Everything the Instructors Never Told You About Mogul Skiing [Paperback]

Dan DiPiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2005

The real mogul skiing instruction you're looking for. Whether you want to ski gentle moguls with comfort and confidence, turn heads on your local mogul run, or compete in mogul contests, this book will give you the specialized techniques you need to reach your goal. In this first-of-its-kind book, mogul skiing competitor Dan DiPiro reveals techniques that have remained largely unknown or misunderstood outside of competitive mogul skiing circles. Most skiers try to ski moguls using only groomed-trail techniques, says DiPiro. But the bumps require a special set of techniques that have nothing to do with groomed-trail skiing. With an understanding of these special techniques, most fit, expert skiers can become good mogul skiers, and some can become excellent mogul skiers and even mogul competitors. For the aspiring mogul skier, this book is full of invaluable instruction. For the seasoned bumper, it's an ideal tune-up guide and a long awaited affirmation. For all skiers interested in broadening their understanding of downhill skiing excellence, it's an original, eye opening read.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In the 1980s, Dan DiPiro competed in two USSA National Freestyle Championships and attained a mogul-skier ranking of 21st in the country. Today, Dan coaches mogul competitors at Waterville Valley Ski Area in northern New Hampshire, and competes in open mogul contests around northern New England. In November of 2005, SKI Magazine named Dan one of the top-100 instructors in the nation. His ski-instruction writing has appeared in SKI Magazine, New Hampshire Magazine and Heart of New Hampshire Magazine. His non-skiing writing has appeared in The Boston Sunday Globe and college alumni magazines all over the northeast. His ad copy has appeared in SKI, SKIIING, POWDER and Backcountry magazines. And his short fiction has appeared in Aethlon, the Journal of Sport Literature. Dan holds a bachelor's degree in English from Tufts University, and master's degrees in education and teaching from Boston University. He lives in Bedford, New Hampshire. Visit Dan's mogul-skiing blog at www.mogulskiing.blogspot.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (September 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 142086159X
• ISBN-13: 978-1420861594
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Skiing
  • #39 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Winter Sports

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best and probably only book on bump skiing, January 23, 2006

By 

canoekayak "ski bum wannabe" (NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everything the Instructors Never Told You About Mogul Skiing (Paperback)

I've taken many bump lessons, and have attended weekend mogul camps, and they have ranged from being taught 'mogul survival', which is not what I need, to spending a weekend with great mogul skiers, who point out a mistake or two that your making, and usually teach with the 'watch me' approach.

Dan's book breaks down bump skiing in clear consice terms. He breaks the bumps down to several basic skills, and provides drills, to help them sink in. After my first read, I concentrated on the 'Home posture' and 'rotary turn' drills, and found that I was going into the mogul field in a crouched stance and would end up launching off of the 4th or 5th bump. The rotary drills got my lower body moving more seperate from the upper. After weekend one, I was putting together runs of 10 bumps before being spit out.

Reread for Weekend two and focused working on 'Absorption and Extention'; my biggest problem. Started with the drills, which were tricky at first, since your concentrating so hard, but I started getting a better feel after the first day. Second day, they opened WildFire (killington) which had snow blown all night and was moguls top to bottom. Continued working on pulling the first three skills together, and added some better line choices. (No hops yet;) My last two runs were top to bottom with only a single stop to let my heart rate drop below 170. These were my first full bump runs, where I was the guy blowing by the people struggling on the hill, rather than being one of them.

To benefit from the book, you need to be a solid intermediate skier who skis single black diamonds; can hold a parallel with their boots together on a groomed slope; and can make it through a mogul field. (with some trepidation and fear, but still make it.) You can benefit greatly from the book. If your an advanced skier (The term 'expert' I reserve for folks who can ski bumps, ice, steeps, crud, and powder) and like me can handle most anything except the bumps, this is perfect for you.

My skiing buddy (my wife), is blown away at the transformation, and skies ahead so she can watch my runs. So, Yes this book can make you more attractive to members of the opposite sex. ;) Thanks Dan!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last, a practical book on mogul skiing., November 30, 2006

By 

John D. Metzig - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything the Instructors Never Told You About Mogul Skiing (Paperback)

First, I am 63 and have been skiing for 40+ years. I now live in Southern California but generally ski at either Mammoth or Snowbird. I can turn my skis right and left and can usually get down most of the in-bounds trails at most resorts including the mogul runs. I like it all, but I really like bump skiing.

To that end, I want to give Dan DiPiro a big THANK YOU for writing Everything... . Frankly, my experience suggests he's absolutely right when he says that most ski instructors do not know how to ski bumps and try to teach people to ski bumps using racing technique. So while I do OK in the bumps, I have never quite mastered skiing the zipper line the bump skiers use.

Of course, it never dawned on my until read Dan's book, that the problem was not me, but my not knowing the techniques that the pro bump skiers used. I found the way in which he broke down the differences between trail and mogul skiing to make a lot of sense and I am looking forward to using the exercises he includes in his book to develop an alternate skill set that I can use to improve my bump skiing. So here's to Dan - for making a major contribution to skiing in general and my bump skiing in particular.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars For the zipper-line wannabe, August 3, 2008

By 

Roderic C. Botts "Robotts" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everything the Instructors Never Told You About Mogul Skiing (Paperback)

The audience DiPiro is writing for in this book is the skier who wants to ski moguls fast, following the fall line, feet and knees locked together, knees pumping, feet twisting below a steady upper body, finishing with an aerial stunt, just like the mogul skiers in competitions on t.v.

As a long-time skier in my 70's, I aspire to ski moguls slowly and gracefully, as I have seen hundreds of good recreational skiers do. I have no desire to ski with white patches on the knees of my ski pants so the people on the chairlift can admire how fast I pump and keep my knees together.

Some of DiPiro's advice may be helpful to such a skier as I--stand tall, compress and extend, don't carve. But much of it fails to address my goals. For example, he says to use compression and extension to control speed, but doesn't explain how to transfer these actions to speed control. In fact, he relates these movements to speed, rather than control. While he pairs compression with extension, his diagrams for skiing the line show skiing in the trough around moguls, not over them, where one would compress. Quickly turning the feet can most easily be done on the top of a mogul; he doesn't mention this.

Having read the rave reviews for this book, I was disappointed to find it doesn't give the instruction I was looking for.