Mogul

[skinem]

Main Entry:
mo·gul

Pronunciation:\ˈmō-(ˌ)gəl\

Function:noun

Etymology:Persian Mughul, from Mongolian mongγol Mongol

Date:1588

1. One of the Mongol conquerors of India who established an empire that lasted from 1526 to 1857, but held only nominal power after 1803.
2. One of their descendants.
3. An important, powerful, or influential person: a mogul of the movie industry.
4. A Mongol or Mongolian.
5. A steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, six driving wheels and no rear truck.
6. of or pertaining to the Moguls or their empire (adj.).
7. A bump or mound of hard snow on a ski slope.

Wonder how that became a name for a bump of snow...

[Slava]

Wonder how that became a name for a bump of snow...

Perhaps because if you can handle them well you are a mogul of the slopes? Someone once upon a time said something like, "Wow, look at that mogul on the hard trail!" People took it to be the thing tossing the skier up in the air, not the skier itself.

Just a guess, so it's probably wrong, but it fits.

[Stargzer]

From Wikipedia:

Moguls
Moguls are bumps on a ski slope formed when skiers push the snow into mounds or piles as they execute short-radius turns. They can also be constructed ("seeded") on a slope for freestyle skiing competitions or practice runs. Once formed, a naturally-occurring mogul tends to grow as skiers follow similar paths around it, further deepening the surrounding grooves known as troughs. Since skiing tends to be a series of linked turns, moguls form together to create a bump field. At most ski resorts certain pistes (AKA trails) are groomed infrequently or left completely ungroomed to allow moguls to develop. These mogul trails are generally relatively steep. Some trails cannot be groomed because they are too steep, too narrow or they have obstacles that cannot be overcome by a snowcat. Such trails often form moguls. Mogul trails that can be groomed are usually groomed when the moguls get so big and the troughs so deep that the moguls become difficult to ski on or around. Some mogul fields are also groomed when they become too icy or too hardened to ski safely and enjoyably.


Origin
The term mogul is probably of German dialect; akin to German dialect (Viennese) mugl, small hill.

[skinem]

Doh!

My German professors would be very disappointed that I didn't think of that...I am!

Thanks, Stargzr, that makes sense.

[Perry]

I hope that they don't seed the moguls by burying muggles!