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Reelin' in the years
Skier
Joined
Aug 21, 2016
Posts
2,332
Location
Bay Area and Incline Village
Before i pull the trigger. There is currently a code for 15% off. Do they tend to offer better than that? Black Friday is only a few weeks away and no real rush around here.
They have done buy one get second 50% off or something like that in the past... but this was for HW only pricing. I did see them advertising Black Friday deals last season too. Probably good to wait a bit and see if in no hurry.
 

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
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SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
458
Location
Boston
I was impressed to hear of some of the updates, but I'm really struggling w/ if I renew. Anyone else in the GrimRipper Zone feel similar?
If i wasn't a gear head and grandfathered in (and while I am not in GrimRipper Zone - because I don't produce high edge angles - but I score really high elsewhere) - I would only renew because I am really curious if they can "tune" the algorithms for a variety of turn shapes and techniques usually encountered in trees, bumps, and variable snow conditions. I get more constructive feedback from the coaches that I work with at Breckenridge and skiing with @Doug Briggs then I do from the CARV sensors.
 

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Reelin' in the years
Skier
Joined
Aug 21, 2016
Posts
2,332
Location
Bay Area and Incline Village
The new "Train with an Olympian" feature last season was nice. A bit of gamification with a single skill focus per "level". I'd like to see more modules like that added.
 

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
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Nov 12, 2015
Posts
458
Location
Boston
The new "Train with an Olympian" feature last season was nice. A bit of gamification with a single skill focus per "level". I'd like to see more modules like that added.
Yea, i am afraid to try any of the "game" features and working on skills - for fear that I will screw up my skiing. It reminds of a time that I was skiing with a coach at Breckenridge that I hadn't skied with before (as my usual coaches were otherwise not available on that particular day) and he was determined to find a "chink in my armor" -- his words not mine. So, I played along with him and tried some drills that I wasn't familiar with -- long story short - it takes a while for things to get into my muscle memory - so I wasn't very successful with the drills. Next day, I am skiing with one of my usual coaches and she asks - how did it go with so-and-so yesterday. I explained to her the drill - and her immediate response was -- "well, that is totally unnecessary for you because of x, y, and z. Same day - skiing with the usual coach and we go past a lesson that the other coach was teaching and we are skiing through some nicely spaced bumps on American (@Breckendridge) and as we go past the group, I hear the other coach say to the class -- "See that skier - see how effortlessly he moves and stays centered over his skis and maintains his line through the bumps with his hands forward" I had him in my group yesterday, you keep listening to me and soon you will ski like him"
 

Wade

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Posts
1,020
Location
New York
Yea, i am afraid to try any of the "game" features and working on skills - for fear that I will screw up my skiing. It reminds of a time that I was skiing with a coach at Breckenridge that I hadn't skied with before (as my usual coaches were otherwise not available on that particular day) and he was determined to find a "chink in my armor" -- his words not mine. So, I played along with him and tried some drills that I wasn't familiar with -- long story short - it takes a while for things to get into my muscle memory - so I wasn't very successful with the drills. Next day, I am skiing with one of my usual coaches and she asks - how did it go with so-and-so yesterday. I explained to her the drill - and her immediate response was -- "well, that is totally unnecessary for you because of x, y, and z. Same day - skiing with the usual coach and we go past a lesson that the other coach was teaching and we are skiing through some nicely spaced bumps on American (@Breckendridge) and as we go past the group, I hear the other coach say to the class -- "See that skier - see how effortlessly he moves and stays centered over his skis and maintains his line through the bumps with his hands forward" I had him in my group yesterday, you keep listening to me and soon you will ski like him"
I wouldn't worry about that for Train With an Olympian. It isn't drill based. It measures 4 skills that I think would be pretty universally accepted as necessary for high level skiing.

It starts off (I think) measuring edge similarity. From memory, you make 20 turns, there's a minimum edge similarity score and number of "good" turns required to pass level 1. The scores and number of good turns increase for each level through to level 10.

Once you pass level 10, the skill focus changes to outside ski pressure and you go through the same progression with 10 levels of that also, but to pass the outside ski pressure skill you also need to maintain the score you set in the edge similarity skill . It then moves to 10 levels of early edging (while maintaining your scores on outside ski pressure and edge similarity), and then moves to 10 levels of edge angle (while maintaining your scores on outside ski pressure, edge similarity and early edging).

It's a fun and challenging tool if you're skiing by yourself on groomers for an afternoon. Being able to execute those four skills simultaneously at the level required to pass the whole thing is a pretty good indication that you're skiing well.
 

Wannabeskibum

Out on the slopes
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Nov 12, 2015
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458
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Boston
Exactly what @Wade wrote :thumb:
Thanks for that insight - there is a local ski area near where I work north of Boston that offers night skiing and I have been thinking of going on a weeknight during the season - sounds like the perfect time to try these out - or even on my warm up runs on my regular ski trips
 

Mike King

AKA Habacomike
Instructor
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
3,662
Location
Louisville CO/Aspen Snowmass
Also, try some of those drills that out. I seriously doubt that there is any drill that any skier can't get something out of -- there is always some nugget to be extracted or execution to be taken to the next level. Drills for skills....

I had the opportunity last season to clinic with one of the extremely few Level 500 coaches in the US -- a former coach for the US Paralympics team who was brought in to train the US Women on technique. His observation was that you could easily tell the difference between those World Cup skiers who were in the top 10 and everyone else. The elite racers always did their warm ups to perfection; they spent time and effort on the drills that were incorporated into them. Everyone else blew through them.
 

Jersey Skier

aka RatherPlayThanWork or Gary
Skier
Joined
Jan 16, 2016
Posts
2,045
Location
Metuchen, NJ
Two more questions before I pull the trigger. Any problem with using Carv and using lace up liners? Not sure if the constant in/out would damage them. Are the sensors affected in any way if I have a heel lift in the boot?

I tried asking Carv directly, but no replies. A bit concerning.
 

Mike King

AKA Habacomike
Instructor
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
3,662
Location
Louisville CO/Aspen Snowmass
Two more questions before I pull the trigger. Any problem with using Carv and using lace up liners? Not sure if the constant in/out would damage them. Are the sensors affected in any way if I have a heel lift in the boot?

I tried asking Carv directly, but no replies. A bit concerning.
Carv suggests taping the insert to the boot board. I've not done that as I'm at the limit of height in my boot and yes, the boot board has been lowered. I've also gone through a lot of inserts. I just got a boot horn and it minimizes the pull I used to get on the cables which I presume was a big part of destroying the inserts.

 

Wade

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Posts
1,020
Location
New York
Two more questions before I pull the trigger. Any problem with using Carv and using lace up liners? Not sure if the constant in/out would damage them. Are the sensors affected in any way if I have a heel lift in the boot?

I tried asking Carv directly, but no replies. A bit concerning.
I use Carv with ZipFits and get in and out of my shells racer style. No issues. I don’t bother taping the Carv unit into the boot, I just put it into the shell and hold the wire to the side getting into the boot. It doesn’t seem to have placed any additional stress on the Carv unit and it’s minimal additional effort in getting into my boots. On days I’m not planning on using Carv (e.g. if I’m skiing mostly off piste) I just take it out.

Without it being taped into the boot, one thing I do each morning is recalibrate the Carv unit before I ski. It takes less than a minute and may not be strictly necessary, but I want to take out any variable resulting from the unit slightly shifting in the boot or if something goes out of calibration from moving it around.
 

Jersey Skier

aka RatherPlayThanWork or Gary
Skier
Joined
Jan 16, 2016
Posts
2,045
Location
Metuchen, NJ
Carv suggests taping the insert to the boot board. I've not done that as I'm at the limit of height in my boot and yes, the boot board has been lowered. I've also gone through a lot of inserts. I just got a boot horn and it minimizes the pull I used to get on the cables which I presume was a big part of destroying the inserts.

I normally just spray with some food grade silicone every few weeks and they'll slide right in (after a night in a heated boot bag of course.)
 

mikes781

Out on the slopes
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Joined
Mar 30, 2018
Posts
1,055
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NJ
Haven’t had any issues with my zip fits and Carv. I ended using gorilla tape to secure the wire to the inside of the shell and keep it from getting moved around.
 

KSki01

Booting up
Skier
Joined
Oct 23, 2023
Posts
18
Location
Maine
Thinking of purchasing a set this season. Does anyone have a code I can use?
 

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