SKIING VS. SNOWBOARDING FOR BEGINNERS

“Skiing is easier to learn but harder to master – whereas snowboarding is harder to learn but easier to master.”

This is a common claim you will hear in the world of snowsports and while different people can take to different sports, it’s generally true.

With skiing, a beginner’s technique can be broken down into a modular approach but its perfection will require you to become extremely technical.

With snowboarding, it’s all about getting on your edges (both heel and toe edges) – this is the hardest part but once this is achieved, you have the fundamental technique of the sport nailed – and can reach a pretty impressive level pretty quickly, especially if you’re bold.

The First Few Days:

For the first day or two, skiing is easier to pick up than snowboarding. This is largely because skiing is more intuitive for beginners than snowboarding, for two main reasons:

Separation: With skiing, your legs remain separated so at low speeds, you can throw one leg out if you start to fall to help re-balance yourself. Snowboarding, on the other hand, requires that your feet are attached the board and this can feel awkward and restrictive at first – and can take a little getting used to. If you start to fall, you will inevitably fall and take the hit.

Body position: Skiing is done with a straightforward, straight-on stance; the beginner skier has total peripheral vision and can see exactly where he or she is going, and everything that is in front, including other people and objects. On the other hand, snowboarding stances are side-on and so the beginner has less peripheral vision, seeing only around 50% of what is in front while travelling down the slopes. This can also take a little bit of getting used to.

After the Honeymoon

SNOWBOARDING:

Once these two (mainly psychological) obstacles are overcome, beginner snowboarders should be able to progress relatively quickly in the sport. The attachment of the feet to the snowboard, awkward at first, becomes an advantage – as skiers find that crossing their skis can become an issue; keeping the skis apart is a skill in itself.

Beginner snowboarders, blessed with a monoski, don’t have to worry about this. So once they’ve grasped the basics of making a turn – turn shoulders, which turns hips, which turns ankles and feet, which turns snowboard – then they can start to hit the proper slopes. The next step is to work on improved balance and increased speed. And increasing speed actually makes turning even easier due to there being less contact between the base of the board and the snow, which decreases resistance when turning.

For most beginner snowboarders, the basics of riding down and making simple turns should be achievable within a week or two. So Increasing speed, finessing turns and taking your riding to the next level on the slopes, in the park (and in the backcountry), is what you will spend the rest of your time doing!

SKIING:

For skiers, however, the tough work starts after the one or two-day honeymoon period and it is likely to take a lot longer than it would for snowboarders to build up that basic level of skill. Having two separate skis on two separate legs, at first a benefit, starts to become a problem because moving both legs simultaneously, in symmetry and in harmony, takes some time to achieve.

Beginner skiers will start off with snowplough (a.k.a pizza) – which gets the tips of the skis together, tails of the skis apart – and straight skis (a.k.a. french fries) on a nursery slope to get the beginner used to travelling straight down the slopes at speed. The next step is the snowplough turn, which reintroduces the snowplough technique to get skiers to move one ski outwards so a turn can be completed in the opposite direction.

Image: mechanicsofsport.com

Unlike the fast progression of snowboarders, in most cases beginner skiers are doing well to progress past snowplough turns by the end of week one. However even though progression is more difficult and technical, when skiers do begin to take on blue and red runs they will find a sport that continues to challenge technique and skill. And mastery, even though difficult, is very rewarding because of the difficulty getting there.

Fitness

You need to be pretty fit to be a good skier or snowboarder. But to begin with, skiing is a bit more demanding on the legs and thighs, whereas snowboarding tends to need more core strength, as the upper body is more involved with turning and balance. Here are few recommended exercises if you’re doing one or the other – but it helps to develop overall fitness to do both:

SKIING:

Cycling is an option recommended by Snowskool, especially for skiers, as it strengthens the legs but has a lower impact than running on knees and joints. General leg strengthening exercises are also going to help.

SNOWBOARDING:

Core strengthening exercises that focus on the abdominal muscles and lower back will improve overall fitness, balance and injury prevention – and are especially useful for snowboarders. There are some great examples of core strengthening exercises, from simple crunches to pilates, but paddleboarding is another popular sport (on a board) that offers a great core work out off-season.

Another thing to bear in mind is that beginners often fall more, and harder, when snowboarding. So learning to snowboard can be more forgiving on the body if you’re a bit younger – or in good physical shape.

A Good Addiction

For many people, snowsports become quite addictive – a skier or snowboarder looks forward to a snow holiday in the mountains with the same desperation as a beach bum looks forward to a summer holiday by the sea. And regardless if you choose skiing or snowboarding, if you get past the beginner stage and get really into it, it is quite likely that the sport will become a central part of your life. You will want to keep going and become an expert.

Unlike other addictions, this one is not so bad, you are out exercising in the mountains, in the fresh air and having a total blast to boot. Skiing and snowboarding both have a big social side with the apres scene being a big part of both sports so you’ll make a lot of friends along the way.

How to Choose a Snowboard

Like to cruise groomed runs? Float through powder? Hammer chutes? Or ride the rails? The right snowboard for you is one designed for the terrain you prefer.

The learning curve on a snowboard is very fast, so if you’re a beginner, you should consider buying for where you want to be and aim for a board that will accommodate improving skills.

Before you buy, take time to learn about the types, sizes and shapes of snowboards out there so you can make a wise choice.

Types of Snowboards

• All-mountain: best for any terrain
• Freestyle: best for the park
• Splitboard: best for the backcountry

All-mountain

Best for any terrain and conditions. All-mountain snowboardsperform anywhere on a mountain—groomed runs, backcountry, even park and pipe. They may be directional (meaning downhill only) or twin-tip (for riding switch, meaning either direction).

Most boarders ride all-mountain boards. Because of their versatility, all-mountain boards are good for beginners who are still learning what terrain they like.

Freestyle

Best for a playful ride in and out of the park. Freestyle snowboards arelight, short and flexible with twin tips. They are good for riders who want a lively ride anywhere on the mountain, or those who like to push their limits in terrain parks; they’re not so good for stability or cruising fast on hard snow.Shop freestyle snowboards

Splitboard

Best for climbing in the backcountry. These backcountry-specific boards split in half to create 2 skis and permit climbing on untracked backcountry slopes. You later reconnect the halves and ride downhill.

It’s a great design for adventurous backcountry devotees who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to safely explore unpatrolled slopes. You’ll also need climbing skins and a split kit, usually sold separately.

Snowboards by Gender or Age

Women’s Snowboards

Women-specific boards match a woman’s frame and stance, with narrower waist widths (for smaller feet), slightly less camber and softer flex (engineered for the way women drive energy into a board). 

Taller women, particularly those with a boot size of 9 or higher, may find it useful to look at some boards in the men’s category.

Kids’ Snowboards

While kids grow fast, parents should avoid buying an adult board, hoping your child will grow into it. An oversized board can be unmanageable for a child and slow their skill development.

Snowboard Camber / Rocker

Camberdelivers a lively, stable ride and provides pop and responsiveness on hardpack or groomed runs, especially when powering out of turns. Experienced, speed-oriented riders favor cambered boards.

Flat (neutral, or no camber). Enables quick turns and maximum feel while increasing float.

Rocker (aka reverse camber) creates upturned tips and tails. The design excels in powder and when jibbing or riding rails in the park. Rockered boards are softer than cambered boards and tend to have a surfy feel that offers easy turn initiation, making them popular among novice riders. Experienced riders, though, can still coax powerful rides out of them.

Mixed camber (or modified rocker) has exploded in popularity, and manufacturers have hatched lots of rocker variations to address specific performance attributes, too many to explain here. Look to an REI snowsports specialist or snowboard manufacturer to explain the nuances of rocker variations.

Snowboard Shape

Directional boards are designed to be ridden forward (downhill).

True twins are symmetrical in construction and exhibit no difference in performance whether you ride them forward or backward. This makes them a popular choice for park and pipe riding.

Directional twin boards are good for people who ride all over the mountain, from groomers to the park.

Snowboard Sizing

Length: Stand a board on its tail. Its nose should reach somewhere between a rider’s nose and chin. Fast, aggressive riders often prefer a longer board. Park riders eager to hit lots of jumps and twists may want a very short board.

Weight: Recommended rider weights are listed in the spec charts of individual boards on their REI.com product pages.

Width: Riders with large feet (men U.S. size 11 and higher; women size 10+), should consider wide boards. Toes or heels that excessively overhang snowboard edges could cause drag and diminish performance. A little overhang is fine, though; it gives you more leverage during turns.

Additional Snowboard Features

Sidecut Radius

This term describes the curve of a board’s edges.

Deeper sidecut (lower numbers, in centimeters): These boards have narrower waists, so they turn quickly and easily. Good for beginners and park riders.

Shallow sidecut (higher numbers): Because they have wider waists, these boards float more easily on soft snow. They do a good job of handling high speeds and powering through crud.

Effective Edge

Snowboards have metal edges that bite into snow to provide control and steering. A snowboard’s “effective edge” (measured in centimeters) is the edge section that actually touches the snow or ice throughout your descent.

A longer effective edge provides stability at high speed and good grip in turns or when descending icy slopes.

A shorter effective edge creates a board that is easier to turn and spin.

“Multi-radial” edge designs also exist, another variation that snowboard makers offer to make their boards stand out. Usually it means they offer better control on ice.

Flex

A board can flex 2 ways. Longitudinal flex is the flex along the board’s length (most important to most boarders). Torsional flex is the flex across the board’s width.

Soft flex boards are forgiving and easy to turn. They’re usually preferred by beginners, riders with lower body weights and park riders.

Stiff flex boards provide more grip when turning and hold speeds better than softer boards. They also hold an edge better when descending fast.

Base Materials

Two types of polyethylene (PE) are used in snowboard bases:

Extruded bases are less expensive, low maintenance and relatively easy to repair, but sometimes vulnerable to warping.

Sintered bases are faster, stronger, lighter and more durable, but more expensive and require waxing.

History of snowboarding

In 1964 a young surf freak called Sherman Poppen was dreaming about surfing the magic winter landscape of the Rockies. As a consequence, he built a surfboard for the snow. His first prototype was an about 1,20 m long plastic plank: two kids’ skis bolted together. It was a present for his daughter Wendy which soon was a winner in the neighbourhood. 
One year later, in 1965, his idea was put into production: Carried out together with a bowling-ball manufacturer, the now called “snurfer” (=snow-surfer) found its way through toy-stores under the Christmas trees. For the unbeatable price of $15, one million snurfers were sold in the 10 years following, and Mr. Poppen soon began to establish a competition series.  But the snurfer as a mass phenomenon disappeared as quickly as he had emerged from the white surf of the Rockies. Nothing else but the vague memory of an uncontrollable toy stayed in most people’s minds. It was close to be the end of a fantastic idea – surfing the winter mountains -if there wouldn’t have been blokes like Dimitrije Milovich or Jake Burton Carpenter. 
In 1970, Milovich, an east coast surfer, had an idea while he was sliding around on cafeteria trays in the snow of upstate New York. He started to develop snowboards following the example of the new short surf boards. He even used rudimentary steel edges – an idea he soon gave up because he only rode in deepest powder anyway. He experimented with laminating glass and gravel on the board and also used nylon straps. His company “Winterstick” is to be considered as the first snowboard company ever. 
In 1975, they were mentioned in American magazines like Newsweek and Playboy, and already in 1976, he threw a swallow tail board on the nearly not existing market. 
In 1980, the company was broke.  Jake Burton, a 23-year-old student back then, was completely into snurfing and kept on improving the toy, in order to develop it into a real sporting good. Foottraps for better control, fins for more stability… Jake was always looking for new details to improve his riding. 
In 1977, he decided to found his own company in Vermont. Starting with a small edition of “snowboards” – flexible wooden planks with water ski bindings – the small turnover due to the “high” price of $38 didn’t look like this might be one of the biggest winter sport revolutions on our slopes, and the base for the biggest snowboard company today. Exactly in the same time, mentioned former skateboard champion Tom Sims, addicted to snurfing as well, started to produce snowboards. Bob Webber developed the famous “yellow banana” board in 1977, made of polyethylene. Chuck Barfoot invented fiberglass in the snowboard production in the following year. Most of the first Boards didn’t have any bindings and were featuring a control-leash instead. Still not allowed on the public slopes in ski resorts, the first boarders had to come in at night, walk up the trails, and ride down secretly in order to avoid any penalty. 
In 1979, at the annual Snurfer contest held in Michigan, pro snurfer Paul Graves performed a freestyle demo and made the crowd scream by showing four sliding 360s, dropping down on one knee for part of the course, and dismounting off his board at the finish with a front flip. At the same event, Jake Burton Carpenter tried to enter on his own equipment. There were protests about his non-Snurfer snowboard design. Paul Graves and others stood up for Jake’s right to race and an open division was created which only Jake entered. He won. In the same year, Mark Anolik discovered the Tahoe City Halfpipe while nosing around behind the Tahoe City dump. Bingo – this became known as the world’s first snowboard halfpipe and not only attracted aces like Terry Kidwell or Keith Kimmel but also photographers from the skateboard mags. In the early eighties, even in Europe the first prototypes were glued together. But more and more fans tried to import the US cult boards. One of the first was later president of the ISF, Jose Fernandes from Switzerland, who ordered a board from the USA in 1982 after working on own planks for several time. Later, in 1985, he would also be the first European to got to America for a contest – he got third in the North American Championships in Calgary. Other European pioneers were Tommy Delago from Oberammergau and Petra “Milka” Mossig from Konstanz, Germany, also a later world champion. Ski technology materials improved the gliding abilities of the boards, and later on, the first high-back bindings were produced by snowboard pioneers Flite, founded in 1974. More and more riders took off the fins, and slowly but surely, the “snurfer” turned into a controllable “snowboard” and an accepted sporting good. Already in 1981, Ski Cooper in Leadville, Colorado, saw the first snowboard contest. One year later, the first National Snowboard Championships were held in Suicide Six near Woodstock, Vermont. Downhill racers were timed at 60 mph. In 1985, “Absolutely Radical” came out – fanfare for the first snowboard mag ever, later rebaptized “International Snowboard Magazine”. Also this year, models like Sims 1500 FE and Burton Performer finally brought the comeback of the steel edge! European board manufacturers like Nidecker and Hooger Booger quickly had made up their technical delay and in 1987, Jose Fernandes won the Giant Slalom of the “American” world championships of this year in Breckenridge, CO, with one of the first asymmetrical boards – a sign that the European snowboard industry didn’t need to fear comparisons with the Americans anymore. German ace Peter Bauer and French guy Jean Nerva were also about to celebrate big successes with asymmetrical boards. In 1987, the first “European” snowboard world championships took place in Livigno and St. Moritz – and this event brought up a great brotherhood of snowboarders from all over the world. A new sport was born. Snowboarding was newer, fresher, younger than anything else on the slope. Snowboarding was a revolution, a tribute to liberty, a new religion for young people. The year after, the international World cup tour was born, won by Peter Bauer just like in the year after. The evolution became faster and faster: rounded tails, hard boots, plate bindings… powder boards, race boards, free style boards… asymmetrical, twin-tip, carving… new disciplines like half pipe, modules and downhill… 
1990 saw the foundation of the ISF, and nowadays the speed record for snowboarders is set to some mediocre 201,907 km/h, run by Aussie Darren Powell in Les Arcs in 1999. Meanwhile, more than 6 million snowboarders are shredding down the mountains, and they are getting more and more. The “white rush” developed into an Olympic sport with a big but unfortunately divided lobby. Instead of banning snowboarders from the slope (in 1985, only 7% of the American resorts had permitted snowboarding!), ski resorts now are building half pipes and organizing contests and events. A creative hardware and clothing industry is setting new trends in aesthetics and function. Snowboard now is a mass sports. And a worldwide Pro-Tour with great performance can now be seen on TV every weekend. Snowboarders like Terje Haakonsen, Shaun Palmer, Daniel Franck, Martin Freinamedetz, Nicola Thost and, last but not least, the unforgotten Olympic champion of Nagano, Ross Rebagliati, are world stars today. Mega events like Innsbruck’s Air&Style attract 40,000 and more people, and snowboarding has set the determining trends of the last years in music and clothing style. Snowboarding is the youth-culture of the nineties ! More than 80% of the kids who practise winter sports choose snowboarding – no wonder snowboards still are the number one Christmas present. And for sure, one day the kids will ask the older generation: “Excuse me granny, but why did you cut your snowboard in two pieces when you were young?”