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
Yes I agree snowboarding is better than skiing. I have been snowboarding for almost 32 years. I skied a few times before I got a snowboard and once I strapped into a snowboard I never looked back. It like got me hooked on it and I feel you can do a lot more on a snowboard than on skis. So much fun!!! I always say if anyone wants to try it I always say: Go for it! You will be so glad you did. Thanks again for the great reviews.
I totally agree with you! I’ve been snowboarding for about 8yrs and before that skied. I’m only 14 and can easily keep up with my snowboarding homies who are about 5yrs older and have been snowboarding for 15yrs. This might be because I’ve basically been raised on a ski mountain, but to me, it’s a lot more fun to snowboard. Skiing is faster though, but I can at least get up to 50mph on a snowboard. Tricks also defiantly look cooler on a snowboard, and cliff jumping is easier. Thanks so much for this article, I really enjoyed it.
I am just happy I was able to come across this page. Thank you. My dad started boarding almost 20+ years ago in the late 90s after skiing a few time and has always boarded since. He immediately got me into boarding when I was 5, and I have had fun since. I have never been on a pair of skies before, so I can’t say anything about them, but I understand where this is coming from. As a kid my dad would always joke around with me and say that skying is for girls (No sexism intended). And every time when we would get together with friends who ski and hit the slopes with them we would get into a friendly play fight after our runs about how boarding is better and they would reply saying that they can go faster than us. The same could be said about many of my dads co-workers at work who quit snowboarding because “it is too hard and skying is better anyways”. lol We always say “Dont worry snowboarding is not for everyone and it takes a man to Board anyway” (again There are amazing boarders out there that are women: no sexism intended) Although I just wish that I could board more often. Any suggestions on what I should do If I cant got to mountains? I was thinking of picking up skateboarding. I would love to hear your thoughts. It was a nice fun little playful article that you have written. And Damn I thought snowboarding was expensive (gear + lift tickets) but skiing is doubled? lol wow. Take care Best regards from Haris
Hey Haris
Thanks for your input. Yeah definitely good fun to have a bit of harmless banter between skiers and snowboarders!
I would say that longboarding, wake boarding and surfing are the closest, the best summer alternatives. Though wake boarding means you’ve got to have or hire a boat and all the wake boarding gear. Surfing is easier to get into but longboarding would be the cheapest for sure. Longboarding would be more similar to snowboarding than skateboarding I would say but I haven’t tried it personally.
If you want to learn more about longboarding though, I did recently have a guest post written about longboarding from an expert on the subject. You can check it out at the link below.
Longboarding: Snowboarding on Asphalt?
I have to say as someone that grew up surfing it was a huge shock to find out it was nothing like snowboarding. I would say that the balance helped me but for turning it was completely different and led me to wiping out many times when I was trying to carve the board like a surfboard. Longboarding is super fun and on the days when the surf was flat we would take our sector 9’s and cruise the beachfront.
Hi Skye
I have very little experience surfing but I have heard that it’s quite different. Good to hear another surfer’s take on this.
Though most snowboard companies do try to make snowboards that are as “surfy” as they can – get one of those out in deep powder and I imagine it feels a lot more like surfing than your average board on groomed runs. But those are conditions you don’t always get – unfortunately!
dude you stupid i have done both and most of the stuff about skiing is not true.
Seriously? “dude you stupid..”? Dude, please read the post properly and realize that it’s just in fun before posting this kind of comment.
I live in Colorado and usually manage to make it up the mountain 5-6 times a year. I have done both skiing and snowboarding. I do prefer to snowboard but some of the things you say about skiers is simply false and irrelevant. Personally i don’t care about the feud between skiers and snowboarders but some people do and might fine this article very offensive. Also snowboarding might be all about the fun but skiing is a much more likely sport to make money with.
Woh Anthony calm down! This was totally tongue in cheek.
Some of the people I enjoy riding with the most are skiers. If you find this offensive you need to relax and get a sense of humor. I evenly explicitly mentioned that this post was in jest in the second paragraph. Read what your reading properly before you comment dude.
And what’s money got to do with anything?
I’ve been a skier for over 25 years and have only tried boarding a couple of times. I could never get the balance down. I at times envy boarders as they seem to be able to go faster down the slopes, but maybe it’s just my perception. And although I don’t (intentionally) get airborne anymore it seems much easier to get air and safely land on one board. I do love skiing moguls and almost never see boarders on the bumps.
So maybe it’s not as enjoyable weaving through moguls on a board? As I am getting into my mid 40s I want to make sure my knees stay in good order. Are you less prone to knee injuries on a snowboard?
Overall I am all for whatever gets you on the mountain and out there having fun!
Hi Mike
Thanks for your message.
I personally don’t like moguls – and haven’t heard many that do (though they do exist but are rare). So yeah, I think moguls is much easier/fun on skis – but there are boarders who do enjoy it (and some that ride with skiers a lot, that get dragged in there!).
In terms of being better on knees – this isn’t a scientific opinion, but I have heard that skiing is more prone to knee injuries. So yeah, I think snowboarding is easier on the knees, from what I’ve heard.
I skied a few times as a kid but I never go to a level where I was jumnping, but just looking at it, the idea of jumping on skis seems harder/scarier, but like I say I don’t have enough experience to compare the two.
But yeah, definitely agree that what ever gets you on the mountain and enjoying it, is certainly the main thing.
You are obviously a big fan of snowboarding – and not so much of ski-ing! I do agree that snowboarding is cooler and always has been and it has got a very young image, although nowadays there are more and more ageing snowboarders. What I’d like to know is how yu would go about persuading a middle aged skier like myself to take up snowboarding? It all seems like too much effort and I’ve already gone through the pain once when I learnt how to ski ten years ago.
Hi Nicola
You’re absolutely right that the images of both sports are becoming less black and white in terms of one being cooler and having a younger image – this was intended to be a little tongue in cheek. I often ride alongside skiers (don’t tell anyone :-)) and have a great time – especially when I can get a tow on any flat sections!
How to convert a middle aged skier to snowboarding? That sounds like a challenge.
I actually met a guy a couple of years back who was in his late 40s or early 50s I think and he had been a skier most of his life and then changed to snowboarding about 10 years ago. He then tried skiing again and injured his knee – he vowed never to ski again. When I met him he said he’d been back to snowboarding for about a year.
But it’s totally down to personal preference of course. I would say give it a go – at least for a couple of days on the mountain – if you don’t like it go back to skiing – if you do then you’ve given yourself another awesome option on the mountain.
Hi Nicola,
I’m a bit late to this but if you are still thinking about trying boarding and haven’t yet I’d really recommend it. I’d being skiing on and off since I was seventeen. I got pretty good but had a bad fall in 2012 and broke my leg. It took quite a while to recover and I’ve not being skiing since.
Last year a friend of mine suggested we try snowboarding. A week later I was hooked and went out a second time last year. I’m now about to head off to the slopes again for a bit more tuition and a lot more fun!
The feeling you get with turning beats that feeling you get on skis hands down. I guess I’m a bit biased due to not really wanting to go back on skis ever again but in a strange way I’m almost glad I broke my leg as I may never have tried boarding if I hadn’t!
I agree with you completely. I was a skier turned snowboarder almost 15 years ago. Wow, that sounds like a long time ago. I like the freedom that comes with boarding. No poles, no losing skies, just strap in and go. I will admit that I have thought about trying skiing again for a day or so but can’t get myself to put my board away and rent skies. Have you tried skiing lately?
Hey Kyle
Thanks for visiting. Always good to meet someone who has done both and prefers snowboarding!
I haven’t been on skis for even longer than you – I’d say it was 17-18 years ago the last time I was on skis. I know skiing is different these days and I should really give it another go so I can compare but I just (probably the same as you) can’t give up my precious mountain time to be on skis!
And I often ride with skiers and it still just has no appeal for me just watching them.