“You got this!” bellowed out a voice.
I was at the peak of a mountain top in Stubai, the largest glacier ski area in Austria. Snow was falling, visibility was low, and I was unprepared. My goggles were designed for sunshine, my calves were aching, and I certainly didn’t feel like I had it at all.
“Lean back and put more weight on the outside ski as you turn”, she added, urging me to continue when all I really wanted to do was explore the Austrian après ski scene with a cold pint and maybe (just maybe) a shot of Jägermeister. But I persevered, locked in a fierce competition with myself to improve my Ski IQ.
This was not an instructor, but the voice of Carv, the digital coaching app revolutionising the world of skiing.
Learning to ski does not come cheap. You can fork out over €100 per day for a group class in the region, a cost that is generally doubled for a private one – and don’t even get me started on prices in the US. That all changes with Carv.
Created for those looking to take their technique up a few notches, Carv is a pocket PT to make you better at a sport that you love. You must have enough ski know-how to brave the slopes solo, so it’s not made for complete beginners, but the ideal customer is someone who believes they can do better. Even for those who have been skiing their whole lives, you can always finesse the fundamentals – but you’re unlikely to pay three figures for the privilege.
Dubbed by the brand as the ‘World’s Biggest Ski School’, there are already 35,000 users positioned in a leaderboard, all looking to improve the Carv trademarked Ski IQ – determined through 13 metrics to measure how well you nail techniques like balance, edging, pressure and rotary.
There are apps aplenty for tracking your stats on the mountain, but Carv is made to actually teach you, knowing what is happening instantly with your feet and aiming to speed up the learning loop by teaching you complicated skills and driving you to be better with simple, fast and real-time feedback that is adjusted depending on your level.
We took the Carv coach for a slope test to find out if it deserves a place in your ski arsenal.
Specs
- 9-axis 3D motion
- 72 pressure sensors (36 per insert)
- 3mm ultra-thin, <296g insert fits in any ski boot
- Battery chemistry optimised for the cold - 3-day battery life per charge
- Low-energy Bluetooth system to minimise phone power drain
- GPS tracking and automatic run identification
- Waterproof and snowproof design
- Data captured 20 times a second across 13 performance metric
Set-up
When you purchase Carv, you must add the hardware (insoles and battery pack) to your basket as well as a subscription that can be purchased for six days, a year or two, so you can tailor it to the amount of time you spend on the mountain.
The insole is placed between the hard exterior of your boots and the soft cushioned liner so does not touch your feet directly. It’s affixed with tape and there are three different sizes. Clip the battery pack on the sturdy, still part of your boot rather than the upper that moves. It is made up of 36 different pressure sensors that can detect movement, pressure, G-force and axis. Data is captured 20 times a second. This is hi-tech stuff.
The battery lasts three days, but you will probably get up to five days’ worth out of it. It was created to not only survive but thrive in cold climates and goes into sleep mode when not in use. The tech is hard-wearing to see you through rugged environments and shouldn’t degrade if left on low charge.
Download the app and fill out a brief questionnaire with your current ability and goals. Pairing the insoles with your phone is a simple matter of holding them close together.
Features
There are a few different modes that you can use once you reach the mountain top. It is worth beginning on Free Ski to establish your baseline Ski IQ and the elements that you need to work on to rise up the leaderboard. The experience has been designed so that you don’t need to take your phone out throughout, so it’s kind to cold hands, guiding you through techniques through your headphones. It’s Siri compatible too so you can ask to repeat or pause.
Carv has teamed up with Olympic gold medallist Ted Ligety to create ‘Train with an Olympian’. Ted himself walks you through essential skills like edge similarity and early edging. When you achieve the designated number of stellar turns, you move on to the next level. Once the stage is complete, you tackle another skill, while there is still an emphasis to maintain and keep intact the previous one you just learned so you’re constantly building. There are 40 levels and four skills.
There’s also a challenge mode with activities like how many turns can you do in 30 seconds – one that will surely get competitive among your group.
Want to see yourself in action? Get your ski mate involved – whether they have Carv or not. They can scan your QR code and film you as you nail those turns. The video is then immediately available in the Video Coach tab with a graph showing the Ski IQ of each turn.
Coming soon
We were lucky enough to mountain-test a new coaching mode that will guide you through technique, providing context and tips as you ski. This highly motivating function adjusts the difficulty level based on how you ski with satisfying sounds when you’re acing it.
Other new features include the ability to detect the terrain and adjust your coaching to suit as well as your score – if you are at a steeper spot or there is softer powder, you will gain more points.
Price
Membership from £79
Device on sale from November 22-27 - was: £199, now: £119
Verdict
Ellie Davis
Level: Intermediate
Ideal ski holiday: Après, sauna and a side of skiing.
When I go on a ski holiday, I like to stress the latter and take it as easy as possible. Skiing is, of course, important but ideally, I will spend the better part of the trip in après or lunching in the mountains. This is not conducive to improving technique, so I was keen to see if the Carv could help with this – and I was very pleasantly surprised.
While some of the terms read out to me in my ear were unfamiliar at first, when I had a minute on the lift, I was able to read up on what was meant and watch tutorial videos on the app, which really helped. I particularly enjoyed the training of specific focus areas, hearing a satisfying ding when I nailed balance, outside ski pressure and the like. To guide you in your practice, the coach makes helpful comparisons like ‘pretend your skis are made of glass’ to reduce pressure or ‘you should be able to fit a marble between ski and snow’.
You feel a real sense of achievement, especially with the coach’s praise. Real-time feedback encourages you to get competitive and strive to do better. You may not be able to beat the pros in the leaderboard or your born-skiing friends on Ski IQ but you can on XP (experience points).
There is an advantage to incorporating this as part of your skiing as early as possible so you can prevent bad habits as it’s easy to reset back to your default movement when things get hairy, mogul-y or visibility is reduced but the reminders in coaching mode really helped to encourage you to think about every aspect and what your body is doing. I went from a Ski IQ of 87 to 101 by the end of day two.
I’m looking forward to flexing my skills and learning more on my next trip.
Charley Jacobs
Level: Advanced
Ideal ski holiday: full-day skiing followed by après
While I too like the après scene, when I go skiing, my priority is to get on the slopes as early as possible. I have been skiing for most of my life and spent an entire season in the Alps 10 years ago. My technique is far from perfect, but I feel confident skiing down any run and adventuring off-piste. When I first heard of Carv, I was sceptical – surely, it’s not made for someone like me who’s a seasoned veteran?
However, from the first run I used Carv, I realised I was wrong. As I stopped, Carv reached out my Ski IQ: 118 – far from the 160 of Janus Hecht at the top of the leaderboard. From that second, I was determined to get my Ski IQ as high as possible. And Carv told me exactly what I needed to do to do so.
My area of focus was Edge Similarity. When on the chair lift, a voice explained to me what this meant, and how I could improve. There are different modes to train, monitor and challenge this skill, all of which I utilised to improve my skiing. And it worked. By day two, my Ski IQ had improved to 134.
Not only did Carv improve my skiing, but it also added an extra element of fun to the trip. Conditions weren’t great on the second day, and while in the past I would have been tempted to go inside and have a hot chocolate (or beer), I wanted to stay out to see how high up the leaderboard I could get.
As someone who would never spend money on a ski instructor, Carv has been a game changer. I figured the level I’m at now is the level I’ll stay at. But after just two days of using Carv, I can’t wait to get back on the slopes and keep improving my technique (and of course getting a higher Ski IQ and rising up the leaderboard).
Buy now, Carv
