It never felt like this before. My chest was in the right position and wasn’t getting bounced backward every few turns. My right shoulder wasn’t getting jammed into itself with every pole plant, forcing my torso up and my entire body to stretch out. That beautiful extension that forces me to then retract everything while twisting my legs 180 degrees in hopes that my skis will come with them.
It wasn’t anything like that. My torso stayed right where it was supposed to, stacked in line with my feet, and all I had to do was flick each wrist to tap the top of the mogul. I wasn’t getting thrown fore and aft like a ship in a turbulent storm. I was right there, able to anticipate the next turn and even the turn after that. I stayed in the damn zipper and felt like I was actually flowing down the troughs rather than launching up and over everything.
What was the magic, you ask? Something that my sister has been telling me to do for about two decades. Nope, most definitely three. The magic secret to moguls—short poles!
Now, that might not mean much to some of you, but as a former ski racer, I was used to using 50” poles until I retired, when I switched to 48” poles. For ski racing, you need long poles to keep you upright for Slalom and then to wrap around you for all the other disciplines. It was only this past season that I dropped my pole length to 46” because I had developed a really bad habit of (1) dragging my poles behind me as I finished a turn, pulling me up the hill in a very unattractive manner on steep terrain and (2) the combination of arthritis hip pain and tall poles was preventing me from getting low enough during the compression part of my turn that I was developing straight leg syndrome on steep terrain. Again, very embarrassing and causing an overly high edge angle and lack of control, which all develops into an increase in fear.
Yep, my tall poles were causing me to be afraid of steep terrain, like Double Dipper and Lower Downdraft. Knowing we were going to be in The Canyon this year motivated me to chop my poles down 2 inches, and man, did that make a difference. Instead of rising for my pole plant, I was now sinking and finishing off my turns beautifully. I felt so much better and smoother, just like a weight had been taken off my shoulders. Man, have I been so stubborn for way too long.
And once you are willing to experiment, you have to keep that going, right? Well, after skiing one day with my sister and watching her pole plants in the moguls, I went and bought the exact same poles. They are hot pink and 42”. I think they are also children’s poles, but that’s what she had, so that’s what I got (my sister was a nationally ranked bump skier back in the day).
I am amazing and cannot stop telling everyone how amazing short poles are! I am now in the moguls, right where I am supposed to be, rather than fumbling around like an alpine racer caught in a mogul field. It’s so much fun! I have so much more confidence in my turns and even had the courage to follow some of my fellow KMS coaches (and Skiddy!!). How neat to feel that pull from the person in front of you as they ski along. You don’t really feel that in ski racing, but you can through a mogul field!
That entire week of sunshine, I couldn’t get enough time in the moguls. I went from hating myself on Lower East Fall to lapping it over and over again. I want the moguls. I mean, don’t get me wrong—even though I’m feeling super awesome doesn’t mean that I am actually awesome. I was having a blast on Lower East, thinking I was doing so well, when former US Freestyle Ski Team Member and Killington resident Alex Lewis came flying by me. It was like a jet engine passing and one of the coolest feelings. Okay, it was also mixed with pride since I coached Alex when he was in Ministars, but I had to stop and laugh at how different our turns were.
The whole short pole experience is amazing. I’m only slightly annoyed at myself for being so stubborn and not taking my sister’s advice. Don’t get me wrong —I’ll be going back to my 46” GrassSticks in the fall when Killington reopens, but Short Poles will be back every spring to rip some bumps with some of the best mogul skiers in the world. Until then, I’m here to enjoy every inch of snow we have left. See you in the Canyon!
Merisa is a longtime Killington resident, global real estate advisor, town official, and Coach PomPom. She can be found on social media at @femaleskibum or at [email protected].
