# Regular Turns vs Carving vs Skidding (etc. turns)



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

terrain or rated runs don't mean all that much and in some ways snow condition is the more determinate factor

also

Cross under turns...
sucking up the knees or decambering and moving or popping the board to the next edge

Jump turns...
basically hopping edge to edge or billygoat'n
steep technical

Banked turns...
using the terrain

Roll over turns...
stop, fall, roll over to the next edge, get up and go :grin:


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

In addition to the simple carved turn there's the fully stretched out, body on the snow, eurocarve turn. Hard to do with off the shelf gear or in less than perfect conditions.

A lesser, albeit handy, variant of the carved turn is the slarved turn. That's where you carve it around and push snow with a little slide at the end. It's a good way to dump speed in choppy conditions without going full on skid.


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## Kenai (Dec 15, 2013)

There is also the 180, 360, 540, etc. The tamedog and wildcat are arguably turns, the cork, the double-cork, the rodeo, the McTwist, the crippler... 

Hell, there are a lot more turns to learn!


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## deagol (Mar 26, 2014)

I would add that carved turns are probably best practiced on green runs at first. It can be tough to really nail them on a steep black, especially because you need to scrub speed.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Lessons...


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

mj49 said:


> I've been trying to take my snowboarding to the next level by learning all the various type of turning you can do on a snowboard to expand my tool set. There is so much conflicting information on the web I was hoping someone can confirm I have the techniques correct for all these turns, and when to use each type of turn.
> 
> Normal Turn
> Technique - Normal basic turn, keeping your body aligned with the board and pressuring your front foot/ turning your front knee in the direction you would like to go, maybe a little up and down movement of knees (i.e squatting) when changing edges.
> ...


I think you are splitting hairs with some of this. Just keep riding, who cares what your turn is called. I'm more interested in doing stuff rather than naming everything. One thing I will say is that skidded turns aren't the same as ruddering. Ruddering is something a beginner does when they are in the backseat, again splitting hairs a bit here. You are right that skidded turns are used as a speed check, you will see pros do this all the time when approaching a rail, but it is not ruddering. IMO anyhow.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

I get off the lift, I get on the lift. Try not to think much in betwee. I definitely turn though....


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Personally, I think there are two major type of turns.
Skidded turns and carving.
Skidded turns are just that, skidding.
Carving there is cross over and cross under.
Cross over turns are when the rider pivot at the board.
Cross under turns are when the board pivots at the hip.


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

mj49 said:


> I've been trying to take my snowboarding to the next level by learning all the various type of turning you can do on a snowboard to expand my tool set. There is so much conflicting information on the web I was hoping someone can confirm I have the techniques correct for all these turns, and when to use each type of turn.
> ...
> Carving
> Technique - Minimal rotation of the hips and body. Keep the weight distribution equal, body aligned with the board. Use your weight to lean over toe/heel and edge the board, making wide turns.
> Terrain - Blue/black groomed runs with a lot of space to work with.


Carving is when you turn your direction of travel across the fall line in a way that allows you keep all or most all of your previously acquired speed. A carved turn begins by generating ample down-force to decamber the board and engage the maximum amount of edge along the whole length of the sidecut. This downforce is created by pushing weight or squatting into the camber on your way into the turn. Typically, on good snow, the turn should be initiated by loading weight onto the nose of the board and then moving that weight back in a very even and controlled manner as the turn progresses. Basically, as you come out of the turn you push agianst the Gs and out of the squat. A well carved turn will use the entire effective edge of the snowboard. (Most skidders use maybe a third of their effective edge on a good day.) As for body mechanics, I do not believe that a good carve can be achieved with "the body aligned along the board." Most people who carve well ride with their upper bodies out of alignment with their knees and hips by about 30 degrees or so, bringing the trailing shoulder in the direction of the front of the board. It's very difficult to describe a carved turn or how to do one. All I can say is that when you're doing it properly and you can link a few carved turns together you will feel like you are on a rollercoaster. And you will come to think of the fall line as a mere suggestion rather than a predetermined path of travel.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Fielding said:


> All I can say is that when you're doing it properly and you can link a few carved turns together you will feel like you are on a rollercoaster. And you will come to think of the fall line as a mere suggestion rather than a predetermined path of travel.


People always ask me how do I make turns but still go faster. Or how can I switch edge when my board is perpendicular with the fall line.
And yes, fall line is pretty much irrelevant as your board is pretty much being supported at the edge.
I love early morning carves. You can really see your carve lines in the snow.


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## mj49 (Jan 30, 2017)

A lot of good info thanks guys!


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

speedjason said:


> People always ask me how do I make turns but still go faster. Or how can I switch edge when my board is perpendicular with the fall line.
> And yes, fall line is pretty much irrelevant as your board is pretty much being supported at the edge.
> I love early morning carves. You can really see your carve lines in the snow.


If you can turn off of your downhill edge and not eat shit then you are probably carving. Carved turns can allow you to defy gravity.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Fielding said:


> If you can turn off of your downhill edge and not eat shit then you are probably carving. Carved turns can allow you to defy gravity.


Preciously.


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

I knew that I was carving the other day when the lifty told me that people in the lift line were complaining to each other about the deep ruts I was leaving in the soft, wet snow. To tell the truth, I totally recked that shit, top to bottom, over and over again. Then the lifty asked me if my board was "a monoski or something."


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