In my many years of snowboarding and organizing snowboard or ski trips, there always seems to be a common question that creeps up every single time beginners plan to join the ski or snowboarding adventure. That question seems to bounce around in the noggins of the newbie or virgin "riders". You can see their eyes dart back and forth as they contemplate the gravity of the question and how it will be received by the more "experienced" riders in the group. The question should be simple enough to ask, but even the newcomer to snow sports knows that there are two clear ways to recklessly toss your body down a mountain on a carpet of crystal H20. He or she also knows that these two methods represent two totally different cultures on the snow and despite the improved relations between skiers and snowboarders; there will always be some degree of divide between the two. So what's this pivotal question that tortures these innocent would-be snow sliders? The answer is as obvious as the look on their faces as it finally leaves their lips, "Should I ski or snowboard?" There it is, "The Question", but the answer is not a simple process of flipping a coin, although sometimes I wish it were.

I won't attempt to explain the profound spiritual implications that lay behind the choice to either be a snowboarder or skier, but rather, this little tid-bit of advice is more aimed an the practical choice to be made by a first timer planning a ski/snowboarding trip.

Having thrown all the larger issues of what it means to be a snowboarder vs. skier out the window, let’s focus on some simple facts about the two sports to help you plan your virgin snow adventure. Sounds a little kinky eh? Well, get all those notions of ski bunnies or chiseled ski instructors romping in après ski bliss out of your head. The only action you will be getting as a complete newbie will be from ski patrol scraping you off a poll or tree.

The main thing I always try to aim for when helping a learner skier/boarder plan their first snow holiday is to make sure they have fun and feel like they have achieved something during their trip. One of the key factors that drives my advice to the newbie rider is how long this first little excursion into the world of winter sport is going to be? The point here is that if you are going to be paying a ton of cashola to go to a top class resort for only two days and you are basically looking to have fun and party, then dedicating yourself to learning a new sport properly is probably not on your agenda. This is where I will cut to the chase and give you some helpful advice which may save you a lot of frustration, pain and money. That advice in this scenario is to grab the nearest set of planks and poles and go skiing. I know, I know, you are probably reciting all the propaganda from your "snowboarding expert" friends who say things like "No man..it's soooo easy..." and "Come on, don't wimp out and ski...". Listen to me though, if you are going to plan a short fun trip for your first time on the snow, there is no point in trying to learn snowboarding in that circumstance.

Snowboarding is not a sport that you can just do on a whimsy. Having said that, I have come across a few natural snowboarders in my 20 years teaching people to snowboard. These are people that were born with an uncanny sense of balance and a natural understanding of physics and motion. You could be one of those people, BUT for the sake of this article, let's assume you are like the billions of other would-be snowboarders who have to struggle their way to boarding nirvana. Ideally, this means several consecutive days of lessons where you can build gradually on the skills acquired the day before and progress to a point of control.

The reason I recommend skiing instead snowboarding in the case of a first time short, fun snow adventure is that, unlike snowboarding, skiing allows you to fairly quickly learn the ability to control yourself and generally get around the resort and see what all the fuss is about. This is all based on people with a reasonable ability to learn and not a completely defective sense of balance. Believe me when I say this, there are some people out there that should never venture within one hundred miles of a ski resort. If you think you are one of these people, then do the rest of us a favor and stay warm at home in front of the TV and watch skiing safely at a distance. In fact, if you know you are going to be useless at any snow sports, I want you to mentally remove all reference to snow, skiing or snowboarding from your brain right now. I am all for people learning new things, but after all the years and craziness I have witnessed on the slopes, I am almost ready to campaign for some sort of skill testing screening process for babies at birth that indicates whether they should be allowed near a resort within their lifetime or not!

Ok then, let's distill all this advice down into a nice little packet that you can put into your noggin and store there until you find yourself confronted with the decision we have discussed.

Scenario: You find yourself amidst your overconfident snow-savvy friends who are planning a ski/snowboarding resort trip.

Dilemma: You know you can't ski or snowboard and can't believe how uncool you will look if you ask your smirk faced friends whether you should ski or snowboard on your first trip to the snow.

Facts:

Learning snowboarding is not something you do in a single afternoon while calmly sipping a Mochaccino. You WILL be on your butt all day, the next day and the next day. You WILL be so tired after these many days rolling around on your butt that the only apres ski you will experience is a handful of pain killers and a soft pillow by 8pm.

Learning the basic ability to control yourself on skies is relatively easy for humans with even a basic level of balance skills. This will let you get out there on the slopes and see the resort. Oh, you will look like a total dork alright, but at least your are out there and not on your butt with the chumps trying to learn snowboarding in the "1 Hour - Learn To Shred" package special. Unlike those suckers, you will also be able to partake in some nifty après ski activities, provided you don't allow any trees to jump out in front of you.

Final Decision:

There are no hard and fast rules about how long you need to learn to snowboard, but because this is the internet age and people want everything boiled down and over simplified into a nice tiny info-nugget...

I would say that if your first trip to the snow is going to allow you to have a minimum of 3 - 4 days of solid instruction and time on the snow, then YES, go ahead and plan to learn snowboarding. You won't leave that resort as a full blown "snowboarder", but you will have given yourself enough chance to lay the ground work to continue developing your snowboarding skills on your next trip.

If your first trip is less than 3 - 4 days or does not allow you to get proper instruction and consistent time on the snow to develop your snowboarding techniques, then do yourself and the rest of us a favor and stick to skiing or the bar.

Discuss this article on the forums. (1 posts)