 Poster: A snowHead
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Never done either before...
Off to Whistler in Feb for a week then over to the other side of CA nearby to Crabbe mountain for a further 2 weeks. Whistler I will be able to play everyday, I guess I will get a further week in total @ Crabbe.
Fancied trying Skiing but friends say boarding is better!
Is it worth going to somewhere like Xscape @ milton keynes and getting half a day instruction on each? http://www.snozonemiltonkeynes.com/
I am happy to try either and would like to do both eventually.
Any help appreciated
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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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I would recommend skiing (I would, wouldn't I). There is a reason for this though. When you head back East, to the other side of Canada, the slopes are likely to be a bit icier, and this will inevitably result in some very unpleasant situations for a such a new boarder. Whilst it won't be as fun (i.e. soft landings) as Whistler for a new skier, it will be much easier.
Definitely have a couple of sessions at MK (simply to give you the feeling of standing on skis, and snow, which is a bit slippery), but don't think it'll be a replacement for instruction in a proper ski resort.
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Ski. 
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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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| Quote: |
Is it worth going to somewhere like Xscape @ milton keynes and getting half a day instruction on each?
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You just answered your own question!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Board is best, Whistler is the ultimate place to learn to board due to good snow, good tuition and easy slopes. If you have any doubts just go to the Bendzeknees section and read all the silly arguments about basic skiing techniques,skiers can not agree even what to do with the poles, enough to put me off ever trying skiing
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Who are you going with and what will most of them be doing? Is there any other beginner skier or boarder? Having someone else to learn with will be much more fun.
Otherwise I'd say ski!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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tubbs, welcome to Snowheads. You're not going to get many sensible answers here, because skiers and boarders can be very partisan. I do both - though only a beginner boarder. With three weeks, you've plenty of time to have a go at both. Are there any other beginners in your group? Whichever you do, you must have lessons and I understand that instruction in Canada is very good. Just floundering around after more expert mates is not the answer for anyone but the fastest learner - but I know one guy who did just that on a snowboard and did just fine. He was brave, tough, and athletic though. And he fell hard, and often, for the first three days.
Half a day trying both is a very good idea indeed, though it will cost you.
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If you choose boarding you will be sat on your back bottom more then being on your feet
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Yes, but so what? This only really matters to people who put a high premium on looking cool, or are easily discouraged. I am old, but I suspect that if I was starting now, as a teenager, I would choose snowboarding. There is a saying "Snowboarding is hard to learn, but easy to master, skiing is easy to learn, but hard to master".
There's a lot in that. The learning curve with boarding can be very steep and quite painful, but a fast, tough, young learner can be looking really good at the end of a week. Skiers are still likely to "look like beginners" at the end of a week and take many more weeks, preferably with good instruction, to get a lot better.
I agree strongly that surface conditions should have a bearing - learning to snowboard on hard, icy, slopes really is no fun at all.
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Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Mon 31-12-07 10:59; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for all the replies - quite a balanced opinions - great stuff!
Well I am pretty fit (cycle, race karts, a boat etc) I tend to pick things up quickly and if I don't I am a stubbon bug to get it right. Falling over has never bothered me I tend to bounce well - years of practice I guess.
Well all of the trip is spent with a friend who lives in CA, he has boarded for years. The guys we are meeting in Whistler is sort of work related so we don't plan to spend all day with them + they are off heli skiing etc - way beyond what I am capable of (well actually would love to give it a go but silly to bust something in my first week) My boarding mate is interested to learn to ski - I think he will be doing some lessons at Crabbe before we go.
Everyone I know has said I will pick it up quickly (ski or board) partly as I tend to have a good balance but also as I said above I don't give up - I am a bad loser!
The info re different snow conditions is very useful - great tip, thanks.
Guess I will speak to Xscape see if they can do something for me for a day I see they do a "learn in a day" option - maybe they can split that for me.
I am sure both will be great - i have ridden bikes on and off road for years and even though there is still a sad them 'n' us mentality I hope I can enjoy both snow disciplines in the years to come - oh and all that new kit to dream over
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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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You know it makes sense.
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tubbs, I'm a skier, but two of the kids started out on skis and later switched to boards. Both are very happy with their choice. Since you have the opportunity why limit yourself to one or t'other? You're Xscape 'give both a try' plan sounds like a good idea, and you could extend that to your trip by doing one thing for a week, and then changing to the other before having a last week of whichever gives you the biggest grin.
For me, I wouldn't like the restriction of having my feet 'immobile' on a board and the constant faffing about clipping in and out of your bindings whenever you are on the flat or riding a lift seems a bit of a pain, otherwise they both seem like great ways to have fun on the mountain. 
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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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tubbs, OFFS!
Short term: you'll be sliding down the slope in control in a shorter time on skis. It will take longer but you will learn more on a board.
Mid term: There's not much to choose from . . . both will give you great fun and if the conditions are perfect, a mild stiffy.
High end: If you are extraordinarily gifted you will be able to experience the 'snow zen' and that is not tool dependent . . . just you, your determination and your God.
Both disciplines require you to listen to your instructor but boarding asks you to listen to your body first. Take up both and apply each experience to both skills . . . and enjoy. You will experience great pain . . . well you can't expect to compress many years of experiment into a single week without some cost! But it is worthwhile as there are places and times when one tool is better than the other. They are few and far between in our recreational pursuit but you will be a better person to be able when looking at any slope and think . . . "this'll be fun" . . . whatsoever's strapped to your feet.
Put in the sweat and learn both.
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Poster: A snowHead
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tubbs, I know it is a bit hard but try to think about what you actually want to do and where you want to end up. It is a bit of a pain in the neck if you spend the next 5 years snowboarding and then realise you want to go hut 2 hut ski touring.
I ski and love it becuase I find it edgy, more responsive and faster. I have boarded once and it was ok and my general view of boarding life is that in powder the feel is like no other.
Personally I would learn to ski well first and then if you wish learn to board but again I think this also all depends on how old you are and how long you spend on snow each year. If it is more than 4 weeks a year then it is always possible to learn both.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Masque, Unfortunately what no boarder has mentioned through embarassement and no skier ....until now has mentioned through good grace is the dreaded boarder word ...... FLAT piste.
HA HA HA, this is the part where the skier glides effortlessly past the feeble boarder who desperately tries to inch forward before giving up unbuckling, picking up the board and walking often for a long way!
There are many runs in resorts which have flat sections, take 3 valleys between VT and Les Menuires on top of this and it is only a small walk but at the entrance to many chairs lifts there is a ramp which skiers glide up but often boarders have to stop at the bottom unbuckle and walk.
Oh yes and that brings me to the top of the chairlift where the skier glides off and away but the boarder bumbles off the lift, stops drops on ther butt and buckles in their loose foot.
tubbs, My final jibe at the boarding discipline is the degree of pain you will be in if you decide to board. The first week most likely will involve you falling over literally in the hundreds on either your back bottom or your knees. If you can't handle deep bruises then don't learn.
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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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Edgy, responsive and faster is right up my street I like being on the "edge" or close too it. Saying that can be nice to cruise about too.
Hopefully age isn't an issue I am 37 - not as fit as I once was but still mobile!
Well until I have tried either I have no idea how long I will spend a year but with a friend living 25km from Crabbe and having a business I can do anywhere in the world with an internet connection 4 weeks is easily doable depending on how long the seasons run.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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tubbs, No contest, Boarding rules!
You go real slow, have to be padded like the michelin man and spend the first 3 months sitting on your ass. How cool is that? You also get to wear your keks round you knees so all-in-all what's not to like? ignore those silly skiers and the pitying looks thay give you as they fly easily past having fun, they're squares maaan 
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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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| tubbs wrote: |
they are off heli skiing etc - way beyond what I am capable of (well actually would love to give it a go but silly to bust something in my first week) |
Tubbs you are more likely just to get stuck through fear somewhere on the mountain, where it is too steep for you to go down. Only the truly insane would decide to try heli-skiing in the first week, also I would like to think that the company would not allow you to board their helicopter.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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i had this conundrum and choose skiing and would never go back on that decision.
Boarding
Advantages - better and easier at doing tricks and jumps
Disadvantages - on your bum, lack of control, vain attempt to look cooler than skiiers, pain in the back bottom on lifts,
skiing
advantages - more control and more speed.
disadvantages - ski boots can be a pain
A question you need to ask yourself is: Do i want to do tricks and jumps? or Do i want to go fast?
A lot of people my age choose boarding because it is the "cool" thing to do. They dont choose for the reason above.
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snow zen - now we are talking!
having raced a boat for the last few years I was offered a go on a sail boat, I thought sailing as "a little gay" man it was a great. We have taken our boat over 9ft surf but stuck out on a trap xx ft in the air was great on the sail boat - taught me a lesson in judging things too quickly without actually trying them!
Water zen achieved, time to find that in the snow.
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| tubbs wrote: |
Edgy, responsive and faster is right up my street I like being on the "edge" or close too it. Saying that can be nice to cruise about too.
Hopefully age isn't an issue I am 37 - not as fit as I once was but still mobile!
Well until I have tried either I have no idea how long I will spend a year but with a friend living 25km from Crabbe and having a business I can do anywhere in the world with an internet connection 4 weeks is easily doable depending on how long the seasons run. |
Well then see how you like the mountain at winter. I would love to be able to board but I only get between 1-3 weeks on snow a year and it takes 1/2 of the first week to get back to the level I was at. So there is no chance to learn anything new as I would miss out on the cavalcade of new opportunities open in my chosen discipline.
I also just gave you a personal impression, I am sure some boarders will say how they experience edgy, responsive and fast boarding. I know some that swear after a 50cm dump of fresh powder there is nothing in the world like boarding. Also although it is possible to do jumps with ski's it looks so much easier landing on boards.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Christopher wrote: |
A question you need to ask yourself is: Do i want to do tricks and jumps? or Do i want to go fast?
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Well honestly having fun is all I want but going fast would be my first priority - jumping would be cool and something I am sure I would try anyway, tricks who cares maybe but I don't feel a huge urge to stick myself in a halfpipe.
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tubbs, If speed is your thing there is no contest. SKI! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| tubbs wrote: |
| Christopher wrote: |
A question you need to ask yourself is: Do i want to do tricks and jumps? or Do i want to go fast?
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Well honestly having fun is all I want but going fast would be my first priority - jumping would be cool and something I am sure I would try anyway, tricks who cares maybe but I don't feel a huge urge to stick myself in a halfpipe. |
i think you've answered your question. Skiing for speed. You can always go into the half pipe and do tricks on skis after you've become proficient at speeding around.
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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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tubbs, As a learner I had lessons in both skiing ans boarding last year. Skiing lessons 1-2-1 with instructor and boarding with my brother who is very good (and very patient). Have to say that I much preferred boarding even though I definitely hit the deck a lot more, positively spent more time scrabbling around from the floor and kept catching the front edge and landing ungloriously on my face in the white stuff - however, it was soft powder so I didn't mind!
I found with skiing that, and bear in mind this is not built from years of wisdom but a couple of goes, that I spent all the time aching from the boots, nursing shins and calf muscles, spending a LOT of time trying to navigate myself in said boots down the steps  and also very paranoid about going down the slope losing control, doing the splits and endangering future prospects of having a family
Love boarding, going quite a few times this season. As said above, I reckon it will depend on who you are going with in you group. If they are all skiers then you will probly go for skiing and vice-versa.
Enjoy - and Happy New Year!!
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| MrDan wrote: |
tubbs, As a learner I had lessons in both skiing ans boarding last year. Skiing lessons 1-2-1 with instructor and boarding with my brother who is very good (and very patient). Have to say that I much preferred boarding even though I definitely hit the deck a lot more, positively spent more time scrabbling around from the floor and kept catching the front edge and landing ungloriously on my face in the white stuff - however, it was soft powder so I didn't mind!
I found with skiing that, and bear in mind this is not built from years of wisdom but a couple of goes, that I spent all the time aching from the boots, nursing shins and calf muscles, spending a LOT of time trying to navigate myself in said boots down the steps and also very paranoid about going down the slope losing control, doing the splits and endangering future prospects of having a family
Love boarding, going quite a few times this season. As said above, I reckon it will depend on who you are going with in you group. If they are all skiers then you will probly go for skiing and vice-versa.
Enjoy - and Happy New Year!! |
in reply to that
you need to find a comfortable pair of ski boots, go to a hire shop and make sure you can change them half way through if your experiencing pains. Ski boots aren't easy to walk in, but there is a technique of walking on your heels and the boots these days have settings which make it much easier.
The other thing about snowboarding, as soon as you hit any flat ground you half to take your board off or jump about to get on to a slope. This can be a huge pain in the back bottom for boarders that i know.
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You know it makes sense.
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AxsMan, a good boarder is faster than most skiers . . . that's why 'flats' are not an issue. There's only a small differential in terminal velocity tween a board and skis.
What's at issue here is the choice between the Masturbation of the Mediocre in taking pleasure from the familiar and the Ecstasy from Experiencing the challenge. It' not just the destination that's important . . . there is a journey required . . . just ask the missus . . . to attain fulfilment.
The more difficult the task the higher the reward, push your limits to find new ones and learn both . . . these are sports, not recreations.
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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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Ski or snowboard? Depends if you want to stay on piste or venture off.
Here's my tuppence worth.
What are the best days ever on the mountain? When it's dumped half a metre of fresh overnight.
What type of plank provides the most enjoyment of pow? SNOWBOARD.
These are the days that we live for. It's downright foolish not to be able to make the most of them.
Ok you might be nowhere near that level yet but you will be sampling off-piste/powder by the end of your trip on a board and loving it. You almost definitely won't be on skis. You would just be sinking. Think long term.
| pam w wrote: |
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If you choose boarding you will be sat on your back bottom more then being on your feet
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Yes, but so what? This only really matters to people who put a high premium on looking cool, or are easily discouraged. I am old, but I suspect that if I was starting now, as a teenager, I would choose snowboarding. There is a saying "Snowboarding is hard to learn, but easy to master, skiing is easy to learn, but hard to master".
There's a lot in that. The learning curve with boarding can be very steep and quite painful, but a fast, tough, young learner can be looking really good at the end of a week. Skiers are still likely to "look like beginners" at the end of a week and take many more weeks, preferably with good instruction, to get a lot better.
I agree strongly that surface conditions should have a bearing - learning to snowboard on hard, icy, slopes really is no fun at all. |
Agree 100% with those comments.
| pam w wrote: |
| Half a day trying both is a very good idea indeed |
But I disagree with that one. You need at least 3 days to get an idea whether or not snowboarding is for you. Preferably a week. Your first day will be spend on your back bottom 90% of the time and won't be much fun. But perseverance is required with snowboarding. After 2 weeks on a board I was significantly better and having way more fun than I ever did during 8 weeks of skiing.
Another BIG tick in the box for snowboarding are the soft boots. Plus it's much easier to carry a snowboard than skis.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| tubbs wrote: |
| Hopefully age isn't an issue I am 37 - not as fit as I once was but still mobile! |
Tubbs -- The body deteriorates rapidly when you pass around 28 years of age. At 37, your physical and mental skills will already be waning fast. For example, 99% of professional soccer players have retired by this time.
Hence, you need to pick the easiest sport. The one that is simplest and fastest to learn. Time is not on your side.
This means boarding, not skiing.
You can be an expert boarder within 10 to 15 weeks. There are half the planks, fewer edges and no poles.
Becoming an expert skier at your age will likely take 20 to 40 weeks. It is a much harder task. You could be approaching your 60s before you get any good at it.
The choice is plain. Take up snowboarding.
But be sure to dress appropriately. That means buying cool, expensive kit. Wearing cheap, baggy riding gear at 37 will just make you look like a loser.
Good luck.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Masque wrote: |
AxsMan, a good boarder is faster than most skiers . . . that's why 'flats' are not an issue. There's only a small differential in terminal velocity tween a board and skis.
What's at issue here is the choice between the Masturbation of the Mediocre in taking pleasure from the familiar and the Ecstasy from Experiencing the challenge. It' not just the destination that's important . . . there is a journey required . . . just ask the missus . . . to attain fulfilment.
The more difficult the task the higher the reward, push your limits to find new ones and learn both . . . these are sports, not recreations. |
I won't try and match your purty prose , I'm a middlin to cr@p skier, and have never had any trouble catching and overtaking any of the boarders i have skied with some of whom are 'good' in the sense of more experienced, athletic, skilful and adventurous them me 
So based on my admittedly limited experience I would disagree with your claim that 'a good boarder is faster than most skiers'. Maybe a VERY good boarder can go faster than some skiers, but like for like (in terms of experience, skill and athleticism) I would say that a skier will outpace an equivalent boarder.
(and on a long flat section the boarder will be unclipping and walking, while the skier poles/skates along quite easily  )
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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If you fancy trying boarding, I can't imagine a better place to try it than Whistler for a week, then maybe hop on 2 planks when you head east to give that a whirl too, where the conditions are less board-friendly. You can always go back to the board if you hate the skis.
Or you could just join the winning team and hop straight on skis
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
when a skier falls when getting off a chair lift it is bad - really bad, when a boarder falls it is just part of the fun
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this is not just boarder-speak. I have two skiing sisters in law who both had bad injuries falling at the top of a chairlift. One fractured her leg and had a bone graft 12 months later when it hadn't healed. The other ruptured her ACL and had a knee reconstruction 4 months later. One skier even punctured his femoral artery with a ski stick last year, when he fell at the top of a lift (probably pushed over by out of control boarder!). I am much less scared of falling on my board (just as well, given the frequency with which it happens) than falling on skis, though after a fall off a chairlift twisted my knee, because I only had one foot strapped in, I now strap in both (much easier, like so much else, with Flow bindings). Irrational maybe - and a lot of snowboarders are badly injured, but they're probably mostly young and mad and leaping about in parks. Falling on the board has frequently hurt, but I have yet to injure myself. I wear protective clothing - helmet, wrist guards, armoured knickers. But at a mere 37, you are not going to be worrying about falling.
Skiing/boarding has much the same appeal as sailing, by the way - except it's less likely to make you sick. Just packed the sails off my boat - as one season ends, another opens up!
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Hmm - not convinced by the saftey arguments, but I will say that skiing crashes are generally 400% cooler to watch than boarding crashes, simply because the release bindings and poles lead to an expanding cloud of high speed debris around the main crater that adds an accent of style a tomahawking boarder just dosen't have. So, in the interests of providing entertainment to those on the lift, I'd again suggest that you go with skis.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Cunners,
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| tubbs wrote: |
snow zen - now we are talking!
having raced a boat for the last few years I was offered a go on a sail boat, I thought sailing as "a little gay" man it was a great. We have taken our boat over 9ft surf but stuck out on a trap xx ft in the air was great on the sail boat - taught me a lesson in judging things too quickly without actually trying them!
Water zen achieved, time to find that in the snow. |
You think trapezing on a dinghy is water zen? Bollox. I assume you're not a windsurfer. Wavesailing Gwithian in Cornwall in 25 knots and a mast high swell, catching 5-10 full power frontside turns per wave - that's water zen.
It's a similar story with snow zen. Until you've snowboarded waist deep pow making the first tracks you don't know what it is. Skiing doesn't come close.
A lot of people are making a big deal about the flats and bindings being a hassle when snowboarding. They're not at all, if you have:
1) A frequently and well waxed board that doesn't stall on the flat patches
2) Flows or one of the similar styles of new bindings from the other manufacturers
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FAQ
so if you want to try both, try skiing first imho 