About the Author
This article was written by June, an experienced snowboarder and AASI Level 1 certified instructor with years of riding and teaching experience across a wide range of terrain and conditions. She works with developing riders on fundamentals, edge control, turn shape and progression into more advanced riding, including carving. Her advice is based on first-hand teaching experience and years spent on snow.
I get asked this all the time.
“I can link turns on green runs without face-planting every other turn. Am I ready to start carving?”
The real answer is: probably not yet.
Being able to switch edges doesn’t mean you can jump straight into clean carving. Carving isn’t one single trick you suddenly “get”. It’s a whole progression.
A ton of riders skip the middle steps, force it on steeper runs, and end up skidding the whole way down.
They might occasionally get a nice bit of edge hold, but they never really learn how to lay down a clean, controlled line.
So in this post I’m going to go through the progression I use with riders, plus a few drills that will help you move from basic linked turns towards actual carving.
Step 1: Get Your Basic Turns Solid and Start Practicing Early Edge Changes
Quick recap of how most new riders change edges:
You shift your weight, ride straight down the fall line for a moment, then roll onto the new edge.
In other words, you switch edges when your board is pointing more or less straight downhill.
An early edge change means you start rolling onto the new edge before the board fully lines up with the fall line.
You’re probably thinking:
“Wait. When I was a total beginner, changing edges too early was exactly how I caught an edge and ate snow. Why would I practice that now?”
Fair question.
There are two big reasons.
First, on steeper blue runs, earlier edge changes can give you much better speed control. You don’t suddenly accelerate into the turn and then have to slam on the brakes at the bottom of it.
Second, if you leave the edge change too late once you start working towards carving, you don’t give the new edge enough time to engage cleanly. You just end up skidding through the turn again.
Earlier edge changes help you make fuller, rounder turns, with a smoother rhythm and less of that awkward dead spot between edges.
The reason a proper early edge change doesn’t automatically cause an edge catch comes down to how you’re travelling across the slope.
Your board needs to be moving cleanly in the direction the nose is pointing. If you’re drifting sideways down the hill on a flat base, trying to tip onto the new edge early is a very different story.
Two things matter here:
Make sure you’re actually travelling across the hill in the direction your nose is pointing. If you’re side-slipping down the fall line, an early edge change can absolutely send you flying.
Keep some momentum through the transition. If you slow almost to a stop before changing edges, don’t force the early change. You need enough movement for the board to keep tracking properly.
Here’s a little drill I like for edge changes: use your ankles actively.
For example, going from toe edge to heel edge, start by flexing your front ankle first. Let the nose begin to come around, then bring the back ankle with it.
Same idea the other way.
At first there’ll be a noticeable delay between your front and back foot. Falls may happen, that’s fine. As you get better, shorten that delay until the edge change feels smooth and almost simultaneous.
Step 2: Once Early Edge Changes Feel Solid, Build Speed Gradually
Carving needs some speed.
That’s what allows the edge to bite and start cutting a clean line through the snow. You’re not going to hold a proper carve at walking pace.
There’s also a nice side effect here – once you start riding more cleanly on edge, you skid less. Less skidding means less friction, so speed starts to build naturally anyway.
A really common mistake is getting the early edge change dialled and then immediately charging for the steepest run you can find.
Don’t.
Speed from a steep pitch is very different from speed you’re actually in control of. If you just point it down something steep, you’ll probably tense up, your weight will drift back without you even noticing, and suddenly you’re back to skidding and washing out every turn.
How to practice it
Choose a mellow blue run and make big, open, round turns.
Little by little, allow more speed to build inside each turn.
Get used to the extra pressure and G-force. Keep your knees flexed, stay centred over the board, and keep your upper body calm.
The important bit is this:
You should still be able to make clean early edge changes as the speed increases.
If your turns suddenly fall apart the moment you go faster, that’s your sign to back off and drill it slower again.
There’s no prize for skipping stages.
Step 3: Once Speed Feels Comfortable, Start Working on Proper Edge Hold
Before trying to throw your whole body into a carve, spend some time building edge awareness.
You want to understand what the board actually feels like as you tilt it from one edge to the other.
Use your ankles actively. Flex and extend them. Feel how small ankle movements change the angle of the board underneath you.
One of the easiest signs that you’re getting it right is the track you leave behind.
If you’re carving cleanly, you should see a thin, sharp line in the snow rather than a wide smeared skid mark.
Then we can start working on the big movement:
full-body inclination.
At the beginning, I want the ankles much more locked and stable. You can use the photos here to get an idea of what I mean.
A more closed, roughly right-angle ankle position gives you a much firmer platform. If the ankles collapse too much, the board starts flattening out and you lose that strong edge.
Practice the feeling while standing still first.
Lock the ankles, brace your core and lean your whole body towards the toe edge.
Then do the same towards the heel edge.
Don’t fold at the waist. Don’t throw your hips out. Think of your body as one solid unit tipping over.
Once that feels familiar, try it on snow, one edge at a time.
Heel edge entry
Press your front shoulder slightly down into the turn, keep your weight centred between both feet and brace your core.
Look where you want the turn to go.
Your eyes should be looking further around the arc than the nose of your board is currently pointing.
Keep the ankles stable and drive pressure through your heels as the edge engages.
Toe edge entry
Same principle.
Eyes into the turn, core tight, whole body leaning towards the centre of the arc.
Keep the ankles stable and drive pressure through the balls of your feet.
Once you can make clean arcs on both edges separately, you can start joining them together and experimenting with a more open stance.
Open the shoulders and hips slightly, extend the arms out and think about the feeling of an aeroplane banking into a turn.
It sounds stupid, but it works.
This drill helps you understand how your whole body moves through the carve and how the turn shape changes as the edge angle builds.
One important thing…
Don’t rush the edge change.
Let the board finish the turn and carry you across the slope.
Hold the edge for a slow one-two-three, then roll smoothly onto the next edge and repeat the same full-body movement.
That pause gives you time to actually feel what the board is doing, and your turns usually become much more symmetrical because of it.
In Summary
These drills work best if you build them up gradually.
Don’t skip straight to the harder stages because you managed one nice carve by accident.
You might get a few short, clean arcs early on, which is great. But if the fundamentals underneath them aren’t solid, the cracks usually show up as soon as the terrain gets steeper or the speed increases.
Then the weight drifts back, the board starts skidding again, and bad habits creep in.
Get the early edge change right.
Then add speed.
Then work on edge hold and inclination.
It’s not the glamorous answer, but that progression is what gives you a carve you can actually rely on rather than one that only appears for three turns on the perfect bit of piste.
