LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 44 I am skiing a steep, ungroomed trail on Whiteface Mountain, listening to a voice in my head — a sooth- ing, female voice — rattle off random numbers: 17, 32, 18, 45, 21. No, I'm not crazy. I've purchased the Carv app, a dig- ital ski coach, and it (she?) is telling me my edge angle on every turn as I turn. A low edge angle is one of my biggest flaws, so that's what I'm focusing on today. But thanks to Carv, I have discovered a variety of heretofore unknown skills to work on, such as pressure smoothness, early for- ward movement, progressive edge build and mid-turn balance. Developed in Europe, Carv analyzes your turns using a dozen metrics and displays the results in easy-to- grasp graphics on your smart phone. It also calculates your Ski IQ for each segment of each run (a segment is the distance between stops). In theory, an average ski- er's IQ would be 100, but based on my scores, I suspect Carv grades on a generous curve. The amount of data generated by the app is impres- sive, almost overwhelming. I skied with Carv more than a dozen times last winter and still have much to learn. To demonstrate, let's stick with edge angle. On my best segment of the day, I earned a Ski IQ of 124. Carv gave me good marks for balance, ski pres- sure and rotary movement but only an OK grade for edging. This was based on four edging metrics, in- cluding edge angle. My average angle was 29 degrees, short of my target. Diving deeper, I am taken to a video and an explanation of the importance of edge angle. From here, I can go to a short instructional vid- eo and a list of do's and don'ts. Or I can go to another page to see a bar graph and line chart showing my progress over recent days. Phew! And that's just one metric. The app generates a similar trove of data for the other 11 measurements. It also keeps track of the number of turns (and maps them) for each segment and at the end of the day tots up the miles skied and feet descended. It even records your time on the lifts. On my day at Whiteface, I skied 10.2 miles, descended 11,534 feet and reached a top speed of 27.3 miles an hour. In my first few weeks us- ing the app, I skied almost 70 miles, descended nearly 80,000 feet and made 6,493 turns. By now you're probably wondering how Carv works. I shelled out $199 for the hardware: thin boot inserts with dozens of tiny sensors, which are installed be- neath the boot liners, and Bluetooth trackers that clip onto the power straps. The rechargeable trackers transmit data to the app on your phone. When skiing, you don't notice the hardware. If you have Bluetooth earbuds, you can get instant feedback on every turn, but this can be a distraction if you're just skiing for fun. This year, the company upgraded its software, so the boot inserts are no longer needed. This means you can easily try the device on all your boots. Carv 2, as it's called, also is able to measure your performance on ungroomed as well as groomed snow. The Carv 2 device costs $249. To get access to all the data, you need to buy a subscription. The cheapest costs $119 for six ski days. The most popular option costs $249 for a full year. If you cancel, you will continue to receive some data, such as Ski IQ, vertical feet and speed. If this seems pricey, consider that the cost of a two-hour lesson at Whiteface costs $259, not including a tip. A three-hour private lesson at Vail will run you over a thousand dollars. People who have reviewed Carv, including experts, say it has improved their skiing. A friend in Colorado tells me that ski instructors at Snowmass use the app Gear Review: The Carv App By Phil Brown

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