I was skiing rut line line moguls at squaw today quite fast and the bumps team was out there. At one point I pulled off near where the coach was (who happened to be their lead coach). He immediately came over and said I looked good but had a couple things to say that I wanted to bounce off you Tom. First was lead change. I equate that with a squared hip which I don't feel I have but haven't seen myself ski rut line bumps in years. I ski them fast and comfortably so they can't be too squared. The other was that my ankles are "pinned" the whole time. That one I was aware of. I typically ski a more rounded turn in the bumps as I think it looks and feels better but I'd still like to be clean with all aspects.

A comment and question. On a recent ski trip, I'd been trying to ski exclusively, as you call it, the low-line: in the troughs and over cols, avoiding the steepest part of the bumps. More often than not, I found myself shopping, traversing as many as 3 to 4 bumps to find that one that looked "right". I felt like my mogul skiing took a step back after significant improvement earlier in the season. I've worked hard at staying in good condition and can do deep squats/pistols with minimal to moderate effort. Earlier in the season, when playing around with absorption, I realized that I felt so much more stable and in control when I absorbed a big bump head on. I would exaggerate the absorption (deep squat) and felt a bit silly, but it felt super safe and I was so much more in control of speed and my ability to change direction. Videos of my low-line bump skiing showed that at times, I ski with a fairly wide stance, probably out of fear on big, icy bumps. However, skiing the high line, as you've coined it, my lateral movements seemed quite small instead of big and sweeping. As I type this, I realize I probably swap the necessary lateral adjustments when trough skiing for vertical adjustments when skiing high line. My question is about foot-to-foot weight transfer. Doug, in this video looks very foot-to-foot, while looking at your skiing, if you are foot-to-foot, it is imperceptible. I don't think I've heard you refer to weight transfer so could you comment on whether you think it's important as I've heard others claim?

Hi Tom

Which technique and line that works on really large man made bumps?

I’m talking about at least 8’ to 10’ apart in apart and size.

Side slipping doesn’t look right because it looks like I’m side slipping instead of making turns since the distance between bumps are large.

I’m curious about Doug’s boot history. During the years of several knee cartilage tears (I assume meniscus), was he maybe in a boot that hadn’t had a cuff alignment to match his lower leg causing him to move his legs out of their natural alignment in order to edge and rotate the skis, thus pinching and grinding that cartilage unnaturally?

Tom，about 1st step cross the mogul to practice absoborn，u show how go up to the hill，how about the move go down to the bottom,we should press the tips down actively in practice？thanks

Since watching this progression, it has been my main focus when skiing bumps. With the ultra long season at Mammoth this year I had a lot of time to work with these ideas. I've found a lot of challenge in trying to ski the most direct line I can, but when I stuck with it, I learned how much absorption work the ski does for you. In fact, I skied this line so much that I decambered my carving skis; I'm a bit shocked that this happened, but it's pretty good evidence of the work the ski does for you. I would say that this progression, along with the Better Flow progression have had the biggest impact on my understanding and performance in the bumps. My main takeaways from this video were:-Absorb the bump like you're running into a wall. -Make the impact last as long as possible.-Extension feels natural when the absorption is done well.-Pole plant happens later and further down the bump.

As almost always happens here, you get across a treasure chest full of jewels! So many cues and realizations here, you find yourself stopping and starting the video to take your time to write your notes!

Slow dog noodle!

Something im always aware of while skiing in general is breaking at the waist. Is this not an issue with bump skiing? I try to absorb with the lower body while keeping the upper body upright.

This is possibly my all-time favourite BPS video. Fantastic ski lesson. Way to go Doug!