forward stance allowed me to ski with confidence through the moguls.  The fresh snow on the bumps made them very soft and manageable.  Using my legs like shock absorbers when I went over a mogul and then standing tall at the bottom of the trough helped me find a nice, comfortable rhythm down the run.  After keeping my mind completely focused on run in front of me, I found myself at the bottom with a really nice burn in my legs and a smile on my face.  Success!

Next, I decide to push myself again on one of my favorite bump runs - White Out.  A couple of fresh inches on White Out created a very forgiving surface as I worked on my technique again.  As most skiers know, bump skiing is very technical and requires a high level of ability to ski well.  Fortunately, Steamboat has plenty of fantastic mogul runs on which to improve your skills - Nelson's Run, White Out, and Three O'Clock are my recommendations for pushing yourselves to be better mogul skiers in 2013!   

See you in the bumps,

Meghan Lutterman

Alpine Skier

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