I’m going to the snow in September, and I don’t know whether I should ski or snowboard.
I’ve skiied before, but I have never been snowboarding.
So, what would you guys say are the pros and cons of each?
Skiing is much harder to learn than snowboarding. If you are a novice and/or don’t live up in the mountains with plenty of snow then I think you’ll have more fun snowboarding. This is mainly because you can get reasonably OK at it in a day or so.
Personally, I prefer snowbarding. Don’t really know why, I just feel like it is more fun. In general, you can do exactly the same things whether you are skiing or snowboarding, except for maybe going backwards which is so much easier on a snowbard.
Where are you headed for Bluey? Given that there’s not too much of the snowy stuff in ‘Bewdiful Queensland’, are you heading to the Perisher snowfields, or coming down South…to the DECENT one’s…(that’s Victoria for all of youse ignorant northerners).
Re the Pro’s and Con’s of either…I’ve never been boarding, so I can’t tell ya!! 
Never been skiing, but found snowboarding to be heaps of fun and fairly easy to pick up.
Expect bum and knee bruises on the first day, but after that, you get the hang of it. You’ll probably pick it up quicker, being a skier already.
I would advise snowboarding, simply because you have been skiing before. It’s always good to try something new. Have fun 
ummm… sorry I’m going to Perisher…
I would agree with Goo normally that you should try something new. I prefer snowboarding and think everyone should try it.
But, for the sake of your holiday, it might be best to stick to what you know. The only downside of 'boarding will be the learning time involved. If you only have a long weekend to hit the slopes and your friends are all good skiers, you may find yourself left behind for a day or two 'till you pick up the basics.
But if everyone in your party goes 'boarding, then that’s the way to go. Have fun.
WELL then, forget I gave you *any * valuable advice!! 
It’s only a few more bucks down to OUR highly esteemed and UNIVERSALLY REGARDED AS MUCH BETTER snowfields. Don’t perish at Perisher…anyway, we’re having a DopeFest in Aug and you wouldn’t wanna miss that would’ya?
I’m going for 5 days worth of skiing with 2 hour lessons each day, and my friend is a novice too.
I’m going with a group, cos it’s cheaper, so I’m sorry kambukta I’ll have to miss Vic and the DopeFest. 
So far it looks like boarding is winning!
umm that is 5 days worth of skiing or boarding…
and kambuckta… sigh
what is it they say? “Preview is my friend.”
I am an expert skier and gave snowboarding a good shot over 2 seasons. I got to the level where I could handle gromed blacks then just lost interest. It just wasn’t as much fun as skiing. Actually it was quite a pain at times not being as manuverable esp. at low speeds, flat and some uphill.
I think someone who hasn’t mastered one will do better on a snowboard but if you get to a certain level in skiing, snowboarding ain’t going to cut it. The level I’m talking about is that you can confidently handle anything 99% of ski areas have opened (100% if you exclude gated areas).
Most experienced skiiers seem to have a preference to skiing. This is at least my experience. I have attempted to ski exactly twice and nearly killed myself each time, and we are talking on the baby-slope (the one for 3 year olds here).
My prime difficulty was the need to control two legs at once, while also worrying about the fact that I was moving downhill on two thin pieces of wood (or fiberglass or whatever). Compounded with having a pole in each hand it was a nightmare. I rolled down the baby-slope leaving poles, skis, hat, goggles etc strews bahind me on the slope. A small child skied down after me and picked up all my things. Humiliation! I also find the ski-boots incredibly uncomfortable in regards to restriction of movement, and painfully tight on my calves (yes I tried a few different ones).
In my misery a friend traded me his board and boots for my ski gear for the afternoon, and I had a blast. I stayed away from that dangerous baby-slope and went instead to a different area of the mountain that was not a slope, but just a slight gradient.
The board allowed me a simple way to get up when I had fallen down (dig the board in under your ass and push to a crouch with your hands), the boots were the most comfortable things I had ever worn, I would wear them around town gladly, and within moments I was wobbeling downhill with both my feet happily held to the one board. Next time we hit the slopes, I am going to skip skiing altogether and endure the ridicule of all my elitist skiiing friends and go boardin’!
Something we discussed at a recent ski trip, among myself (intermediate skiier only), my brother (expert snowboarder, skiied a few times when he was a kid) and my friend Meredith (intermediate skiier, was trying snowboarding for the first time).
Conclusions:
Skiing is easier to LEARN. With proper instruction and equipment you can go from non-skiier to most green (easy) runs in a couple of hours. Seems like it takes quite a bit longer for the average snowboarding student to make it down a trail without biffing it quite a few times.
However, once a basic level is attained, snowboarding is easier to ADVANCE. Either a smaller set of skills are involved, or else those skills are more naturally attained for most people (couldn’t decide which). Whichever it is, there seem to be a lot more “intermediate” skiiers, vs. “advanced” snowboarders.
My friend enjoyed her couple of days snowboarding, but still wanted to ski (enjoyed the feeling of being “good” at it, vs, still very hesitant on a board). Some people talk like once you try one, you’ll never want to do the other ever again… not true.
In that case, I think you and your friend should ski or snowboard together. Either sport is way more fun when you have someone else’s wipe-out to laugh at.
I think which you pick will depend on what type of riding you see yourself doing:
If you want to ride the slopes, dodging trees as you blast down steep powder runs, skis are probably your best bet. Mountain riding on a snowboard is sweet (it’s my favorite), but as others have said, skis are more suited to this. You can’t go cross-country or “herringbone” uphill on a snowboard.
If watching the kids jumping and grinding in the terrain park and flipping around in the half-pipe gets you charged up, you’ll want to strap on a snowboard. Sure, Jonny Mosely looks like a snow god when he does the “dinner roll” on his skis, but on mere mortals, skis in the park look stupid.
With two hours of lessons each day for five days, whichever sport you pick, learning it won’t be an issue. You’ll end up both very competent and very sore. 
Bring lots of ibuprophen.
I used to ski when I was young, but have been a snowboarder since the sport was new.
MHO, is the opposite of hello again’s. Skiing is much harder to learn than snowboarding. You spend days on the bunny slope snowplowing along. As others have pointed out snowboarding is much easier to learn.
Especially because you have skied before, you should pick up boarding in a day. Have patience, because you will fall a lot on your knees and backside at slow speeds during the first day. But, soon enough you should pick it up.
How true, Kamandi, my bro calls it “Vitamin I.” Let me add, a hotel with a hot tub is a MUST.
OK, I think more people need to try out skiboarding.
That’s right, I said skiboarding.
If you’ve never heard of skiboards, they are basically just shortened skis (about 90-99cm on average), that are a bit wider than usual skis. I gave up skiing 2 years ago and made the switch to skiboards, and have yet to find a con with them.
-
Easy to learn: Everyone I know that has tried them has picked it up within a few runs. It’s easier than learning to ski or snowboard, and if you’ve ever rollerbladed, it will be all the easier. You might have a little bit of trouble finding an edge at the beginning (there’s a smaller edge, of course), but after that it’s smooth sailing.
-
The Benefits of Skiing: You are still able to cross country and “herringbone” uphill. Maneuverability is exponentially greater, and beginners are still able to use a wedge position to stay at slow speeds.
-
The Benefits of Snowboarding: No poles, no poles, NO POLES! Just lean into the turn. Don’t worry about lost equipment, because skiboards don’t pop off when you fall. They don’t need to. Plus, once you get better, you won’t look stupid in the Terrain Park. Skiboards are excellent for jumping and doing tricks, and offer the least painful landing if you fall.
I’ll never understand why skiboarding has yet to become popular. But if you want my vote, forget about both skiing and snowboarding, and try something different.
(No, no skiboarding company is paying me for this advertisement.)
um - sliding down a snow covered slope on skis is called skiing - riding is something skiers do on a chairlift.
What is this herringbone you speak of?
As you see from my previous post I never got anywhere near that far…
You dont need to herringbone when you snowboard, you just pop off your board, stick it under your arm and run up the slope in your comfy boots YUMM
Iteki - with about 3 hours of experience in skiing and boarding combined.