# Skiing over Snowboarding



## Bostonshayne76 (Jan 18, 2010)

I have gone to Sunrise and Snowbowl in AZ for snowboarding in the past. The suggestion was brought up to me last minute the other day about hitting the slopes December 31st. So without hesitation I said "heck yeah" We went to Mt. Lemmon (I know an odd choice, but the distance was much closer) and I tried skiing for the first time in my life. I have done the snowboarding thing a handful of times and while I enjoyed it I can say in all honesty I spent most the time on my ass. I am also a bigger guy so the getting up and down was more challenging. 
I normally dont get off the bunny hill with snowboarding. To my surprise with skiing I found myself towards the end of the stay going down a few hills without falling, stopping, wiping out etc.... Did I find this easier because I used to play ice hockey (because I notice moving is similar) or is skiing just easier to pick up in general?? I wanted to try both out before deciding which to purchase gear in. My wife is all for snowboarding (shes also 120lbs). I however found skiing to be a lot more fun. Is skiing a thing of the past since snowboarding is so popular or is skiing still an "IN" thing?


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

It's easier to get started out skiing but it's harder to get really good at it. In other words, snowboarding is harder for the first several times out but once you get to a certain point you can progress much more quickly on a snowboard. 

Both can be really fun, and they do feel different than one another. Both are "in" enough to pick either and not be antiquated. Take your pick (I picked both).


----------



## Treegreen (Mar 16, 2012)

Bostonshayne76 said:


> I however found skiing to be a lot more fun. Is skiing a thing of the past since snowboarding is so popular or is skiing still an "IN" thing?


Nothing wrong with wanting to ski, and generally speaking it is easier to wedge around the mountain and see more terrain than it is as a first time snowboarder. Learning to become a "good" skier took longer than learning to snowboard for me, but if you're a former hockey player then maybe you have a head start in that regard. 

I won't deny that the snowboard learning curve can really punish you early on, but I've found the pay-off to be completely worth it. Having said that if you don't go often and you feel more comfortable skiing then go for it. It's really about what you will have the most fun doing.


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

I swiped this graph off another site:


----------



## Easto (Feb 25, 2012)

I started off on ski's. I also played hockey my whole life and I caught on to skiing really quick. I was going down black diamonds within a couple hours of my beginner lesson. Controlling skis is a lot like skates. Both feet move independent of each other and you have an inner and outer edge. For me, I enjoy skiing, but I will never be really good where people on the lift look down and are amazed. However, I get down all the hills I want to (excluding moguls) no problem. 

I decided I am going to be as good as I need on ski's so I started to snowboard.

Snowboarding for me has been WAY tougher to learn, but from what I hear there is a steep learning curve, but once you catch on you can get pretty good.

Skiing is easier to learn, but harder to get real good at.

Snowboarding is hard to learn, but you get better quicker is what I am told.

I can vouch for the learning part and will let you know about the latter.


----------



## Bostonshayne76 (Jan 18, 2010)

Wow that is an awesome graph!! Thanks man.


----------



## Bostonshayne76 (Jan 18, 2010)

I appreciate that man. Sounds like we are in the same boat. I was beaten up and spit out the first few times I tried snowboarding. With skiing I literally started without a lesson on the beginner slope. Tumbled a few times the first go around (which I think was more of making myself fall because I wasnt sure how well I could control the speed). After that I may have fallen once, but the last handful of times I was going down (while still a little nervous) I managed to stay on my feet from the catwalk to the slope to the bottom. I was totally pumped.


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Both are in...especially big fattae rockered freeski is perhaps hotter because it can handle deeper pow and can be in the shit like a snowboard...more so than the traditional narrower cambered skis...thus snow amt, conditions and terrain certainly factor in. I think the learning curve is correct...however at the top end of boarding and skiing are perhaps more equally difficult to master and its becomes a matter of focusing and putting in the time.


----------



## NoOtherOptions (Nov 28, 2011)

Enjoy the awful skiing we have here in Az (Im in PHX myself). I'll plus one on the graph, I can ski fairly well and I've had less time on skis but I'm definitely not "good" per se. Boarding I'm better at.


----------



## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Actually I think that graph is a horrible representation of what most people are trying to say.

If skill is measured out of 10 (with 10 being the best resort riders you've ever seen, and a 3 being able to at least once a day make it down a blue run without falling)...

Then in general I'd say skiers can be at a level 3 much quicker than boarders, but boarders after the 3-5 days off ass and knee pain would get up higher than that quicker.

A friend of mine just left today, she was visiting from Toronto and she's both a skier (intermediate) and boarder (noob). She left her board in Toronto because she didn't want to slow anybody down or limit herself in the runs she could do at Fernie. Turns out she was bored after a few runs on her skis and was talking about renting a board for the second day. I took her out myself on day 2 and showed her more of the mountain and I think she had a lot more fun, but her gut reaction was still that she found skiing boring and snowboarding more of a challenge.

I know after 21 years of boarding I can go anywhere a skier can, and I don't find boarding boring at all! There's always something more to improve on, and I feel like you hit this wall with skiing where unless you're starting to huck yourself off lips or do freestyle tricks, it's a little too easy to just carve around the hill...


----------



## Bostonshayne76 (Jan 18, 2010)

Hey NoOtherOptions have you been skiing to any of the mountains in AZ recently?


----------



## extra0 (Jan 16, 2010)

snowboarding isn't for everyone. Case in point: you used to play hockey, so a part of your mind developed to a forward stance. I grew up skateboarding and surfing, so I'm more geared toward a sideways stance (although, I can ski pretty good, too...except in pow). Other than when it comes to spins, I'm definitely always in a surf mode of thought when I'm snowboarding...when I ski, it's more like rollerblade mode.

skiing is definitely still "in" and always will be. Skiing is easier for beginners and older people (there's a club of 80-90 yr olds at my local mtn), plus Skis are better for flatter resorts because you can push with poles and "walk" out of flat spots with the skis still on. Skis are better on steep icy runs because of twice the amount of effective edge. Skis have a much tighter pivot point for lightning quick turns, but I guess you have to be an east coast glades rider or into those tight ass hardpack moguls to really appreciate it (I think the motion looks kind of ugly)...the frequent deep snow and wide spaced trees on the west coast caters to the snowboard.


----------



## Stinky Ninja (Sep 12, 2012)

The learning curve is different for everybody.... :icon_scratch:


----------



## TopThriller (Oct 2, 2012)

poutanen said:


> A friend of mine just left today, she was visiting from Toronto and she's both a skier (intermediate) and boarder (noob). She left her board in Toronto because she didn't want to slow anybody down or limit herself in the runs she could do at Fernie. Turns out she was bored after a few runs on her skis and was talking about renting a board for the second day. I took her out myself on day 2 and showed her more of the mountain and I think she had a lot more fun, but her gut reaction was still that she found skiing boring and snowboarding more of a challenge.


This is exactly how all my friends were when I taught them how to snowboard. They had all skiied in the past but said snowboarding was much more fun because there is so much more of a challenge. I have never tried skiing, but I have never gotten bored of snowboarding; there's always new stuff to learn.


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

"More fun" is purely subjective of course, since one activity is not inherently more fun than the other. I've seen people decide to have a bad time no matter what.

Go with your gut on what set of equipment to buy. If you try to decide by reasoning it out then you'll probably end up wishing you bought the opposite sooner or later.


----------



## NoOtherOptions (Nov 28, 2011)

Bostonshayne76 said:


> Hey NoOtherOptions have you been skiing to any of the mountains in AZ recently?


Yupppp. SnoBowl recently, got dumped on. Will be hitting Sunrise or Snobowl on Sunday depending on the weather.


----------



## NoOtherOptions (Nov 28, 2011)

Snowolf said:


> Arizona native here! I love riding at Ski Valley on Mt. Lemmon; nothing like a pow day there! The Bowl is where I learned to ride and Sunrise is great, especially over on Apache Peak on the runs like Ronnie's Dream and Suicide. Love going back now and then and riding there!
> 
> Not a think wrong with going to skiing if you want but don't completely give up on snowboarding. Go to Snowbowl and lap Aspen over on Hart Prairie for a full day; you will get the hang of it.


I wish Hart Prarie had a little more branching, it's so wide open and flat that I'd think it would get boring quickly for a newbie.


----------



## PBLRDom (Dec 31, 2012)

Bostonshayne76 said:


> Hey NoOtherOptions have you been skiing to any of the mountains in AZ recently?


I was at Snowbowl on the 29th and Sunrise 27th and 28th.


----------



## NoOtherOptions (Nov 28, 2011)

PBLRDom said:


> I was at Snowbowl on the 29th and Sunrise 27th and 28th.


How's sunrise? Im debating hitting it Sunday.


----------



## PBLRDom (Dec 31, 2012)

NoOtherOptions said:


> How's sunrise? Im debating hitting it Sunday.


Sunrise was actually REALLY nice. It started snowing when we pulled in and was dumping all day. Awesome POW and had a BLAST!

Ill be back @ Sunrise on the 12/13th and Snowbowl the following weekend.


----------



## NoOtherOptions (Nov 28, 2011)

PBLRDom said:


> Sunrise was actually REALLY nice. It started snowing when we pulled in and was dumping all day. Awesome POW and had a BLAST!
> 
> Ill be back @ Sunrise on the 12/13th and Snowbowl the following weekend.


Nice, you got season passes? I can't bring myself to buy one for the area since i usually wind up going mid week and using cheap passes from promos and stuff locally.


----------



## snajper69 (Jan 4, 2010)

Since I am a noob I can tell you that snowboarding is kind of hard to start off. But once you put the time in it just starts to come together. I am a big guy so starting was even harder for me and first 2 runs I though there is no way I will ever snowboard, not flexible enough, not very good balance. Than out of nowhere after reading and watching many snowboarding videos (snowprofessor, snowwolfs and Snowboarding Addiction learn to snowboard) everything start coming together. I learned that once you commit you will progress very fast. Will I ever be good snowboarder? Probably not. But I have a lot of fun snowboarding and don't fell a lot anymore (maybe once/twice per trip). I found that having good protection (helmet, crash pads etc.) helps and makes learning more enjoyable. BTW I have friends that do both. And I start in snowboarding based on their recommendation, all agreed that snowboarding is harder at the beginning but more fun and easier to progress.


----------



## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

At my age, I wouldn't even try, my knee's would scream bloody murder, and I'm sure my feet would full on revolt being jammed in those awful looking boots. I didn't really find snowboarding all that hard to pick up, but I come from a heavy skate and wakeboard background. I gave up water skiing because my knee's hated it, plus it was boring.


----------



## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

JeffreyCH said:


> I gave up water skiing because my knee's hated it, plus it was boring.


Here's me trying to slalom waterski and take a dump at the same time. Damn constipation...


----------



## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

poutanen said:


> Here's me trying to slalom waterski and take a dump at the same time. Damn constipation...


:laugh: :laugh: I was a pretty good slalom skier in my early 20's, gave it up for about 10 years, by the time I got back to it I was to heavy to pull up on a slalom. I could still pull up on 2 and drop 1, but had a bad crash that almost screwed my left knee for good. Took up wakeboarding the next summer and never looked back.


----------



## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

JeffreyCH said:


> :laugh: :laugh: I was a pretty good slalom skier in my early 20's, gave it up for about 10 years, by the time I got back to it I was to heavy to pull up on a slalom. I could still pull up on 2 and drop 1, but had a bad crash that almost screwed my left knee for good. Took up wakeboarding the next summer and never looked back.


Yeah I haven't been able to get out of the water on 1 for a few years now. I usually dock start on two, and drop 1 about 50 feet out. We only have a little 90 HP motor on a 15'6" boat so it's gotta get up to speed before I can drop!

We wakeboard behind it too, but I only get back to the cottage once a year now so I get one week of waterskiing or wakeboarding a year.  Hence the taking a dump look, it takes everything I've got just to get some good turns in on the ski!

Took a wakeboarding lesson about 7 years ago, and the boat was a full inboard (not an I/O) that just popped out of the water. And the loop bringing the rope so high up made me just want to pop out of the water on the jumps! Was a blast!!!


----------



## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

just wondering, as we know "snowboarding is harder to learn bur easier to master, and skiing is easier to learn but harder to master." i've skied/skiboard for a few years(7) and what part of skiing is harder to master? carving edge to edge? moguls? skiings pivot turns is like our dynamic skidded turns. their edge to edge turns is like our cross under turns in about the similar fashion(snake like turns). must be mogul, but i think snowboard is harder to master in this aspect, facing sideways and manuevering on moguls is a different tecnique to learn than just face forward and point down with a more narrower skis to just run over in between troughs. soooo which one is harder to master?:dunno:


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

t21 said:


> just wondering, as we know "snowboarding is harder to learn bur easier to master, and skiing is easier to learn but harder to master." i've skied/skiboard for a few years(7) and what part of skiing is harder to master? carving edge to edge? moguls? skiings pivot turns is like our dynamic skidded turns. their edge to edge turns is like our cross under turns in about the similar fashion(snake like turns). must be mogul, but i think snowboard is harder to master in this aspect, facing sideways and manuevering on moguls is a different tecnique to learn than just face forward and point down with a more narrower skis to just run over in between troughs. soooo which one is harder to master?:dunno:


I think the biggest challenge with skiing has to do with getting your lower extremities to act in a coordinated manner. If your feet and legs are not coordinated, the skis do different things and you lose control. Those of us who have been skiing awhile can do it subconsciously, so it seems like not too big of a deal, however if you look at the beginner slope you can see people's feet doing all kinds of weird things. 

In the past, it was also very difficult to get the skis to float in powder because the skis were relatively narrow and cambered. It took a lot of refined technique to be able to ski powder worth a damn, but with today's modern rockered fat skis, floating in deep powder is pretty easy.

I think moguls are challenging whether on skis or snowboard.


----------



## Sick-Pow (May 5, 2008)

To the OP, skiing sucks. making turns on a board down a mountain is better than many things in this world. Soul Turns brother.

on another note, I think i am going to rent some X country skis for a day out and a nordic track to learn my glide for splitboarding.


----------



## jojotherider (Mar 17, 2011)

I was on skis for 13 and am now on my 13th year of snowboarding. My daughter is learning to ski so I picked up a set of skis last year so I could ski along with her. I can comfortably say I enjoy both but will reach for the snowboard more often then not. I am more relaxed on a snowboard and like to have more fun standing sideways. When I get on skis I tend to get analytical about my form. When I learned to ski I had lessons for a few years. When learning to snowboard it was all about feel. I think this is why I'm more relaxed on a board. I was never told how to do it except to keep the downhill edge up. I learned by figuring out how my movements translated to the snow rather than techniques to take me from wedging to wedge-christies to carving on skis. For me, snowboarding is more 'doing' and less 'thinking'.

I think the current crop of skis is making things interesting though. The way they've introduced rocker and hybrid rocker profiles. I've got a set of skis with camber in the middle and rocker out at the tip and tail. They're also getting pretty wide now too. I acutally stopped skiing right as shaped skis were gaining popularity. It was a whole new world when I clicked into these.

I also tried riding some pow on my skis. Snowboarding the pow is way better. You float a lot more (especially considering i was on a pow board earlier the same day ). On my board the snow was about mid shin and felt bottomless. On the skis it was kneed deep but I was getting to the compact snow underneath. I also can't ski pow very well so there's probably some technique to learn.

Oh, ski boots still suck. That much hasn't changed.

-joel


----------



## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

jojotherider said:


> Oh, ski boots still suck. That much hasn't changed.


This, if nothing else, will keep me on a snowboard forever.


----------



## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

jojotherider said:


> Oh, ski boots still suck. That much hasn't changed.


Mine are pretty comfortable. They sure as hell didn't start out that way though.


----------

