Snow Ski or Snow Board? Which One Is Harder if You Have Never Done Either?
Your Questions
My teen daughter who has never snow boarded, snow skied or water skied, wants to learn how to snow board first. She is average build but a little clumbsy. Do you think she should learn how to snow board or snow ski first in Colorado?
Popularity: 2% [?]
08/26/2010 at 12:46 pm
Snowboarding is harder to learn, but is more fun. If she is just starting out and you plan on going more than once ( or even not going more than once) i would suggest that she got Hip Pads and Knee pads, or Wrist guards. If not all of them, at least one of them so she has somewhere to fall without hurting herself.
I know that when i was starting out, I fell on my butt alot and my tailbone hurt for about 2 years. And perhaps even a Helmet?
When you get your rentals, try getting the Burton LTR (learn to ride) boards as they dont have much of an edge, which will prevent her from doing faceplants which most beginners do.
(and theyre pretty painful)
08/26/2010 at 12:46 pm
If she is eventually wanting to snowboard, start with that. Skiing is of virtually no help to learn how to snowboard. Snowboarding is way harder, takes longer to learn and can rarely be mastered, but is way more fun. Skiing got old for me after a few years and I thouroghly enjoy snowboarding now. If she decides to snowboard, let her know that no matter who you are, you will spend the first few hours standing then falling straight on your butt. Than she will get the hang of it. Good luck.
08/26/2010 at 12:46 pm
ok if she wants to snow board start wtih that b/c the two dont have a lot in common, but skiing is easier to do. It’s a get up and go kinda thing, unlike snowboarding that takes practice to do. So if you go to colorado a lot i’d suggest having her ski first, then do snowboarding just to get a fell for the snow.
08/26/2010 at 12:46 pm
Snowboarding isn’t any harder to learn than skiing. I learned to ski and was on intermediate runs within the 4th day of skiing. When I learned to snowboard, again it took about 4 days on the snow to be able to go down an intermediate run. Snowboarding is harder to master, you will spend years getting really good which is the great part about it.
I say let her learn to snowboard and make sure that she is determined to stick with it. My 12 year old has been riding for 5 years and is a great rider.
Good Luck
08/26/2010 at 12:46 pm
I have done both. I thought snowboarding is easier because you only have to control 1 thing and you use both feet to do it. Snowboarding does require more balance because of the way a snowboard stops.
Let her try things first, so that she can see which one she likes the most.