Snowboarding or Skiing?

boy_analog

Folks:



I'll be heading off on my first ever ski trip in about three weeks. I'm a late starter in this regard, since I'm now in my mid 30's. (No longer a boy, just something analogous ... )



Since I will be hiring my gear in advance, I have to choose either skiing or snowboarding now. My basic preference is for snowboarding: it looks simpler and more versatile than skiing. No offence to you skiers out there -- skiing's way cool too. Let a thousand flowers bloom and all that.



Here's my problem: the guy organising the trip insists that I'd be much better off taking up skiing right now, saying that it's far easier to learn skiing, and that I'd be largely wasting my time on green runs, which are basically too flat for meaningful snowboarding.



I'm sure that there's plenty of powderhounds out there with plenty of experience and strong opinions about this. Do I go with my instinct, or listen to the voice of experience?

eugene

Quote:

My basic preference is for snowboarding: it looks simpler and more versatile than skiing.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...slow down there. The organizer is 100% correct. Ever been skateboarding before? It's freakin' hard...much harder than roller blading for example, right? Having done both skiing and snowboarding I can say without a doubt that snowboarding is harder and less versatile than skiing. Just look at the competitive winter sports like the Olympics. All the skiing events are muc more aggressive. The downhills are faster, the slaloms are more aggressive, and you don't have the big air aerials on snowboards, nor do you have moguls. And have you ever seen the half pipe ski events at the X-Games? It's completely nuts compared to the snowboard version...because it's that much harder to do anything on a snowboard.



If you want to learn something fast, go with skiing. Snowboarding is great once you get the hang of it, but you'll be falling on your butt and doing face plants a lot longer before that.

alex london

I too came to snow holidays in my 30's and i agree with your organiser and Eugene, skiing is a lot easier to pick up and less painful to get wrong. I go skiing with a bunch of geniuses of the slopes and most just ski, one or two board, a couple are amazing at both. Last time I was able to watch reverse evolution as some great skiers tried boarding for a day and ended up continually on their faces, bums (butts) and generally unhappy. Next day they were screaming past me on their skis again.

boy_analog

OK, thanks for the responses. You've convinced me.



Would you believe that I bought a cheap skateboard after getting my board and boot measurements taken today? Planned to use it -- ever so carefully -- to revive those old skills in preparation for snowboarding. But since my skateboarding skills were never too fabbo to begin with, there's no small amount of trepidation here.



Hmmm. Go skiing now, get a bit more protective gear later, practice on skateboard over summer, try snowboarding next year. One must after all, plan one's second adolescence. These things are not meant to be rushed into....

moogs

Setting the annoying sub-cultures of both sports aside, I would prefer to spend my time snowboarding, if only I knew how to do it properly.



I used to ski when I was in high school and got pretty good at it but I haven't hit the slopes since. Snowboarding is pretty damn hard the couple times I've made improptu attemps while in the mountains with my family. Requires excellent balance and the ability to think ahead of where you are on the slope, rather than just pointing your skis somewhere.



Plus, I gotta say, it just looks like so much fun it's ridiculous. But understand, in my case I'd rather be snowboarding on a fresh mountain of snow than barreling through one of those suicide "half pipe" things. Give me the real, brother!

placebo

Snowboarding is my preference. The whole 'going down a hill sideways' thing takes some getting used to, but I like not having to worry about doing an involuntary split.

murbot

Skiing is too much like work... I love that feeling of effortlessly carving down the hill on a board. If there is a lot of fresh powder, even better. You have to work through it on planks, but you float through it like a cloud on a snowboard.



Spend the half a day it'll take to get used to it, and go boarding. I made AMAZINGLY faster progress on a snowboard then I ever did on skis, and I never skateboarded as a kid. (but I did waterski lots - go figure)



Snowboard +1

cold turkey

Interesting that everybody here seems to think that skiing is easier to pick up than snowboarding. I grew up in Swizterland and started skiing at age 2, so I can't really comment on how easy or difficult it is to pick up. But back home I have several good friends who were early converts from skis to snowboards in the 80's. (Many of them made their own boards.) All of them agree that for a novice, snowboarding is much easier to learn than skiing. I haven't done much snowboarding myself, but I found it very easy to pick up the times I tried. When you are learning, I contend that it much less painful simply to plop down on your ass while snowboarding than to stop on two skis. Anyway...



Good luck, boy_analog, and enjoy the slopes! Are you staying on the Australian continent or heading somewhere else to find the white stuff?



Cold Turkey

alex london

I'm not wishing to start a flame war but but boarders who stop by sitting down is a big problem on some pistes, they seem to choose the wierdest, most dangerous places to sit and admire the view, like in the middle of the piste just beyond the brow of the hill. Sure helped me improve my emergency turns a few times last New Year. That said, skiing, boarding, it's all good.

arty50

Quote:

Originally posted by murbot

Skiing is too much like work... I love that feeling of effortlessly carving down the hill on a board. If there is a lot of fresh powder, even better. You have to work through it on planks, but you float through it like a cloud on a snowboard.

Two words: fat skis



Mine will be getting initiated in Las Lenas in two weeks.

chinney

It's almost 30 Celsius here in Ottawa, so it is pretty hard to think of skiing, other than with waterskis.



In any case, I gave up on downhill many years ago. Who wants to wait in lift lines when you can go cross-country? That's real exercise, excitement (try even a mild downhill on x-country skis), and nature watching, all in one, much-less-expensive, package.

murbot

Lucky bastard, it's been over 30 here in Southern Alberta for weeks. I layed paving stones all day yesterday at 37 Celcius. No clouds, no wind.



2 jugs of lemonade, not one pee pee.

cold turkey

Quote:

Originally posted by Arty50

Two words: fat skis

The availability of parabolic skis still hasn't quite hit home with me. Call me conservative, but I still haven't allowed myself to try them. Maybe this upcoming season (winter in the Northern hemisphere)?



I guess with parabolic skis, which is the only thing rental shops seem to carry these days, skiing might actually be as easy to learn as snowboarding. I guess it's a toss-up. Probably makes sense to go with what your friends do and are willing to teach you.



Cold Turkey

eugene

Quote:

Originally posted by Cold Turkey

The availability of parabolic skis still hasn't quite hit home with me. Call me conservative, but I still haven't allowed myself to try them. Maybe this upcoming season (winter in the Northern hemisphere)?

Hasn't it been more than half a decade since parabolic skis started becoming really popular? I know I got mine in 1996...



I actually think novices should learn on traditional skis rather than the parabolic skis. They'll be wedging it all the way down the runs, so the shape of the skis really won't mater that much.

boy_analog

Quote:

Originally posted by Cold Turkey

Interesting that everybody here seems to think that skiing is easier to pick up than snowboarding. I grew up in Swizterland and started skiing at age 2, so I can't really comment on how easy or difficult it is to pick up. But back home I have several good friends who were early converts from skis to snowboards in the 80's. (Many of them made their own boards.) All of them agree that for a novice, snowboarding is much easier to learn than skiing. I haven't done much snowboarding myself, but I found it very easy to pick up the times I tried. When you are learning, I contend that it much less painful simply to plop down on your ass while snowboarding than to stop on two skis. Anyway...



Good luck, boy_analog, and enjoy the slopes! Are you staying on the Australian continent or heading somewhere else to find the white stuff?



Cold Turkey

Oy! Now I'm confused....



As a (lapsed) bodyboarder, I'm all too familiar with the prejudices that exist between stand-up boardriders and bodyboarders out in the water. So I guessed that there would be a similar dynamic between skiiers and snowboarders on the slopes. Water or snow, it's not what you ride, it's how you ride it, right?



That's why I didn't just accept my mate's advice straight off: I know he looks down his nose a bit at snowboarding, so a certain amount of jaundice might be expected in his advice.



Let me put it this way: is there anyone out there who prefers skiing but thinks that snowboarding is easier to pick up, or vice versa? Advice that runs contrary to your expressed preference would be more convincing than just repeating party-political slogans.



Am I starting to rant? If so, apologies all round. I'm truly grateful for everyone's input.



Anyhow, this is just a little weekend down in Perisher, your common-or-garden Aussie ski resort. It's getting late in the ski season down here: hopefully I'll be able to do a big trip to NZ or somewhere next year for the good stuff.



I've been mountain biking a lot lately, so I'm brooding over some ideas for a mega adventure holiday with buckets of biking, surfing and snow. If I really want to do all three, I'm thinking that either Chile or France would be my best options....



Life is what happens while you're planning holidays.

boy_analog

Quote:

Originally posted by Chinney

It's almost 30 Celsius here in Ottawa, so it is pretty hard to think of skiing, other than with waterskis.



In any case, I gave up on downhill many years ago. Who wants to wait in lift lines when you can go cross-country? That's real exercise, excitement (try even a mild downhill on x-country skis), and nature watching, all in one, much-less-expensive, package.

That's exactly the way that I feel about XC biking.

alex london

OK Boy analog, I hope you didn't feel that I was spouting party -political stuff because i really don't have an agenda like that. I would still say that skiing is perhaps easier to pick up because its more intuiative/ simular to what you're used to, like when you walk for example. The only problem with learning it is if they teach you to snow-plough, it takes a while to learn and as soon as you have it sussed you have to un-learn it and start again. It's much better if they start you on short skis and teach you the correct basics from the start so that you have a good foundation for the future. I understand they now do this in the States so perhaps it's the same in Oz.

This is the advantage boarding has as you learn from the start the correct technique, even if it for a while is bone-shakingly difficult to grasp.

Enjoy yourself and you're right to mistrust the propaganda, it's just a mountain and snow.

cold turkey

Quote:

Originally posted by boy_analog

Let me put it this way: is there anyone out there who prefers skiing but thinks that snowboarding is easier to pick up, or vice versa?

I prefer skiing by far. I like to see straight down the mountain all the time, not just half the time like with a snowboard. I also have this memory of my sister's friend, who broke both legs at once while snowboarding. It seems like it would be tougher to do that with two individually attached skis. Nonetheless, I think snowboarding is easier to learn. So my adivce runs contrary to my expressed preference.



Let me add two qualifiers. First, I have no doubt that you'll have loads of fun on your trip, regardless of whether you go skiing or snowboarding. Second, make sure you get instruction/advice from somebody who knows what they're doing. That's why I suggested going with what your friends do, i.e. skiing, in my previous post. A snowboard will do you little good if your skier friend(s) can't show you how to use it right.

Quote:

Life is what happens while you're planning holidays.

Nice line! I'll have to remember it.



Hang loose!



Cold Turkey

burningwheel

Quote:

Originally posted by Eugene

Whoa, whoa, whoa...slow down there. The organizer is 100% correct. Ever been skateboarding before? It's freakin' hard...much harder than roller blading for example, right?

skateboarding is easier than rollar blading fo rme anyways



skiing is easier i suspect, i've never snowboarded

boy_analog

Thanks again, Alex London and Cold Turkey!



You've both given me plenty to think about. Right now I'm starting to think that I shouldn't worry too much about whether I pick skiing or snowboarding, and concentrate more on the social side of the equation. Will I isolate myself from the rest of the group if I snowboard instead of ski? Will I have to choose different runs? And so on.



I think I'll be able to get instruction for either skiing or snowboarding anyway, but I'd better check that.



Cheers!

cold turkey

Quote:

Originally posted by boy_analog

Right now I'm starting to think that I [should] concentrate more on the social side of the equation. Will I isolate myself from the rest of the group if I snowboard instead of ski? Will I have to choose different runs? And so on.



I think I'll be able to get instruction for either skiing or snowboarding anyway, but I'd better check that.

You got the point, boy_analog. Hope you enjoy yourself, both on and off the slopes.



Cheers,

Cold Turkey