Phantom Move in Bumps - Advanced

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Your lesson, "Phantom Move in Bumps - Advanced", will help you take the short, linked Phantom Turns that you can make on easy and moderate bumps into steeper, deeper bumps, at higher speeds, with a more direct, fall line approach.

Preliminary
Before you attempt this lesson, you should be able to link at least 15 short, linked Phantom Turns in moderate moguls. If you’re not quite ready for this, try the Bump Intro lesson.

In Brief
If you’re already linking Phantom Turns in bumps, you’re on the right track. To ski steeper or larger bumps, or to go faster, you need to be earlier and quicker with your movements. Flexing the legs further allows you to absorb bigger bumps, and extending them more quickly keeps the skis on the snow. It becomes critical in tight bumps that you keep your feet and legs pressed together.

Details
Tipping: To keep up with your speed and the tight turns required in advanced bumps, start your Phantom Move just before your feet enter the trough. If you wait to start until the trough, you’ll be over the bump before your skis react - that’s too late. Tip early, quickly, and far, so that your skis will turn quickly and sufficiently.
Absorbing: Think ahead… do it yourself before the bump does it to you! If you wait for impact with the upcoming trough or mogul to flex your legs, you’ll have a hard time staying in balance. Instead, flex (shorten) your legs just before impact as though to float your skis over the upcoming mogul. Similarly, don’t wait until you’re airborne on the downhill side of a bump to extend. As your feet reach the crest of the mogul, use the hamstrings to pull the feet back slightly, keeping the tips in contact with the backside of the mogul. Press your feet down along the back of the bump, so that your legs are fully extended just prior to the trough. That’s when it’s time to flex again to absorb…
Squeezing the legs and feet together: In big bumps, if your feet come apart, your skis will be on wildly different levels and pitches, and they will quickly diverge or cross. If your legs come apart as you piston up and down the bumps, your separate legs will pull your skis apart. Therefore, make an effort to keep the free foot pressed against the stance foot, and maintain tension between your legs. You should feel contact between the thighs, knees, and boots. As the free foot tips, and the free leg "angles" to the inside, chase the free leg with the stance leg to maintain thigh contact. This will keep your skis and legs acting in unison. If your feet or legs come apart, briefly, simply bring them together as soon as you can.

Summary
Think and act ahead of the moguls. Start free foot tipping just before you think you need to, and absorb and extend early as well. This will keep you from being tossed around.
Keep the legs and feet squeezed together.
The more flexible you are, especially in the hips and body midsection, the more successful you will be in bumps.

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