Latest posts for the topic "Skiing v. Boarding"

Skiing v. Boarding

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:56:48 GMT

A few weeks ago the issue of skiing over boarding cropped up in a different thread. Various people were asking about the differences and I said as I was giving boarding a bash I'd report back with how I found it. So..........

Well I probably shouldn't say it here but I think I prefer boarding now! The first two days of boarding are frustrating, particularly for people who can ski. Unlike skiing it takes a while to actually stand with any confidence and those first days will be pretty painful. Catch the wrong edge and you'll be sent flying on your face or your back and pretty bruised. The flatter parts of the slope are more likely to trip you up just as you think you're ok - and unlike early skiing falls you'll be thrown up into the air first before crashing to the ground!

However after those first few days.....it's incredible fun and it doesn't take anywhere near as long to master as skiing. By our third day we went down a red run and steepness isn't a problem at all on a board - it's a very easy technique to slide down a slope on your edges so you should never really get to a slope and not be able to get down - on the other hand runs down windy roads can be pretty tricky especially as it can take a few efforts before your legs follow the order to turn.

Equipment wise there isn't much to choose from other than boards for off-piste or the half-pipe so you are probably safe to invest in the equipment earlier than you might with skis which keep changing according to design and ability. The boots are a lot more comfy to walk in too!

The instructor is very important of course, and Guiseppe from the Bardonecchia Ski School was excellent - speaking good english, was patient, enthusiastic and had a sense of humour (looked like Hulk Hogan). He also set up the course for some of the snowoarding events at the Turin Olypmics. Anyone wanting to try might consider waiting for the warmer weather - Spring arrived mid-week which made the turns much easier and the falls a lot more cushioned than the ice!

I noticed offers for afternoon tasters costing about GBP40 - complete waste of money in my opinion as you'll have done nothing but fall over by then. To give it a go requires at least 2 or 3 days!

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:42:12 GMT

Kevinc,reading your post is not suprising I skied for 12yrs approx before getting drunk on my stag do in andorra and taking the challenge from my mates to become a boarder!!! After becoming self/friend taught I became a decent boarder enjoying some great powder and parks!. Up until last year I was totally snowboard then it came to the time my son who is 3yrs was ready to join me on the slopes so thought heck why not try the skis again and I can't believe how good it feels to be back on the trusty skis!!!! Sometimes a break is what's needed to apprieciate the finer things on the mountain!!! :mrgreen: looking back when boarding you have to select your resort and runs very carefully if not you could end up walking for miles and then theres lift selection wow, This can be painful if you pick up a long drag for instance, and finally I used to spend most time looking for jumps or fresh powder . As for skiing you can go anywhere when ever you want conditions don't play as much of a part, lifts don't matter you can switch off and take in the scenery,on a board 100%concentration needed. Well that's my take on it just sold all my boarding equipment apart from my dainese protection shorts so if you are size xl there's some for sale.back to skiing fixed myself up with some nordica speedmachine 10 boots and now lookingfor some skis for next year, i have either a of k2 apache recons or Scott neos in mind any suggestions ?? Glad you enjoyed boarding but believe me you will enjoy returning to skiing more )

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:07:23 GMT

thanks kevin that was me, i am very glad you reported back, i did watch some newbie boarders, i didnt fancy the way they had to lean downhill that looked a bit scarey especially on some of the steeper runs but glad you enjoyed it and yes i am envious of the softer boots

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:05:38 GMT

Russco - I do intend to still ski - probably hire skis for a day or two each holiday but will board more whilst I can still get away with it, age-wise.

Amanda - it does take a bit of nerve sometimes to turn but the good thing is that you don't have to turn if you're not comfortable with it. It really is the flat bits that seem to cause the most problems!

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:16:47 GMT

Ski only, I'm too trendy to snowboard :wink:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:26:47 GMT

Hey hey, been there, done that, went back to skiing...

I mixed boarding and skiing for a couple of seasons way back whenever. Started off with something called a "Hot 160" that was shaped like a fish, ludicrously bendy in the middle, and had the un-nerving habit of pitching you into a cartwheel if you went more than 5mph.

Remember a few great days in powder on an early swallow-tail and I did enjoy it hugely at times, but I just found that skiing gave me a wider variety of experiences and I only ski now.

I think I just prefer facing in the direction that I'm travelling in!

I think everyone should try it at least once, but KevinC's right to point out; if you're going to try it then you need to give it enough time to get over the painful bit.

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:32:42 GMT

There was a lad in the chalet above ours and it was his first time boarding. He was a walking wreck by mid week. He was eventually wearing bubble wrap in his undies 'cause certain parts were very sore :shock:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:41:47 GMT

The one thing that I have noticed about boarders is ...they fall on their butts alot when they get off the chair :lol: I am afraid to take the chair with my boarder buddies..they may take me out when we get off :lol: :lol:

Boarding does look like fun though.

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:55:41 GMT

LM wrote:The one thing that I have noticed about boarders is ...they fall on their butts alot when they get off the chair :lol: I am afraid to take the chair with my boarder buddies..they may take me out when we get off :lol: :lol:

Boarding does look like fun though.

They scare the h*** out of me getting off the lifts with them.........but has to be said, if I were a LOT younger..........I might be tempted to give it a go

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:12:27 GMT

Eljay wrote:

LM wrote:The one thing that I have noticed about boarders is ...they fall on their butts alot when they get off the chair :lol: I am afraid to take the chair with my boarder buddies..they may take me out when we get off :lol: :lol:

Boarding does look like fun though.

They scare the h*** out of me getting off the lifts with them.........but has to be said, if I were a LOT younger..........I might be tempted to give it a go

:lol:me too Eljay

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:01:35 GMT

LM wrote:

Eljay wrote:

LM wrote:The one thing that I have noticed about boarders is ...they fall on their butts alot when they get off the chair :lol: I am afraid to take the chair with my boarder buddies..they may take me out when we get off :lol: :lol:

Boarding does look like fun though.

They scare the h*** out of me getting off the lifts with them.........but has to be said, if I were a LOT younger..........I might be tempted to give it a go

:lol:me too Eljay

It's only for young un's , you old un's stick to skiing :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:05:24 GMT

speak for yourself wickers

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:07:46 GMT

amanda n wrote:speak for yourself wickers

Why ain't you at work, you gotta pay for Vc soon :mrgreen:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:10:28 GMT

i am at work cant you tell im bored, VC all paid for just the spendy money which will be sorted on saturday but thanks for worrying x

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:11:09 GMT

at the mo im trying to decide whether or not to tske voluntary redundancy or not and move abroad, i wont get much but it would be a start

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:11:27 GMT

amanda n wrote:i am at work cant you tell im bored, VC all paid for just the spendy money which will be sorted on saturday but thanks for worrying x

Have you got room in your suit case for a rather chubby guy :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :oops: :oops:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:14:04 GMT

hum if i leave all the clothes out then yeah course, your wife only diddy so she can go in boot bag if we fold her up nicely lol

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:25:31 GMT

amanda n wrote:at the mo im trying to decide whether or not to tske voluntary redundancy or not and move abroad, i wont get much but it would be a start

If I was ten years younger I would definitely do it, nearly did it five years ago, just didn't work out :cry: :cry:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:29:13 GMT

is it a complicated pocess?

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:43:44 GMT

amanda n wrote:is it a complicated pocess?

Much the same as over here with a tad more red tape, we were off to Switzerland, so a permit needed to be obtained but a long distant memory now :cry: :cry:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:14:04 GMT

you are never too old go for it.

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:46:32 GMT

amanda n wrote:you are never too old go for it.

You are when you have a pension to consider only twelve years till retirement :D

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:27:57 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

LM wrote:

Eljay wrote:

LM wrote:The one thing that I have noticed about boarders is ...they fall on their butts alot when they get off the chair :lol: I am afraid to take the chair with my boarder buddies..they may take me out when we get off :lol: :lol:

Boarding does look like fun though.

They scare the h*** out of me getting off the lifts with them.........but has to be said, if I were a LOT younger..........I might be tempted to give it a go

:lol:me too Eljay

It's only for young un's , you old un's stick to skiing :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Your right Ian )
..beside I dont think wearing my ski pants down by my knees would be very comfortable or attractive :lol:....seriously here in Canada the younger boarder guys are wearing their boarder pants down past their asses..so you can see their underwear and butts!!!! :shock: Looks sooo bad! not a look for me ha ha ha ....would be cold too!

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:15:09 GMT

LM wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

LM wrote:

Eljay wrote:

LM wrote:The one thing that I have noticed about boarders is ...they fall on their butts alot when they get off the chair :lol: I am afraid to take the chair with my boarder buddies..they may take me out when we get off :lol: :lol:

Boarding does look like fun though.

They scare the h*** out of me getting off the lifts with them.........but has to be said, if I were a LOT younger..........I might be tempted to give it a go

:lol:me too Eljay

It's only for young un's , you old un's stick to skiing :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Your right Ian )
..beside I dont think wearing my ski pants down by my knees would be very comfortable or attractive :lol:....seriously here in Canada the younger boarder guys are wearing their boarder pants down past their asses..so you can see their underwear and butts!!!! :shock: Looks sooo bad! not a look for me ha ha ha ....would be cold too!

They seem to spend a lot of time on their backside, but each to there own 8)

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:29:56 GMT

LM wrote:I dont think wearing my ski pants down by my knees would be very attractive !

Oh, I dont know.....

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:31:37 GMT

Tony_H wrote:

LM wrote:I dont think wearing my ski pants down by my knees would be very attractive !

Oh, I dont know.....

:lol:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:42:12 GMT

I learnt to ski when I was 18 and then changed to boarding for 12 years when I was about 25, my husband claims to have made me 'see the light' and got me back on skis. The truth is he was always too slow for me and I was sat at the bottom of the lift waiting for him, so as wife duties called I went back to skiing.

And I love it. Whenever I have a day on a board I always get stroppy with my bindings and having to keep scooting on the flat bits.

Skiing is the way forward the older you get I have decided.

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:44:16 GMT

NellyPS wrote:I learnt to ski when I was 18 and then changed to boarding for 12 years when I was about 25, my husband claims to have made me 'see the light' and got me back on skis. The truth is he was always too slow for me and I was sat at the bottom of the lift waiting for him, so as wife duties called I went back to skiing.

And I love it. Whenever I have a day on a board I always get stroppy with my bindings and having to keep scooting on the flat bits.

Skiing is the way forward the older you get I have decided.

Sounds a bit submissive to me :mrgreen:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:47:39 GMT

After boarding for years I just couldn't bring myself to put on those godawful heavy ski boots to have a go at skiing...

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:49:29 GMT

i have never boarded, but always ski with a boarder, and its just the waiting around for bindings etc that would P me off! I will try boarding though some day, and telemark!

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:54:00 GMT

swskier wrote:i have never boarded, but always ski with a boarder, and its just the waiting around for bindings etc that would P me off! I will try boarding though some day, and telemark!

i might climb everest one day, but then again don't hold your breath :-o

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:04:42 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

swskier wrote:i have never boarded, but always ski with a boarder, and its just the waiting around for bindings etc that would P me off! I will try boarding though some day, and telemark!

i might climb everest one day, but then again don't hold your breath :-o

That'll be the next Mr W movie :twisted: :twisted:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:07:02 GMT

Eljay wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

swskier wrote:i have never boarded, but always ski with a boarder, and its just the waiting around for bindings etc that would P me off! I will try boarding though some day, and telemark!

i might climb everest one day, but then again don't hold your breath :-o

That'll be the next Mr W movie :twisted: :twisted:

Don't worry I have nothing in the movie pipeline till summer :mrgreen:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:23:59 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

swskier wrote:i have never boarded, but always ski with a boarder, and its just the waiting around for bindings etc that would P me off! I will try boarding though some day, and telemark!

i might climb everest one day, but then again don't hold your breath :-o

:lol: lol! I love your wit Ian,cracks me up! :lol:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:49:16 GMT

LM wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

swskier wrote:i have never boarded, but always ski with a boarder, and its just the waiting around for bindings etc that would P me off! I will try boarding though some day, and telemark!

i might climb everest one day, but then again don't hold your breath :-o

:lol: lol! I love your wit Ian,cracks me up! :lol:

I glad you like it , it must drive my wife and daughter mad :shock: :shock:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:57:35 GMT

Hi, interesting thread have always skied, but have been on hols with a boarder, if their a mate, their worth the wait!

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:15:05 GMT

Eggman wrote:Hi, interesting thread have always skied, but have been on hols with a boarder, if their a mate, their worth the wait!

...or its worth investing the time to try and gently tempt them back from the dark side )

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:20:20 GMT

Neiltoo wrote:

Eggman wrote:Hi, interesting thread have always skied, but have been on hols with a boarder, if their a mate, their worth the wait!

...or its worth investing the time to try and gently tempt them back from the dark side )

Each to their own, I don't really care if people want to Board, Alpine ski, Cross country, Telemark or snow shoe the common denominator is respect for other slope users and respect for the mountains :shock:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:31:17 GMT

while i was in the big you know where, we were stood at the top waiting for one of group to get off the lift and this poor bloke who was boarding with his mates on skis was left behind they just shouted at him sorry mate if you cant keep up we aren't waiting so bt of a shame if groups are split because of ski/board preference

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:34:32 GMT

amanda n wrote:while i was in the big you know where, we were stood at the top waiting for one of group to get off the lift and this poor bloke who was boarding with his mates on skis was left behind they just shouted at him sorry mate if you cant keep up we aren't waiting so bt of a shame if groups are split because of ski/board preference

Thats because you can't travel very fast when your backside is stuck on the snow :shock:

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:35:59 GMT

lol but its not nice to go away with a group of mates and have them leave you behind at the top of a mountain? bit dangerous

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:10:23 GMT

I have skied in a mixed group of boarders and skiers and never found it a problem. As Mr W says........each to their own

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:16:45 GMT

eljay, what is your secret, you get younger by the minute

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:19:57 GMT

As far as boarders taking a few moments to be ready at the top of the lift, it really depends on the length of the run. On short runs, where you might be doing 30 or 40 runs, it can be a pain. On longer runs over the course of a day, it doesn't add up to much waiting time. Step-in bindings speed up the process, but they are not fashionable these days (except Flows).

It takes skiers a lot longer to pick themselves up after a fall. I'm sure they would be miffed if their snowboarding buddy said, sorry I can't be bothered to wait for you.

Trencher

Re:Skiing v. Boarding

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:43:42 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

Neiltoo wrote:

Eggman wrote:Hi, interesting thread have always skied, but have been on hols with a boarder, if their a mate, their worth the wait!

...or its worth investing the time to try and gently tempt them back from the dark side )

Each to their own, I don't really care if people want to Board, Alpine ski, Cross country, Telemark or snow shoe the common denominator is respect for other slope users and respect for the mountains :shock:

Top banana again, Wickers.