Ski The Blue Line – The Second Easiest Way To Ski Moguls

How To Ski Bumps – The Blue Line Is The Second Slowest Way To Ski A Mogul Run

The Blue Line is the second slowest and second most controlled way to ski a mogul run. It is a slightly faster way to ski moguls than the Green Line but still provides good speed control and helps build confidence in off-piste mogul and powder terrain.

Like the Green Line the Blue Line turn also does not require fast reflexes.

The Blue Line turn has a larger radius than the trough – e.g. you ski on the secondary fall line of the adjacent mogul which is on the far side of the trough.

The Blue Line enables you to ski a challenging bump run like it is a blue intermediate run.

The benefits of the Blue Line mogul skiing technique for learning how to ski bumps are as follows:

Important Note: If you use a mogul technique that does not require reflex speed then you will not need to have progressively faster reflexes as pitch of the run increases.

When thinking about proper ski technique for moguls the Blue Line is the next step beyond the Green Line.

As your confidence and skills grow by skiing the Green Line – and you are ready for a slightly faster line – you may choose to transition to the blue Line or even a faster line.

A Blue Line turn has a larger turn radius than the turn radius of the trough.

The Blue Line Is Another Good Mogul Skiing Technique For Beginner Bump Skiers

Here is an introduction on how to Ski The Blue Line.

First, make sure that you are familiar with both how to control your speed in moguls using a drifted turn and the six unique terrain features of every mogul as described in previous sections of the Mogul Skiing Technique Learning Center. Then use this three-step movement sequence to Ski The Blue Line:

Step 01. Drift down to, and arrive slowly on, the flat top (FT) of a mogul where you intend to initiate your next turn.

Step 02. Initiate a Blue Line turn on the flat top of that mogul but complete your turn by drifting your skis above the trough and below the spine on the secondary fall line of the mogul that is ADJACENT to the mogul on which you initiated your turn (a.k.a. the “buddy” bump).
Step 03. Arrive slowly on the flat top of a mogul below where you intend to initiate your next turn and repeat the turn sequence.

The goal is to Ski In The Blue Zone on the side of the adjacent mogul below the spine and above the trough. Because you are skiing a wider radius route your skis will spend minimal time in the fall line so you will only ski at a moderate rate.

A Visualization That Further Explains How To Ski The Blue Line

Visualize the Blue Line as similar to skiing on the high side of a banked oval NASCAR race track. You want to stay high above the trough. This enables you to do a better job of controlling your speed in two ways:

First, you are not stuck in, and at the mercy of, the trough … which is like a high-speed bobsled run.

Second, when you ski just below the spine of the adjacent mogul you will be in softer snow and can drift on a soft edge (less edge angle) which slows you down and enables you to avoid carving (which will generate speed).

As you build your confidence and skill by learning how to Ski The Blue Line you can then choose to take the next step and learn how to ski the even-faster Black Line.