Tad Pfeffer and the physics of skiing

Tad Pfeffer is a glaciologist, geophysicist, and photographer. He earned his bachelor's degree from in geology, his master's in geology, and his Ph.D. in geophysics. His research is focused on glacier mechanics and dynamics. Currently, he is doing research at the University of Colorado in Sea level rise, hydrology, natural hazards, geophysical and architectural photogrammetry, and science policy. The article that caught my interest is from 2009 when he did research with two other physicists on the physics behind ski moguls. Essentially what they found is that throughout a ski season, moguls move about 10 m uphill. This is surprising because the typical motion of skiers is downhill. This is essentially done by skiers scrapping off the downhill side of the mogul and pushing it down to form a new mogul. Another interesting finding they had was that despite the complete randomness of skier's patterns on the slope, the moguls always form in almost completely uniform ways. 

Sources:

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3265246

https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/w-tad-pfeffer