Nobuyuki Nishi and Yukimasa Horishima share the secrets to skiing fast on moguls

Photo/Tomohiro Watanabe
Cooperation/Kagura Ski Resort

Spring is the perfect time for mogul skiing, as the sun shines brighter and the snow softens. Unlike the hard snow of the high season, the impact is absorbed more easily when skiing straight, making it easier to gain speed. This makes it the perfect time to push your limits

Spring is the time to improve your mogul skiing skills. Nishi Nobuyuki, principal of the Kandatsu Fusion Bump School, who was a member of the Japanese national team for around 16 years and competed in three consecutive Olympics from Vancouver to PyeongChang, and Horishima Yukimasa, a bronze medalist at the recent Beijing Olympics, held a session on the theme of "Skiing mogul skiing faster."

The soft spring snow is perfect for speed training. Both of them share this common understanding

With people who are already somewhat proficient at mogul skiing in mind, we asked them to talk about the appeal of skiing fast and the techniques and strategies needed to do so

We will also introduce Nishi and Horishima's methods for skiing faster on moguls

The appeal of speeding over moguls

Editorial Department (hereafter referred to as "eds."): What is the fun of skiing quickly over moguls?

Nishi Nobuyuki (hereinafter Nishi):For me, "fast = cool." In skiing, it's all about standing out, isn't it? I used to ski a lot in Hakuba, and for example, at Usagidaira in Happo-one, there's a lift right next to the course. If there's no one on the lift, I might think about not skiing, but if there are lots of people on the course or on the lift, I'm like, "Okay, I'll go now" (laughs).

I'll fiddle with my boots or touch my skis until more people arrive. It's not like I'm saying "Look at me," but I have a very strong desire to stand out and look cool.

Nishi Nobuyuki, who believes that "the more you stand out, the better" this will remain the same even after he retired as a player and became a coach

Yukimasa Horishima (hereinafter Horishima):I think I understand what you're saying. I become conscious of the ski lift when it's nearby. Not just in mogul skiing, but I don't think you can get the same sense of speed on skis with your own legs. You can't get the same sense of speed by running. So the sense of speed, and skiing down a mogul slope in that state, is fun. It feels like I'm pushing my limits.

Horishima Yukimasa also says he is conscious of the gazes of the people watching. Finding the limit of speed is one of the joys of moguls

Nishi:When I was competing, airs and turns were judged by people watching and scoring. But speed is different. I've always been really obsessed with speed, and I didn't mind making a few mistakes, but I just wanted to ski faster than anyone else.

There's something about being able to ski the fastest that makes you good at moguls. Of course, there are things you have to do to ski beautifully and to get points, but ever since I was little, I've vaguely had this idea in my head that "faster = better."

Horishima:When I was competing, I was competing at the same time as Nobu-san, and we competed against each other in dual moguls about three times. I lost two of them, and only won the last one. That's how strong the image of "fast = Nobu-san" is for me. I learned a lot from him when I was competing, so I thought it would be interesting to find out how Nobu-san and I are skiing so fast.

How do you think each other is doing on moguls?

Editor: How do you view each other in terms of speed?

Nishi Nobuyuki gradually increases his speed over the regularly spaced bumps

Horishima:I joined the national team when I was in my first year of high school, and I skied with Nobu-san until he retired after the Pyeongchang Olympics. He was confident in his speed, and I definitely tried to imitate him because I thought being fast was cool.

The first time I competed against Nobu-san in dual moguls was at the All Japan Championships when I was in my third year of junior high school. That's when I first saw the speed of Nobu-san and the other athletes competing on the world stage, and from then on, I learned a lot about how to maintain a steady speed, how to keep increasing speed while maintaining stability, and how to reach the finish line no matter how wild your skiing gets.

Nishi:I think there are two main ways to gain speed and ski fast on moguls. To put it extremely, one way is to lean slightly forward from the center of the ski and accelerate by stepping on the back of the mogul, and the other is to lean a little further back, not quite to the point of leaning back, to improve the ski's release and ski fast. I think there are these two patterns.

Horishima keeps his position closer to the front and increases his speed

Speaking of which, Ikuma said he doesn't really know how to ride at the back and gain speed. He's in a really good position. I think he's the type to ride very far forward and gain speed. I'm more conscious of getting off the moguls. I'm good at riding a little further back to get off the moguls better and gain speed. I think that's the biggest difference between the two of us

Horishima:There might be a difference in positioning.

Editor: From the outside, is the difference almost indistinguishable?

Nishi:I think so. It's just a little bit forward and a little bit back of the riding position. I think it's in a really exquisite spot.

The sensation of speed is slightly different for both drivers

Editor: What steps will you two take to increase your mogul speed limit?

Nishi:I think the faster you go, the more fear you feel. So, I think it's really important to figure out how to eliminate that fear.

It's crucial to be able to gain confidence and increase your successful experiences. For example, you can't ski fast down a really hard, big, steep mogul slope from the start, but you can do it on a gentler slope. It's about increasing those kinds of successful experiences.

Gentle slopes are perfect for pushing your speed limits. It's important to gain experience skiing well

No two moguls are alike. I believe the more experience you have, the faster you can go. So, the order of things is to have your body memorize successful experiences in order to eliminate fear, and then apply those experiences to various slopes and moguls, thereby further increasing your experience

Horishima:I think that's absolutely right. Accumulating successful experiences is very important.

On top of that, from a technical standpoint, it's about snow contact. When you can ski in a way that keeps your skis in constant contact with the snow surface, you gain stability when you pick up speed. You get scared when your skis are floating in the air. But when we ski seriously, our skis do float in the air.

I think the final stage is skiing in a way that allows you to bridge the gaps between bumps with speed without making contact with the snow surface.

The faster the speed, the less contact there is with the snow

Nishi:What I always keep in mind is to consciously apply firm pressure to my shins near the peak of the uphill section of a mogul, from the skier's perspective. This is especially important when skiing fast in a straight line.

The other thing to do is to constantly balance the pressure from the moguls with the force you exert yourself. The faster you go, the stronger the pressure from the moguls, even if you're skiing over the same moguls. If you're skiing at the same speed, for example, if the pressure from the moguls is 5 out of 10, you should return it with a force of 5 yourself. This is how I imagine it when descending at an even speed

When you want to slow down, counter the pressure of the bump that comes at you at 5 with pressure at 6 or 7. This way you can slow down without having to change your line too much. Conversely, when accelerating, I try to adjust my speed by applying pressure of about minus 1 or 4 to the pressure that comes at you at 5

Nishi skis at high speeds, as if he is having a conversation with the moguls

Horishima:I understand that feeling. By the way, when you say "how to apply pressure," do you mean the feeling of touching the bumps?

Nishi:Yeah, something like that. It's about how much pressure you're constantly applying. I don't really lift my knees up; it's more like I'm trying to reduce the pressure. I don't really pay much attention to the position of my hips, whether they're high or low. The skis are under my body. Especially if the boots move sideways or forward from under my body, the skis will start to move too fast, so when I'm controlling my speed, I always try to keep the boots under my hips and increase the pressure.

Yukimasa Horishima's bump speed adjustment method

Editor: Mr. Horishima, what kind of speed adjustment method do you have in mind?

Horishima:In the case of spring snow, I'm very conscious of "stepping on the back (of the mogul)."

I shift my position slightly forward so that I can quickly move from the surface to the back of the mogul. I move forward with each turn, lifting my hips, and once I'm on the back of the mogul, I put force towards my feet, which allows me to press down on the skis. This gives me the feeling of pressing down on the skis on a steep slope, and I can pick up speed quickly.

However, you can't always step on the backside of the mogul, so after stepping on it, when you hit the top of the mogul, you have to maintain your balance by keeping the top of your skis in a position that causes them to drop. After that, once you've picked up some speed, you can keep your balance almost completely still

Nishi:That's the image I have of Ikuma. Like he keeps pushing and pushing (to gain speed).

Horishima:People who can generate speed will understand this feeling. But you only use the back of the moguls to accelerate for the first one or two turns. After that, you hardly do that kind of movement. When the snow is really hard, you control each turn. Even so, you keep going faster and faster, so the most important thing is how well you can keep your skis under your body. While going fast, you maintain your position and control your touch on the snow surface. If you scrape hard and deeply, your speed will decrease, but if you scrape lightly, the friction decreases, and you're controlling your speed.

The two are engaged in lively discussions about mogul skiing. They discuss each other's techniques while using hand gestures

Editor: Could you please give us an example of how you adjust your speed during a competition?

Horishima:When skiing down the middle section, if you don't adjust your speed before the 2-air jump, you'll jump too high. I apply a little more pressure to the snow surface starting about 5 bumps before the 2-air jump. After skiing down about 5 bumps, my speed drops to a moderate level, so I use that speed to jump the air and finish the run. The position for skiing fast is also where you're most likely to lose your balance, so I'm conscious of maintaining my balance while skiing. I try not to speed up or slow down too much.

Editor: I see, thank you very much

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To coincide with the discussion on the theme of "Skiing faster on moguls," Nishi and Horishima have prepared five methods for skiing faster on mogul slopes

Nishinobuyuki will share two key points: "Maximize pressure at the peak of the mogul" and "Accumulate successful experiences."
Horishima Yukimasa will share three points: "Step on the back of the mogul," "Timing when to plant the pole," and "Skiing the mogul in a straight line."

These will be introduced in videos later.