You can ski any blue run and most blacks. Your turns are linked, you rarely fall and you’re comfortable at speed. But your turns still feel a little skiddy, and you’ve watched good skiers leave two clean lines in the snow and wondered what they’re doing differently.
Carving is the difference, and a few common carving mistakes are usually what hold good skiers back. In a carved turn, your skis travel on their edges along the arc of the turn, instead of sliding sideways. Here are five of the most common carving mistakes in experienced skiers, and how to fix each one.
1. Sitting back
What happens: your hips drift behind your feet, especially on steeper terrain or at higher speed. The tips of your skis lose pressure and the tails take over. Instead of bending into an arc, the skis skid.
How to fix it: feel your shins pressing into the front of your boots through the whole turn. A simple cue: keep your hands in front of you, where you can see them. When your hands move forward, your hips usually follow.
2. Turning with the upper body
What happens: you rotate your shoulders into the turn to “steer” the skis. It works on easy terrain, but it throws you off balance and makes the skis skid out at the end of the turn.
How to fix it: keep your chest facing down the hill and let your legs turn underneath you. Imagine your upper body is a camera that always points where you’re going next, while your legs do the work.
3. Not enough edge angle
What happens: you tip your skis just a little, so they stay fairly flat. Flat skis can’t bend into an arc, so they slide.
How to fix it: roll your knees and ankles into the turn to tip the skis higher on their edges. Start on easy terrain, at moderate speed, and focus on leaving thin lines instead of a wide skid. Tipping comes from the feet and ankles first, not from leaning the whole body.
4. Weight on the wrong ski
What happens: you keep most of your weight on the inside ski, or you split it evenly the whole time. The outside ski, which should be doing most of the work, can’t grip.
How to fix it: in each turn, feel most of your pressure on the outside ski, the one farther from the center of the turn. A useful drill is to lift the inside ski’s tail slightly for a few turns. If you can do it, your balance is on the outside ski where it belongs.
5. Rushing the turn
What happens: you push your skis across the hill quickly to control speed. The turn becomes a sharp pivot followed by a skid, and the edges never get a chance to bite.
How to fix it: let the turn take time. Start each new turn early, roll gradually onto the new edges, and let the shape of the ski pull you around. Control speed with the shape of your turns, not by braking at the end of them.
Carving drills you can try
- Railroad tracks: on an easy, wide run, tip both skis onto their edges at the same time and try to leave two thin, parallel lines in the snow. No pivoting, no skidding.
- Hands on knees: for a few turns, put your hands on your knees. It keeps you forward and makes you feel the edge angle coming from your legs.
- One-ski turns: lift the inside ski slightly through the turn. If you can, your balance is on the outside ski.
- Long turns first: make big, round turns at moderate speed before trying shorter, faster ones.
Do these on easy terrain first. Carving drills on steep runs usually turn into old habits again.
How to practice carving before your trip
Carving takes repetition, and the mountain isn’t always the best place to get it. Lift rides, crowded runs and changing snow mean you get only a few good turns per run.
On our advanced ski simulator in Schaumburg, you ski continuously on a moving surface, so you can repeat the same movement dozens of times in one session. It’s a good place to work on stance, edge angles and pressure on the outside ski without distractions.
- Want feedback? Book a private lesson. An instructor will watch your turns and tell you which of these five mistakes to work on first.
- Want practice? Book an independent training session. A simulator operator is present, and you set the pace.
Quick self-check
Next time you ski, ask yourself:
- Are my shins pressing into my boots?
- Is my chest facing down the hill?
- Am I tipping my skis, or just turning them?
- Is my weight on the outside ski?
- Am I letting the turn finish, or rushing it?
Fix one thing at a time. Fixing number one often makes the biggest difference.
Train your carving near Chicago
If you live in Chicagoland and want cleaner turns this season, come train with us in Schaumburg. See Ski Lessons and Pricing & Booking.