There's a lot of information out there about carving.
These days you can buy carving skis, carving gloves, carving underpants,
we're going to clear up some of these misconceptions
and make it nice and easier for you to understand.
A pure carved turn is a turn where the ski is gripping and biting and the shape of the
ski is turning you, and this is the important bit - there is no skidding.
The moment you have skidding in your turn it is no longer a carved turn.
Skidding is important in your everyday skiing but we are going to focus just on the carving.
So while we're on the subject of carving, let's take a closer look at the ski.
The ski is thinner in the middle than it is at the top and the bottom.
The skis creating an hourglass shape.
When I put that onto the edge, it's actually going to start to bend
and that is what is going to take me round.
It's not a new idea, skis have had sidecut,
which is what it's called, for over a hundred years.
If I put the ski onto the edge,
you're going to notice that there's a gap here through the middle of the ski.
If I then put pressure and push through it,
you can see the ski bending and flexing and
it's that that's going to take you round the corner.
I'm on the edge and the shape of the ski is making me turn.
In this turn the skis are skidding, creating resistance and
it's not a carved turn.
I've found myself a nice, easy slope, all I'm going to do is start to slide across and
roll those knees and ankles in towards the slope.
It starts easy, and then I'm going to gently build it up.
Feet hip width apart, hands nicely in front, and from here
I can just gently roll the skis on, I'm not trying to turn, just feel the skis turning you.
It's all about trust, as I roll onto the edge the ski will turn.
All I've done here is come slightly higher on the slope, my skis are going to be pointing
more downhill, but I'm doing exactly the same thing.
Start to slide down, now just feel those edges biting, but don't try and do too much,
just let it happen smooth.
I'm spending more time pointing down the hill picking up speed
but it's the same movement.
I've come even further up the hill and we're going to complete a whole turn.
The trick is to be patient at the start. Feel the ski engage,
and what I mean by that is feel the edge,
and then just gradually build it up through the turn.
So I'm starting to slide in, really smooth,
feel the skis come round, and gently build the edge through the turn.
This is now a complete turn.
I'm on one set of edges, then roll the skis flat, feel the new edges engage and start to turn.
Remember. Be patient.
A great way to feel the skis engage is to use a gentle slope
and then just roll the knees and ankles from side to side.
It's a very subtle movement, but an effective way to feel the ski working.
This is a great slope just to practice rolling those knees and edges into the slope.
You'd probably just go straight down here, so use it for training.
As your feel for the ski improves, you can start to link the turns and pick up the speed.
A patient start to the turn will stop the ski skidding,
roll the edges on gently and let the skis work.
All the things we've looked at there will help you in your general skiing,
it's not just about carving. Try not to draw a massive line
between carving and everything else, feeling that nice, strong edge, helping you
come round the corner, is a general skill that you're going to use all around the mountain,
and as it gets steeper you're going to have to replace a percentage of that carve with
a skid, but make it a nice progressive, controlled skid, and even if the ski is skidding,
the ski is still bending and helping you go round the corner. That's carving.