Carve turn

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Skiing technique
Stem Snowplough turn Stem Christie Parallel turn Carve turn Telemark turn Pivot turn

A modern "parabolic" ski. It is narrower at the binding than at the ends.

A carve turn happens when the skis shifts to one side or the other on its edges and lets the ski turn itself driven by the sidecut geometry while not losing any speed, as happens in a normal parallel turn. Shaped skis, first developed in 1989, were almost unheard of prior to the early 1990s but have since become the most common, and in many areas, only recreational ski available. Parabolic skis have made the "carve turn" possible at low speed and with short turn radius.

The idea of carving skis was developed when the question of skidding of the ski was approached from a different perspective. Two basic assumptions were applied: the ski will bend when edged (edging is the angling of the ski running base with the snow surface) only to the point when ski center gets in contact with snow surface; the ski will not skid only when all the points of the edge of the ski travel through the same point on the snow surface. If radius of a turn is chosen together with edge angle, calculation of sidecut (intersection of snow and ski surface) is relatively easy. The final result was radical parabolic sidecut.

Recreational skiing is usually done at speeds in range between 5 m/s and 15 m/s with average turn radius of less than 15 m. Accordingly sidecuts of modern recreational skis are calculated for turn radius of approximately 7 to 15 m.

The skier is skiing in dynamic equilibrium and to balance the centrifugal force the skier has to bring their centre of mass to the inside of the turn radius. Beginners to the sport are often hesitant to angulate into turns as they feel that such an action will cause them to fall. Ski instructors are therefore tasked with teaching new skiers to overcome this hesitation.

Carving typically involves the skier making a series of "C"s or half circles down the hill. Some instructors teach their students to think of these half circles as a clock, with references to the numbers on a clock. For example, the most extreme left portion of a turn would be at 9 o'clock and the extreme right is 3 o'clock. The turns are accomplished by utilizing a "rolling" of both skis from edge to edge.