Snowboarding is stupid. Skiing is far better.

There's not much to discuss. You completely covered everything in the thread title, and I'm sure everyone agrees.

 

Skiing is for fat guys from Texas who wear jeans on the slopes



When I snowboarded in college the most annoying thing was cruising a blue and having it be clogged up by unpredictable slow skiers randomly zig zagging their way down a slope. If you're on a hill, do everyone else a favor, try to maintain a predictable line so those trying to pass you don't run into you and can enjoy themselves too.



This maze is super annoying for any advanced skier (in Colorado we called snowboarding and skiing skiing)

 

What are you talking about there is a line skier's left of the lift towers with no people on it. Why any advanced skier would try to go down the middle of that cluster fuck is beyond me.

I've snowboarded for about 15 years now and while I still love it, I bought new ski boots and skis this year and I can't wait to go back to skiing. Snowboarding is great, but traversing a slope for any length of time is the worst. Also getting stuck in a gully/flat and having to unclip and walk out.

I have beefs with both skiers and snowboarders.

Boarders who heel slide an entire slope are terrible people who should be thrown under a snow cat. Thank you for removing all the snow and leaving a nice section of glare ice.

Skiers who stand around in the area right where the lift drops you off. Hey dummy, I only have one foot in a binding and don't have a ton of control of my edges.

 

Getting caught on a flat spot and having to waddle down that area or unstrap is the worst part. That and like you said, if you're cutting across a hill to get to a different section and you're on one edge the whole time is just hard on the body. Thankfully snowboarding is better than skiing in powder.

 

I think you just need to be aware of your surroundings and your skill level. Skiers, if you can't hold a consistent line or aren't sure about the hill, go off to one side or the other. If you aren't confident with a slope, don't try it on a crowded day. Snowboarders, don't make a cut 8 inches from some guy who's clearly not all that confident. It's just as important to know what's behind you as it is what's in front of you.

I think it comes down to personal preference. For me, I love skiing. I grew up doing it. Tried snowboarding, just didn't like the feeling of both legs being strapped to the same board. Also I didn't like that it was hard as fuck moving anywhere on flat spots. I still love the idea of snowboarding, just like I love the idea of dirt bikes. But it isn't for me. I'll stick to skis and 4-wheelers.

I used to ski a lot growing up, but the downside to your parents having you when they're older is that they can't keep doing fun shit when you enter your prime years. Now that I am starting a family of my own, I can't wait until my son is old enough to go skiing. Love doing the driving trips up to the mountains. The trip is half the fun.

Last year I got back on skis for the first time since my brain surgery which completely destroyed my sense of balance. I mean I had to re-learn walking, and 9 years later I still fall down randomly. So I basically said "fuck it, I'll figure it out on the mountain." No clue if it was gonna work and it went about as you'd expect. I managed to do a lot off muscle memory, and just kind of figuring out distance, slope and speed with my eyesight, used my poles as outriggers which I know isn't PC but it's what I had to do. Your body finds other ways to cope when your cerebellum is fucked. Didn't have any horrendous falls until it started snowing real bad and I couldn't see as well. I covered more of the mountain falling that day than I did upright. You only live once though, and it was fun. Can't wait to do it again.

 

I guess another complaint I have about skiers is novice skiers with poles. Don't seem like a bright idea to give a novice a sharp pointy stick when they don't know how to use them properly and the poles themselves are only good for helping these people push themselves up once they fall

 

I used to ski on this hill outside my hometown, it's called Mount Kato. Never been on an actual mountain so I am probably every stereotype of a bad skiier.



Good times.

Am I a terrible person for wanting to get cross-country skis so I can go around the lakes now?

 

I'm a volunteer patroller at a major resort. My #1 beef is actually with advanced skiers/snowboarders - and those that think they are advanced. We have to man speed control stations at the bottom of some blue runs on crowded days because otherwise Hotshot McGee will try to come ripping through there at top speed and take people out like bowling pins. Guess what, asshole? If you're such a good skier, go try some of the other 3,000 acres we have, most of which are expert, nearly half of which are only accessible by hiking, and none of which are policed for speed. Playing slalom on nearly flat ground with poor Susie and Bill from the Central Valley on their only ski day this year does not convince me that you know what the fuck you are doing with the board(s) strapped to your feet. Plus, I would prefer not to get taken out myself - this happened to one of our most experienced, seasoned patrollers last year at a speed control post and he was out for the season with a broken collarbone.

So, Mr. Balls On Fire, put a cork in it as you approach the lift line. For all our sakes.

Take all the above, multiply by 10, and you have my hatred of ski team kids. They think they own the mountain, they can't ski as well as they think they can, and they only have two speeds: stop and FUCK TURNS. No no ski team kid from Atherton whose dad works in tech and mom used to work in marketing but stays home to orchestrate your life, don't worry about anyone else on the mountain, really, it's cool. And mouthing off to patrol and lifties is the icing on your underdeveloped asshole cupcake.

 

I never understood bombing blue runs. I guess the speed is kinda fun, but I would much rather bomb a gladed run where the only thing I need to avoid is trees. I love tree skiing. Everybody else can rip up groomers and hard pack, while I go find powder stashes in the trees.

 

Bombing blues and carving around beginners is a straight asshole move. Some of my friends were those guys back in college and I was always worried about hitting people so I was always behind them. Fuck me right?

I love looking for powder stashes in glades. For me there's nothing better than freshies in the trees.

This is what I try to find when I go out



edit: apparently this photo was taken inside the ropes at beaver creek

 

But that's where the people are. What's the point of bombing some deserted black diamond if there's no one to see you showing off?

 

Uhhh, that's why there's black diamond runs underneath the chair lifts. It's a completely captivated audience as you biff it off a mogul and slam into the nice padding around the lift tower......

 

I have no experience with either and am pretty sure I'd die if I tried so there's that.

Yay surfing?

 

I grew up in Georgia, and went skiing for the first time when I was 13 at a tiny little place called Ski Sapphire Valley in NC. I went there and a couple other little hills through high school. Then, in college I started going out West, and took off my senior year to live / work / ski in Vail & Beaver Creek. I had continued to go out West (and still do, mostly Beaver Creek) a couple times a year. The year after I graduated from my second college, I was in Asheville, NC, and a buddy suggested we go over to Wolf Laurel, another small NC ski resort. I was and am not any kind of ski champion extreme skier, but then I was pretty good for a Georgia redneck. I was definitely one of the more accomplished skiers there that day. There was a little area near the top of a run that faced two smaller runs and the lift that had gotten pretty gnarly with bumps - pretty much the only moguls on the mountain. Just a short, steep section. Most of the crowd would gather at the top, staring at their future doom, trying to get the courage to push over the lip. I came down one time, blip, blip, swoosh, looking decent and showing off. The next time down, some of the same guys were gathered as before, that had seen me go, and we had to wait for a second. As I pushed off, I heard one dude say, "Oh, hey, watch this dude - he's about to get nasty." (Except, in his local accent, he said it "nice-ty") When I heard that, it stoked my ego a bit, and I really needed to show off.

Now, in my mind, I ran a zipper line, popped the last bump, threw a nice mule kick, and jammed on a little hockey stop to peer back at the adoring crowd. In reality, I crossed my tips after the first turn, couldn't recover, flipped ass over head, and yard sale'd about 20 yards in. I picked up my gear and my pride and skittered on down the mountain, while Jethro and Bubba were hee-hawing from the ledge behind me. Skiing: it keeps you humble.

 

Snowmobile racer here. You're all a bunch of fags.

Kidding aside, I've been skiing about three or four times in my entire life. Each time I started out pretty rough but by the end of the day I was decent enough at it where I could keep up to my friends without hurting myself. I'd probably do it more often if I had a ski hill close by. There's a hill about an hour from me that's similar to the one that Katokoch grew up with. You spend a whole day there and you've been on everything five times and it gets kind of boring. I wouldn't mind trying snowboarding, but I don't have any friends who do it and I hardly ever find myself on a ski hill.

I pretty much grew up on snowmobiles. My brother and I would ride every day after school and on the weekends, and in high school we rode to school every day. I raced snocross (motocross for snowmobiles) in my early twenties, and now I do some lake racing, which is basically road racing on ice. I have three sleds, two of which are custom machines that I built. I have two months during the winter where my job is really slow, so I spend most of my time riding. It's probably the biggest reason I go to work every day, and it's my favorite thing to do other than drinking and fucking. If only I could combine the three somehow...

 

I'm glad we've progressed to a point where snowboarding is "mainstream" enough that people aren't stupid about it. I remember snowboarders calling me a "fag" in HS cause I skiied. As if only fairies and old people skiied. Well now you see middle aged fuddy duddies boarding with their kids, so people can shut the fuck up.

Ive skiied since I was 7-8 and am fairly advanced. There isn't a run on the mountain I would be intimidated by, can carve, busted out 1 successful 360 in a terrain park a few years ago. Ive tried snowboarding a few times, its just not my bag. I like the smooth speed and quick turning of skiing.

As for clogging of slopes, as much as hoardes of novices snowplowing down the mountain sucks, nearly killing yourself as you come over a ridge and manuever quick to not run over a bunch of stupid snowboarders sitting on the mountain, doing god knows what is, is just as bad.

 

Skiing has a lot of annoying phrases, and yes when I say skiing I included snowboarders because who gives a fuck how you sled down a hill.

The one that annoys me that is super prevelant is "off-piste", as in "our resort provides superb off-piste dining options"My buddies and I used to use a lot of annoying phrases but we knew they were stupid and we were having fun with it, like butter the gnar, some good gnar gnar

I don't think yard sale will ever go away but in skiing terms I'm an old fucker now so what do I know

I was never a big park guy. I weigh to much and am far too awkward in the air. Its a lot harder to be graceful when I'm carrying 30lbs more than my friends and I was ripped at the time. In the glades though, I didn't really give a fuck, but cruising powder in the glades is my heaven.

Thought you guys might like this

http://www.outtheremonthly.com/speaking-like-a-skier-a-gapers-guide-to-ski-lingo/