So I've seen "the Taos Way" of skiing bumps mentioned many times. What is so magical? Where could I possibly experience this without going to Taos? I have altitude issues. Taos would really be pushing my luck.
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The Taos Way
- Thread starter Jersey Skier
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It's not magical... it just emphasizes speed control and low impact options/approach for skiing bumps. Smooth and flowing, versus any approach that would have you banging bumps with more impact. I'm not sure where else specifically you get lessons like that, but I bet a lot of instructors could work with you on it if that's your goal. (And of course, I'm sure there are Taos instructor who could work on higher speed, attacking bump skiing too if they had those students.)
Yeah, it isn't unique to Taos, it is just emphasized more. Ask any instructor to teach you low-impact bump skiing. To reiterate, the key ideas are to use a round line and to finish uphill to reduce speed. At a more advanced level, choosing which bumps you like and skipping the ones you don't. Counterintuitively, you may need to go further down the hill on a turn to catch a well-defined "swoop" with an uphill finish.
When is @KingGrump ( aka Zen Master) going to weigh in on this- inquiring minds want to know 
Just to weigh in on the altitude issue. If you are a flatlander like I am now, it can be tough- hydration- starting well before you arrive is very helpful. No one wants to spend their precious and expensive skiing time acclimating to altitude but taking it easy the first couple of days can make the whole trip better overall. Also, avoid alcohol at least for the first few days and then in moderation.
We run a local peer based mogul clinic daily here at Killington. Find a group of friends you like to ski with and go have some fun skiing the steep bumps, the blue bumps and the green bumps. All you need is enough good skiers to create some bumps.
Thread Starter
TS
Skied Outer Limits enough in my youth. Getting older and need to find an easier way.
Yeah there's the "Clendenin" method and also Bumps for Boomers. Lots of jargon with the Clendenin thing. Really it's about smooth motions, small edge angles, and lots of skidding. No stemming either!
Aspen snow quality is so good and ski traffic so low that it's not really a fair comparison. You will ski bumps better there because they are just much nicer to ski than many other places.
My instructor at Taos had me side-slip an entire blue bump run - no turns and no poles - to get me to quit getting so much up on my edges. It took a while (a few minutes, but it felt like forever as I struggled) and I fell a few times... but it definitely made a difference and drove the point home.
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I could be wrong, but, I think Bumps for Boomers is the Aspen thing.
Was your jacket zipper facing downhill the whole time or did you scuttle down sideways like a crab?
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I was going to say I think I ski like that when the bumps are good and the snow is soft. I have a half broken toe from mountainbiking that tells me whether I am smooth or not.
Was your jacket zipper facing downhill the whole time or did you scuttle down sideways like a crab?
I attempted to look down the hill and have independent legs... but like I said... it was hard to do! I'm OK at side-slipping, and working to get better at pivot slips... one of the disconcerting things is having to slide backward at times while sliding down, always down.
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I think that learning moguls boils down to being able to land softly, scrub speed but face down the hill, keeping the flow for the next turn. For those long drifts you can break them into two edge sets if need be, juke it once to get close then again to set up the turn. Not pretty, but it can get you out of a jam without losing flow.
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They didn’t teach the “Taos method” when I went to Taos in 2000. I learned it from @KingGrump at Abasin several years ago. It’s not complicated, though people make it so. There’s also plenty of people who say it’s not bump skiing.
Anyone got a video of this Taos method thingy?
When is @KingGrump ( aka Zen Master) going to weigh in on this- inquiring minds want to know
Some of us actually go skiing sometimes.
My new hip resents that remark
my older new hip, not so much.