That moment is most of why I ride, and yet what I kept repeating was biting for an instant and losing it again straight away. Deciding I had not leaned far enough and leaning further only grew the number of times I went down on the inside.
【Start with the shape of your legs】
The work is not leaning but building a stance, and once the stance is right your body drops on its own. The feet turn slightly inward while the front leg extends a little and the back leg tucks up into the pelvis, just above the tailbone. Rather than dropping your backside you lower the pelvis itself, then let the thighs follow the shape it makes and the position appears.
It sounds strange written down, but once that shape is there you settle into a low position without ever meaning to lean.
The arms matter just as much, kept slightly bent in a fighting stance so both hands can balance you. Your weight sits mid-foot or a touch toward the back foot.
None of this needs a board, so if you are only standing and shaping the position you can practise it at home, and locking it in before you get on snow is probably the shortest route there is.
【Stretch out the part where it bites】
Once the stance is there the next thing is feeling the edge, and this is where it gets hard.
It is simply a matter of stretching out that sensation of the board running by itself, and although it lets go almost immediately at first you keep working at holding it a little longer. That alone runs out of road soon enough, though.
What comes after that is where you look. Partway through a heelside turn, at the peak or a little before it, you already turn your head toward the toeside.
It looks simple and it is genuinely difficult, because in a turn you cannot help watching the turn you are already in. What actually mattered was beginning the movement for the next one while the current one was still running.
There is plenty more to it, but the stance, the arms, the edge and where you look are the four to start from.
And underneath all of it, setting the bindings further back and angled forward makes the whole thing easier.
Carving is hard to learn and there is no end to it. The moment you can do a little of it, you want more. It is difficult, which is exactly why landing it feels so good. Come and work on it with me.