I believe the reason most resorts decided to allow boarders was because they wanted to stay in business.
The majority of the time I see about 2 women/girls boarding for every three men/boys boarding, so the ratio is really not that high. Perhaps you seem to see more men because they tend to go faster and therefore pass you more often. Generally, boarders are younger than skiers.
For me, the hardest part about boarding is getting off the lift when there’s not much room or when I’m forced to turn right. Because one foot is unstrapped, you just can’t have the control. I am seriously thinking of inventing a toe clip to make it easier. The reason I hate having to turn right off the lift is that it always hurts WAY more to fall on your knees than it does to fall on your ass…since I stand left foot forward, turning right means that if I fall I’m more likely to fall on my knees and that makes me nervous. I like the lifts where you can choose which direction to go. Long flat traverses are very difficult on a board, but you can learn to deal with them, even if it means unstrapping a foot for a while.
The whole blind spot/turning thing isn’t an issue for me most of the time because I’m slow, so I’ll traverse across the entire width of the run, so it is obvious when I’m about to turn. That said, a skier coming up quickly on a slower snowboarder could show some of this “courtesy” that boarders seem to lack and call out “on your left” or something. Snowboarders have a blind spot. Instead of whining about it, how about dealing with it. I’m not directing this comment at anyone in this thread, I’m just generally speaking.
I can’t wait til the next time I get to the mountain!
One of the more difficult lifts to get off from is the sugarbush and stowe mountain summit lifts. Aside from those, I have never had a problem avoiding oncoming, or off going traffic on the dismount of a lift.
Practice folks…practice makes splendid imperfection!
Dumping here in Telluride too. I boarded for 11 years, and recently went back to skis, mostly because its easier to deal with kids on skis. In my experience, skis are more fun in moguls, but boards are the best in deep powder.
This is news to me.
Were the resorts really losing so much money due to lack of customers, and only the new snowboards in th 80’s saved them from bankruptcy?
When did people decided that skiing is no fun any more.?
Maybe boarding is more fun than skis, so young people learning the sport preferred it.But if the board had never been invented, wouldn’t those same people use skis?
It 's just plain FUN to glide fast over snow! -So why were the resorts losing customers ?
Because new entrants into the winter sliding on snow scene weren’t interested in skiing, they wanted to snowboard. Skier visits were trending down, but the new participants wanted to snowboard, and if some ski areas didn’t allow it they’d go to the places that did allow it. This is what the public wanted.
The ski areas that didn’t allow it found their skier population aging and fewer young kids. Families wanted to go places where they could all enjoy the mountain together. Ski areas wanted to capture that market.
The ski areas couldn’t just say “No Snowboards, everyone continue to use skis” because some ski areas were allowing them and getting more business. Once the trend had started they all (except for the few oddballs like MRG, Alta, and Taos) had to join the bandwagon.
Ski companies are now using twin tips and “free skiing” to attract more young people to two planks, but right now the demographics favor boarding.
I respectfully disagree. The overtaking skier/boarder must act based on anticipating what the person below is going to do. Shouting a warning might cause the person to do something other than what the person is already doing, making it more difficult for the overtaking skier/boarder to anticipate and act accordingly. Also, if the overtaking person is moving slowly enough that the warning can be heard, then there should be enough time for the overtaking person to comfortably avoid. If the overtaking person is going too quickly to comfortably avoid, then there will not be enough time to properly react to a warning.
I stopped skiing in mid-afternoon today in TBay when the wind picked up and it started spitting. Since then, we have had freezing rain and some rather fiesty ice pellets. There is a gale warning for the lake, with decreasing temps expected overnight, so I’m expecting boilerplate tomorrow. Needless to say, I’ll be wearing my helmet. Got’ta love Eastern skiing – never a dull moment.
