Why I am not too keen on many snowboarders

Iceman wrote:Careful. You will dislike yourself. have your sallo around your bum, shout dude and fall off chair lifts and drags lifts and I am sure you will fit right in.

Above all, remember to sit in the middle if the piste:)

Interestingly enough, apart from the sitting in the middle of pistes bit, a lot of skiers seem to be behaving this way nowadays.

I wouldn't have thought either was particularly easier to do well. I'm sure a lot of kids go into snow boarding because they skateboard and it would seem logical to transfer the skills across. It's not so easy to practice skiing in the summer.

As to whether or not you can claim one or other is easier because of the pathways to instructor training and the requirements of the legislature in certain countries are different is probably a stretch too far.

Does it really take 20 years to become a good skier? - not if you start young. Isn't the Olympic slalom champion 16?

andymol2 wrote:
Does it really take 20 years to become a good skier? - not if you start young. Isn't the Olympic slalom champion 16?

I guess it depends on how many weeks a year you ski and whether you have lessons or not really :)

idkwia wrote:

I knew this was wrong, because I have an Austrian friend who is Staatliche approved at the age of 30. However, to double check, I wrote to another Austrian friend, and received a remarkably anglo-saxon response.

20 years is b****cks but you do have to teach between Anwaerter and Landeslehrer

Anwaerter to Staatlicher takes about 5 years if you pass all the exams ..usually one season teaching between each level. You also now have to do snowboard exams in order to obtain Staatlicher[/i]."

I venture that this is a pretty good command of English for an Austrian. (It was me that converted the word with some*****!)

An interesting comment Dave but I think this actually emphasises the point I am making. To reach the level of Staatlicher as a skier takes at least a couple of decades.

Dave, when did your friends start skiing?

Not even with your defensive, convoluted logic, could you get away with suggesting that the clock starts ticking when the skier is still wearing nappies.

The informed question would be "when did you friends start teaching?"

You should NEVER try to run backwards, when wearing ski boots. You will fall, look stupid, and everyone will laugh.....

Dave Mac wrote:

idkwia wrote:

I knew this was wrong, because I have an Austrian friend who is Staatliche approved at the age of 30. However, to double check, I wrote to another Austrian friend, and received a remarkably anglo-saxon response.

20 years is b****cks but you do have to teach between Anwaerter and Landeslehrer

Anwaerter to Staatlicher takes about 5 years if you pass all the exams ..usually one season teaching between each level. You also now have to do snowboard exams in order to obtain Staatlicher[/i]."

I venture that this is a pretty good command of English for an Austrian. (It was me that converted the word with some*****!)

An interesting comment Dave but I think this actually emphasises the point I am making. To reach the level of Staatlicher as a skier takes at least a couple of decades.

Dave, when did your friends start skiing?

Not even with your defensive, convoluted logic, could you get away with suggesting that the clock starts ticking when the skier is still wearing nappies.

The informed question would be "when did you friends start teaching?"

You should NEVER try to run backwards, when wearing ski boots. You will fall, look stupid, and everyone will laugh.....

Dave, the whole point of this post was to comment that it takes much longer to become a good skier than it does to become a good snowboarder and therefore the clock does start ticking as soon as someone rides for the first time at whatever age.

I wasn't really talking about getting to ski instructor level but in this regard it is of course b******s that it would take 20 years/seasons to get from Anwarter to Staatliche but that was not the point I was making, I was saying it can take about 20 years/seasons i.e. a long time, to get from nothing to Staatliche/ISTD level.

To reach Anwarter level takes time and again the clock would start ticking when someone starts skiing for the first time.

We have all seen youngsters who are members of the local ski clubs flying around the mountain behind an instructor and/or going through gates; these are the next generation of instructors and the experience and skill they are gaining through their former years counts a great deal towards them becoming instructors.

(It must be noted that if someone says they have been skiing for 20 years that could equate to 20 weeks as opposed to 20 full seasons. Either way it would take a person with an average amount of talent a huge amount of snow miles to reach Staatliche/ISTD).

Actually I think the issue is that it is MUCH EASIER to spot a crap skier than a crap snowboarder on the slopes. Because on a snowboard the feet are clamped together......as long as they are still riding sunny side up it is much harder to spot the good from the useless.

Once you are a decent snowboarder it becomes easier to spot the hopeless from the brilliant, but I would say 90% going down the slope look kinda the same. Obviously you see the men from the boys when things get trickier.

I can categorise skiers on a scale of 1 to 10 almost instantly - just because the seperation of the skis makes it soooo much easier to spot style.

I ski and board. I do agree that skiing is a trickier art to master to a kinda professional level, whereas boarding is more freeflowing and casual.

However - the whole discussion is bollox as 99% of us are doing it for our own personal enjoyment, so who gives a shit what level of skill anybody has?

p.s. Skiers die more often than snowboarders 'cos they go faster in a pointless attempt to show off at speed. Us boarders just have fun!!

I saw the title and thought - wind up! (The title IS misleading if not a wind up).

For my pennies worth however...

You progress quicker initially with skiing, from snowplough to parallel turns whereas snowboarding your lucky to stand UP for the first few days!

After a week or so I think there is little in it.

Different equipment, direct styles but otherwise it's practice, instruction, balance and even age.

For the sake of good order I've skied 14 weeks and snowboarded 12 (max 3 weeks in any one season).

Give both a go, then make your own decision on whether easier one way or the other or at least temper your 'opinion' on snowboarders OR skiers.

Oh and I wear a helmet whilst doing both (but started to when I first began to snowboard)

munich_johnny wrote:I can categorise skiers on a scale of 1 to 10 almost instantly - just because the seperation of the skis makes it soooo much easier to spot style.

Thanks for you input munich_johnny. Would be interested to know what you mean by the above statement; are you suggesting that someone who skis with their feet very close together is better than someone who has their skis further apart or the other way around?