What Is Carving?

What Carving Is

A carved turn is one where the edges alone set the path. The ski travels along its own arc, with no slipping or skidding.^[1] In a skidded turn you push the skis around; in a carved turn the skis take you around.^[5]

The arc comes from the ski’s shape. A ski is narrower underfoot than at the tip and tail — its sidecut — and that curve is given as a radius in meters. Tip the ski on edge and press it into the snow, and it bends along that curve. The more you tip it, the tighter the turn. In the idealized physics, the turn radius is the sidecut radius times the cosine of the edge angle:^[1]

turn radius ≈ sidecut radius × cos(edge angle)

A ski with a 13 m sidecut, tipped to 60°, describes a turn of about 6.5 m. That is why the same ski can make a long arc at a low edge angle and a tight one when it is laid over.

Why Carve

• Less wasted effort. Skidding throws away energy that the ski’s shape could be doing for you.^[5]
• Speed managed by turn shape. A carved turn loads the skis harder than gliding straight down, and the extra snow friction slows the rise in speed.^[2]
• It is the foundation. Edging, pressure and balance are the same skills instructors build for every other kind of skiing.^[3]

It has limits. Pure carving works on groomed snow, and only on slopes that are not too steep for the speed it builds — one physics model puts the critical pitch at roughly 8–20°. Beyond that, good skiers blend carving with some skidding.^[2]

How to Carve

PSIA, the US instructors’ association, describes the fundamentals of skiing in five lines.^[3] Here they are, with what each looks like in a carved turn:

1. Stay centered. Control where your mass sits over your feet so pressure runs along the length of the skis.^[3] Stay over the outside foot with steady shin pressure on the tongue of the boot.^[7]
2. Work the outside ski. Move pressure from ski to ski and direct it toward the outside ski of the turn.^[3]
3. Tip the skis on edge. Edge angle comes from a mix of inclination and angulation.^[3] Roll the skis onto their edges from your feet, ankles and knees instead of pushing or steering the tails,^[6] while the upper body counters to stay balanced over the outside ski.^[5]
4. Turn with the legs. Rotate the skis with the legs, separate from the upper body.^[3]
5. Manage the pressure. Regulate how much pressure builds between ski and snow through the turn.^[3]

Drills

• Railroad Tracks. On an easy groomed run, tip your ankles and knees a little and let the skis turn on their own, without steering. Look back: you want two clean lines.^[6] PSIA uses the same exercise in its instructor assessments.^[4]
• Outside-ski turns. Lift the inside ski and turn on the outside ski alone.^[6]
• Side slipping. Slide sideways down a blue run, releasing and setting the edges.^[6]

Common mistakes

• Leaning in. Tipping the whole body into the turn instead of rolling the skis on edge at the feet.^[7]
• Sitting back. Hips behind the feet and no contact with the front of the boot.^[7]

Our instructors coach these fundamentals in private lessons.

Choosing Carving Skis

• Waist width. Carving skis run about 65–80 mm underfoot; frontside skis about 80–90 mm.^[8]
• Turn radius. Short-turn skis sit around 11–14 m; longer-turn skis measure more.^[11][16] Pick the turn you want to make most.
• Length changes the radius. Manufacturers list a different radius for each length — the Stöckli Laser SL runs from 11.0 m at 150 cm to 14.5 m at 170 cm.^[11]

The three brands we carve on

• Stöckli — founded in 1935 and building skis in Malters, near Lucerne, at what it says is the last ski factory in Switzerland.^[13]
• Ogasaka — making skis in Nagano, Japan since 1912.^[14]
• Van Deer — Marcel Hirscher’s ski company, with its factory in Scheffau am Tennengebirge, Austria.^[17]

For a wider field, see our best carving skis guide and the Laser SC vs Mirus Cor comparison.

Edge tune matters too. For advanced skiers on hard snow, one race-tuning guide suggests a 0.5–1° base and 2–3° side bevel^[18] — our tuning bench can set yours.

Choosing Boots for Carving

Carving starts with tipping from the feet and ankles,^[6] and the boot is what connects them to the ski.

• Fit first. Atomic recommends buying boots at a specialist shop with trained staff and a large selection.^[10] See our boot fitting guide.
• Last width. Atomic’s bands: narrow under 98 mm, medium around 100 mm, wide 102 mm and up.^[10]
• Flex. Flex numbers are not standardized, so the same number can feel different between brands.^[10] One master bootfitter’s ranges: men intermediate 100–120 and expert 120+; women intermediate 80–90 and advanced/expert 90–120.^[9] More in our flex guide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between carving and skidding?

In a carved turn the edges alone set the path — the ski travels along its own arc and leaves two thin lines in the snow. In a skidded turn the skis slip sideways through part of the turn and leave a wide, smeared track.

What turn radius should a carving ski have?

Short-turn slalom skis measure around 11–14 m — the Stöckli Laser SL runs 11.0–14.5 m and the Van Deer SL 11–12.5 m, depending on length. Skis built for longer turns measure more.

How wide should a carving ski be?

One gear guide puts carving skis at 65–80 mm underfoot and frontside skis at around 80–90 mm.

What boot flex do I need for carving?

Flex numbers are not standardized between brands, so treat them as a rough guide. One master bootfitter’s ranges: men intermediate 100–120 and expert 120+; women intermediate 80–90 and advanced 90–120.

Can you carve on every slope?

No. Pure carving works on groomed snow and on slopes that are not too steep for the skier’s speed. On steeper pitches good skiers blend carving with some skidding to control speed.