Anyone out there who has turned from skiing to snowboarding and maybe even back again?? What’s your experiences?

I’ve skied for 18 years and at a reasonable level – although no off piste. Some mates convinced me to get out there and give snowboarding a try – went and learnt 2 years ago. Just been away to St Anton last week and while I was happy at speed and getting down red and blue slopes I just found it lacked a little depth when compared to skiing.

Admittedly I had some problems with my boot liner rubbing my ankle and had to switch to skis after 3 days, but once I was on the skis I realised how much I still enjoy skiing – almost much more than snowboarding which found was a little 2 dimensional.

Really good to have the option to do both but I think skiing is something I may push ahead with. The big pull for me to snowboard was to do off-piste after trying to follow some mates off piste who were on snowboards and I was on skis – but I’m thinking off-piste skiing has evolved a great deal.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

Skied a lot from 86 to about 89 then got hold of an early snowboard, complete with ski bindings, had lessons, never looked back. The lack of faffing with 2 skis, 2 poles and (I was surfing a lot back then) the feeling compared to skiing, esp in powder was so natural I stayed with it until the kids arrived. Now just go out on the local hills when it snows – we need a chairlift up Mam Tor. 😀

almost much more than snowboarding which found was a little 2 dimensional.

???

never learn to ski so not really sure what this means…

Added boarding, rather than stopped skiing. Board is really only used when there’s enough powder around to play as wipe outs on hard pistes tend to hurt ageing joints. I find pistes quite dull generally these days so the skiing is mostly ski touring.

I think it is useful to be able to do and enjoy both so you can make the most of whatever conditions you find.

Started skiing then boarded for about 5 years. Moved back to skiing 5 years ago, preferring the versatility of skis. Boarding is great in powder (skiing is also fun in powder) but any other type of snow conditions give me skis any day.

GF is Austrian and her and all of her mates have moved back to skiing.

Tried boarding. it hurt too much. Was ok going down blues and even reds, then suddenly I’d be on my arse saying “OOOOWWWWW”. Have stuck with skis since then and it’s never held me back. I’m happy enough going down the same stuff that boarder friends go down – pistes, chutes, trees, everything. Skis are better at traversing so you can stay higher traversing across without dropping too much height

I haven’t skied much off-piste since I learnt to snowboard, so I can’t comment on how it’s evolved, but IMO backcountry snowboarding is pretty much the most amazing thing you can do on a mountain – surfing down a huge fresh field of powder or scything through a forest are pretty much what I snowboard for!

Finding kit that’s comfortable and suits you is important; don’t give up because your boot’s rubbing, especially if it’s hire kit – take it back and find better boots, just as I’d encourage someone to give mountain biking another go if they gave up because their saddle was uncomfortable.

Once you can ski well, it can be frustrating learning to snowboard because you’re back at square one and often thinking “if I was on skis I could do this easily”, especially as the learning curve on a snowboard is often steeper than on skis. I’ve found that learning to just-about ski was fairly easy but then improving my style and flow was harder, whereas learning to snowboard was difficult and painful, but then once it started to “click”, it felt very natural to flow and move easily. Other people’s opinions may vary, but I found with skis you can ‘muscle’ your way around if you lack technique, but on a snowboard you have to have good technique and flow…

Getting around the mountain is also a lot easier on skis – the lifts, the queues and the infrastructure is so much easier to ski into and ski out of; you realise why you see snowboarders faffing at the sides of lifts once you start to snowboard!

My next almost-inevitable step is going to be split-boarding, I think, unless somehow I come into enough money to start affording helis… 😉

Yes me. I’m a proficient Skiier and turned to Snowboarding in the late 90’s when my mates tried it, I was a bit late on the scene back then and it took me a little while to come up to speed. I’ve a very good windsurfer/kiter and I thought it would help with balance, it kinda does but the main differance is that you are looking down a slope as opposed to across the sea, this I found very odd to come to terms with.
I haven’t been “boarding” for 4 years but know when I go back into the cold stuff I’ll probably Ski.

I was only really ever a red run skier with occasional black runs. Moved to a board in 2005 and haven’t been back. I found it easier to pick up than skiing, albeit initally painful! Comfortable kit, especially some armoured shorts with tailbone protection, is a must.

Learnt to ski when I was about 3-4 when we lived in Austria and skied for many years (used to race as a youth). Tried snowboarding and have barely touched skis since. The main thing for me is that powder on a snowboard is one of the most fun things in the world, whereas powder in skis was hard work.

I’m interested to try some if these fat powder skis though.

All of the above. I moved to board from skis because with only the occasional week skiing every couple of years I really wasn’t making any progress. You can get to an okay level quite quickly on a board but to really have fun I would recommend a few lessons as you can force a board around but a bit of technique makes it way more fun and smoother.

As with rogerthecat I’m going back to skis as the kids are starting to learn. I’ll keep the board with me though just in case there is lots of snow.

The biggest problem is being with your friends if they are piste only skiers. In soft stuff there is no problem but on piste the pace and flow is all wrong and skiers tend to end up waiting for you. Someone here suggested that Flow bindings helped solve some of those problems as you can get in and out quite quickly and while you are moving.

boarding on pistes is boring… .for this reason I’m going to learn to ski this year (unless there is loads of sick pow (TM), which case I’ll keep my board and play!)

Dave

I skied for years – good piste skier and occasional off-piste skier. I ended up learning to snowboard by accident and ended up just boarding for a few years – I really enjoyed to fun in powder and it was more sociable riding with my wife as she only boards.

But I was tempted back to skiing a few years ago and have found it more compelling. I understand the OP’s comment about snowboarding being more 2-dimensional. That may be a limit of my boarding ability, if I took it further there maybe more going on. But at my level I find skiing more technically engaging – there’s more to think about and more different techniques to master.

Now the kids are skiing and it’s practically much easier to be on two planks than one when messing around with kids and kids stuff etc etc. I did 2 half days on a board last winter – one was great, the other was a painful disaster and had me swearing I would sell my kit. I doubt I will though, the powder will tempt me back sometime I’m sure 😉

boarding on pistes is boring… .for this reason I’m going to learn to ski this year (unless there is loads of sick pow (TM), which case I’ll keep my board and play!)

Unless you are a park junkie, I reckon this is pretty much true – in ‘normal’ conditions, ie not particularly fresh snow/reasonably hard-packed pistes you will probably have more fun on skis IMO. Been fairly lucky and had a good few pow days on my last few trips though.

I’m going to St Anton with my family later in the season and they all ski, so I’ll probably hire some skis for most of the week.

The biggest problem is being with your friends if they are piste only skiers. In soft stuff there is no problem but on piste the pace and flow is all wrong and skiers tend to end up waiting for you.

Unless the boarders have a few seasons under their belt :D.
I’ve destroyed the preconceptions of several skiers when I’ve been on chalet hols. I like to think that I’ve helped to make the world a more tolerant place!

Anybody who has gone from skis to board and is fairly proficient should try some wider skis out. You’ll enjoy yourselves.

Unless you are a park junkie, I reckon this is pretty much true

plenty of fun to be had even on hard packed icy pistes. I spent a whole week in flaine with no fresh snow.

worked on my carving, tailslides, ollies, nollies, spent a whole day riding switch….

The “2D” comment was because I seem to see boarders even at a good level either carving or sliding on a snowboard where as on skis it seems there is more you can do, more variation in techniques and more terrain you can cover (although I accept that back-country / off piste boarding may be more fun) This belief might be because technically I’m far better on skis than I am on a Snowboard and don’t know the finer points.

Plus when the light was bad or the pistes were icy I found being on a snowboard scary as hell on a piste. But I loved it when the conditions were good. Luckily I didn’t fall over much except on a couple of icy steep slopes.

I think also some of the runs at St Anton were very ski orientated (long narrow flatish blue runs) and others got cut up very quickly. Snowboarding on them was a bit of a ball ache but I loved some of the wider blue and reds and even a black or two when the sun was shining.

However, when my 8yr old shot off down the slope and through an off piste mogul field towards a cliff edge I was damn glad to have skis on and be able to catch her up! 😯 (although she managed to turn at the last moment thank god)

The “2D” comment was because I seem to see boarders even at a good level either carving or sliding on a snowboard where as on skis it seems there is more you can do, more variation in techniques and more terrain you can cover

still not entirely sure I get what you mean.

If I had all the time in the world, i’d learn to ski but as it is I can snowboard reasonably well so thats what I’m sticking with…

Travelling to a different country with lots of snow and then taking a snowboard on a piste is the biggest waste of time, energy and money I can imagine 🙂

It’s like taking your DH bike to France and then doing a stage of the TDF.

Off piste is generally far more interesting and fun.

Pistes in larger resorts are now just geared up to get as many people down the slope as possible. That said, some pistes in smaller resorts can be fun.

plenty of fun to be had even on hard packed icy pistes. I spent a whole week in flaine with no fresh snow.

worked on my carving, tailslides, ollies, nollies, spent a whole day riding switch….

I just find it hard not to keep wishing it would snow, though I get the point.

I seem to see boarders even at a good level either carving or sliding on a snowboard where as on skis it seems there is more you can do, more variation in techniques and more terrain you can cover (although I accept that back-country / off piste boarding may be more fun)

I understand the bit about covering more terrain on skis but what do most people on skis really do other than carving or sliding? If you want to get into tricks you can do plenty on skis or a board.

I just find it hard not to keep wishing it would snow, though I get the point.

me too but you’ve got to occupy yourself with something…

Jambo – I’m not explaining myself well but I just found I wasn’t able to go where I wanted to and snowboarding seemed to be either going toe edge or heel edge down a hill, where as skiing I can do a lot more and I have a lot more to explore.

It’s probably because I’m less technically able on a board than I am on Skis and because in terms of ratios of slope time I’ve been on skis a lot more over the years and know what I’m doing.

Jambo – I’m not explaining myself well but I just found I wasn’t able to go where I wanted to and snowboarding seemed to be either going toe edge or heel edge down a hill, where as skiing I can do a lot more and I have a lot more to explore

That’s just down to ability, though. I snowboard, but I’ve spent a few days on skis:

I just found I wasn’t able to go where I wanted to and skiing seemed to be either turning left or turning right, where as snowboarding I can do a lot more and I have a lot more to explore.

Skied as kid, moved to boarding for 5 or so years during uni as much easier ski off piste, then went back to skiing as took up ski touring. Since then learnt to telemark and did that for a few years but generally just ski these days, with the odd day of tele / boarding if in resort.

They are all fun and you’ll miss out if you only do one. I used to love boarding because it was great in off piste powder, but once my skiing became good enough to ski steep deep powder I don’t really miss boarding and when I do board it is generally to mess around on piste / boarder cross type things.