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When I was a kid, I had a horrible time learning how to ski. Snowboarding, on the other hand, I picked up quickly. Some friends of mine have said snowboarding is easier & skiing is harder, because you have two legs moving independently. What do you think, is skiing harder?
I may be biased as I've been skiing since I was four years old, but I find this rule of thumb to be the easiest: Skiing is easy to learn, hard to master. Snowboarding is hard to learn, easy to master.
As funguy mentioned above, with skiing you have the 'Snow Plow' to start out with, which will really help you get down the hill. However, what people are saying about skiing being easier because you have 'balance' supplied by having separated feet is complete rubbish. If anything, that's the hardest part about skiing. With having your feet separated, you run the constant and common risk of crossing your skis, which leads to the most painful type of fall in skiing since your legs cross (a broken leg from this is not unheard of).
Skiing is probably the easier of the two to take up later in life if you are not planning on heading down the slopes very often. What most first-time skiers will find is that they will advance to harder trails than most first-time snowboarders. Also, don't listen to what people say about poles because if you are a first-time skier, you should NOT be using poles. They will only get in the way and you don't even need them until you start parallel skiing.
With skiing, the harder the trail is, the more high-level skiers you will find on them. You will naturally become self-conscious of your Snow Plow and wish to upgrade to parallel skiing so that you can ski like a pro too. This is where the easiness ends. When you switch to parallel skiing, you're going to find that you need to move back down to the easier trails in order to build back your skills. This is the most difficult part of skiing and can take YEARS to accomplish (Keep in mind that most of the good skiers you see on the mountain have been doing this since they could walk, so if you're older, don't ever expect to become this good, as with any sport).
Now onto snowboarding. I'm 19 and although I've been skiing since I could fit into a ski boot, I did actually try snowboarding a few years ago. Like sbingalltheway mentioned above me, snowboarding is considered the 'cooler' of the sports among the general populace (Intestingly, what you will generally find is that most skiers ski because their parents did, and most snowboarders are the first in their family to take to the slopes).
Having your feet strapped together is at first unsettling, but not impossible to get around. It will take some work, but after falling on your butt a few times, your body will start to gain some muscle memory and assist you in finding your balance. This is THE most important thing about snowboarding as the entire sport revolves around it. Skiing takes legwork to turn, while snowboarding takes a shift in balance (Don't get me wrong, they are both equally demanding sports).
The reason we say snowboarding is easy to master is because once you get the balance and basics really down pat, that's it. Snowboarders don't need to work on form, as your feet are strapped in, and they don't carve like skiers do. This makes it harder to spot the experts from the intermediates, however, most snowboarders choose to do tricks once they've mastered it. A lot of snowboarders go on to the snow parks, and because of this, you don't find many who snowboard just to go down trails.
The general rule of thumb (anyone who works at a mountain will tell you the same thing) is that, for a person wishing to make it a lifelong sport, skiing is easier for those who learn it young, while snowboarding is easier to learn if you're starting in your late teens and up.
Ultimately, if you're only looking to go occasionally (once or twice every few years), I would recommend skiing. If you're looking to make it a new wintertime hobby that you can work on and get better at, I would recommend snowboarding.
skier chick 13 is completely wrong. I don't know where she's been but snowboarding has yet to "go out" and maybe the reason you don't see many 40+ year olds snowboarding is because it was invented in the sixties. It takes a while for something to catch on and I doubt it will ever fade out. Once you learn to snowboard well, its no different than skiing and unless you are planning on going to the winter olympics I don't think you have to worry about it being useful to you for your entire life, its a recreational sport, not an english course. I have never been skiing before but there are some disadvantages to boarding. both of your feet are bound so you don't get the advantage of having balance on two feet, another is that skiiers never have to release their feet to board a ski lift, and unless you become an expert at riding into the lift with both feet bound, you will have to take your foot out and then put it back in at the top... its annoying at first but it becomes second nature with time as with most things. Don't be afraid to try new things just because they seem harder. Snowboarding is a blast for me but I haven't been on a trip without kissing the snow at least once. You'll fall hard but just get up and try harder. Its such a rush when you finally get down a mountain without a spill.
I learned to ski when I was young (5 years old maybe), and picked up snowboarding when I was in my teens. It took me a bit longer to get the hang of snowboarding because having my feet at a fixed distance and angle is very unnatural, and makes it more difficult to balance. Think about it, if someone pushes you as you stand, your first instinct is to move your feet apart, either one foot to the side or behind you, to get better balance.
For me, skiing is fun because you can go faster with less skill and practice, boarding is fun because it is challenging, uses your whole body to a greater extent, and because I enjoy the wide, slow rhythm of movement.
When boarding I fall much more often but with little injury. Skiing falls are more infrequent but often more painful because you have the risk of twisting ankles and knees. Also ski falls are a pain if you drop a pole or unbind a ski, then have to hike a steep slope in plastic boots to retrieve them.
Finally, off the slope, snowboarding boots are much more comfortable to walk in.
I think snowboarding is much harder to learn then skiing, becuase your balance is very limited and you cant control how fast you go without stopping, skidding sideways, or falling. Skiing is easier to learn because you can plow and stuff but it is much harder to master because to be good you have to have perfect form and everything rather than snowboarders who have their form alredy mounted to the bord. Personally I think snowboarding is more fun, maybe cause im pretty good at it and skiing just didnt click because I was only 5 when I tried and couldnt master it. I would recomend you to snowboard because people think its cooler and stuff and when you master it it is worth it, altho I do not nessicarily believe snowboarding is cooler, I just said that cause a lot of other people do.
A group of us went on a snow hoilday for the first time 5 years ago. Three of us including myself took up skiing while one other decided to take up snow boarding.
Us skiers took to the slopes fairly quickly and by the third day we were already on the red slopes. However the boarder was still struggling on the greens. Even by the end he was spending most of the time falling over on the blues.
Whenever you are on the slopes you will always notice skiers going down the mountains much faster than boarders. To be honest I only ever see boarders either sitting on their arse or just skidding and grinding their way down instead of carving which you see most skiers do.
Two words for prospective ski enthusiasts that want to learn: Snow Plow. This maneuver will keep you from falling down and you will be able to get down the mountain a lot easier. Snowboarding is difficult to learn for the time you spend on your backside from attempting to balance. The freedom to move your two feet may seem scary, but it actually lends to more control through different terrains. I am a diehard snowboarder now, but I did spend about three years trying to perfect skiing. The new skis I hear are much better with their wide bodies.
Skiing is so much more fun. Snowboarding is just a fad and is going out very quickly. Skiing is a better sport because you will use it your entire life. I'm mean really, how many 40+ year-olds do you see snowboarding? Skiing will be better in the long run, so just keep with it. You will learn to love it very quickly. My dad took my once when I was 2 and I have begged him to take me ever since
I recently went skiing for the first time in my life and I thought it was really really easy! In just about an hour of skiing I went down the green terrain several times. Not to mention I did not even fall once! I have never tried snowboarding but it looks a lot more difficult. I think skiing is easier because it is not one piece. You are able to freely move around side to side.
i personally snowboard but what i have heard is snowboarding is hard to learn but easy to get better at and skiiing is easy to learn but hard to get better at..... u should start of skiing if u havent treid neither the snowboarding.
Well Skiing is is not a hard thing,because you have the stickes too hold you from folling and Snowboarding it is kind off hard because you have too hold your wight very good.
Isn't it all relative? Personally I think Skiing and Snowboarding are equally difficult, and I believe SLEDDING is the easiest of snow sports. <3
