The Ski Lite / XCD thread

[MikeK]

I getcha Dong - but the only skiers I see carving short radius turns like that are slalom skiers, and they are going pretty quick.

I have always observed, and was taught, that skidding is used to control speed i.e. the hockey stop or over-rotation of the turn. Good skiers seem to meld carving and skidding into a seamless act - I can barely tell except by looking at their tracks.

[Raventele]

Seriously Noshow ? On spring glop, the tails wash out pretty damned easily..If I were gonna do my best carves, it would be on harder snow, maybe some spring corn or sugar, and on a very wide slope with very long radius turns, and on some very very smoothly groomed snow....The situation in my vid as well as the turn radii were none of the above..And, in any case, you fail to distinguish between carving and edging..not the same things by far.

[Dongshow]

Seriously Noshow ? On spring glop, the tails wash out pretty damned easily..If I were gonna do my best carves, it would be on harder snow, maybe some spring corn or sugar, and on a very wide slope with very long radius turns, and on some very very smoothly groomed snow....The situation in my vid as well as the turn radii were none of the above..And, in any case, you fail to distinguish between carving and edging..not the same things by far.

I wasn't critiquing your form or video. It actually didn't have anything to do with you at all. I was just responding to Mike's comment that you have to be going fast to carve and that's not true at all. We do it all the time on low angle groomers making nice, slow round arcs. I understand the differences in edging and how it pertains to skidding and carving.

You brought it up, so even in spring snow you can carve without the tails washing out as long as you use the ski's sidecut and don't push too hard.

Again, it wasn't(isn't) about you.

[MikeK]

Oh I didn't mean you had to go fast to carve either. I meant you are going to pick up a lot more speed on a steeper slope carving than skidding... that's all.

I would skid a lot more on a 20° slope of hardpack to slow myself than I would on a 10° slope (I'd carve a lot more on the mild slope). If I tried to do pure carves on a 20° slope I'd being doing mach 2 - that's all I meant.

[Raventele]

I suppose you CAN do about anything,Jong..But spring glop is not the medium of choice for carving, by far!!!.. And why bother to carve on glop when you barely have to turn in it? And why is the whole ski world suddenly obsessed with "carving" ? sometimes there's nothing less elegant or ugly than obsessed carvers. And Mike's right, people generally choose lower-angle and very wide runs for carving..

[connyro]

The more I look at this thread and content in others on this site I realize that I might have accidentally poked a hornets nest with this guy. Yikes! Hope you learn how to ski someday player. Buh-bye!

[MikeK]

The more I look at this thread and content in others on this site I realize that I might have accidentally poked a hornets nest with this guy. Yikes! Hope you learn how to ski someday player. Buh-bye!

Bwahahaha! Yes - you did.

I wouldn't be too scared though, his sting is pretty mild.

[Dongshow]

I suppose you CAN do about anything,Jong..But spring glop is not the medium of choice for carving, by far!!!.. And why bother to carve on glop when you barely have to turn in it? And why is the whole ski world suddenly obsessed with "carving" ? sometimes there's nothing less elegant or ugly than obsessed carvers. And Mike's right, people generally choose lower-angle and very wide runs for carving..

Carving is fun. That said, I'm not obsessed with it. This season I've been having fun on a 20 yo pair of skis with a 35 meter turn radius and they're very good at smearing and skidding on hard snow and carving in soft snow. Yes, carving in soft snow leaving two very clean and distinct tracks. It's all fun and good for improving your skiing.

[Raventele]

The more I look at this thread and content in others on this site I realize that I might have accidentally poked a hornets nest with this guy. Yikes! Hope you learn how to ski someday player. Buh-bye!

Right And I can only hope that that you learn the appropriate snow type and run width for demonstrating your awesome carving skills
And skill at reading the stated purpose of a post might serve ya a little better as well..playuh..
And please don't be one of those assholes mowing down the babies and newbs on the green slopes as you perform your awesome carving skills for the folks in the chairlifts..I see it far far too often!
Let the wee ones go first, then you can be Bodie for us..mmmk ?

[connyro]

Since the hornets are clearly angry and biting, I will add this: Holy cow.Is this a ski site or raventeles unfiltered romper room? Anyone who skis can tell you are lacking the skills by looking at your video. Nobody except you mentioned exclusively carving trenches every turn at break-neck speed. You take criticism about as well as you ski. Theres a lot more to good technique than just your hands position. The skier at the 4:25 point in that video I linked above skis similar to the skier in your video.