Former NCAA Alpine Racer Teaches You How To Carve Like Ted Ligety

The humble turn is an oft-overlooked part of the modern skiing experience. These days, it's cliffs this and backflips that. What happened to the good old-fashioned carve?

If all this X-Games stunt ditch nonsense is getting you down, Ski Dad TV is here to save the day with stellar carving tips featuring a cameo from alpine racer Ted Ligety.

Okay, I admit it -- I was a bit silly in those opening paragraphs. Tricks and that "X-Games nonsense" are cool, and so is laying down a mean carve. Skiing's plenty big enough for both.

But for me, and probably countless other skiers who grew up in the mid-2000s, the turn was a forgotten art -- I wasn't totally goofing around there.

We young millennials came of age when the fat ski reached full market saturation. Instead of dialing in our turns, we skipped over the fundamentals by hopping on a pair of fat or mid-fats. We straight-lined groomers, only changing course to skitter around obstacles without letting our edges bite.

That method of skiing is fun, but there's a certain thrill you can only get if you're leaning into your turns. And properly bending a ski, like backflips and cork 720s, is an art.

So good on Ski Dad TV for keeping us all educated. I don't know about you, but his soliloquy on carves not requiring a "forward move" was highly informative for me. Now, it just needs to snow in western Montana, so I can try his tips out.

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