All-mountain vs carving skis

A carving ski is narrow under foot, with a deep sidecut and full camber. It is built to hold an edge on groomed snow. An all-mountain ski is wider, a little less cut-away and often has some rocker in the tip. It is built to go anywhere. Slide across the snow types and watch what each does.

The two skis in the picture are archetypes. The solid one is a carver, 72 mm under foot. The dashed one is an all-mountain ski, 89 mm under foot. On groomed snow, the carver holds along its whole edge in the lab. The all-mountain ski holds under foot and at the tip, but its tail is only marginal. That is the trade you make for width and a little rocker.

On ice the picture changes. Both skis hold under foot, and both lose their tail and tip, because those parts carry so little load on firm snow. The width of the ski does not help you there. A fresh tune and good angulation do more than the shape of the ski.

In chop, slush and powder, the gap narrows in a different way. At the same 92 kg, the carver sinks about 35 mm in chop and the all-mountain about 31. In slush it is about 41 against 37. In powder it is about 366 against 315 mm. The wider ski sinks less, which is the float you are paying for, but the difference in the lab is modest.

Be careful with that last point. The lab reduces a ski to its width, flex and rocker. It does not see damping, rebound, the way a ski chatters or how forgiving it is when you are tired. Most of what skiers describe when they compare these two types is exactly that. So take the picture as the part of the story physics can tell, and demo skis for the rest.

A decent rule: if most of your days are on groomed runs and you like to carve, a carver or a narrow all-mountain ski. If you want one ski for varied snow, go wider. Weight and ability matter too, and the length calculator on this site is a good next stop.