 Poster: A snowHead
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Think the wiki is pehaps a bit optimistic (how unlike a wiki!) in listing snowskates in whatever form as a mainstream winter sport.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Charliefoxtrot wrote: |
Two planks or one plank does it really matter. You get ladies' front bottoms that don't know the rules on both.
If you are better than those people, then you should be good enough to go around them. And just shout abuse as you go past.
If you are not good enough to get round them then I suggest you slow down and have more lessons.
Stop crying about it and deal with the fact you have to share the mountain! |
Ski bobs are the best, we should all be using them.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Have to say that I see fewer and fewer boarders and I also think the average standard is falling - I see hardly any good snowboarders these days. When I decided to stick with skis in the 90s it felt like a trick decision. Many good skiers switched over and became good boarders. My sense is that a lot have switched back.
The other think I've noticed on my last couple of trips is how many boarders have been sticking to the piste. It seems odd to me - snow boards and soft boots are really optimised for off-piste (plus the park) - just dont have the precision of skis on hard pack. And yet...
I think fat skis have been a killer for snow boarding - you get all the easy float of a board but you can still handle the flats, the tricky traverses around rock bands, tight trees that you need to make the most of the off-piste.
None of that is to say that snow boarding down a big powder bowl might not be better than skiing it - I don't know but I could believe it is.
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| jedster wrote: |
I think fat skis have been a killer for snow boarding - you get all the easy float of a board but you can still handle the flats, the tricky traverses around rock bands, tight trees that you need to make the most of the off-piste.
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This. I'd probably be still snowboarding heaps if I didn't have fat skis but besides the odd burial event, there are almost no performance advantages of a snowboard over modern ski shapes - you even can get a similar surfy feeling and playfulness.
Part of the issue is no doubt demographics - former hardcore snowboarders are now mums and dads or in their 40s and 50s so either less devoted or have a wider range of interests. The other thing is that certainly in North America there's always been lots of "urban" snowboarders who have all the gear but only actually go up to the mountains a couple of times a year. I suspect they've been squeezed out by shortfalls in disposable income the same as the more casual TO cutomers in Europe. Just speculation but I'd reckon at the younger less cash rich end of the spectrum they'd be disproportionately snowboarders.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I haven't actually done the statistics but the average age of boarders does look a bit older than skiers. However, I thought I saw more younger boarders about over New Year than in the last couple of years, some of them under 20. There is hope still that snowboarding will continue.
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I wonder if there is any thing to suggest that kids tend to ride and therefore develop skills in what their parents/carers used? I would have thought this could be case in which case I would have thought the demographic would have been maintained.
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Always knew snowboarding would turn out to be just another fad! 
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Megamum, I think they're more interested in what their peer group is up too and who their aspirational heroes are. Iceland's a good example as the majority of the kids still all snowboard and a lot of that is having a strong culture of that sport being cool from having both the Helgasons and the clothing brand Nikita. It's a small country so the international success of the people involved has a much bigger impact.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Despite my snarky remarks about snowboarding, I actually encouraged my kids to make a conscious choice between the two disciplines. All of them chose to ski and they make even more snarky remarks than I do about oh-so-cool boarders in baggy trousers.
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| johnE wrote: |
| I haven't actually done the statistics but the average age of boarders does look a bit older than skiers. However, I thought I saw more younger boarders about over New Year than in the last couple of years, some of them under 20. There is hope still that snowboarding will continue. |
yeah your probably right, but only because people like esf wont teach snowboarding to under 10's but will teach ski'ing at about 3....
The other end of the demographic, there are very few people over 60 who snowboard, but loads that ski 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Jonny Jones, nice to see you've taught your children your own manners. 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The candle that burns twice as bright...only burns half as long. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Good argument everyone... nice.
Tell me... is it true that the current proliferation of helmets is due to Boarders too?
(Right... I've got my popcorn... you can start!)
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I think twins, rocker and fat planks have really re-revolutionized skiing not just technology wise but style... skiing did look pretty pants when boarders came along but it learnt some lessons and now i think the tables have turned.
Also, skiing has to be better, otherwise boarders wouldnt have to accept the good ol pole-tow on the flats from their skier mate right 
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Poster: A snowHead
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..and on the crash helmet debate. I always wonder but come to the overall conclusion that in pretty equal measures theres a lot of rubbish skiers and boarders out there that are out of control without realising/caring. thats the most scary part.
Personally however, head finding ice under powder in a crash years ago made me buy a helmet. Based on recent events with a certain F1 star, makes you think....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Snowboarding is much more commercially driven now. You have Nike involved now, for pitys sake. Its not quite what it used to be. Amongst the usual skier tosh written here there are some good observations. Its a maturing sport that has declined a little in recent years. It peaked in 2000ish. There are some stats somewhere quoting 32% of people on the mountain were boarders at that time. But as mentioned in this thread the boarders are now older and are parents and ski equipment has developed so much over the years (thanks to pioneering snowboarding technology- sidecut\rocker\wider skis all come from snowboarding). Skiing is more fun and easy to pick up than before.
Snowboarding was a scene driven rebellious subculture which was fun to be part of and if some people did it just because they wanted to be cool....so what!
What snowboarding did do was invigorate a stagnant middle class ski scene in the 90's and helped forge the bouyant ski scene seen today which is much more accessible to people. Look at the names of the skis, the graphics, the respectable clothing skiers now wear. All influenced by snowboarding.
So whilst skiers (rightly) whinge about beginner boarders sitting on pistes etc, they should appreciate everything else it has given the snowsport scene, whether it has a future or not. It was a fantastic time at its peak.
But, yes, I think it is in decline at the moment. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Personally I blame Shaun White.
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apres me, nice post
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| Quote: |
thanks to pioneering snowboarding technology- sidecut\rocker\wider skis all come from snowboarding
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Not quite true. Sidecut has been on skis for a very long time (i.e. pre 1940s). And to say wider skis comes from snowboarding is a bit weird. Rocker is just a fad anyway.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Snowboarding is an old mans sport from way back in the 1990s.
It is almost as dead as telemarking
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| Quote: |
And to say wider skis comes from snowboarding is a bit weird.
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Really? Weren't skis trending narrow, long and straight until after snowboarding came along. Then they gradually got shorter, wider, and sidecut came back.... wonder why?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| apres me wrote: |
What snowboarding did do was invigorate a stagnant middle class ski scene in the 90's and helped forge the bouyant ski scene seen today which is much more accessible to people. Look at the names of the skis, the graphics, the respectable clothing skiers now wear. All influenced by snowboarding.
So whilst skiers (rightly) whinge about beginner boarders sitting on pistes etc, they should appreciate everything else it has given the snowsport scene( |
Every day I say to myself: thank goodness for the names of skis, the graphics and the fashion. Without those, we'd just have to fall back on boring old mountain scenery and mountain air. How awful that would be.
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You know it makes sense.
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My Son is a boarder…I am hoping he grows out of it soon!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| dogwatch wrote: |
| apres me wrote: |
What snowboarding did do was invigorate a stagnant middle class ski scene in the 90's and helped forge the bouyant ski scene seen today which is much more accessible to people. Look at the names of the skis, the graphics, the respectable clothing skiers now wear. All influenced by snowboarding.
So whilst skiers (rightly) whinge about beginner boarders sitting on pistes etc, they should appreciate everything else it has given the snowsport scene( |
Every day I say to myself: thank goodness for the names of skis, the graphics and the fashion. Without those, we'd just have to fall back on boring old mountain scenery and mountain air. How awful that would be. |
......... and still be riding long straight skis. Sidecut/parabolic/carver type skis were introduced after snowboards brought the shape to the masses. 'Powder fats' were also brought to the market after the influence of snowboards. Twin tips too. So to me what snowboarding did for skiing is to make it much easier to progress and access the whole mountain and have fun, it's about the realisation of technology that helps the modern skier.
You can find examples of sidecut going back to the 1800s if you try, but the modern 'carver' or 'parabolic' deep sidecut/small radius turn type ski became available to the masses in about 92/93 if my memory serves me correctly. Ski designers/manufacturers had ignored sidecut for a couple of hundred years, then snowboards come along and voila, new carving skis. Coincidence? Maybe, but one with a bit of a nudge.
At the end of the day though, can't we all just get on and share our love of the mountain?
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Thu 9-01-14 22:41; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Elan introduced it into skis in 1993 after noticing its successful application on snowboards.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Couldn't give a poo-poo. I can ski and board and can decide what to do on the day depending on conditions.
There are a lot of crap boarders and a lot of cheap skiers. I blame the decline of the package holiday- people used to sign up for a week with lessons etc now they book a flight to geneva a hotel and just have a bash.
Fat skis wouldn't exist without snowboarders- you 'd still be on the length thing
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I love snowboarding.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yes Pam w, do buck up..... 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rogg, nope. Elan were playing with short skis and deep sidecuts in the 50s way before Jake burton had any boarding ideas. Materials science couldn't at the time support what they were trying to do in a commercial fashion.Richard_Sideways, au contraire, skis were trending (slowly) towards deeper sidecuts anyway, again as materials allowed the torsional rigidoty required e.g. dynastar and rossignol in c. 1990.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
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In words of one syllable why couldn't you effectively edge a snowboard without bindings please?
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The forces involved are such that you'd fall off. If you're so interested, why don't you try it? |
You're describing noboarding. You can edge a noboard in powder, not on the hard stuff.
To me personally as a hard-booter, no boards make more sense than the compromise of soft boots. Overall it feels like a retrograde step though, a bit like like "para-marking". On the other hand it's a challenge to learn.
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I've seen boarding decline in Chamonix from nearly half to around 25% over the last ten years, the demographic seems to be drifting ever older. Dudes under 30 are on big twin tips.
I feel boarders brought a lot to the party, resorts were declining when boarding started, clothing improved, so did the music, drags were under presure to turn into chairs, skis became more shapely, not to mention the drugs!
Peace.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I think, to put it simplistically, is that boarding stole the youth. Skiing had to move with the times to compete with the lure for the youth. Skiing had to have a much shorter learning curve so that young skiers didn't look too ungainly long after young boarders looked cool. When I was at school, my town, about an hour from Cairngorm, had two ski hire shops. Now we have only had one board hire shop for decades ( before everyone dives in I know that continued poor winters have played a major role in the ski hire closing) however the fact remains that the board hire shop still exists and the ski hire doesn't. Unless Mike now also rents skis. Lots of young skiers that I knew moved to boarding just for the coolness, now as the thread suggests, a good few are skiing again.
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When I saw a woman, in a white, blinged Bogner outfit, in Oberlech, riding a snowboard, I knew that snowboarding had jumped the shark. That was about 4 - 5 years ago.
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FAQ
It appears that tight trousers are in 
What happened to all the baggy stuff 
