Day two dawned bright and sunny, and we took a few warmup runs to remind ourselves how to ski on the skiboards and to let Al show us some proper technique for skiing in powder, which demanded the same attention to detail that skiing in the moguls required. It wasn't long before we found ourselves flitting past blue runs to play and practice speed control and tactics for picking and skiing a line through black diamond moguled trails.
Once Al was confident we all had a grasp of the speed control techniques - rotary and edge control, turn radius, and turn location we were pretty much starting to go off and ski our own lines - still on the skiboards. I believe Al was ratcheting up our comfort zone a little at a time but the ongoing ski, ski, ski made it seemed natural - until every now and then you came up on a new trail and gulped again.
I know this day ended with smiles, looking back up a double black run that we all successfully negotiated.
How Did 156cm Skis Get So Long?
We were back on regular skis for another gorgeous day where we did some carving and shoulders-to-hill angle work which, at first didn't seem that important, but certainly did the trick on the steeps. Then it was transposing all those new learned skis we were getting right on the skiboards to getting them right on skis.
To be sure, it wasn't easy at first, in tight moguls with the longer skis but, once we started staying on and around the bumps and drifting where we wanted to turn and doing all the right things it actually felt good. Committing and staying tall.
The end of day three meant some of us, including myself, were going home. Day four would be more practice and refinement on regular size skis and I wish I had been able to stay. Had I to do the booking over again, I would have definitely opted for the four day clinic, because Boomer "muscle memory" takes some extra arm twisting to overcome years of bad skiing habits.
A Little About Style
Style? You can see it. Think of those Animal Planet shows that film a mountain lion or lynx gracefully and rhythmically descending sheer mountain sides. That's how Joe Nevins and Al, Sam, Bob, and the other coaches ski the steep moguls - a confident, controlled dance down - mogul to gnarly mogul.
As things start to come together you can actually begin to feel a little bit of that rhythm. If you are skiing with coach Al Bush he will have you waltz along in the moguls while singing a rhythmic accompaniment - or cheat - let Al go first and just hum to yourself. However, remember, it will take practice to keep the newly learned skills attuned.
The more practice, the more engrained it becomes, which leads me to say I can see myself doing a refresher clinic in the future. Obviously, you can't see yourself skiing and any subtle misalignment can become permanent errors and hindrances to skiing either moguls or powder.
Will It Stick?
The most important factor in determining how good a lesson or a clinic is what you take away from it. As my plane weaned me away from the security of skiing with the Bump for Boomers guys I wondered - did I really, finally have something engrained as new "muscle memory" for skiing moguls?
Guess what - a week after my Bumps For Boomers clinics I was in another state, on the shoulder and looking into a pretty big double black Bowl. It hadn't seen new snow in several days and the exit funneled through a mouthful of moguls ready to chew me up and spit me out but - I nailed it.
Read All About It... But
You can go to the Bumps for Boomers web site and you'll see Joe Nevin is great on details. You will find all the techniques and skill sets spelled out. Sign up for a weekly tip from the coaches to improve your mogul and powder skiing but if you want to really improve your confidence and your style in skiing moguls head out to Aspen.
You are never too old to learn and after a Bumps For Boomers experience you'll find yourself at the bottom of the Shoulder of Bell with your poles in the air yelling "Stay tall" - at least that's what I did.
Mike's Bumps for Boomers Photo Gallery
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with a complimentary class for the purpose of reviewing those services. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.
