Learning to Ski: Carving skiing lesson - bergfex.com

With carving the edges of your skis cut into the snow and take you around the curve as if on rails. To make sure you don't slip-slide across the snow as you do when parallel turning, with carving you angle your skis more. The sharper the angle the better you'll cut into the snow and the less likely you'll be to slip sideways. Exercises On the right terrain the following exercises will bring you your first successes very quickly. 1. In the first exercise stand at an angle to the slope and practice edging the ski into the snow. To do this point your knees towards the mountain. For the second exercise find yourself a very flat and broad piste. To edge the skis move your knees towards the inside of the curve you want. With the upper body you rotate lightly in the opposite direction. 3. The third exercise can be done on a slightly steeper but still flat slope. Start with a normal angled descent during which you're pushing your knees towards the mountain like you did in the first exercise and the tapered shape of your carving skis steers the tips of your skis uphill until you come to a stop. Before the next start turn the ski tips slightly further downwards in the direction of the valley. Repeat this until you finally start off in the fall line, i.e. until the tips of your skis point entirely in the direction of the valley when you start. Make sure that you edge both skis with equal pressure. That means pushing both skis towards the mountain. From the furrows left behind by your skis you'll be able to tell whether you've been slipping or carving. With the last preliminary exercise you've passed the very important second part of the carving movement. Now let's take another look at the carving movement in its entirety. To take pressure off the ski you move your upper body forwards and upwards. At the highest point of the upward movement the pressure leaves the skis. So that's the best point to change edges. This is followed by a slow downward movement where you concentrate on pushing both knees uniformly towards the inside of the curve. Okay, let's sum it all up again. Move your upper body forwards and upwards. At the highest point change the ski edges, then the downward movement and push your knees uniformly towards the inside of the curve. The best place to practice your first carving movement is a broad and very flat piece. Later you can play with steepness, speed and radius. The Bergfecht Ski Academy wishes you lots of fun and success.