The World's Best Groomers for Carving, According to Experts
5 Dream Groomers Across the Globe for a High Carv Ski:IQ
“Oh… this is Little Reb,” I said aloud to no one in particular. I was clicked into carving skis and flanked by two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Ted Ligety and CARV founder/CEO Jamie Grant. Standing on top of the short, blue-square pitch above the base of Deer Valley, I was unimpressed—and motivated. The modest trail was the perfect venue to throw down a good Ski:IQ, Carv’s proprietary metric that’s becoming part of the global ski lexicon.
I realized something at that moment happened that I had never experienced in my 40 years as a skier. My relation to Deer Valley’s trail map was not informed by the paper map in a jacket pocket, a large board sitting at the top of a chairlift or time spent skiing the terrain in person. Rather, I was intimately aware of this nondescript intermediate trail in the boujee Wasatch enclave of Deer Valley because of an app on my iPhone.
I knew of Little Reb because of my time watching the Carv leaderboard, studying the nuances of Ted’s turn, and repping early edge angles and fore-aft pressure in an attempt to fine tune the craft of carving. Technology as a tour guide, an on-snow coach, a data analyst, a ski instructor and a community builder. AI for good? Motion metrics, big data, tech, and machine learning as a life enhancer.
Skiing is progressing. (I’m using my least favorite ski buzzword with my tongue pressed firmly against my cheek.)
The moment I recently experienced on the manicured slopes above Park City’s Main Street sparked an idea: where are the world’s most sought-after groomers for “Carv-aholics”—Carv’s 40,000-person army of devout fans? I started to ask in the Silver Lake Lodge over espresso and bubbly water. Here are five subjective picks for the best runs in the world to put up a personal record Ski:IQ according to avid Carv users:
“Success at Deer Valley is my dream trail for Carv,” says Carv CEO and Founder Jamie Grant (Ski:IQ 150). The London-based genius is a Grim Reaper on the Carv app, a coveted title for skiers arcing turns with Carv hardware in their boots and software in their ears. The green-circle trail starts at the top of Bald Eagle Mountain on Deer Valley, it winds underneath the high-speed Silver Lake Express chairlift. Until now, I would have purposefully ignored the beginner trail on a trail map. However, on the right day with the right conditions—crisp blue skies and cold groomed snow from the “second shift” groomers, a Deer Valley tactic—Success is the perfect place for someone to trench turns to the tune of a PR. “The run should be skied in 10-turn segments,” says Grant in his analytical manner accompanied by the charming lilt of the Queen’s English. “You can warm up with a few segments on top and then really give it a go on the bottom half of Success after you’re comfortable with the conditions.”
“The Buck’s” interactive trail map, like the entire user experience on snow or online with Deer Valley, is top notch. (Photo: DeerValley.com) “La Volata run on Ski Area San Pellegrino,” says Carv super fan Bartek Tyrpa (Ski:IQ 168). “The groomers are incredible. It’s a World Cup Super G track for the women. This run is my favorite trail in the world to boost my Ski:IQ. Just watch…”
Check out “The Art of Carving” from Bartek in Passo San Pellegrino, Italy.
“For me, it’s Upper Big Stick at Deer Valley,” says George Pantazelos (Ski:IQ 166).
“They groom Upper Big Stick well so there are no spines on the run. It stays in the shade most of the day so the snow in the morning is similar to the snow at 11 am. Hidden Treasure is another one because it’s bowl-shaped. That’s the type of terrain you can play with to really ramp your edge angle, like Spar Gulch on Aspen. I’ve never skied Ajax, but I’d like to go ski Spar to see why everyone’s putting up big scores on the run. I hear it’s because Spar has a natural bowl and the perfect pitch for carving.”
George is right. Spar is the spot. I regularly watch Aspen-based skiers Chris Tatsuno, George Rodney and Lange Adams rail turns down Spar’s halfpipe corduroy.
The vastness of Whistler Blackcomb is part of the BC-based mountain’s allure. When it comes to Carv, though, there is a tiny trail that trenchers dream of scoring first-track corduroy on: Upper Olympic. A Carv Global Leaderboard mainstay—Morgan Engel (Ski:IQ 166)—put up a solid 165 on Upper Olympic’s moderate slope and wide-open trail. The key with Upper Olympic seems to be getting it sans crowds so you are arcing without battling a lineup of skiers. Another Whistler run to focus time and energy on is Franz’s. This blue-square trail is where Paul Hothersall (Ski:IQ 164) notched his high score to date.
(By the way, Hothersall is worth checking out if you’re into Carv. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone so invested and passionate in the platform!)
The Whistler Resort Leaderboard’s Top 5 includes runs on Upper Olympic, Franz’s, Springboard, Pony Trail, and Ego Bowl, respectively. (Photo: Screengrab from Carv’s Resort Leaderboard) Lastly, the best groomer in the world to spend a day carving on is… the one you’re having the most fun on! An interesting thing about tapping into Carv’s data and coaching is how the nuances of a finely executed ski turn can be honed on a beginner or intermediate trail. Most skiing adventures chase steep terrain or untouched snow. Carving is different. Boyne Mountain in Michigan, Killington in Vermont, the local rope toe in Durango or Ouray, and Beer League races under the lights in Buck Hill, Minnesota all offer prime real estate for repping the edge angles and minute details of pressure that a perfect ski turn demands.
A lot of people seem to be capturing data while skiing nowadays. Resort’s apps count days. Slopes tracks vert and speed. Carv, conversely, measures what matters. If data is going to creep into skiing, I want to make sure I’m getting the right data to drive on-snow decisions.
Carv isn’t just capturing quantitative information. Its software gives a narrative to the numbers. The customized coaching and palatable soundbites gleaned from the hardware in ski boots offers specific tips to focus on.
Thanks to Carv, groomers are no longer the thing that gets me from point A to point B on a mountain. Now, the groomer is a test lab to work on the art of a ski turn—something that takes a lifetime to perfect. We all can’t “turn like Ted,” but there’s no harm in trying…