I Purchased CARV

[MissySki]

I used Carv again for a few days.... for those who have a woman's voice, I don't know if I would want to hear the coaching from a woman - rather I have the man with the slight British accent..... he says excellent score "best skier on the mountain" ......

I tried the live coaching. I realized "it" was trying to tell me the same thing 5 different ways which wasn't increasing my score. I do like the videos, not sure about the advice. I did try my back country set up on the mountain, and scored 9s point lower, which I thought wasn't bad b/c I don't push it on my back country set up and I was only skiing blue/blacks. I have yet to get on my carving skis..... will see if I can improve my scores. Still happy with most of the feed back regarding parallel and turn shapes etc. But I can now see how the "live coaching" can be depressive. I had to turn him off after 6 runs.

Sometimes if I’m doing live coaching on a certain skill and things aren’t clicking, I move to a different metric to focus on. You can only stay stuck so long before it’s like okay onto the next! I get a lot of trampoline analogies for my weight release metric issues, for building forces… that just has not gotten through yet. I literally feel like I need to go jump on a trampoline to try and figure out what they want me to feel lol.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I ski on ice so it is what it is that Carv doesn't love all of that. The technology isn't perfect, accepting that is key and knowing that there are some variables much beyond your control is helpful too.

I'm definitely finding that this is true. My scores are consistently higher when we have hero snow and I don't think it is all down to my simply skiing better in better conditions. I can have what I know is a subpar run on a great day and it registers a higher score than deserved. The reverse is also true.

 

[elemmac]

You should have seen last season where they literally only would score carving for the most part… and the tips would be for carving in thick deep crud or basically any condition and terrain there was lol. No thanks Carv!

Considering my thoughts yesterday...I can only imagine how annoying it was last season without the different types of turns. "No thanks Carv!" is right!

The ~3" of snow we got overnight must've mostly fallen after they groomed, and by lunchtime (when I got out) EVERYTHING was just moguls...big ones, small ones, uneven bumps everywhere (many with random icy spots in between). Out of 5 runs, I got exactly ONE segment in moguls. Five in powder...lol.

I wish Carv had an option to change the type of turn to see the SkiIQ from a different set of metrics (e.g. where they called something "Powder", but I think it should have been "Moguls"...I want to know my metrics based on what I perceived the terrain to be).

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I wish Carv had an option to change the type of turn to see the SkiIQ from a different set of metrics (e.g. where they called something "Powder", but I think it should have been "Moguls"...I want to know my metrics based on what I perceived the terrain to be).

I'm betting that is coming . . .

A bit more on CARV -- one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, takeaway I've gotten so far is its enhancement of my understanding of certain instructions I've received in lessons. For instance, "Demelza" wanted me to improve my rounded turns by spending longer in the fall line before moving across. Suddenly bells went off -- it was the classic example of hearing a familiar instruction explained differently.

 

[elemmac]

I'm betting that is coming . . .

I hope so...

Along with the ability to change the ski that you were on after saving. Out of 20 days with Carv, I have remembered to change my ski exactly...once. Not that it really matters, but it'd be nice to track correctly.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

Ack @elemmac ! I didn't even realize that I could change the skis!

 

[MissySki]

I hope so...

Along with the ability to change the ski that you were on after saving. Out of 20 days with Carv, I have remembered to change my ski exactly...once. Not that it really matters, but it'd be nice to track correctly.

Last year we could not do that which was infuriating! lol I thought this year we were going to be able to, but I have not tried myself. I know they have heard this feedback so I imagine if we still can't we should be able to at some point. I'll have to take a look.

 

[SnowflowerT]

I agree with this because I have more than a few days out there now and I am getting a bit frustrated, although I have been struggling with my boots as well so hoping that provides at least a partial explanation. I was able to max out the parallel pathway and make decent progress on short turns, but I am stuck on carving! I’ve scored up to Level 19 on Turning without Skidding but on all the other skills I am a lowly Level 4! I‘m clearly missing something but not sure what it is and I’m getting frustrated trying to figure it out, as nothing seems to be working. But I’ve only had a couple of days where I’ve felt copacetic and comfortable with my equipment, so I finally went to a well reviewed bootfitter in SLC and got new boots so I’m really hoping this helps, as he told me that my existing boots (that I bought last year from a non-mountain town bootfitter) were a full size too big! It’s been a very humbling season so far, since my highest score this year is 121 compared to 137 last year (downgraded to 123 this year). Cautiously optimistic to see what this week brings.

I am in a similar situation, level 14 turning without skidding, level 30 in most parallel skills, and in carving I reach level 4 almost immediately, and not a single positive ding after that. If I hear, "Good effort, Theresa," one more time... It is maddening. On another forum, I learned that this is a system bug. The person who posted received this information from Carv. They said that to get to the next level requires the skill of a level 10 performance, and they are working on it, but no timeline was given. Several other skiers were expressing the same issue. I haven't personally confirmed this with Carv yet, but I almost can't use it at the moment. Between the conditions and not improving my score, I am letting it get in my head, and it is affecting my fun.

 

[MissySki]

I am in a similar situation, level 14 turning without skidding, level 30 in most parallel skills, and in carving I reach level 4 almost immediately, and not a single positive ding after that. If I hear, "Good effort, Theresa," one more time... It is maddening. On another forum, I learned that this is a system bug. The person who posted received this information from Carv. They said that to get to the next level requires the skill of a level 10 performance, and they are working on it, but no timeline was given. Several other skiers were expressing the same issue. I haven't personally confirmed this with Carv yet, but I almost can't use it at the moment. Between the conditions and not improving my score, I am letting it get in my head, and it is affecting my fun.

Perhaps get tips more intermittently? I am a huge Carv person, but I can’t do the ding setting constantly, that would drive me nuts.

 

[contesstant]

I am in a similar situation, level 14 turning without skidding, level 30 in most parallel skills, and in carving I reach level 4 almost immediately, and not a single positive ding after that. If I hear, "Good effort, Theresa," one more time... It is maddening. On another forum, I learned that this is a system bug. The person who posted received this information from Carv. They said that to get to the next level requires the skill of a level 10 performance, and they are working on it, but no timeline was given. Several other skiers were expressing the same issue. I haven't personally confirmed this with Carv yet, but I almost can't use it at the moment. Between the conditions and not improving my score, I am letting it get in my head, and it is affecting my fun.

I turned off the turn-by-turn chimes. They drove me nuts. It is nearly impossible to link together a series of "perfect" turns in any given metric. It would also make me very tense and unable to flow and relax.

I finally got some coaching from my husband today. Many know this, but he is an L3 instructor and has been for nearly 30 years. He gave up on helping me several seasons ago (we have only been together for 9 years) because the frustration level from me not improving caused lots of unhappy moments. I have had boot issue after boot issue, which this year has been largely resolved thanks to double BOA and ZipFits. I feel SO much more balanced than I ever had. However, years of defensive skiing have created some horrific habits. Anyhoo, today, after watching the latest Deb Armstrong video where she was coaching a guy about my age (mid-50s) who had a similar CARV score (120ish) and skied very much like I do, husband and I set out with some specific drills and goals. My overall ski IQ did not improve, but my turn shape metric did as did the finishing my turns metric. CARV can be taken as so one-dimensional and it can be quite unrewarding in that regard. (Trust me, I know firsthand.) So, picking out a metric that my husband and I both know I can improve on and focusing on that with the goal of undoing some bad habits is my new goal.

One HUGE hurrah today was a new high score that was at least 10 points higher on a flat section. I spent a few runs following my husband skiing much more slowly than I normally do, and finishing my turns without worrying about my CARV score. Finishing turns requires feet to be beneath you and edge angles to be higher than what might be "comfortable". It's also much slower at first.

So, choose a metric and focus on that. The scores will follow. It's a puzzle. And there's a reason why when you see a lesson of intermediate or higher skiers out, they are NOT going fast. Speed does not equal skill.

One thing I wish I could do with the CARV app is have a graph that shows each metric from day 1 until current. I love data and statistics and would like to be able to see the changes in scores of various metrics on one screen.

Here is the Deb Armstrong video I was talking about:

 

[contesstant]

OH, and Deb's video has made me want to buy a mid-70s waisted ski even more now. I am looking at Blizzard Phoenix R13 ti. I need the flattest system binding I can get my hands on, and those have it. Couple that with the same wood core and metal laminates and I think they'll have a familiar feeling to my Black Pearl 88s, which I absolutely love.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

In a recent lesson in WV, my instructor had me doing some of those exact drills. After that lesson I went from a Ski IQ of 121 to 128, and maxed out all parallel levels except turn shape, which is sitting stubbornly at 27 - a vestige I am told from my days on straight skis.

 

[Bsheresq]

I am in a similar situation, level 14 turning without skidding, level 30 in most parallel skills, and in carving I reach level 4 almost immediately, and not a single positive ding after that. If I hear, "Good effort, Theresa," one more time... It is maddening. On another forum, I learned that this is a system bug. The person who posted received this information from Carv. They said that to get to the next level requires the skill of a level 10 performance, and they are working on it, but no timeline was given. Several other skiers were expressing the same issue. I haven't personally confirmed this with Carv yet, but I almost can't use it at the moment. Between the conditions and not improving my score, I am letting it get in my head, and it is affecting my fun.

Well I’m glad to hear it’s not just me! Hopefully that gets fixed soon. Interestingly, I demoed Nordica Santa Ana’s today and got my best parallel, carving and short turns scores, and I improved by 5 points for both carving & parallel. Made for a fun day!

 

[contesstant]

Best scores of the season today on not the greatest snow. It wasn't CARV that got me there, CARV just confirmed it. What got me there was coaching from my L3 husband on Sunday. CARV has its limitations for sure. It can definitely show trends in edge angles and show weaknesses or asymmetry, but nothing compares to a human coaching and providing real-world feedback. Some of my metrics shot up by 20 points or more! Long story short--I never finish my turns. Right now, to do so, I have to slow way down. But when I do, my scores go up. It's that whole "ski the fast line slow" thing.

 

[MissySki]

Best scores of the season today on not the greatest snow. It wasn't CARV that got me there, CARV just confirmed it. What got me there was coaching from my L3 husband on Sunday. CARV has its limitations for sure. It can definitely show trends in edge angles and show weaknesses or asymmetry, but nothing compares to a human coaching and providing real-world feedback. Some of my metrics shot up by 20 points or more! Long story short--I never finish my turns. Right now, to do so, I have to slow way down. But when I do, my scores go up. It's that whole "ski the fast line slow" thing.

This could be part of my satisfaction with it as well... I do a seasonal program with all level 3 instructors. So I am not relying on Carv for all of my feedback I get a bunch of in person instruction time. I use it more to get data for the "feel vs real" piece when I'm skiing on my own. In addition to the fun data piece and sometimes focusing on specific metrics of course.

I've also been advocating for any of our instructors to use Carv so it could be incorporated into our instruction as well. That would really increase the usefulness in my book. Some seem very open to it and interested but would want the ski school to fund it so not sure how easy that will be. lol It will be going in my end of season survey again this year though.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

This could be part of my satisfaction with it as well... I do a seasonal program with all level 3 instructors. So I am not relying on Carv for all of my feedback I get a bunch of in person instruction time. I use it more to get data for the "feel vs real" piece when I'm skiing on my own. In addition to the fun data piece and sometimes focusing on specific metrics of course.

I've also been advocating for any of our instructors to use Carv so it could be incorporated into our instruction as well. That would really increase the usefulness in my book. Some seem very open to it and interested but would want the ski school to fund it so not sure how easy that will be. lol It will be going in my end of season survey again this year though.

The pro deal cost is very reasonable. Our school does not fund it and many instructors use it.

 

[MissySki]

The pro deal cost is very reasonable. Our school does not fund it and many instructors use it.

They probably haven’t looked at it, perhaps I should so I can mention the pricepoint!

 

[contesstant]

This could be part of my satisfaction with it as well... I do a seasonal program with all level 3 instructors. So I am not relying on Carv for all of my feedback I get a bunch of in person instruction time. I use it more to get data for the "feel vs real" piece when I'm skiing on my own. In addition to the fun data piece and sometimes focusing on specific metrics of course.

I've also been advocating for any of our instructors to use Carv so it could be incorporated into our instruction as well. That would really increase the usefulness in my book. Some seem very open to it and interested but would want the ski school to fund it so not sure how easy that will be. lol It will be going in my end of season survey again this year though.

Yes, I think it's most useful when using it with instruction by a person for sure.

One thing I wish CARV would do is show each metric on a graph for the entire season. Otherwise, it's having to go back and forth and back and forth between days and metrics and I'm really not into putting it all into a graph. I am a huge data nerd and also am trying to get my right and left turns more symmetrical, so I really want graphs that show this.

My edge angles are more than 10 degrees higher this year-woohoo! That's one that is easy to remember.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@contesstant I feel the same but it would have to be broken down by turn type because the metrics on a progression scale would look very different depending on the type of turn that I was using each one in. For example edge angle could be an IQ score of 150 for local turns but be very low as far as an individual score whereas the same IQ edge angle score for a carved turn would be much much higher so the chart would need to reflect the score within each category for me to be able to really use it well but I completely agree. Sometimes I literally go back and look at each days highest scoring type of turn segment and try to compare that way but it takes forever.

 

[gourmetJo]

Yes, I think it's most useful when using it with instruction by a person for sure.

One thing I wish CARV would do is show each metric on a graph for the entire season. Otherwise, it's having to go back and forth and back and forth between days and metrics and I'm really not into putting it all into a graph. I am a huge data nerd and also am trying to get my right and left turns more symmetrical, so I really want graphs that show this.

My edge angles are more than 10 degrees higher this year-woohoo! That's one that is easy to remember.

I might be wrong but I think what you are looking for is in the app. You can change the metric to see your progress in each one for day, month, and year. I was looking for the same info and just realized it is the bars at the top on the right side of the home page across from your name.