Carving! Any tips?

Ski a lot -> you learn how to ski better.

/thread?

I find it hard to believe that you don't know the proper way to carve if you've been skiing since you were 5. However, my best advice for tightening up you stance would be to ski with your skis parallel and don't pizza I guess. When you get comfortable like that you'll be able to have less wide of a stance and skiing with your feet closer together will start to feel more natural. Maybe you should get a lesson tho? Clumsy could mean a lot of things, and it's hard to teach the basics of skiing over the internet. Just keep riding dude, you'll get it.

Remember to use your inside edges and transition for each turn. Widen out your stance a bit, with today's skis you no longer need to be tight and straight as an arrow. Drive with your hands, keep your upper body forward (don't turn with the shoulders) and let 'er rip.

You shouldn't carve with your skis tight together. They should be shoulder width or even wider. You can't get nearly as much edge with your skis right together. Watch racers.

Op best advice would be get a lesson ideally a private lesson. If you have being skiing a while you have probably picked up some ba techniques. The main thing a good instructor will do is identify what you are doing currently and how to change that to inprove technique. This may not happen everywhere but here in whistler instructors asses your skiing but if they identify issues being caused by boots they bring the clients to see a boot fitter. Getting kit righ can have a huge impact I technique too. But start with a few lessons.

E-M_HSki a lot -> you learn how to ski better.

/thread?

I agree with this. I don't think there's a right/ wrong way to ski once you hit a certain skill level. Once you know how to ski comfortably on most terrain, your style will come natural, you'll figure out how to approach different terrain, and you'll figure out the small things that most people will over look. Things like your stance will just happen. What style works for me might be horrible for you so do what makes you happy. That's the thing about freeskiing, it's an individual, freestyle sport. So ski the way that you want. Who really gives a fuck? Just have fun.

MinggI agree with this. I don't think there's a right/ wrong way to ski once you hit a certain skill level. Once you know how to ski comfortably on most terrain, your style will come natural, you'll figure out how to approach different terrain, and you'll figure out the small things that most people will over look. Things like your stance will just happen. What style works for me might be horrible for you so do what makes you happy. That's the thing about freeskiing, it's an individual, freestyle sport. So ski the way that you want. Who really gives a fuck? Just have fun.

This will be the case somewhat but unles you are always skiin with people much better then you you won't have any thing to watch an try to inprove. Thing like race coaching or moguls coaching are great to learn techniques. For reference I skied for 17 year then began doing some events where coaching was involved and my skiing improved so so much. I was shocked how much you can inprove even when you think you are pretty good.

tomPietrowskiThis will be the case somewhat but unles you are always skiin with people much better then you you won't have any thing to watch an try to inprove. Thing like race coaching or moguls coaching are great to learn techniques. For reference I skied for 17 year then began doing some events where coaching was involved and my skiing improved so so much. I was shocked how much you can inprove even when you think you are pretty good.

Ah, turns out "/thread" was a bit too much. Skiing with people better than you / even having some form of coaching is naturally huge when it comes to developing your style.

keep your skis french fry and squash those grapes when you turn. keep your upper body leaning forward so you wont get back seat. When you turn, try to lean to the side and push with the opposite foot instead of wedging your ski at an awkward angle. Basically you just need to keep your skis parallel and lean with your turn in a forward position instead of sliding. Try to feel your edges dig into the snow. Also, make sure your upper body moves in conjunction with your lower body.

The best way to learn is get some regular length poles. As you get up to speed widen your legs as much as you can and then stick the poles as hard as you can perpendicular to the ground between your legs. That will initiate swayrvey carves.

I'm an instructor so heres my quick 2 cents
-shins tight up against the front of the boot
-lean down the hill somewhat, it will help if your body weight is perpendicular to the pitch
-dont be afraid to put your downhill ski slightly behind the uphill ski
-fool around with ya legs, you'll know when you catch your edge
p.s.
each ski has a different and unique feel when carving, depends how long you've used the same pair of skis as well.

get a tune on ur skis and boom bitch

Lean into your boots

when i used to race.
before a race if any of our team was worried and asked coach what to do he would say "right left right left, red blue red blue" haha he was a great coach until well nvm.... anyways racing is boring after 10 years of it thats why i switched to freestyle like 5 or 4 something years ago

1.hands out in front of you.
2.Pressure on the tongues of your boots

those are the 2 points that really helped me improve my technique, that being said i had a few days of lessons working on those things so that probably helped.

Just more proof that being good at park has no relation to being a good skier

GokuJust more proof that being good at park has no relation to being a good skier

Agreed..will be comical in the next 10 + years to see the park kids make the transition out

Actively steer your inside ski. Match all angles (lower leg, thighs, ankles, knees, hips and spine).

/thread

dogardYou shouldn't carve with your skis tight together. They should be shoulder width or even wider. You can't get nearly as much edge with your skis right together. Watch racers.

"Watch racers" -Good

I know it sounds silly, but for me, I am a visual learner. If I can see what others do successfully, I am more likely to do it myself. Ski with people that are better than you! I love doing this, as you progress quickly.

As a racer, I can say this:
-Shoulder-width stance
-hands out, natural. As if you were holding a lowered steering wheel. I see too many people drop the hand on the inside of the turn, so make sure that hand helps drive and doesn't drop back. It can end up twisting your body and making skiing more difficult
-Don't just "lean forward." What actually needs to happen is pressure from your knees and shins on the tongue of your boot. Actually clamping in helps. Keep your upper body upright/slightly forward, and let your legs do the work. When you are in the turn, feel that pressure and drive the knees and shins. The ski will flex and arc around. You can lean your upper body forward a bit more here. Make sure your hands are still driving and not falling back!
-Keep the weight distributed correctly between your skis. For slalom boards, it's usually around 70% outside 30% inside. Park skis are similar to GS skis, so that's a little more even: roughly 60% outside, 40% inside. It will take some practice and won't feel right at first. The bonus to this is though, if your outer ski slips out, you have your inside ski to keep up and ride out.
-Practice skiing on one ski. Take one off, take a run. Switch legs. This is a phenomenal workout as well. It keeps good balance and helps with weight distribution. I also cannot tell you how many times the ability to ski on a single board has saved me from serious injury. Several times on larger park jumps a ski has caught or fallen off and I can ride it out without killing myself. On serious runs where there are "no-fall zones," I've caught skis while booking it and have been able to safely rotate myself around where I can stop and recover.


Have fun! True carving is a world apart from "edging." G forces press into your body and the ski can rebound you into the next turn. It makes skiing groomers super enjoyable, and sometimes preferable over a park lap. It also enables you to handle ice better. Good luck!

Troll thread?

Stance, edging, and weight are what you need to focus on. Have your skis parallel, your feet shoulder width apart, and be in an athletic stance (knees bent, weight forward). Keep your upper body still, always pointed down the fall line (downhill).

When turning, focus on weight more than anything else. Put most of your weight on your outside ski. (weight on left ski to turn right, weight on right ski to turn left) Tilt your skis onto their inside edges (left edges to turn left, right edges to turn right). Don't try to steer or to turn your feet. Weight and edging is all you need to be concerned with. Weight and edging is what makes you turn (carve). As long as you do that and keep a balanced, athletic position, still upper body, parallel skis shoulder width apart, you should be able to carve well.