# Carving Question



## mtmgiants (Sep 30, 2008)

im sure that snowolf knows what im talking about and knows the answer but here is my question for everyone. So the other day i went boarding with one of my friends from school for the first time. She skis and used to race legit. i could keep up with her when i was flat based but could not if i was trying to carve. She was carving across the mountain like it was her job and going incredibly fast. When i was talking to her she said that through racing she has learned to increase her speed by turning. the question is, whenever i turn i feel that i am slowing down and lose speed. there must be some way for me to increase or maintain my speed through deep turns like she was doing, i just dont know how to go about achieving this


----------



## dnguyenaz (Feb 10, 2010)

Today was my first day of the year. When I was going fast, I bent my knees, pushed down hard and kept carving left and right but going straight and keeping my upper body still. If your skidding(throwing up alot of snow) then Im sure its gonna slow you down alot. I would wait for snowolf's response though since hes good at explaining things


----------



## hellside (Dec 28, 2008)

You probably are not doing pure carve when you turn. That will slow you down. Other variables like ski length (snow contact length), turn radius will also affect speed and stability.


----------



## Qball (Jun 22, 2010)

Sounds like you are doing skidded turns and scrubbing off speed as a result. A true carve will only leave a pencil thin line in the snow because the entire effective edge stays on the same plane during the turn. Carving takes a lot of practice to master.


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

Was she pumping through the turns to build momentum?


----------



## mtmgiants (Sep 30, 2008)

she was pumping slightly but it seemed like she was just bouncing back and fourth, when i tried to imitate it i was sliding somewhat which was scraping some of my speed, now that i think of it i never really keep my body centered when trying to carve, i do more of a lean. thanks for all the help, im sure i will be going again soon and will try to stay centered and only use my edge


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> If you are carving and carving correctly, you will accelerate through your turns not slow down. One of the thing to work on here is making your edge change sooner; before the board crosses the fall line. When you rock onto your downhill edge early so that a person above you on the hill can clearly see the base of your board, you will explosively rocket though your turns.
> 
> One of the most difficult things to do when you want to do high speed carving is to not skid at the bottom of your turns. One thing in your statement provides some clue to where part of your difficulty lies. You said you are leaning into the turns. While this is a great start for basic carved turns, it will never allow you to generate the speed you are desiring. For that you must progress beyond inclinated, basic carved turns in favor of angulated dynamic carved turns.
> 
> ...


Wow, what a great breakdown of technique. I don't usually try to go as fast as possible down the hill, but your description of the weighting/unweighting points sounds exactly opposite of what I've been doing.


----------



## mtmgiants (Sep 30, 2008)

thanks so much this is exactly what i was looking for. will definitely try to work on this next time out. Thanks again


----------



## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> When you do start working on dynamic carving, pick open, blue terrain where you can start with large to medium radius turns and become comfortable with making these early edge changes where you will not build up speed too quickly for your own comfort. ....:thumbsup:


Wolf...you have no idea how better that is on my A-Frame...compared to my old board..that thing is a carving knife for snow...it bounces you out at the apex of the turn, and if you get the rebound-timing right the next turmn is going to make you grin...it the board pops up and pushes you up as you switch edge....
with suych a mean sound..
Love it.


----------



## BliND KiNK (Feb 22, 2010)

I'm starting to be able to feel out carves.. like once you are straight on that edge, it feels so much smoother... and it starts to feel like you're mashing the NOS buttons in.


----------



## AAA (Feb 2, 2008)

Like others have said, if you're losing speed against your carving ski buddy, it's probably because you're skidding turns. Snowwolf gave a good description of a carve. You need to initiate a carve at the top of the turn, as your board crosses the fall line. If you're new to carving, it may take a little bit of faith to set your downhill edge. Keep the entire length of the board engaged in the snow by using a high edge angle, rather than a low angle (which allows the board to skid). Inclinate the board and angulate your upper body (more upright) to hold the edge so it doesn't chatter and wash out. You'll control your speed by where you start your carve (dead across the fall line vs. more down the fall line), by adjusting the radius of your turns (tighter bleeds speed,) and by how close or open ended you finish your carves. At faster speeds, allow the board to rebound across the fall line in the transition. You'll suck your knees up to do this and extend your legs as you set the downhill edge. Here's some short carving clips from a couple of years ago that may help. In a couple of the faster clips, you can see how the board "pops" across the fall line. These were on an alpine board with very forward binding angles, but the basic motions are similar to what you'll do on a softboot setup.

YouTube - Carving Clips

When you get it down, you'll see nothing but perfectly clean lines in the snow on your way back up the chair lift. You'll also feel some serious G-forces in the carve, versus just the chattering of snow from skidding. If you're carving open ended c's down the fall line, it's actually possible to maintain nearly the same downhill speed as a straightliner, though your actual speed might be twice as fast due to the much longer path you are taking. You'll jet by anyone who's skidding turns.


----------



## pk_volt (Nov 20, 2007)

AAA said:


> Like others have said, if you're losing speed against your carving ski buddy, it's probably because you're skidding turns. Snowwolf gave a good description of a carve. You need to initiate a carve at the top of the turn, as your board crosses the fall line. If you're new to carving, it may take a little bit of faith to set your downhill edge. Keep the entire length of the board engaged in the snow by using a high edge angle, rather than a low angle (which allows the board to skid). Inclinate the board and angulate your upper body (more upright) to hold the edge so it doesn't chatter and wash out. You'll control your speed by where you start your carve (dead across the fall line vs. more down the fall line), by adjusting the radius of your turns (tighter bleeds speed,) and by how close or open ended you finish your carves. At faster speeds, allow the board to rebound across the fall line in the transition. You'll suck your knees up to do this and extend your legs as you set the downhill edge. Here's some short carving clips from a couple of years ago that may help. In a couple of the faster clips, you can see how the board "pops" across the fall line. These were on an alpine board with very forward binding angles, but the basic motions are similar to what you'll do on a softboot setup.
> 
> YouTube - Carving Clips
> 
> When you get it down, you'll see nothing but perfectly clean lines in the snow on your way back up the chair lift. You'll also feel some serious G-forces in the carve, versus just the chattering of snow from skidding. If you're carving open ended c's down the fall line, it's actually possible to maintain nearly the same downhill speed as a straightliner, though your actual speed might be twice as fast due to the much longer path you are taking. You'll jet by anyone who's skidding turns.


what's a fall line? I remember someone posted a diagram of the turn sequence labeled 'a,b,c,d' etc.. Do you know where that is?


----------



## sook (Oct 25, 2009)

pk_volt said:


> what's a fall line? I remember someone posted a diagram of the turn sequence labeled 'a,b,c,d' etc.. Do you know where that is?


Fall line is the imaginary line that points the fastest way down a slope. If you unstrap and let go of your snowboard, the board would draw you the fall line of the particular slope you are on, more or less.


----------



## AAA (Feb 2, 2008)

The fall line is straight down the hill, and a reference point in carving.


----------

