In my opinion: Boarders rule the slopes

By Nick Gevock - 02/20/2008

POLARIS — What is it about snowboarding that makes it so much more fun than skiing?

I know, believe me I know — there are plenty of skiers who would like to bash on me for making such a statement. It’s that old debate — at times it’s a culture war — between snowboarders and skiers.

I remember when I first got into snowboarding in the early 1990s, a time when the ski hills were overrun with testosterone-driven young men who were all-to-quick to point out that snowboarders kick butt and skiers drool.

I worked at a ski resort in Utah at the time and was a skier back then. My co-workers, most of whom snowboarded, made no secret about their contempt for “skiers,” at times saying it with such disdain that it came across as a slur.

That tension showed up on the slopes as well. The ski patrollers often had their biggest problems with snowboarders, who would at times brag about their efforts to purposely antagonize those establish symbols of the normal with their skis.

It seems like things have mellowed out a bit in the past decade. Maybe most of those punks on snowboards have grown up a little bit and are just happy to carve some turns.

Maybe the skiers have lightened up a little, too. They’re not seeing the snowboarders as a counter-culture wave of young troublemakers, bent on ripping past others while whooping it up, or just trying to show off how cool they are.

But for me, a skier who made the switch 15 years ago, there’s just something about snowboarding that skiing never did for me.

Now don’t get me wrong — I have great respect for expert skiers. In fact I think it takes many more years to get to be an expert on skis.

Just about every expert skier I know started when they were just barely out of diapers. They perfected basic turns in early grade school and were ripping through the steep runs by the time they were 12.

There are of course the exceptions. I know some skiers who started late, say around 12 or 16 or even 20, and became experts very quickly. I was one of those late bloomers — starting skiing at about 12 — who never really bloomed.

Granted, as an Iowa native I didn’t grow up in prime ski country. But I learned the basics on the 600 feet of drop hill in the bluffs above the Mississippi River there, and took plenty of trips to Colorado to ski in the mountains.

I was a solid blue run skier who never advanced, even once I moved to Utah. For me, it always seemed like my skis, and along with them my legs, wanted to come apart and end up contorted while taking a nasty fall.

I cringe at some of the moves my body did after crashing that appeared like I was playing Twister. Powder was the worst, making me feel like no matter what I did, I couldn’t keep my skis together in that nice tight parallel stance you need to tear it up on a day of fresh snow.

Then I put on a snowboard.

It was love at first slide. Not really, since the first day of snowboarding is nothing short of misery.

As everyone who’s taken up the sport knows, the first time you catch that downhill edge and get whipped into the ground like a rag doll is a pretty, um, humbling experience. I compare it to whiplash, with your whole body getting snapped.

Eventually you get to the point of working your way down the slope on the heel edge, rocking back and forth in a see-saw manner. And after a while, you’ll start making the transition to the toe edge of the board, riding a long way before you dare make a turn back to the heel edge for the fear of once again getting whipped to the ground.

Those early days of long slides on the toe edge left your calves burning. But it was so worth it, because eventually every snowboarder just gets it.

That transition from edges isn’t so bad. Pretty soon you’re making turns and it’s pure joy. Within a week on a snowboard, you’re carving down blue runs, and another couple weeks and you’re ready for the steeps.

At least that’s the way it played out for me. On powder days on a snowboard, you actually need the steepness of the diamond run for the momentum.

Those are the days when I truly appreciate a snowboard. While I respect the expert powder skiers, watching them leaves me wondering if they’re having as much fun as I am on my board.

With the snowboard, there’s little more to taking the powder than simply pointing the plank downhill. You don’t have to fight your legs getting pulled apart, you just make those perfect rhythmic turns while floating atop the white stuff.

It’s heavenly.

And with a snowboard, I take on terrain that I never even considered with skis.

So no, I’m not one of those snowboarder punks who thinks he’s better than a skier. I’m just a reformed skier, actually a really lousy skier, who found my ride down the hill.

For me, a snowboard really does rule.

Reporter Nick Gevock may be reached at nick.gevock@mtstandard.com.