Fun topic.
Pros:
1. Carving is fast and thrilling. Wind whistles past the ears. Moving fast without resistance from the snow feels like flying. The sound, the speed, the control, are all exciting. Adrenaline rush!
2. Carving is the best way to control one's line on refrozen, smooth, hard snow. Being able to carve morphs a melted and refrozen groomer which no one else wants ski into a private run ready for repeats.
3. Carving replaces the harsh scraping sound of skidded turns on hard snow with a quiet swish. Quiet turns are sublime.
4. Carving provides a sense of sure and certain control over line. Tail follows tip and there is no wishy-washy-skidding. The skis grip and the skier goes where the skis point. This certainty is a confidence and ego booster.
Cons:
1. The carving skier can be a danger to others on the trail. It takes time to alter one's line to avoid someone ahead who does something unexpected. Hitting that person at those speeds will be ugly for both parties.
2. Skiers should carve a run when the way ahead is empty. This is the safe way to carve. But many don't want to wait for the trail to clear. This makes carving dangerous when not on a designated race course.
3. If something goes wrong in the turn, the carving skier is going to wish there were B-netting alongside the trail. Hitting trees at carving speeds is not advisable. But most recreational trails don't get B-netting.
Learning to carve is challenging:
1. It can take a long time to build the skill to carve. Deliberate practice where it's safe to do so is necessary. Empty groomed trails with the right pitch for learning are often hard to find.
2. If the skier learning to carve is too far forward or back, the ski tail will not follow the tip. Precise positioning of the center of mass is imperative. Good fore-aft balance is not easy for a skier to learn if bad balance habits have been embedded over time. Learning works better with feedback from a teacher who can diagnose fore-aft issues.
3. Most recreational skiers habitually twist the skis across the snow. This habit is hard to eliminate so that only tipping occurs. It takes time and concentration to learn how to purge the pivot. Many recreational skiers don't have the patience for such deliberate practice, and they don't have the proprioception to sense when they are pivoting the skis. Learning works better with feedback from a teacher who can diagnose and address persistent pivot issues.
4. If the ski is torsionally limp and willing to twist like a dishrag when forces are applied, the tip won't hold, it won't cut a groove in the snow, it will skid out, and the tail will be unable to follow the tip. A skidded turn will happen on such skis, no matter how precise the skier's movements.
5. Many recreational skiers ski on wide skis. These take time to tip up on edge. The time lost in the initial tipping introduces a challenge for a cleanly carved turn entry. A learner often can't overcome the problem the slow tipping introduces while also working to overcome poor fore-aft balancing skills and fighting the habitual pivot that just won't go away.
6. Many recreational skiers are in boots too big. The precision control needed for tipping, for controlling fore-aft balance, and for pivot suppression assume snug boots in all dimensions. All too common loose boots will cause a learner difficult-to-diagnose problems.
7. Adjusting line for speed control or other reasons depends on independent use of inside and outside legs to manipulate the edge angle of the skis. This precision skill takes time to learn, even after the learner figures out where to balance on the ski, replaces the pivot with tipping, and fixes gear issues. Uncrowded blue groomers are best for building his versatility, but they are hard to find.
8. All that said, it's worth it because of the pros listed above.
.
