Please excuse my ignorance but as the title suggests I'm a bit confused.

Can you wear a snowboarding jacket for skiing?

Ma son 'lost' his ski jacket this week and needs a new one for a trip next week. I have seen one in his size locally but it is labelled snowboarder jacket so will this be OK for skiing? I don't want to trek out there again later for him to try it if it's not going to be what he needs. (it's freaking cold out there)

In my experience - which is limited - snowboarding jackets tend to be longer so that they have something to sit on (which they do a lot) and also warmer as they stand/sit around and also there is less upper body exertion.

Ski jackets tend to be cut around the waste and more flexible as there is more upper body movement (i.e. the arms when planting poles).

Those reason and general fashion aside, there is no reason why the two are not interchangeable.

As said above, a bit longer at the back with rounded end - and totally interchangeable!

Now, this losing this used to drive me mad both as a mum and a teacher. At the end of each term we announced in assembly, with a description, colour, brand, etc, of the mountain of trainers, jackets, etc, etc, we had in lost property, and sent a letter to parents to that effect- most of if still ended up with a charity. Little blighters!

In my experience when 'lost' appears in inverted commas, it often means 'nicked'.

Regarding jackets, my daughter has a "snowboarding" jacket which she uses when she skis without problems.

It's just a case of the manufacturers trying to cash in on the youth anti-culture as they often are more fashion conscious and have (or their parents) more spending power.

However there may be a few subtle differences such as mentioned, plus a bit more additional reinforcing at elbows and shoulders, but for kids, don't worry.

Buy the best for the kids as they will need the safety features more than the adults!

Direct quote from my 9 year old (whilst recently showing him a photo of a ski suit for sale on this forum that I was thinking of buying for him)

"Mummy no, I want a snowboarding jacket"

"But you don't snowboard"

"Yes but .. it's more .. chillax, cool"

This just about sums it up. He left it hanging on the back of the trolley when he went to Migros with Dad and although they went back to trolley park 10 minutes later when they realised it was no longer there and had not been handed in either.

Since there isn't much choice left now, most of the sales have ended, and I don't want to spend a fortune on a new one (the original was quite expensive which is why I suspect the finder decided to keep it) I think I'll go for the Snowboader one. He's only going for 5 days so he should be fine.

What are you doing on here? I thought you wre going out to inflict serious pain on one of your other unsuspecting friends this morning.

I'm thinking of you every time I move at the moment but it hasn't put me off giving it another go.

30 m and about 3 minutes and she was frozen to death - slowly warming up in front of telly now. Monday?

Your son has taste, which is more than I can say for his mummy. A ski SUIT?

Remember those from the 70 with fluorescent colours - lovely!

My wife used to have a white ski suit with a tiger on the back, and this was in the 90's!

(she is/was very ashamed though)

These days I think the difference is getting much less.

When I started out snowboarding there was a significant difference - especially with girls stuff. Skiers wore these fitted short jackets and tight pants. And snowboarding stuff was really really baggy and long. This season I went out to get some new snowboarding stuff to find that the new craze of snowboarding gear is in fact tight trousers, slightly flared at the bottom i.e. what everyone used to wear skiing. And short jackets for snowboarders too - the snowboarding jacket I bought is a lot shorter than my old one - couldn't find one at all that I could sit on!

Anyway, for kids especially, it's basically interchangeable these days I'd say. And for under 5s a skisuit is most definitely the best way to go - no snow down the trousers then!

That's so funny! I didn't realise a ski SUIT meant all in one (although isn't there a dreadful trend for all in one things at the moment??) I thought it just meant matching trousers and jacket (as opposed to random jacket/trousers ..I'm a matching sort of person me ...)

NO snowboarder would ever been seen, dead or alive, in a one piece suit, honest

THat was late 80s actually... I had one as a teenager but the arrival of snowboarding gear killed all the cool of that. They weren't warm enough anyway, needed tons of layers underneath.

Snow boarding gear was chic because it was skateboarding styled, and the colours and tailoring was much cooler. Most older snowboarders I know have all reverted to skiing as it's just too annoying getting a wet bum everyday, to say nothing of creaky joints.

Belgian Mum: It is OK for a skier to wear a snowboarding jacket, i.e. he will probably look "cooler". It is not always OK the other way around.

Many ski outfits/jackets look "dated" and no self-respecting snowboarder would be caught dead in them.

We really need to see a picture of the jacket to give you definitive information.

Anybody got any photos of the worst ski suits ever, just for fun?

Actually this is the opposite of true. The rules have recently changed... Since last winter snowboarders were no longer allowed to wear the 1 piece outfit. My husband misses that! He said the only useful thing about wearing a 2 piece outfit is taking a piss before the start of a race.

As for the... what's the difference between a ski and a snowboard jacket. His reply... usually the snowboard jacket is bigger with more movement freedom than a ski jacket

(professional Swiss snowboarder translated by me... no clue about snowboarding hope this helps)

Thanks for all the advice everybody.

He thinks it's pretty cool and TBH I couldn't tell much difference when we looked at the two sorts in the shop. We were slightly restricted to the ones that were available in his size.

I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.