Both, as far as I can tell, are very popular around here. I do neither.
But I remember when snowboarders were very much looked down upon by skiiers, and often outright banned at mant resorts. Some guys would actually pose as skiires until they hit the slopes, then would disclose their true nature and pull out the evil boards.
Now resorts openly advertise to boarders. And the old ski makers now make boards.
What proportion of those on the slopes are boarders, and do they intermingle with the ski folks? Are they mostly younger, or are old folks included?
What brought about these changes? I suspect that boarding turned out to be just too much fun to resist. Looks like it, anyway. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Death to boarders!
Seems pretty even at Heavenly, but the boarders may become the majority. Mostly young, but I have seen a few Geezers.
Boarding is easier (from what I hear, god knows I’ll never stoop to it) so many folks are starting out on them and some change after not picking up real skiing quick enough.
I hate them. For some reason, they all seem to sit in and around the entrance to the lift line, clogging all access. Same with the top of the chair. Get the hell out of the way, you knuckle-dragging, slack-jawed morons! I also tend to see way too many walking around the middle of runs, also in the way. And many tend to be rude and disrespectful, but that is a result of the younger age than the boarding I would assume.
Worst of all, they destroy all the good lines by cutting them up or shaving the moguls down. I don’t crap in your “terrain park”, so get the hell off The Face!
(this oughta make me popular!
)
So it’s true. They do get all the women.
I’m a geezer, (42 years) and learned to ski at the advanced age of 25. I learned to board when I was about 36. Boarding is a little harder at first than skiing, but it’s easier to become decent quickly. I can ski and board at an intermediate level, but generally prefer boarding since it’s not as tough on my knees.
A geezer at 42?
Shit.
I’ve been skiing a few times but never snowboarded. My cousin, on the other hand, is a championship skiier in Quebec in a big fish small pond kind of way. Him and his family dislike snowboarders. They said it’s because the way snowboarders slide down the hill carves it up and makes it unpleasant for skiiers. A bunch of the runs on the hill we were at were designated skis only so that might bear that complaint out…
I enjoy both. It depends on what I feel like doing on any particular day. I’m a better skier than a snowboarder, so if I feel like taking on moguls and black diamonds and whatnot, I’ll strap on the skis. On the other hand, my legs get a lot less tired snowboarding so I enjoy that a bit more for most times.
I remember when snowboarders first started showing up a lot at Mammoth Mountain. The big problem was that they didn’t know skiing etiquette - they were just skaters and surfers looking for a new, winter thrill - so they had a tendency to blaze down the mountains, cut people off and whatnot. As snowboarding has become more popular, the snowboarders have become far more aware of skiiing etiquette and it’s really not much of an issue anymore.
There are only three resorts in the US that don’t allow snowboarders: Mad River Glen VT, Alta UT, and Taos NM.
The majority of the folks taking up snow sports are taking up boarding, not skiing, so the demographics are changing rapidly.
Older folks (who knows what the cut off is these days) on boards are commonly known as “Grays on Trays”.
Boarders refer to skiers as “Two plankers”, skiers refer to boarders as “Knuckledraggers”. My favorite piece of slang is about the on slope gathers of boarders either on their butts or knees as “Walrus Pods”, what with the hopping around on their knees and the jostling for social status.
As to why more people are starting with boarding, I’m sure there are many factors, main among them is that it’s fun, it’s new(er), and it appeals to the young culture right now. It will probably wax and wane over time, I don’t see skiing going away either.
Hey, it’s all sliding on snow. Different tools for different conditions. I’m on telemark gear, so I’m an even smaller (but growing) minority on the slopes. But we rule in the backcountry.
Gonna hafta disagree with you there…
Seems “skiing etiquette” is a thing of the past. You damn near need eyes in the back of yer head for brain-dead uphill boarders (and some skier, although most of them have these “twin-tail” nonsense) who nearly run me and my kid (only 3, and now in his third season!) down every time we go up. :rolleyes:
I’m longing for the day when my kid is ready to get off the “Ham Sandwich” runs and join me where Spodes can’t venture.
Catfish???
“twin-tail” = no idea.
“Ham Sandwich” = easy run?
Spodes = boarders? How?
and,
can’t venture = no boards?
I can guess, but that’s all.
Given equal ability, which is faster? More maneuverable?
Boarders clog up the top of the lift because they have to kick out of their board to ride the chair. So when they get off the chair they have to stop and put their board back on before they can go anywhere.
I’m a skiier. Snowboarding just doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun to me, and I don’t like the idea of having both my feet locked together like that. Looks like a good way to take some really nasty spills. Plus it seems that boarders are always sitting on their butts in the snow adjusting their boards or something. On the other hand, boarders don’t see to have as many ankle and knee injuries, but they have those godawful whiplash type injuries where they go flying back and land on the small of their backs and smash their heads into the ground. I guess that’s why I always see boarders wearing helmets and almost never see skiiers wearing helmets.
I’m a skier and I’ve never tried snowboarding. I’ve been hit from behind a few times by inexperienced, out-of-control snowboarders so they make me a little nervous on the slopes. From what I understand (from my skiing turned snowboarding friends) is that good snowboarding takes longer to learn and the boards are much more difficult to control than skis. This is especially the case when it comes to stopping, safely. Sliding down the mountain on your ass is not how to stop.
I know this is a biased statement because I prefer skiing, but snowboarders seem so much more unpredictable than skiers. I don’t know where they’re going, or if they’re going to run into me because they can’t stop or turn quickly enough.
Since snowboarders stand sideways on their boards, they have to look over their shoulder to see the direction of travel. So, when turning, (in one direction) they are turning into their ‘blind’ side.
I snowboard. I took it up a few years ago. I am generally not all that good at it, but, because I am fairly pidgeon-toed, skiing was not an option (I tend to snowplow a LOT, which is really not a lot of fun).
'Boarders who are clogging the line at the top of the hill are simply poor boarders. When I ride the lifts, I leave my front foot strapped in to the board, and when I get off the lift, I put my back foot just behind where the binding is, and slide off the lift in a way very similar to a skiier.
I’m a skier, alpine for the first 15, telemark for the last 20. There are good and bad snowboarders, there are good and bad skiers. IMO, there’s nothing inherent about either that will cause problems on the slopes. I’ve never seen any terrain that a good snowboarder or skier cannot ride/ski well.
I’ve tried boarding, and (again, IMO) it’s easier to pick up than skiing. You only have two edges to control, there’s no skis to cross, they go pretty well with either end in the front, the boots are more comfortable, and no poles to confuse you. In very deep snow, boards have a distinct advantage due to their greater floatation. It takes a little getting used to for people familiar with skis, but to a rank beginner it’s probably easier to learn well enough to use on greens and blues.
Not sure if it’s harder to become an expert, I haven’t done it enough. There are obvious downsides, such as more difficult to get on lifts, can’t skate to move on the flats, can’t stand up while waiting. All of those are issues, but nothing that can’t be solved with a little courtesy.
I think that the main problem that many skiers have with boarders is that the demographics lead to many young kids, mostly male, who are slightly out-of-control and wild. They’d be like that on skis as well, but they choose to be on boards so that’s what gets the attention.
The one place I think boards can be more damaging than skis is when sideslipping down a steep slope. Beginner boarders tend to go straight down with the board perpendicular to the slope, scraping lots of snow in front of them. Beginner skiers are more likely to traverse, not scraping as much snow away. Expert boarders will never do this.
Having said all that, when I go lift skiing (I spend a lot of time in the backcountry) I go most often to an area that doesn’t allow boards. It’s for other reasons, but I can’t deny that I enjoy the lack of loud scraping sounds.
I often share the same views with Telemark, I also give him lot’s of credit for sticking to his craft, telemarking is definitely a craft. Being a native New Englander I grew up skiing the slopes of Killington, Okemo, Sugarbush, Mad River Glen, Cannon and Loon, and of course Jay Peak and Sunday River. I still have my 190 Rossy’s from 1990 when I gave up skiing for the board. I still have my numbered burton board from 90’ as well, and I do bring it out on occasion. However for the past 15 years I’ve been a solid snowboarder. I never bother the skiers because I know how to be respectful when I shred. I don’t cut up the tracks, and I never under any circumstances dig (slide with board perp to the mountain).
I enjoy back country snowboarding, and of course do not go where I know I can’t get. That being said I have the highest respect for anyone who masters their leisure sport. Telemarking is something that I probably could not do based in no small part on that fact that my knees would probably buckle on my first mogul run. I’ve tried it but it has been some time since I have.
It appears I will be moving soon out west, and that could prove interesting to my boarding life. However the powder junky that I am, I think I won’t mind too much!
You don’t get that loud scraping sound so much once you get away from the East coast ice.
FWIW, boarding on ice is, IMO, much more difficult than skiing on ice.
I’ve been snowboarding since I was in sixth grade (I’m now in tenth grade.) I tried skiing once and I found it a lot easier than snowboarding because both of your feet aren’t attached to one piece of equipment. But, I just enjoy snowboarding a lot more. And it does piss me off when I see other boarders camping at the top of the hill like CS newbie players. You came up here to board, so board, Ogdamnit! :rolleyes:
I was just at Jay Peak - Northern Vermont basically Quebec - and my wife and I got off the tram and immediately saw maybe 15 “campers” on their ass blocking the way for us to get on the trail (Chutes). Now I’m an older boarder at 35, and I can carry myself on trails skiers don’t enjoy. However, this particular group was quite rude and actually made me ask them to move…I don’t appreciate that when I am there to shred and they are there to converse. We were on our way, but I’ll tell you one thing…they took the vermonter trail and avoided the one we went down… 
Twin-tail skis are goofy, short “bi-directional” things that you can ski backwards on and are popular for free-style antics in the terrain parks. Some idiot skiing backwards almost always clobbers me. “Whoa! Like, Sorry Dude!”
Ham Sandwich- Beginners, usually flat-lander tourists. Not very widely used.
Spodes- general term for a dork in any context. Kinda like “mullethead” or “dipstick”.
Runs where boards can’t venture- Steep with huge, well formed moguls. They usually stay well away and are off smoking dope in the trees.
I would guess that a good pair of skis are both faster and more maneuverable on hard-pack, but in the deep powder in the trees, a board would probably fare better. Apples and Oranges.