ski or board technique

I tried snowboarding, had some lessons at Nevis Range and Tamworth, passed the course there too. Just didn't get on with it, and had big confidence problems when I got back on my skis. Snowboarding messed with my head :lol:

Hi Amanda,
I have just turned 40 so decided last year to have a learn to board day at the snow dome.(mid life crisis) Found it great fun but totally different from sking, apart from using edges to turn. Hired a board for the last day of my holiday last year but decided to have a full week boarding this January and had the best week ever.
I had four one hour private lesson through out the week with the last 2 being off piste(what a feeling).
I can only decribe boarding on powder as floating, until you fall over and spend several minutes and lots of energy trying to get up again.
If you decide to board on holiday i would recommend having a lesson straight away as the instructor will advise you on how to get on the lifts.
Be prepared to fall over 100 times a day and be exhausted by the end of it.
For some reason i found the steeper slopes easier where as on the narrow blue slopes i got caught out a few times and caught the front edge, sending me face first into the snow.(has anyone else had the same problem?)
Make sure you wear a helmet and wrist guards.
Give it a go and hope you like it.

rich s wrote:
For some reason i found the steeper slopes easier where as on the narrow blue slopes i got caught out a few times and caught the front edge, sending me face first into the snow.(has anyone else had the same problem?)

Thats normal. The more gentle the slope, the closer your raised edge is to the snow. That's why you see so many beginners catching an edge on the flats.

Trencher

Ian Wickham wrote:

amanda n wrote:is it bad on the knees? i have a bit of a didgy right knee, its okay as long as i dont do anything too daft, i did a black run first day at xmas, thought it was blue, vy the time i go to thw red i was crying, so as long as i keep to my limit i am okay.

If you check um out they seem to spend a lot of time on the bottom :oops:

Cold/wet (or both) a**e was always my worry about this one plank lark.

amanda n wrote:wouldnt mind trying xcountry, i saw them going up some very steep inclines at hopfgarten and when i got back to the hotel and asked the owner how it worked i thought he was joking how they make the skis, have you tried the snow shoes that looks good as well,

some snowshoeing photo's on my blog :

http://snowslider.net/category/outdoors/snowshoeing/

it's fun, I hugely recommend using a guide to get out in the real back country though :D

Never tried skiing, so my opinion is unbalanced. However if you are profficient in both I would guess there is less chance of knee injury with boarding. You set your bindings to whatever is comfortable then you are locked in. A fall as has been suggested is far harder on ribs or hands than the knees. Most snowboarders I have spoken to or watched favour an edge. In my case it's the back edge, this was not always the case as when learning I preferred to look up rather than down and the front edge was used more often. If you become comfortable on the back edge and attempt trickier things with that edge you will always fall backwards and save your knees. Learning to switch (or turn through 180 deg) it gives you a level of control such that even high speed falls can be controlled. If you have bad knees in the first place then learning will be hell because of the constant up and down. But once you have it or if you are a natural then I really wouldn't worry about knee injury.

tino teach me :D

amanda n wrote:tino teach me :D

Would be my pleasure! Where are we going? :-)