Making the switch

[librider]

So this upcoming season I think I am going to make the switch to skiing. I find it much more enjoyable to watch, and the majority of my friends ski anyway. And quite frankly I am bored of snowboarding. I have been riding for ~11 years and want to do something new.

 

Now I can ski. I can get on skis and make it down the hill, but I am hoping to pick up free-skiing pretty easily. From what I have seen people learn really fast when skiing as opposed to snowboarding.

 

Anyone else make the switch? How was it?

[Switchsideskier.]

I did the opposite lol, when I was 15 I started snowboarding since I became bored with Blues Terrain. Usually when I go up to the mountain I'll ski for a few hours until it becomes horrible and then I will snowboard haha..But good luck man, diffidently worth the try and it's just another new skill that you can learn

[Ride Delaware ?]

I haven't skied since I was 7 my first day on the snow ever. 7 years later I picked up snowboarding and have done it for the last 10 years... However, I was thinking of trying out skiing as a 2nd discipline... Any thoughts there either?

[sibhusky]

I haven't skied since I was 7 my first day on the snow ever. 7 years later I picked up snowboarding and have done it for the last 10 years... However, I was thinking of trying out skiing as a 2nd discipline... Any thoughts there either?

 

Well, my daughter taught her boyfriend-at-the-time, who was a snowboarder, to ski so well that in SIX days he was going down Connie's Coulee here at Whitefish.... That being said, she was a racer with years of analyzing technique and critiquing movement behind her and he was a four-sport varsity athlete all through high school, with, IMO, a too high risk tolerance. Since they broke up, he has plateaued mightily and doesn't acknowledge that he really hasn't progressed beyond those glory days. (They are still friends, but no "free instruction" now....) So, I guess with the right instructor and athleticism and testosterone, you can learn pretty fast to "get down" pretty much anything. Most people take a LOT longer, tho.

Edited July 7, 2010 by sibhusky

[Tyler]

So this upcoming season I think I am going to make the switch to skiing. I find it much more enjoyable to watch, and the majority of my friends ski anyway.

 

bro i completely agree on finding it more enjoyable to watch, style stands out so much more and it just looks cleaner. I find myself watching 15 ski edits before i watch one snowboard edit anymore. I

[Freeski919]

As somebody who is dual discipline, and who instructs both skiing and snowboarding, let me give you my insight. Neither sport is easier to master than the other. However, the learning curves are much different for each discipline. For snowboarding, the learning curve is very steep for the first few days. Once you have the basics down, mastering more advanced skills is easier. In skiing, the first few days are much easier, but from there mastering the more advanced skills is much more difficult.

 

That being said, going from one discipline to another is much easier than starting either one from scratch. You're already used to sliding on snow, you're already used to using edge angles to change direction... there are a number of skills that transfer pretty well.

 

If you're already comfortable in the park on a snowboard, transferring those skills onto skis isn't too difficult. Once you're as steady on skis as you are on a snowboard, park skills are all pretty much the same, with some minor tweaks to adjust for equipment.

[librider]

As somebody who is dual discipline, and who instructs both skiing and snowboarding, let me give you my insight. Neither sport is easier to master than the other. However, the learning curves are much different for each discipline. For snowboarding, the learning curve is very steep for the first few days. Once you have the basics down, mastering more advanced skills is easier. In skiing, the first few days are much easier, but from there mastering the more advanced skills is much more difficult.

 

That being said, going from one discipline to another is much easier than starting either one from scratch. You're already used to sliding on snow, you're already used to using edge angles to change direction... there are a number of skills that transfer pretty well.

 

If you're already comfortable in the park on a snowboard, transferring those skills onto skis isn't too difficult. Once you're as steady on skis as you are on a snowboard, park skills are all pretty much the same, with some minor tweaks to adjust for equipment.

 

Thanks for the info man.

 

Yeah like I said I can strap on some skis and get down the hill already, I just want to make the full on switch now. I'm sure I'll be spending the majority of my time in the park and what not. And yeah I spend 99.9% of my time in the park on a snowboard so hopefully I pick it up pretty quickly.

[moe ghoul]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKxrNz8x4Z4 Edited July 14, 2010 by moeghoul

[xNick11]

When I made my switch from snowboarding to skiing about 5 years ago. I focused more on getting comfortable with the fundamental of skiing before I went to the park. It took about a week or two of straight skiing everyday. I finally then grew confidence to enter the park and went at jumps and rails from there.

 

You shouldn't have a problem with the switch at all.