Need help on big moguls!!!
Hey everyone,
I need some tips on riding big moguls. I can never turn quickly enough to take advantage of the terrain and I seem to be always gaining speed as I go downhill (despite linking turns). Also, when I took a lesson in Whistler/Blackcomb Max4, the instructor said to look ahead (front). However, I feel like its almost impossible for me to not look whats literally ahead of my board :S
Thanks a bunch!
also, I’ m assuming the slope is steep (e.g. whistler’s black diamond)
Hey bud, I would say to try turning on top of the moguls. Its the softest part of them and the least icy. This gives you a controlable speed putting you in a comfort zone that allows you to look ahead a bit further then the tip of your board. You need to know where your next turn is going to be so that you can be ready for it and know when you need to scrub speed or excel. If this is hard for you then ride the bumps nice and slow at first. Study the line you want to take and step up the speed slowly with every pass you make. Timing and coordination are key here as well so try to find some rythm and don’t frget compression and extention as well.
If you want more detail to what I have said let me know!
Learning to ride bumps takes time and a lot of practice. I would suggest starting small, on bumps you’re fairly comfortable riding. Really focus on your riding and pay particular attention to the following skills:
Steering: as the bumps get bigger, you really have to steer the board quite actively with your lower body. When people first learn to turn and start progressing, we teach them to turn through upper body rotation (the lower body then follows). With more advanced riding, you must steer the board rather aggressively with your lower body - using your hips, knees, and feet. You don’t even need to be riding bumps to practice this. Keep thinking about how you’re getting your board to turn. Use your lower body more actively, really driving your turns with your hips, knees, and even your feet. As an exercise, you can try riding while holding both hands onto the bottom of your jacket, thus taking some upper body movements out of the equation. See how you go with that.
Pressure control: crucial for riding bumps. Hold your core strong but loosen your lower joints to absorb energy, compress and extend through your turns. It’s important you start small here. Try it on small bumps, get confortable, then challenge yourself with something harder.
Timing and coordination: as Shaner already touched on this. Yes, you do need to know what is ahead of your board, however it’s more important to look ahead so you can scan the terrain and pick your line. With practice, you will know what is just ahead of your board because you already saw it ahead. Try to get into a rhythm as Shaner already mentioned.
I would also suggest readying the following articles:
https://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/improving-performance/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/steering/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/pressure-control/
Let us know if you have any questions.
Really good tips left here already!
Learning how to ride while looking far ahead can be challenging but there are some things you can do to make this easier and habit.
Try riding the moguls in sections. Stop, take a breather and plan your line by looking ahead and down the run. Ride this section, stop again and regroup, plan your next section and repeat. Taking the time to stop and plan your line will make it easier to keep your head up, looking down the hill as you ride.
Choosing where to stop is also key, as mentioned above using the top sides of moguls to slow down and help you initiate turns is key, especially when the moguls are tight and steep!
Do yourself a favour and start learning to ride the moguls on a soft day, the snow will be slower, more forgiving and you won’t get as frustrated as riding them when they are hard.
Hope that helps!
SA
We should totally try to arrange some workshops on this kind of stuff at the shred!!!
We should totally try to arrange some workshops on this kind of stuff at the shred!!!
And cut into ride and drink time????? Anti, I’m appalled at your suggestion!!!!!
hmmm touche!
Actually moguls may go better after a few lagers to loosen up the legs 
That’s the spirit!!!!!
Hey ShredPow13
I came in a bit late here so the guys above have already said all the important stuff.
If I could add anything to that it would be 2 little things to make your life easier in the bumps.
1: You’ll notice everyone talking about compressing and extending your legs to absorb the bumps, this is key, but can also be done in different ways to suit different terrain.
You can compress your legs as you go over the bump and extend them in the low section between bumps, but as you get better try this for a challenge - Think of your legs like independent shock absorber (on a car/bike) as you come up the bump let your front leg move up, then the back leg up, and on the other side of the bump - front leg down then back leg down.
*Try this across the hill first because it can have a pumping effect which will speed you up (great for beating your friends through the bumps but not so great if it’s to fast for you in the bumps) I believe this also gives you better control in the bumps because your edges are more in contact with the snow.
2: Looking ahead: What your instructor told you is important but the truth lies somewhere in between your instinct and his idea.
Looking ahead is SO important to plan your line through the bumps, however if you only look ahead then you are kind on using the force to snowboard if you know what I mean (riding blind) you can only know the shape of the bump from when you saw it in the distance which isn’t good. I think looking at the bumps to see their shape is important too. So try to stay mostly looking forward and planing your line as you go and occasionally glancing closer to see the terrain when you need too. Just don’t get stuck looking down or you won’t see what’s coming at you until it’s there. Glance back and forth mostly looking forward and you’ll be more prepared to tackle any kind of mogul field.
Hope that’s helpful dude, and good on you for wanting to progress in the moguls. You’re the first person I’ve seen ask this. Moguls will make you a really versatile rider with sharper reactions 
Thanks so much guys!! These are extremely helpful and I know what to learn this weekend 
@rider26: great links! is there a video for the steering technique? I think this is what I need. Seems hard to self-evaluate whether I’m doing it correctly or not (e.g. I don’t want to be kicking my back foot unknowingly).
@Andy Aitken: I try to absorb the bumps but sometimes after hitting a big mogul, my board kind of flies a little which prevents me from turning quick enough. It might also be that I’m not fully perpendicular to the board due to fear of the steep :S ... but I’ll try the second technique as well!
Once again, thanks all for the tips
No worries, shredpow13.
This video on steering is worth watching.
@rider: does your knee hurt when trying to do steering like this? I’ve tried it before, but it seems my knees starting to hurt after a while
EDIT: I mean when doing toeside and turning your knees inward
No, it doesn’t really. It’s more about placing pressure and steering forces down to the board, without actually twisting your joints beyond a normal range (the movements can be subtle). These movements are used to initiate and drive the turn. These techniques are for high performance turning and the results happen fairly instantaneously. So there isn’t actually a hard joint twist, as the board moves with the motion. If the board didn’t move, then yeah, this would twist your joints and possibly hurt - but it all works as a system, and the board responds with your movements. Also, your joints are fairly mobile and these movements are all within a normal range of motion (if it hurts, you probably need to stretch more haha).
Whats CASI Level 4? Yoda?
Yeah, the absolute highest level. There’s only a handfull level 4 instructors in Canada and it’s extremely hard to get. Most of them coach athletes and/or train and evaluate other instructors. One of the guys in the video, Jeff Chandler, actually evaluated me for my level 2.