Snowboarding - anyone tried it? How does it compare to ice skating?

[Sessy]

Just curious, for skiing imho skating gives an advantage - what about snow boarding? Is it compare-able in any way? Not looking to take up a new sport at all, just wondering what it would be like to try snowboarding.

[dbny]

Just curious, for skiing imho skating gives an advantage - what about snow boarding? Is it compare-able in any way? Not looking to take up a new sport at all, just wondering what it would be like to try snowboarding.
I haven't done it, but have watched a lot. I think it's very, very different, and that skating will be no advantage at all. Also, someone I met skiing who also snowboards said you have to do it about 5 times to know if it's for you or not. From what I've seen, it's the most fall intensive sport of the three. I would be black and blue in a matter of minutes and have no interest in ever trying it, but I'm almost 3 times your age.

[Sessy]

Right - that's probably out of the question then. I was looking at that cuz there's an artificial ski slope around and I'm looking for a fun activity for a specific group of people. :) Already heard it doesn't compare to skiing, if it doesn't compare to skating either that leaves us with very little (to my knowledge, none of the people there ever skateboarded, just roller skated and ice skated and such). We'll probably go with the skiing option instead. 8-)

[jjane45]

Skating helps my first skiing trip immensely but did nothing for snowboarding. I actually broke a set of plastic knee pads from repeated falls snowboarding LOL

[RachelSk8er]

I don't think snowboarding would help, but after years of skating snowblading was a piece of cake. (They're really short skis and you don't use poles.) I went to Lake Placid a while back and had never been skiing before, and after only about 20 minutes on the small hills, I was going all the way to the top of Whiteface Mountain. By the end of the day I was playing on some little ramps and with moguls and stuff. I really wish I could do that more often but the ski place around here really sucks in comparison.

[AxelBaby]

IMO, I think skating actually does cross over with snowboarding. Not skill-wise, but when I first started out in boarding group lessons, I was the only only that could understand the concept of edge work. Learning to apply the appropriate pressure on the edge of the board is key to being able to start out. Everyone else in the group either couldn't figure out where the edge was, or they pushed so hard onto it that they would just flop over. Also the balance helps immeasurable for being able to stay up, and also get back up after a fall.

And yes snowboarding is very fall intensive, but what fun it is! Anyhow snow is a lot softer to land on than ice. And so long as you keep your knees properly bent, you actually don't fall that far. And you wear squishier clothing so you have a bit of a barrier. I have absolutely zero patience for skiing. But I just adore boarding!

[Query]

Boarding looks too extreme and dangerous to me, though I haven't looked at a board in a long time. Do they have safety releases on boards yet?

But I too found skating helps snow blading (i.e., skiing with short skis, with tricks), and skiing in general, especially the diagonal strike of cross country skiing, which feels somewhat the same as skate stroking.

Skate-skiing (done by some racers) is even closer, but you need really strong muscular legs and hips - like skating on fake ice.

But edging on slopes is different - you can release the front or back of an edge on the downhill side to initiate a turn. In that sense edges and whirlygig [sp?] spins are closer to those you see in the flat spin turns of whitewater boating. Skiing is just another form of whitewater.

Wouldn't surprise me if some of the same things were true of ski boarding, but I think it has its roots in ocean surfing.

I think injuries are probably more likely on snow, because your skate-substitutes are longer, and gravity plays a bigger role, which means your legs, knees and hips can be stretched beyond their safe range of motion. In addition, there is a big push in that community to go very fast and very high. Be sure to fall with your legs off to one side, and to let yourself slide to a stop. Typical big ski resorts have a long line of people waiting to be treated for various breaks and tears, which suggests injuries are pretty common. So I suggest you take lessons your first times, even if you are a good ice skater. Based on what I've heard, skiing is somewhat safer than boarding, at similar difficulty levels, and cross country skiing is safer than down hill skiing.

Downhill skiing is very social. People gather at resorts for romance, very different from skating, where the main emphasis is on testing and competing. It's a little true of the cross country ski crowd too. I don't know if it is true of the snowboard crowd too.

Snowboarders are younger than skiers, on average.

Boarding or downhill skiing at resorts is expensive, and not just because of the drive. Rich people go to resorts to socialize with their own kind, or with beautiful social climbers.

[RachelSk8er]

Downhill skiing is very social. People gather at resorts for romance, very different from skating, where the main emphasis is on testing and competing. It's a little true of the cross country ski crowd too. I don't know if it is true of the snowboard crowd too.

Snowboarders are younger than skiers, on average.

Boarding or downhill skiing at resorts is expensive, and not just because of the drive. Rich people go to resorts to socialize with their own kind, or with beautiful social climbers.

That all depends, there are plenty of skaters who don't test or compete and are purely in it for the social aspect (especially the older crowd that is more into social ice dance or crowds of kids who go to public sessions weekly with their friends). There are also skiiers who are really competitive and in it to train just like any other sport. A lot of that also comes down to geography. Here you can't really compete in skiing, our ski "resort" (if you can call it that) is pretty lame, so anyone into skiing just around here probably is more of a social skiier. (They do build half pipes and stuff for snow boarding competitions though.) But to someone who grows up in Vail or Lake Placid or some of the other big ski areas, they're going to have a different take.

[climbsk8]

Hope you don't mind if I contradict some of the other posts here, but as an avid snowboarder AND figure skater, here's my take:

Snowboarding happens on edges, just like skating. Knee bend is crucial in both sports. Balance is crucial. There is a "good" way to fall and a "bad" way to fall in both sports. Shifting your weight from one foot to the other is also a shared concept. So I felt when I started snowboarding that I had a huge jump on other beginners.

Of course, there are differences ... you can save yourself from a fall in skating, but not always in snowboarding. Snowboarding falls are more common on your knees. Your bottom is going to get it no matter what.

And ... if you really want to see how far your skating skills will take you ... try surfing! :)

[Sessy]

And ... if you really want to see how far your skating skills will take you ... try surfing! :)

It'd help to be a good swimmer for that, though! Why, is surfing like skating?

[Sessy]

I think injuries are probably more likely on snow, because your skate-substitutes are longer,

Yes, but correctly configured locks on your skis will prevent this problem. This is why you need to re-configure them even if you gained like 5 kilo, else they will release either too easily, or, if you lost 5 kilo, stick on so tight that you may actually break something. Unfortunately, most people don't bother with getting the locks set. (They're probably not called locks, I've no idea what they're called in English, I only do skiing as a winter hobby sport and I've not been in years.)