Carv 2 is a major upgrade from the original digital ski coaching system. The removal of the smart insole makes the system more accessible, and the AI-powered analysis provides more accurate and adaptable coaching. While it doesn't completely replace the need for human instructors, it’s a highly effective tool for those looking to improve their skills without breaking the bank. It’s not for beginners, and if you’d rather be in the bar than on the last cable car it might be a bit unnecessary, but if you’re the sort of person who is always looking to improve, this is the best smart system available.
Messing with a winning formula is almost always a bad idea, but with Carv 2, they’ve managed to make the best wearable ski coach even better, the hardware easier to install and the whole package cheaper. By ditching the smart ski boot insole and introducing small, clip-on sensors, it’s now easy to use and share.
The new AI-driven algorithm is more accurate, tracking different terrains and snow conditions, and offering specific coaching to make you better, and the app has been completely redesigned, offering everything from speed metrics to customizable coaching feedback. It’s still not aimed at beginners, but if you’re an intermediate to advanced skier who actively looks to improve their technique, this is as good as it gets without spending big on private lessons.
Given the popularity of sports wearables and the fact that the global ski gear market is worth $15.9 billion, it’s surprising how little crossover there is between the two industries. Yes, smartwatches can track your skiing speed and health metrics, but when it comes to dedicated wearable ski tech Carv has the industry all to itself.
The original Carv consisted of a smart battery unit with a sensor-packed ski-boot insole that measured 72 pressure and motion metrics while you skied. This data was processed in real-time and as well as giving you a performance score, or SKI:IQ, it also offered up live – oddly robotic sounding – coaching tips via earbuds when riding the next chairlift. Paul Lambkin tested the original back in 2023 and awarded it a Top Pick badge.
Carv 2 builds upon the success of the original system by ditching the smart insoles – which were a pain to fit – and enhancing the algorithm to also track different types of snow, the slope gradient, and even the conditions, all with real-time performance feedback, and coaching. And it’s cheaper too, making it a tempting alternative to in-person ski lessons.
Is Carv 2 an improvement over the original? Wareable sent Chris Haslam to the Stubai Glacier in Austria to find out.
Price and value for money
At £199 ($249), Carv 2 offers outstanding value as this includes the new sensors and a year’s subscription to the app. You can also pay £99 for a six-day pass (and a £99 one-off payment for the monitors).
The level of ski coaching and the potential to make you a better skier more than justifies this outlay, and it’s significantly cheaper than a traditional ski lesson.
I don’t think Carv 2 is better than a good ski instructor, but it can still make a big difference. It certainly has for me. Many ski schools have even started to use Carv alongside their traditional teaching methods, which speaks volumes.
Hardware and setup

Carv is the brainchild of Motion Metrics CEO Jamie Grant. It originally smashed records on Kickstarter campaign back in 2016, and since then they’ve tracked and analyzed over 568,000,000 turns. The original system quickly gained a cult following, and I will admit I also fell for its charms as its digital coaching got me skiing proficiently after a 20-year hiatus.
The main downside of the original system was the difficulty of installing the smart ski boot insoles. With Carv 2, they’ve ditched them altogether, removing a significant barrier to entry. The new clip-on sensors take 30 seconds to install, there’s no left or right to worry about, no power buttons (they power up automatically when paired with the app) and they’re small enough to go unnoticed on your ski boots. Gone too are the proprietary charging cables, replaced by USB-C.
After three full days of skiing my sensors had only just dipped below 50% battery, and Motion metrics say the 300 mAh Li-ion battery should easily last five days.
But the question I needed answering was how can you track my skiing accurately now that you’ve removed the insoles that did all the tracking in the first place? Impressively, and depressingly the answer was Artificial Intelligence.
Embracing AI
Despite my misgivings, Carv 2’s AI-powered “Motion AI” algorithm manages to track more motion data than the original AND without the need for the sensors in the insole. The system has crunched the data on every turn ever made using the original system and cross-referenced them with expert insight (often from ski instructors and professionals) and video footage to help generate highly accurate feedback about how good you’re skiing.
The result is a system that the team estimates is around 6% more accurate than before, and also one that can now adapt to different types of terrain, including moguls and powder, offering advice tailored to the specific conditions.
No smart insoles also means no pressure sensors, but the new design, combined with the machine learning Carv 2 is now able to measure metrics such as “vertical acceleration at transition” – essentially how well you initiate a turn on skis – which seems to be just as useful in analyzing how well you ski as the old pressure sensors. And significantly it can track all this over different terrain and snow conditions, something the original system couldn’t manage.
A word of warning for existing Carv users however as most existing SKI:IQs have been downgraded to reflect the system’s improvements. I went from an IQ of 137 to 131, and I will admit that despite it just being a number, my ego took a hit.
Training and app

While it’s important to understand a little about the data Carv uses to analyse your performance, the real test is whether it can make you a better skier. The first thing you need to note is that Carv 2 is not for beginners. It’s a tool to help intermediate and advanced skiers improve their carving across different slopes and snow conditions. It can’t help you with your snow plough.
Once you’re on the mountain the sensors will track your turns (it needs a minimum of eight to get a reading) and when you stop you’ll be told in your ear (yes, you do need to wear earbuds) your performance score, or “Ski:IQ”. As a rule the average skier scores around 100, intermediates score 110–125, experts score 125–140, and professionals score 140+.
The app will then identify weaknesses in your technique and offer you a tip to try on your next run. These tips vary from working on balance ‘Move your hips forward at the start of the turn’ for instance, to how well you initiate your turns, how to improve edge control and build pressure. As you ski your IQ will get updated – hopefully for the better – and the tips will change to keep you from getting bored.
There’s also a huge library of drills and tutorials available to try. You can choose to focus on a specific thing, such as your ski edge angle or how parallel your skis are, and with many of these drills the recorded data (edge angle percentage for instance) read out in real time as you ski. I’m a huge fan of these gamified training drills and the positive “ping” you hear that signifies a good carve. These have proved very beneficial to the way I ski, but be warned, they are exhausting and should only be used in short bursts.
Alongside the hardware improvements, the Carv app has also been redesigned. Previously it was quite tricky to find the various modes and training options, but now, completely reskinned, it is considerably easier to access key things like speed, time, and training modes. The app also introduces a new carving heatmap, helping users see how their turns actually look, which is a very useful way to see when your balance or parallels are off.
Customisation options allow you to control the frequency and content of coaching tips too, which is a nice extra, especially if you tend to get a bit exhausted from too much information. There’s also a neat social feature that enables you to track friends who also use Carv, and send messages while on the mountain.