Find some well formed, nicely spaced bumps on a gentle gradient. Make sure they are nice bumps, closely grouped, and not some horrendous sausage shaped monsters with cliffs and small bushes growing out of them. On the traverse ski slowly over the top of one of these nicely spaced bumps until the middle of the boot is perched on the very summit.

Stop and think about where to put the pole in. Remember that the skis are still on the traverse. If your body is in the driving position facing down the hill (which it should be for short turns), then you will find that the pole should go in about 12" from your boot, and slightly down the far side of the bump. You will have to bend at the knees and hips with your weight in the middle of your foot on the lower ski, in order to get the pole in.

So you are now standing motionless on the top of the bump, your upper body facing down the slope, your pole perpendicular in the snow down from your boot, and your skis still on the traverse. While you are standing there, let's just go over this perpendicular pole plant again. I have already mentioned that the pole plant is a crucial part of anticipation (see 'Anticipation and Angulation') and while learning to ski the bumps it is imperative that you get it right, because everything else follows.

If you make a definitive pole plant with the point going right into the snow, and the pole is perpendicular as it goes in, you will have to angulate over the skis, you will have to weight the lower ski, and your body will have to be facing down the hill.

It is quite possible that as you stand on the bump, only a foot of ski is actually touching the snow, as the back and front are both off it, or only barely touching it. Now remember what I have said about the torsional qualities of your thigh and stomach muscles (see 'Your Upper Body Position'); you will immediately twig that the skis should swivel round with the slightest encouragement. Back to the exercise.

As you put the pole in, your weight will be projected slightly over the downside of the bump, the skis will tip forwards, and will start to slide round. They will probably side slip into the soft snow on the backside trough of the next bump.

Remember to keep the weight in the middle of your foot on the bottom ski. Line up another bump on the other traverse, and try it again.

Keep low and keep a wide stance throughout this exercise, because you are going from a stop into an acceleration, and then to a stop again, from soft snow to ice, and back to soft snow. Your balance could be all over the place!

Simon Dewhurst has taught downhill skiing in North America, Scandinavia and the European Alps for 35 years. He currently runs a ski chalet agency in the French Alps. His book "Secrets of Better Skiing" can be found at http://www.ski-jungle.com If you have any comments about the above article, he will be happy to answer them.