Learn to carve in 3 steps

Step 1: the right position – where am I standing?

Carving doesn't start in the turn but in your stance. Stand centred over the ski: knees and ankles slightly bent, hands in front of your body, shin noticeably against the front of the boot.

Exercise: ski straight ahead in a slight crouch and hop gently off the snow several times. If you're leaning back, you can't hop. Afterwards you'll feel where your centre is.

Step 2: edging instead of steering

This is the core. Instead of steering the ski into the turn, you tip it onto its edge – using knees and hips. The ski's sidecut then carves the arc by itself.

“Railroad tracks” exercise: ski slightly across a gentle slope. Gently tip both knees towards the hill without steering. The ski draws an arc uphill. Look back: two clean lines? Then that was your first carved turn.

Typical mistake: the shoulders rotate into the turn. Keep your upper body quiet and facing downhill.

Step 3: the edge change – turn by turn

Now you link the arcs. At the end of each turn you roll the skis from one edge to the other without twisting them sideways. Your body moves across the skis into the new turn.

Exercise: ski long, wide arcs on a broad slope. Focus only on the moment of transition: calm, smooth, no jerks.

How do I recognise progress?

Look at your tracks and have yourself filmed. Our self-test: skidding or carving? will help you.

Get there faster with video analysis

Every skier has their own main mistake. An instructor with video finds it in minutes. In the Carving Camp “Turn by Turn” on the Turracher Höhe you work on exactly that mistake for two mornings with Paul Pöcher, state-certified ski instructor and trainer – including a before-and-after video.