What does "carving" mean when talking about skiing?

Question

What does "carving" mean when talking about skiing?

Answer 1

If you tip your skis on the side the pressure of gravity and centrifugal force will bend your skis into an arc.  If the edge of the ski grips the snow, the arc of the ski will create a turn without the tail of the ski skidding out.  This is carving.  If done well the tracks of the skis are thin lines in the snow with no side slip.

Answer 2

Sharp turning!

Answer 3

Carving is when you're skiing you use the iron edges on skis to slice through the slope.  

If you are carving the turns correctly, your skis will bite in the snow and therefore you can have better balancing when skiing down the steep slopes.

Answer 4

turning really well :D im learning to do that now

Answer 5

Because skis (especially modern carving skis) are wider at the ends than at the waist, when you angulate them (tip them onto their edges), the ski bends to form an arc or curve. This means the ski will turn without any slipping sideways across the snow. This is carving and it's one of the great joys of sking. You angle your bent knees over towards the hill, put your weight on your outside or downhill ski and voila! Try to keep your hips and upper body facing down the mountain as much as possible. Check out people carving on Youtube, in particular search for "carving girl". Gotta love that Nina.