Snowboarding or Skiing

I just got back from a half day at the mountain, where I spent my
second day trying to learn how to snowboard. I had been once
before, but it was literally 365 days ago, so this was pretty much my
frist time. Luckily, I had a good friend who knew what he was
doing and he gave me some pointers. I was carving by my second
run, and it was awesome. I spent 3 hours with my friends bombing
down the mountain and I think I've fallen in love with
snowboarding. I used to ski, when I was young, but I find this to
be much more fun.

I know a lot of people have strong preferences either way, so which do you prefer? Why?

Call my world small, but I do not know anyone personally who likes, or does either.

Around here its biking/motocross and quad runners.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Skiing because I have better coordonation on two boards than on one :razz: .

I have not done either but I been keen to give snowboarding a go for a few years now. Alas as usual I have no conviction or motivation to do anything about it.

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Hello there.

Skiing for sure.

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http://maze5.net

add a nondescript vote so we who do not care much for either, can see the results.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:
add a nondescript vote so we who do not care much for either, can see the results.

There, I added another option.

i've never tried boarding, though i plan to, if i ever find my way back to the mountains. there's not much of a skiing season in scotland, and i'm not keen enough to go any farther afield.

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i eat paint

fishy said:
, and i'm not keen enough to go any farther afield.

So, I take it that I should s**tcan my plans of you riding with me on a few of my runs next year?

Golden Colorado is on one of my routes you know. In fact, many,many ski resorts are. :biggrin:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Definitely snowboarding. It's just so much more fun. Many more tricks and such, and harder than skiing.

I skateboard all summer and snowboard all winter. Rawr.

You mean the tricks are harder or snowboarding in general?

I don't ski but all my skier friends look down on snowboarding because they think its too easy to learn.

i have never had the oppurtunity for either, but i picked snowboarding for the fact that i like the idea more for some reason

though a chance to do either would be sweet

closest i've been to either is waterskiing

I chose Skiing because snowboarders are always running into ppl on the slopes. There are very few responsible snowboarders where I ski. Plus, I just love skiing. Going off jumps forward seems so much safer to me than sideways.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I've been snowboarding for a fair few years now and I love it. I don't go often enough these days though - last year I didn't get away at all, and this year I spent one week in France and that is likely to be all I'll get. Due to that I've not really been improving lately, which is frustrating, but I'm a good freerider as it stands and have plenty of fun just bombing runs and doing some off piste.

Not too sure I agree with the comment that snowboarding is harder than skiing; I've done both, though admittedly only spent a week on skis, but wouldn't say snowboarding strikes me as the harder of the two. Maybe it is a bit harder to pick up and get properly started with, but I reckon it is probably easier to "master" in terms of just riding. I also don't think that snowboards have any more tricks than skis, and in fact I'm inclined to think that the opposite is probably true. Freestyle skiing is hugely inspired by aggressive rollerblading these days and borrows pretty much the entire set of tricks, and due to the fact that you have two seperated feet to use in the tricks, it gives you a bit more versatility. Not that I've ever really seen any skiers pulling off any of those tricks personally - parks still seem to be dominated by boarders, in the European resorts I visit anyway.

Anybody here tried any wakeboarding? That s**t is tiring - I've done it once and enjoyed it, but a 10-15 minute session left my arms more tired than they have ever been before!

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

You mean the tricks are harder or snowboarding in general?

I don't ski but all my skier friends look down on snowboarding because they think its too easy to learn.

I find that snowboarding in general is harder when starting out.
Most people I see tend to prefer skiing for the fact that you have more
movement, and you're going straight down. The first time people
get on a board they're awkward due to the fact that they have to keep
their feet pointed away from where they're looking. As well they
tend to catch countless edges and end up falling nonstop due to the
fact that your feet are so rigid and you've gotta lean the right ways.

However, they're both quite difficult to master. I waas lucky
enough to have been skateboarding for a few years so it was easy to
pick up for me and I was out on the terrain park doing tricks my first
year. I just find skiing to be much more boring. As if
there's no danger involved.

I don't know, snowboarding is just much more exciting to me, though I have lots of friends who feel the same about skiing.

French Toast said:
I just find skiing to be much more boring. As if there's no danger involved.

you can't be trying hard enough. go fall down some black runs in a blizzard, and you may change your mind. i did.

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i eat paint

I feel to stable on skis. :smile:

French Toast said:
I feel to stable on skis. :smile:

You have some sort of a gyroscope up your butt?

Stable has never been a concept that I associated with skiing.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

snowboarding. it's "harder" because you can't control your legs separately and do the "plow" whenever you need to slow down in narrow areas. snowboarders are always turning - be it gentle if wanted - whereas skiers can go straight ahead and still control their speed.

But for me that's part of why i prefer snowboarding. it's more of a challenge to match the speed of skiers. i'm a speed freak (have a boardercross board) and always try to keep up with the skiers who 're doing shuss (dunno translation), even on red slopes. i've done both, but i think you feel the speed more when you're on a snowboard.

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Yesterday was my first real day learning how to snowboard, and I while
I learned how to carve pretty early on, it was hard for me to resist
the urge to go straight downhill, because I loved the speed and sense
of reckless endangerment. The only big wipeout I had was when I
decided to go straight down the entire mountain, without checking my
speed with turns. I caught some snow toeside on my backfoot,
right near the lift, and went pinwheeling down the mountain. It
was awesome. No injuries except a midly sore neck today :smile:

haha, AtM. That's what I was talking about. It's not so bad if you know how to control yourself, but so many ppl don't and they run into other people. about 3 years ago on my skiing tour, a lady lost control and ran into a tree, I think she was paralysed from the waist down after that. For me, that's just too big of a risk. I didn't do double-black diamond slopes until just this year and I've been skiing for about 8 or 9 years... I'd have to start all over with a snowboard, so I'll probably just stick with skis.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Well I wasn't recklessly endangering people since there weren't many
around, and I'm sure I wasn't going any faster than a skiier could :smile:

Addicted to Morphine said:
Well I wasn't recklessly endangering people since there weren't many around, and I'm sure I wasn't going any faster than a skiier could :smile:

I wasn't doggin' ya, homey. I was just saying, if you like speed on the slopes (Which i SO DO) you need to make sure you're in control.

I also love jumps. Jumps and showboating. I love 360's and all that stuff. so cool.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Well, I can honestly say I wasn't in complete control, but it was fun flirting with disaster.

Ever get the feeling that going faster puts you in better control? That happens to me a lot, especially in lots of powder or on especially technical runs. I think its a real effect too, and not just psychological.

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http://maze5.net

meh, sometimes.

Most times I think what makes me go off is other people who feel the need to cut in front of me and then "Pizza-wedge" to slow down really quickly. I have actually fallen onto the back of my skis and gone between someone's legs. It was awesome. But still, why al the cutting?

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Some people are inconsiderate jerks and this extends to all facets of life (driving, lines, etc)?

Maze, I completely agree. I was in Les Deux Alps in January and there was a pretty epic black run back into town, that was far far easier when we bombed it than when we took our time. I don't really know how to explain why, but it was certainly true.

Nickel, you wouldn't believe how annoying skiers can be to snowboarders, the feeling is mutual :biggrin: If you are ever stuck going down a road or particularly flat section on a snowboard it's essential you keep up your speed or you won't clear it. On skis it doesn't really matter as it's easy enough to just pole along if you stop, so the things always get clogged up with people meandering around, snow plowing, while us snowboarders are desperately trying to straightline it along a narrow path and get past you. Obviously it's not all skiers, but you did generalise the boarders so I'll do the same :wink:

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

ReNo said:
If you are ever stuck going down a road or particularly
flat section on a snowboard it's essential you keep up your speed or
you won't clear it.

Yeah -- I learned this the hard way. I got stranded on a flat
stretch and ended up having to do this little hop thing with my hands
on the snow jumping little by little for probably 20 yards, pushing the board down and bring
it as far over the snow as I could and then doing it again. I
felt like a frog. Thankfully one of my skier friends came over
and gave me a tow.

Is there a name for that frog-hop maneuver?

Hehe, doubt it, but I'm very familiar with just what you mean :biggrin: I've got a nice springy board, so I do a penguin walk type thing instead. You turn so you are facing the direction you want to travel, spring off either your nose or tail, then land on the other end and spring off that, etc... The springier the board the easier it is to pull off and the faster you can do it, but beware that it is completely knackering if you are going any significant distance! Always gets amazed/humoured/disgusted looks by others on the mountain, but it is actually a really easy little trick to do and lets you build up momentum with which to glide a bit, so unless it's a long trek ahead it's my preferred method of getting moving again.

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I'd be afraid of snapping the board, although thats a neat trick.

For long distances I'm probably more likely just to clip out and walk.

pppfffttt.....skiing by far.....downhill, banzai, kamikazee....warning horn a blarin'... ..i'd strap a jet pack to my ass if i thought i could go faster downhill (and if theyd let me)...

....and yes, certain conditions dictate the control you have at higher speeds, which does actually increase at times....wewt!!!

Doc B... :dodgy:

mazemaster said:
Ever get the feeling that going faster puts you in better control? That happens to me a lot, especially in lots of powder or on especially technical runs. I think its a real effect too, and not just psychological.

I think its Newton's Third Law. As you go down the hill faster, you have more forward momentum, and it will take more impulse to turn or stop. Larger forces are easier to control.

That said, I've never really had a chance to try winter sports. Not much snow within 1000km of here, especially not in summer.

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