am i carving?

[stick]

watched a few youtube videos and tried it out on a green slope. am i doing it right?

if not what can i change/fix, and if so how can i do this on steeper slopes?

general advice is also appreciated

 

[mdf]

That's an excellent start. The first two turns had a tiny bit of heel push, but others were pretty much pure tipping. Bravo!

From here the idea is to extend this by tipping more and varying the amount dynamically. I'm hoping someone with more instructional experience can suggest ways to get there from where you are.

 

[tomahawkins]

Yes! You're doing great. Keep it up!

 

[dbostedo]

watched a few youtube videos and tried it out on a green slope. am i doing it right?

if not what can i change/fix, and if so how can i do this on steeper slopes?

general advice is also appreciated

First, I am not an instructor, but I'll take a crack as some advice. I'd say you're getting there and heading the right way for someone learning from online videos, but not focusing on just tipping your skis.

The main thing I'd say is that it starts from your feet and tipping your skis, not leaning your upper body which you do seem to be doing a bit. Garlands are a good drill for feeling that tipping and the skis describing and arc in the snow, and not worrying about doing full turns. And the tracks you leave can help you see if you're doing it OK.

 

[stick]

Yes! You're doing great. Keep it up!

thank you!

 

[stick]

First, I am not an instructor, but I'll take a crack as some advice. I'd say you're getting there and heading the right way for someone learning from online videos, but not focusing on just tipping your skis.

The main thing I'd say is that it starts from your feet and tipping your skis, not leaning your upper body which you do seem to be doing a bit. Garlands are a good drill for feeling that tipping and the skis describing and arc in the snow, and not worrying about doing full turns. And the tracks you leave can help you see if you're doing it OK.

thank you, ill give it a try tomorrow

 

[stick]

That's an excellent start. The first two turns had a tiny bit of heel push, but others were pretty much pure tipping. Bravo!

From here the idea is to extend this by tipping more and varying the amount dynamically. I'm hoping someone with more instructional experience can suggest ways to get there from where you are.

yeah im trying to work on achieving higher edge angles, but struggle with maintaining balance and keeping both skis at the same angle. thanks

 

[slowrider]

Smooth, that's a good start. Research you tube videos on carving and then do the drills. Becoming a carver takes alot of practice and determination. You have to want it. Good luck.

 

[mdf]

yeah im trying to work on achieving higher edge angles, but struggle with maintaining balance and keeping both skis at the same angle. thanks

Tipping and turning are a two way street...
The amount of edge angle controls how much you turn, but turning is what keeps you balanced on your skis as you edge them. Please don't force more edge angle than the turn you are making can support ... that would lead to a lot of bad habits like using the inside ski as an outrigger.

As you go a little faster (only gradually, please) and complete your turns more (coming further across at the end of the turn) your turns will need and support higher edge angles.

There are drills that can help you feel this relationship.

 

[geepers]

watched a few youtube videos and tried it out on a green slope. am i doing it right?

if not what can i change/fix, and if so how can i do this on steeper slopes?

general advice is also appreciated

Do notice a tendency to tip your whole body into the turn and as a result apply too much weight to the inside ski. Preferably the majority of your weight should be on the outside ski - like maybe 80-90% of it for the snow in your vid. So here's a straightforward tip that you may find useful, whether you are railing the skis or drifting.




BTW there's an easy way to tell if your skis are carving into the snow without skidding. Make a few turns then walk back up looking at the tracks you just made. There should be two quite well defined and narrow tracks left in the snow - see the image in post #8 above.

 

[Tony S]

watched a few youtube videos and tried it out on a green slope. am i doing it right?

if not what can i change/fix, and if so how can i do this on steeper slopes?

general advice is also appreciated

I love it when people put themselves out there like this. Nice skiing, and kudos for looking around for informed feedback.

 

[Henry]

Stick, something about carving that is important...learn how to put the skis, especially the new outside ski, on edge then be patient and allow the turn to come to you. You don't turn your skis when carving. The skis turn you. You need to put the skis on edge, balance over the outside ski, and let the skis do the turning. Tighter turns are accomplished by putting the skis at a greater angle on the snow and you making more effort to balance over that outside ski.

The video in post #10 is good. I like this series below, you might look for the whole series:

 

[François Pugh]

Tracks don't lie. Look at your ski tracks and see how clean they are. Does it look like you cut thin cuts into the surface? I do see a little sideways motion going on, so not quite there, but getting there. A little more ski tipping would do it.
It's important to remember that the same movements (ski tipping, balance, feet pullback, angulation) are used for all good turns, not just pure carving. You are doing it right. You just need more angulation to tip more at slower speeds without falling into the turn.
A drill for you: reach for the snow on the outside of the turn with your outside ski pole as you tip your skis to the inside and pull them behind you.

 

[JESinstr]

Echoing many above, you are off to a good start. Simply put, Carving is using the ski's design to convert straight travel (which no one needs to teach you) into circular travel. In other words, it is the ski rotating (turning) you and not you rotating (redirecting) the ski.

Your 1st turn is the best so let's use this.

• You appear to have the ability to stay center balanced throughout the turn and that is a great and important requirement so don't lose it by allowing yourself to fall to your heels as the turn deepens!
• Since you are on a mild slope you can see that you are building edge angles and creating the circular travel by leaning/inclining your body, but you can only get away with that for so long as increased speed will create turning forces that require different movement patterns that build angles (angulation) using the joints in our leg (ankles, knees hips).

Believe it or not, the process of creating angulation for carving is much like peddling a bicycle only with different emphasis. You might want to give the following a try.

• First, we want to keep our upper body vertical to gravity as much as possible so you need to have your butt on the seat of the bike and hands on the handle bars which helps with upper/lower body separation.
• Focus on the pedal that needs to be raised, not the one that goes down. The act of softening then shortening the inside leg will automagically make you adjust laterally sending pressure to the new outside leg. This needs to be done with patience and finesse. Again, it is important to keep center balanced and your body (above the belly button) out of this in terms of leaning. Let the upper mass shift (not lean) and let the legs do the work.

Good luck, you have made a good start.

 

[anders_nor]

noop. But your having fun. Ski more and get there!

 

[Tony Storaro]

Yes! You're doing great. Keep it up!

You mean: No, but you are doing great.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Smooth, that's a good start. Research you tube videos on carving and then do the drills. Becoming a carver takes alot of practice and determination. You have to want it. Good luck.
View attachment 220273

Now THAT’s a proper trench!

 

[Chris V.]

Stick, it's all well and good to get advice on what good carved turns should look like, but that alone is unlikely to move you on a path to improvement. For that, you need to focus on changes to some very fundamental movement patterns, practice exercises to build them, and be attentive to them in your runs until they become automatic. Best to pick just one thing to start, and "stick" with it.

Others have discussed the concept of foot tipping. This fundamental movement isn't apparent in your video. Adding effective foot tipping will have a strong tendency to eliminate faults that work against carving, including A-framing, stemming, small pivoting or skidding movements in turn initiation, skis drifting farther apart as the turn develops, leaning into the inside ski, and small braking actions that can rob you of the necessary speed. Rather than obsess over any such faults creeping into your skiing, start by building the new movement pattern at the level of the feet. Your body will start to figure out the upper body balancing movements needed to complement this--no need to think about that too much with the conscious mind, at first.

An excellent place to start:

Tipping

Follow all the links from this page, and read the content on those pages. Lots of clear video, and exercises to practice that will strengthen the new movement.

It does take work. Good luck!

 

[JESinstr]

Good stuff above. Consider a non-intuitive way of addressing the need to tip the skis and that is to think about lifting the outside edges vs tipping down on the inside edges. The physical movement of the skis is the same but IMO, lifting has a more profound impact on the ability to counterbalance as part of the overall equation.

 

[Pandita]

From this video overall you appear a little stiff, in the sense you are moving as one unit.Think about shifting your hips a little more forward, with a slight more bend in the knees. Try not to think of bending the knees as in a squat rather as in balancing yourself over the length of the ski. When you are initiating your turn, consider a little more flexion in that leg, i.e right turn, left leg, left turn right leg.