I tried an AI skiing coach on the slopes in real life: here’s what happened
Carv 2 Ski Instructor: One Minute Review
Carv is a system that uses sensors to collect movement data from ski boots, analyzes it via an app on your smartphone, and provides feedback via headphones. It’s a digital ski coach that uses advanced algorithms to detect and evaluate your technique, score it, highlight points of improvement, and provide feedback to help you achieve it.
The first version of Carv used a pressure-sensitive insole, but it has now evolved to two sensor units in the Carv 2 that clip onto your ski boots. This makes setup a breeze, you just clip them on and check your Bluetooth connection. Telephoneput on your headphones and get started.
The beauty of Carv 2 is that it runs in real time. It provides audible feedback with every turn and provides more detailed assessments when you stop or get on an elevator. Your skiing session is captured in incredible detail: it’s not just the GPS tracks you get from your ski equipment Jiamingyou get detailed data on every part of the turn, recording how your weight changes and how each ski performs.
Carv 2 gamifies your skiing, giving you a Ski IQ score based on your skill (mine was 124) while helping you target the changes you need to make to improve your technique. The aim is to help you become a smooth carving skier, but there’s a lot to help you progress to better parallel turns, so it’s suitable for a variety of intermediate to advanced skiers.
Carv is a unique system that is highly detailed and can identify your strengths and weaknesses and provide audio feedback to help you improve, as well as videos within the app that demonstrate what is being discussed. It’s like having an instructor beside you every time you ski, talking in your ear while reaching new goals, it’s incredibly rewarding.
Carv 2 is not for beginners, nor can it teach you to ski from scratch. It’s also quite expensive: the sensors cost £99, but you need a subscription to use them, and six days (a typical ski holiday) are £99/$119. Alternatively, you can pay £199, get the sensor for free and use it for a whole year – but in future years you’ll need a new subscription, so there will be ongoing costs.
It’s cheaper than ski lessons, but you have to engage with Carv to benefit, and you don’t have the advantage of a real-life person to tell you what you’re doing wrong – instead, you’ll probably end up with repetitive feedback, which feels a bit like nagging Nagging.
However, the Carv 2 is perfect for me: as an intermediate skier I have plateaued and am unlikely to take lessons again as I would rather ski with my family and the Carv 2 allows me to make some small adjustments, To focus on my technique. It doesn’t get much better than this, and for skiers these statistics are truly addictive and mean every run counts.
Carv 2 Ski Coach: Scorecard
| category | Comment | Fraction |
| price | Cheaper than courses, but has ongoing costs. | 4/5 |
| design | Well-designed hardware and user-friendly applications. | 4/5 |
| feature | Ski mode makes it fun, the real-time feedback is great, and the data loads are great. | 5/5 |
| Performance | Excellent precision, plenty of focus. Great experience. | 5/5 |
Carv 2: Should I buy it?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
how i tested
I spent two days skiing on the Stubai glacier in Austria, using the Carv 2 and testing all the features. I had used the original Carv before, so I had the opportunity to compare my experiences with the two systems. During the test, I ran 40 kilometers, descended a total of 8000 meters, and made more than 1600 turns during this period. I skied off-piste, including some big sections. I didn’t have a chance to test it in powder snow. All testing was conducted on trips paid for and provided by Carv. Kraft had no say in the content of this article and had not seen it prior to publication.
First review: November 2024
