Bored today so I thought I’d write this, boarding or skiing. Its my opinion there is no science in it. There are also some instructors on the forums who I think will have a more informed opinion than me.


Firstly if you are old and likely to break, go skiing, you will fall over less whilst learning and therefore have less of a chance of damaging bits of yourself.

Which ever one you pick the equipment will be rented for the first week. It will probably be uncomfortable and cause bruises and cuts. Snowboard boots will be much more comfortable than ski boots. When you have decided which one you will continue with think about getting all the kit; at least the boots and make sure they are comfortable.

Skiing is more natural than boarding, more like walking as you tend to face forwards.. On a board you face towards and then away from the mountain and it takes a bit of “bottle” to be able to make yourself perform these unnatural movements. Your first lessons will be easier if you are skier than a boarder, you will find it easier to stand up and having two edges instead of one will help you to turn and fall over less, also if you fall its generally backwards slowly onto your arse.
On a board you will spend a lot of time sitting down in the snow and the first lesson may even be “how to fall over and not hurt yourself”. Needless to say falling forwards on your head will happen, but is not to be recommended. Get wrist guards, it’s the most common bit to break as a boarder. Skiers tend to injure themselves when they get better, boarders are more likely to injure themselves as a beginner.

To begin with the skiers will appear to have the easier life, however it’s harder to manoeuvre 2 legs independently on skis than it is to control your 2 legs when they are fixed onto a board. The boarder will be able to go down steeper slopes because it is easier to stop on a board than it is on ski’s. It is also easy to “falling leaf” on a board which can get you safely down any slope. Learning to turn sideways and go up hill to stop is a lot harder to master on ski’s and since stopping is the most important thing for a beginner, boarders begin to get more confident quicker.
Basically what I am saying is that the learning curve on a board is a lot steeper however it’s a lot quicker to pick up. On the first day on ski’s you will most likely be snow ploughing down a slope quite happily, on a board you may not have mastered a turn without falling over. 5 days later the skier may be slowly turning across blue runs, whilst the boarder is happily mastering linking his turns on a red.

Lifts are where being on ski’s as a learner is great, they are easy to get on and off. On a board lifts, specifically T-bars and button lifts are a nightmare, try to stay away from them until you can control your board happily with just your front foot in. On ski’s they are fine and you will wonder why other people complain about them. Being on a board when you only have one foot in takes a while to get used to, and being chucked off an 8 man chair lift and having to navigate down a slope with no control and being squished between other people invariable leads to a spill. Once again on a board avoid button’s and t-bar like the plague. If you are on ski’s don’t get upset when the boarder next to you crashes into you getting off a lift, he didn’t mean to.
Other advice I have heard is get on t-bars and buttons as soon as you can and get the learning curve over and done with. That’s up to you, for me it’s too much to cope with.

Boarding is ultimately about freestyling (unless you pick a carving board etc). You will want to get off the piste and into the powder where a board excels, its also easier to pop off ramps and jumps on the piste, on ski’s you go down a piste, on a board you look for dips and rises that you can use to turn and jump off.

Some other things I think are important.
If you are going to stop on the piste, do it to one side and at the top of a hill, do not sit down or stand just over the lip of a hill, no one will see you and you will get hit. Do not stop in the middle of the piste people do not want to spend there time avoiding you.. Do not stop suddenly in the middle of a piste, someone behind will ram into you.
When you start off look behind and make sure you aren’t charging out right into someone else’s path.
When you are behind someone stay away from them as much as possible, they are watching the people in front of them, so should you. Try to ignore the people behind you, you will fall over if you look behind all the time.
If you are skiing down a path be aware it’s a lot harder for a boarder, they have to turn very tightly or go off the edge. On a board be aware that you obstruct the path if you decide to break sideways down a narrow piste, do not be surprised if your board is run over or you get yelled at.
When you get off a lift do not mill around aimlessly at the top and stop other people from going down the piste.