The tension between snowboarder’s and skier’s isn’t as profound as it once was but just to have a bit of fun here are 5 reasons why snowboarding is better than skiing.
Note that this article is intended to be a bit tongue in cheek and no offence towards skiers is meant whatsoever.
Reason #1: Snowboarders Can Walk Like Human Beings
If you had a foot race between skiers and snowboarders it would be extremely unfair – and if you turned it into a stair race it would be even more unfair.
Watching skiers try to walk in ski boots, especially up and down stairs is like watching someone trying to walk after an enema – it just looks like a painful experience!
Skiers will claim that they spend more time on the slopes because they don’t have to strap in coming off the lifts but I reckon that time is more than made up for by snowboarders in walking from the car park and entering and exiting the café, the bathroom and just anytime that walking is required.
Reason #2: Snowboarders are Still Way Cooler
O.k. so the old image of the pompous skier clad in lycra is a dying, if not dead, one, but snowboarding is still cooler.
Yes there’s the advent of new skis and baggy clothing for skiers but they’ll always have some aura of that old school skier image.
Snowboarding tricks still look way cooler too. I’ll be the first to admire freetyle skiing but purely for aesthetic viewing I still can’t enjoy it as much as freestyle snowboarding. Maybe it’s a prejudice? Maybe it’s that landing on skis, flipping with skis, trying to jib with skis, spinning in skis or trying somehow to butter skis just looks akward?
And that’s not to mention the walking as discussed above. Trying to look cool walking in ski boots is an art that I’m yet to see anyone master! – Especially when you’re trying to casually carry those double planks in one hand and they just keep separating – making you look clumsy and awkward – that girl/guy you were eyeing up just went off with the snowboarder walking 20 feet ahead of you.
Reason #3: Snowboard Gear is Cheaper
I had never looked into the cost of ski gear until recently; I had no need to.
But when I did I realized that ski gear is a fair bit costlier. Whilst I haven’t crunched any hard numbers to come up with averages or anything it’s obvious just browsing some online stores that ski gear is a decent amount pricier.
In fact, from what I saw, high end snowboard gear tends to cost around the same as low-end ski gear and high end ski gear is way above that.
Reason #4: There’s No Chance of Performing the Splits on a Snowboard
This one speaks for itself.
Yes, snowboarders take more tumbles – but even those tumbles typically look cool!
Tumbling on skis is anything but graceful and if you get it really wrong you could end up performing moves that you’re just not flexible enough to do!
Reason #5: Snowboarding is just all about Fun
I kinda like the idea that there isn’t, and has never been, a practical reason for snowboarding.
It’s just all about getting your kicks. It’s purely about having fun.
What Do You Think?
Do you agree that snowboarding is better than skiing or can you think of enough reasons to argue that skiing is better snowboarding? Feel free to leave a comment below.
>>Click here to read a more objective post about whether you should snowboard or ski
Photo Credits from Top
Phantom Open Emoji maintainers and contributors [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by John Lemieux [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
