Mogul Rules: Everything You Need to Know

Mogul skiing is a kind of freestyle skiing. This very variation manifests itself in skiing down a heavily moguled track while using ski ramps to perform appropriate jumps. The kind of sport has its name after those small hills that are scattered across the skiing track. They are known as moguls. In turn, the term “mogul” comes from a Viennese dialect of German, and it actually means a small hill. At the same time, this sporting discipline is called Buckelpiste in the modern German language. Thus, the given article is going to present the most exhaustive information on mogul skiing and its rules.

Moguls Explained

As has been stated, moguls are hills that are located on a skiing track. They consist of snow that is thrown by skiers when they are performing turns of a small radius. At the same time, they can be made artificially with the help of appropriate technical means to make a skiing track suitable for either freestyle or mogul competitions and training sessions.

Once moguls are created, they tend to become bigger because of snow that is thrown on them while skiers keep moving one and the same track. In addition to that, they tend to make ski-trials deeper. Considering the general peculiarities of the given skiing variations, it becomes clear why there are particular fields of moguls on skiing tracks. As a rule, these tracks are steep enough, which makes it possible for athletes to gain high speed.

General Principles

There are various methods of mogul skiing. Among them, the World Cup mogul method represents the most effective, amazing, elegant, and applied the technique of mogul skiing. According to it, it is necessary to move down a falling line and make the lower body act as a shock absorber, while the upper body should be held immobile as much as it is possible. In addition to that, different methods can be also applied. It refers to SVMM (Sun Valley Mogul Method, PSIA (Professional Skiing Instructor’s Association Mogul Method), and many others.

For dealing with this kind of sport, it is reasonable (not obligatory) to have special mogul skis. They are a bit different from traditional ones in the way that they have softer tips, they are of a medium rigidity, and they do not have large side gains. Furthermore, modern mogul skis are rather narrow. At present, there are no precise regulations as to the length of mogul skis. Previously, however, men were allowed to use the skis that were longer than 190 cm, while female athletes were allowed to use the skis that are at least 180 cm long.

Basics of Mogul Competitions

Starting in 1980, the Freestyle World Cups are held annually by the International Skiing Federation, and mogul is an obligatory part of those events. An overall victory is given to an appropriate athlete according to the results in a few disciplines. These competitions take place in different world countries. In addition to that, it happened in 1988 when mogul officially became an Olympic kind of sport.

When it comes to official events, skiing tracks should meet specific requirements. Thus, a slope should be 28 + 4 degrees, while a track should be 235 + 35 meters long and at least 18 meters wide. At the same time, the mogul covered area of the track should be 10 + 2 meters wide. These tracks should not have any parts that are longer than 20 meters that would have a slope of lower than 20 and more than 37 degrees. Vertical elevation should be 110 + 30 meters. Each ski ramp should be 50-60 cm high. When it comes to double mogul skiing, shorter tracks of 200 + 50 meters with smaller elevation levels of 80 + 20 meters are used. At the same time, these tracks should be wider than 21 meters, while the area covered with moguls should account for 6.5 + 0.5 meters wide.

Despite the information above, the Winter Olympics imply their own requirements to mogul tracks. Thus, they should be at least 250 meters long, while 27 degrees are the smallest allowed slope.

Pho 3

Once a race is over, every athlete is given a score that consists of three components:

• 50% of the score is given for performing turns;
• 25% of the score is given for performing jumps;
• 25% of the score is given for the speed.

Every official event should be served by either seven or five judges. In the first case, five judges should evaluate the turns, and the other two deal with the jumps. In the second case, however, only three judges deal with evaluating the turns.

While evaluating the turns, judges should consider the following criteria:

• athletes should ride as close to the falling line as possible;
• athletes should use the right technique to make turns, which has been described in details previously;
• athletes should imitate the track relief by bending knees and the body while overcoming moguls and strengthening when they are in the ski-trail between the moguls;
• it is not necessary to move the upper part of the body that should stay immobile and be directed toward the foot of the track.

Jumps are evaluated according to their difficulty and how well they are performed. In this case, there is a system of general scores and systems of either decreasing or increasing odds. Thus, an appropriate number of points is either added or deducted according to the athlete’s performance.

In mogul skiing, all jumps are subdivided into the following categories:

• somersaults (backward and forward);
• side somersaults;
• straight spins;
• off-axis jumps;
• straight jumps.

When it comes to off-axis jumps, they are represented by three categories:

1. Category A – D-Spin / Loopfull.
2. Category B – Cork / Misty / Bio.
3. Category C – Rodeo / Flatspin.

Over a single ride, an athlete should make two different jumps. If it happens that he or she makes two identical jumps, the best of them only is evaluated, while the absence of the second jump will result in an appropriate penalty.

As for double mogul skiing, this variation implies a bit different judging system if compared to individual performance. Even though the number of judges is the same (five or seven), they have different responsibilities. When there are five judges, one evaluates the jumps, one evaluates the speed, two evaluate the turns, and one evaluates the ride in general. Among seven judges, 2 evaluate the jumps, one evaluates the speed, and four evaluate the turns. Each of the judges allots points (from 0 to 5), and a victory is given to an athlete who manages to earn the majority of points.

History

The given kind of sport appeared in Norway in the 1930s. Back then, traditional skiers used to perform various acrobatic tricks during their training sessions. However, it took about 30 years for the world to witness the first freestyle competitions, and it happened in the 1960s. Thus, the freestyle competitions were considered opposition to traditional skiing. Furthermore, mogul skiing was one of the first three disciplines that comprised freestyle skiing alongside skiing ballet and aerial skiing.

In 1947, the Canadian Freestyle Association was created, which resulted in the fact that the kind of sport of freestyle (with mogul as one of its disciplines) obtained official status.