When snowboarding people go through phases of learning. At first people tend to snowplow down the mountain sideways, next they do some sort of hybrid skidding and carving. Once a snowboarder has progressed they will be carving down the mountain which means they are making nice smooth turns. There are two main advantages to carving the first is that you will lose less speed through the turn and secondly you will have more control through the turn because bouncing will be reduced.
How is Carving Achieved?
In order for a snowboarder to carve an equation must be fulfilled. The Equation states that the radius of the turn must equal the radius of the side cut multiplied by the cosine of the angle the board makes with the snow surface. This situation is only achievable if the radius of the turn is a circle. A board without side cut cannot achieve this which explains why boards are cut the way they are.
Rt=RscCOS(theta)
