7.1 Carved turns

First carved basic turns

The easiest way to start is to ride fullbase and slowly begin to edge up. Now try to make bigger and faster turns. I would not recommend a fixed, very low position at the beginning. Just try to ride in a neutral position. 

It is important to feel the edge and notice how you can lean into the turns and how this changes your turning radius. Make sure you always look in the direction you want to go and turn in slightly.

Regulating speed when carving

As soon as you are riding directly on the edge, you no longer have the option of braking in the turns as you do when you are doing skidded turns. In order to regulate your speed, you either have to extend the turns so that you ride part of the way back up the traverse, or ride tighter turns. For this reason, it is much easier to learn to carve in a flat area as you won't go too fast.

Further tips

If you already have a very good feeling, you can try to initiate the turn with your front foot. You learn a lot about snowboarding through the direction and alignment of your upper body, but the real magic happens through your hips/knees/feet.

If you bend your knees, you can use the torsion of the snowboard even more, for example by consciously tilting the front foot up and tilting the back foot down. This gives you even more influence on the radius you ride. Try to use your knees dynamically and avoid a position that is too rigid.

Continue with dynamic carving

If you don't yet know your range of motion or how to release pressure on the snowboard, I would recommend that you take a quick look at module 6.1.3 Release pressure and if everything is already clear, continue with the 7.2 Extension turn carved or 7.3 Flexion turn carved to learn how to carve more dynamically.