Is Snowboarding Harder than Skiing?

There is a tendency for snowboarding to be harder to learn than skiing to begin with, usually for the first week or so of being on the mountain. Once you have learnt the basics of snowboarding, generally speaking it is an easier sport to get good at than skiing, as skiing takes more work and practise to refine than snowboarding does.

The position you are in for skiing feels much more of a natural position that the position you are in for snowboarding. This may be in part why the majority of people feel more comfortable when they start out in winter sports, by skiing to begin with rather than snowboarding. This is certainly not to say that snowboarding is not good fun, and after enough practise at snowboarding you will certainly start to feel more comfortable with the direction you are facing., however if you are asking about which sport is more difficult, this is one of the reasons the answer is snowboarding – or certainly to begin with it is.

The well-known saying ‘snowboarding is difficult to learn but easy to master, while skiing is easy to learn and difficult to master’ has some element of truth to it. While snowboarding and skiing are both by no means easy at any stage of the learning process, people can pick up the basics of skiing a bit quicker than snowboarding because it feels more of a natural position to be in. Once you get to the stage of having the basics of snowboarding including getting your balance, knowing how to turn & knowing how to stop, there is not as much technique learning to do in order to be able to snowboard on the entire mountain, as there is for skiing. The technique you use for snowboarding is pretty much the same regardless of what the terrain is or where on the mountain you are skiing, therefore it is simply a case of perfecting that technique and always improving on it. Compare this with skiing, where there is much more of a need to adapt your skiing technique to suit the terrain you are skiing on or the type of snow you are skiing in for example. This means there are many more things to learn to become an accomplished skier, able to ski anywhere on the mountain. An example of this is off-piste skiing, which is a very different technique to on-piste skiing – compare this with on-piste & and off-piste snowboarding, which is almost exactly the same technique.

Is Snowboarding more Dangerous than Skiing?

Both skiing and snowboarding case be dangerous sports and always require the appropriate protective gear such as a helmet. Generally speaking, there is not much to distinguish between the regularity of injuries suffered by snowboarders and skiers, with injuries being suffered in both sports. The types of injuries which come about by both of these sports can vary somewhat however. Snowboarders tend to suffer wrist injuries more often due to the use of the arms and hands for stabilisations. Head injuries are an equal risk between both sports, and the best way to minimise a serious accident involving your head is to ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET. An additional precaution that snowboarder tends to take, especially if they are snowboarding in the terrain park, is to wear a back protector as well. This is because snowboarders’ back are more exposed and open to injury than skiers, partly due to the position they ride in. Having strong knees and leg muscles will help both skiers and snowboarders to withstand falls and help minimise injuries.

Can Snowboarders go as Fast as Skiers?

If a skier and a snowboarder of equal ability and skill have a race, more often than not the skier will win. Skiing tends to be a faster sport than snowboarding. This is not to say than snowboarders can snowboard fast, it is only a marginal difference, but it is true than skiers can go faster than snowboarders. There are a number of different reasons for this, the main one being the length of the equipment used. Having longer skis helps you to pick up more speed going down the mountain, and likewise because skis are supposed to be longer than snowboards relative to the height and weight of the user, a skier of equal height to a snowboarder (and therefore longer skis than their snowboard) will be able to go faster.

Should Beginners Ski or Snowboard?

If you are on a winter holiday and are aiming to have as much fun and enjoy yourself as much as possible in the week or so that you have (of course you are!), then you are likely to enjoy skiing more than snowboarding. This is because it is a bit easier to pick up and learn, and therefore you are likely to get good at it faster. If you have experience skateboarding or kite boarding, there is a good chance you will probably find snowboarding easier to learn, because you have tried similar sports. Once you have learnt the basics of skiing, and you want to give snowboarding a go, you will probably be able to learn snowboarding a bit quicker, than if you had learnt snowboarding without the experience of skiing.

Do Longer Snowboards go Faster?

Longer equipment, whether for skiing or for snowboarding, will help you go faster, though it is not the only factor. Longer snowboards will help you to go faster because it means there is more mass, and this is what makes the difference. As snowboards are made out of different materials and are different shapes, in some instances a shorter board may be able to go faster than a longer board if it is thinker and denser.

What's more Fun; Snowboarding or Skiing?

If you ask this question to a snowboarder and to a skier you will get two different answers! It is entirely down to preference. It is certainly worth trying both sports to see which one you prefer, and sometimes your preference is based on other sports or hobbies you have tried in the past which might be similar. On a purely observational point, the majority of ski/ snowboard resorts you visit will have far more skiers than snowboarders. This might suggest that most people enjoy skiing more! On the other hand, skiing is a much older sport and therefore more developed and naturally possibly more popular. In the older generation of winter sports enthusiasts, for the reason that skiing has been around for longer than snowboarding, you will find far more older skiers than snowboarders, which may be why skiing appears to be more popular in most resorts around the world. The answer to this question is that it is entirely personal preference, and you need to try both sports to find out which you prefer more.