To ski or to snowboard?

[roguerower]

I'm heading down to alps on sunday w/ my family to go skiing on some german slopes and I've got an important questions to ask: ski or snowboard?

I've never been skiing before (snow that is) and I'm trying to figure out which to try.

-Family is all gonna be skiing
-Friends back at college all snowboard
-Skiing is supposedly easier while snowboarding is supposedly harder

What are anyone else's experiences with either?

 

[drum]

skiing is definately a smaller learning curve and you can probably get the hang of it within the first day.
boarding is probably going to take a season or a lot of trips depending on how much you go to the slopes

 

[Boo025]

You are going to falling quite a bit if you decide to snowboard, learning how to balance/turn will take some time.

 

[mugs]

Not sure which is harder or more fun, but skiing is awesome. :thumbsup:

Expect to spend a lot of time on the ground your first time. I hope you have a good teacher. First time I went I was taught the noob way - snowplowing/pizza wedge crap. Second time I went, my friend taught me how to ski for real and it really wasn't that hard.

 

[Ns1]

I prefer skiing. Maybe because I'm good at it.

I hate boarding cuz even if you're l33t you're going to spend alot of time sitting on the ground. f that.

I pwn boarders downhill. If I had a pair of 180's instead of my 152's, I'd pwn them harder.

 

[xanis]

Snowboarding is, in my opinion, MUCH harder than skiing. I made the mistake of trying to learn how to snowboard first and wound up in a world of pain and having little fun. The second time I hit the slopes it was on some skis. I got the hang of it within about 2-3 hours and was able to get down the easier slopes on my own. My recommendation goes to skiing.

 

[clamum]

I've never skiied so I can't say much about it besides from what I've heard, and people have said it's easier to pick up than snowboarding.

Snowboarding isn't very hard to learn IMO, especially if you have someone that knows how to snowboard go with you to show you basics. If you stuck with it and had someone show you, I bet by the end of the first day you could go down a hill decently enough, and at least know how to stop.

But overall I think skiing would be quicker to learn if you've never done either.

 

[BeauJangles]

I learned to ski first and then switched to snowboarding. I guess because of my previous experience snowboarding was very, very easy to learn. I haven't skied in years, but I'm thinking about switching back. Snowboarding can be a pain in the ass. "Skating" around everywhere really sucks and, generally, I find snowboarding less graceful than skiing.

Plus, most snowboarders piss me off. They slide down trails, removing snow. They sit in big packs in stupid places.

 

[ranmaniac]

I'd probably try skiing first, just have to avoid hitting other people, and trees.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

If you're only going to do it once and you just want to have a good time then ski. If this is something you plan on doing a fair amount of then snowboard.

 

[KeithTalent]

FWIW I have had way more fun snowboarding than I ever did skiing.

KT

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
If you're only going to do it once and you just want to have a good time then ski. If this is something you plan on doing a fair amount of then snowboard.

Silly generalization. I'd say pick whichever sounds more fun to you and go with it. Picking up the basics of snowboarding or skiing isn't very difficult and, if one is easier, it isn't THAT much easier than the other. If you ever have a hankering to try the other, it won't be that hard to switch.

 

[SSSnail]

Do you surf? Skate? If so, then snowboarding won't be a difficult transition. I definitely prefer snowboarding over skiing.

Remembering when I first started, I thought snowboarding would better suite me because I surf and used to skate. It didn't take me long before I got a hang of it and got out of the bunny slopes (definitely recommending you spending some times there if it's your first time). After a day, my hip and legs and back, pretty much all parts of my body was sore and I could barely walk. But, the next session I was able to get on to the blue and eventually did a black diamond run at the end of the trip.

If you have a lot of fresh powder, then you won't have to worry too much about eating ice, so have fun.

 

[roguerower]

I don't surf or skate so the transition to snowboarding might be difficult. I'll be getting instruction daily so it wont be like a bunch of friends dragged me out and then let me to learn on my own.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: drum
skiing is definately a smaller learning curve and you can probably get the hang of it within the first day.

go skiing, after 1-3 hours on the bunny hill, you'll be ready for green circles

 

[daweeze02]

Okay this is a perfect topic for me since I just went skiing for the first time 2 weeks again at Wintergreen, VA. I was going with an expert skiier and my mom. She never got further than 30 feet lol. The video I have of her on the ground is hilarious, I can post it if you guys want to see it. Anyways I decided to ski, since my friend Bret was teaching me. I dont know if me playing hockey for 12 years helped but within an hour we were racing down the slopes and I was stopping like you would in ice hockey. After lots of drinking beer on the lifts and shots at the bar I totally forgot how to ski lol. But it was so much fun we went back the next day, and actually I am going back again with my own equipment in 3 weeks. But I would say ski first, its easier to catch on but harder to perfect. Snowboarding is harder at first but easier to learn all the cool stuff from what I hear. If you notice your skis cominf off a lot have them tighten your dims or whatever they are called.

 

[puffff]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: drum
skiing is definately a smaller learning curve and you can probably get the hang of it within the first day.

go skiing, after 1-3 hours on the bunny hill, you'll be ready for green circles

Yeah. It's also much easier getting off the lift for new skiers than for new snowboarders.

 

[Alistar7]

Find a fake leg cast and snap it on, park your asshat in front of the lodge fireplace and accept sympathy from the snow bunnies.

 

[slightlyhuman]

skiing is lame. water skiing, snow skiing, etc.

of course i love to wakeboard/wakeskate/skateboard so maybe my opinion is biased.

seriously, try snowboarding. it's a LOT of fun once you get it dialed. take lessons for a few hours your first day and that will help quiet a bit. you'll develop your heel edge before you do toe edge. try to land on your forearms and not your wrists/hands.

it's a bigger learning curve but is worth it. especially when you can kinked rails/boxes.

 

[rpanic]

I only snowboard now, but if I was you I would ski, snowboarding is much more demanding on your body, and skiing is a lot easyier.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: puffff

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: drum
skiing is definately a smaller learning curve and you can probably get the hang of it within the first day.

go skiing, after 1-3 hours on the bunny hill, you'll be ready for green circles

Yeah. It's also much easier getting off the lift for new skiers than for new snowboarders.

Agreed. When starting out snowboarding it took me a few tries to figure out how to properly extricate myself from the lift without looking like a complete idiot.

KT

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
Find a fake leg cast and snap it on, park your asshat in front of the lodge fireplace and accept sympathy from the snow bunnies.

Best idea yet.

 

[neegotiator]

Started off learning skiing as a kid, then snowboarding couple of years ago. Only been on 3 boarding trips so far, but I have more fun boarding than skiing. Plus less crap to take care of (just board as oppposed to skis/poles). Boarding learning curve is definitely higher, took me 2 trips to not embarass myself on the slopes. 1st trip I was hurting a pretty good deal.

Like guys above have said, if this is just a one time thing, skiing probably be more fun. Or if you want, you can probably switch and board one day, ski another so you can get a better feel.

 

[thepd7]

Agreed with the people mentioning the learning curve for boarding. I have done both a few times and although I have boarded more I am a better skiier. So I would say for a first time trip ski and have a blast instead on getting pounded on the snow a whole lot.

 

[tokie]

I've only snowboarded and never learned to ski, but I would suggest going the snowboard route. It seems harder to learn from what I hear, but it just seems much better.