Snow Skills

Since shaped skis have become the norm in alpine gear, it’s become common to see skiers going down the hill in a carved turn pretty much everywhere. To keep up the times, you can improve your carving through effective edging:

A carve is typically considered a parallel turn where the arc of the skis is steady and results in defined tracks in the snow. To accomplish this, you don’t need to edge more, just use some edging to your best benefit.

Try focusing on flexing your knees and ankles to edge the skis, rather than extending your legs and steering the ski to edge it.  Avoid a movement where you push your foot toward the outside of the turn with little edge angle, and then drive the ski up on edge with force.  The best edging movements come from tipping the skis sideways onto their edges and then balancing on them through the turn.  When both knees are moving together toward the direction of the turn, you’re probably using your legs in an effective manner.