With winter finally here and ski resorts opening within a couple of weeks, many students are excited to participate in their favorite winter activities. Some of the most popular activities take place at the ski slopes: skiing and snowboarding. The most popular slopes utilized by students are Whitetail Resort and Liberty Resort.
There are some specific things that snowboarders can do on the slopes that skiers can’t because of the way each is performed. Skiers face towards their targeted destination and swerve left to right to slow their speed down. Snowboarders on the other hand, face towards the side of the slope which makes it harder to control and stay balanced. Many snowboarders enjoy their activity more because of the extended options snowboarding offers at the slopes. At most slopes, there are also parks with rails and jumps to do tricks, which are easier to do with a board.
“I have experience with both skiing and snowboarding, but I prefer to snowboard because I love going to the park and doing tricks, which you can’t do with skis,” junior Oliver Simmons said.
Snowboarding culture entices those who like to do tricks like the railing on the terrain park, where skiing is more fundamental and slope focused.
There happens to be more skiers than snowboarders around this area at the high school age because of the experience that is needed to become a skilled snowboarder. Many people were taught to ski because of how easy it is compared to snowboarding.
“I prefer skiing because I was told it was a lot easier than snowboarding when I started,” senior Natalie South said.
Whether people ski or snowboard has a lot to do with what their family does.
I started skiing at a young age and have stuck with it since, so skiing comes easier to me than snowboarding.
— Sean Blakslee
Skiing is easier than snowboarding to most people because it is also more convenient.
“I like skiing more because snowboarders always have to sit down and reattach their boots to their board before every run, which seems really inefficient to me. Also I’d much rather face forward when skiing then face sideways like snowboarders,” senior Nik Avillo said.
