Her bump skiing Guru had told her while sitting or standing to raise her toes to the top of her ski boots. He than asked her to notice what this did to the front of her anles. What it does is it puts your ankles in contact with the front of your boots. This is exactly where you want them. It puts you into the front of your boot, which gets your weight forward and permits steering of your skis. Try it and see what happens.

Tip two was while skiing "shoot" or push both of your skis forward simultaneously. This moves your hips forward and once again gets your weight forward. Because of bad knees I rarely ski the troughs. My tecnicque is to "shoot my skis forward as I reach the top of the bump. At this point apply turning power and head for the next bump. I ski bumps by alternately skiing a bump on my left and than move to one on the right. This takes some of the steepness out of the fall line and makes speed control easier which is a must unless you are skiing World Cup competition which most us will never do.

A couple of days latter this same woman wasr standing sheepishly at the side of an uncrowded ski trail at WF on a foggy day. I asked her what "drill" was she practicing? Her answer follows:

Her instructor had told her to practice skiing backwards and doing 360s to improve her bump skiing. I spent the rest of the day skiing backwards and doing 360s until I was dizzy. These drills were done where no one can see me to avoid hurting someone and being labeled a total idiot. My 360s are not very graceful and I don’t want anyone witnessing them.

For years I have been pressuring my ski tips by pushing them down. Now I am doing just the opposite and raising my toes in bumps and in powder. I still pressure the tips when necessary, which is a carving tecnique but doing just the opposite can help your skiing. One of my skiing instructor friends told me there is more than one way to get down the mountain. He is one of Whiteface’s best instructors and skiers and he is one of my skiing Gurus. Try and see what you think.

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