Skiing vs. Snowboarding
This blog post comes courtesy of our friends at Alpine Infusion who are posing you the question: skiing vs snowboarding? Which would you chose?
Skiing vs Snowboarding – Which one is for you
So you’ve got your holiday to the Three Valleys all booked, you’ve purchased the right gear for winter sports and you can’t wait to get out there and have fun. The question is, which sport do you choose to get to grips with? People fall in love with skiing and snowboarding for different reasons, and your preferred sport will be a matter of preference when you get out on the slopes. Below we’ll walk you through both sports and give you an idea of which one might be right for you.
Skiing – Easy to learn but hard to master
Most people will admit that skiing is easier to get to grips with in the early stages. Like ice skating, your feet are independent of each other instead of being joined together, and you’ll be facing forwards when you’re on your skis. This is a more natural positon, providing the skier with total peripheral vision and the opportunity to see exactly where they’re going.
Snowboarding – Harder to learn but easier to master
Snowboarding can be a lot tougher to acclimatise to in the early stages. Your feet are attached to the board, and for the uninitiated this can seem a bit awkward at first. The snowboarding stance is also side-on, which means you have less peripheral vision as you’re heading down the mountain. You’ll also take a bigger hit when you fall over, so your body will be worked more compared to skiing in these early stages.
The next steps to skiing and snowboarding
After a few days you should be getting comfortable in both skiing and snowboarding, and the snowboarders will soon start to see the benefits of persistence. When you get used to your feet being attached to the board you’ll be able to progress fairly quickly, whereas the skiers will be trying to master the skills of keeping their skis apart. Once a snowboarder can make turns they will be able to access the real slopes, where the next objectives are balance and more speed.
Skiers will be concentrating on leg control, moving both at the right moments, and this takes a bit of time to nail down. Progression can take longer, but they’ll be building on their technique all the time. This means that skiers can feel a great sense of satisfaction when they attempt the more challenging runs.
Get ready to work hard
Both sports will be taxing on the body and you’ll need to work hard to reach your potential. Skiing takes more out of the legs and the thighs, and snowboarding requires you to have core strength as the upper body will be twisting and turning. Cycling is a good activity to get you ready for skiing, as well as any general leg strengthening exercises. For snowboarding it would be very helpful if you could do some exercises on your abdominal muscles before your trip, as well as your lower back.
You should try both of these winter sports to see which one is for you. Even if you struggle in the beginning, you’ll soon see your hard work paying off and you’ll be having the time of your life in a stunning mountain landscape. Don’t forget to book your skiing and snowboarding lessons to give yourself the best chance of success!
Thank you Alpine Infusion for your blog post!
Comments are closed.
