Any snowboarders in here?

[andy.muc]

Any snowboarders in here?
What equipment do you use?
What/where was the ride of your life?

http://img217.exs.cx/img217/4291/p3040082m9ly.th.jpg (http://img217.exs.cx/img217/4291/p3040082m9ly.jpg)
THAT'S MEEE!
In Davos/Swiss

[henk4]

As a regular skier I can't help feeling very regularly annoyed by snowboarders, who will sit down on the most unlikely spots on the slope and are to difficult to judge when you have to pass them as they change directions very erratically. Furthermore the way they brake easily removes all the snow from steeper slopes. If they stay outside the prepared ski tracks I can live with them though :)

[andy.muc]

Aight, no comment on that mate. :rolleyes:

[clutch-monkey]

i snowboard when i get the chance :)
snow is sort of hard to find around here
i've got a moderate level of skill, but i don't do it enough to make it worthwile to buy my own gear

[dydzi]

as a skier i have to agree with henk4, you snowboaders are annoying ;)

[andy.muc]

That skier-boarder battle sometime reaches a mad level.
I already saw two of them beating each other up.
Skiers react kinda agressiv towards boarders in general.
I had an arguement with skiers twice when their wifes just learned
to stand on dem damn things and just moved without any controll
in any unpredictable direction and it's alway the damn boarder rookies to blame when
their wifes drop down. No matter how skilled the boarders may be. Their all the same to the skiers...

[henk4]

That skier-boarder battle sometime reaches a mad level.
I already saw two of them beating each other up.
Skiers react kinda agressiv towards boarders in general.
I had an arguement with skiers twice when their wifes just learned
to stand on dem damn things and just moved without any controll
in any unpredictable direction and it's alway the damn boarder rookies to blame when
their wifes drop down. No matter how skilled the boarders may be. Their all the same to the skiers...

Initially I thought I would limit my contribution to one post, given that I only have "second hand" experience with boards. Never tried to run on one, but seen many around me. The main problem for me is that snowboarders tend to sit down on the slopes, and many times in larger groups. This in itself is not so bad, because you can do that on safe places of any slope, however, they not always do that, and furthermore when you approach a moving (a moving object) snowboarder from behind, you will start calculating his prospective track. however as soon as boarder decides to stop, he invariably sits down, with his back to the slope, he becomes a stationary object on the slope, frustrating the initially calculated track for yourself. The fact that a boarder sits with his back to the slope also reduces his eyesight. When a skier stops, he will stand parallel to the slope and be able to look both up and down, and being able to look up, he may have already an idea of what is coming from behind and be able to move if necessary. A stopped skier will always remain more or less a movable object.

[<AAA-MOD>]

Henk, the only thing I can protest in your statement is the generalisation of all boarders.

"as soon as boarder decides to stop, he invariably sits down,"

I would agree that there are a lot of annoying snowboarders out there. They're usually in the 10-18 yr age range. It's a maturity thing I'm sure. I've been boarding for over 10 years now and have seen all of the hassles and trends come and go. Our local ski hill didn't allow snowboarding until 6 years ago. That meant that we had to drive a few additional hours to the closest hill that allowed it, or hike the local hill when it was closed. Now our local hill has clearly divulged that if it wasn't for the current popularity in snowboarding, they'd be losing a lot of money, and possibly shut down.

Bear in mind that there's plenty of immature skiers on the hills that regularly get in the way as well. I believe it should be considered as a maturity issue more than a "board vs ski" issue. snowboarding is appealing to the younger crowd more than skiing over the past few years, and therefore the immaturity has been shifted from the skiers to the boarders.

on behalf of snowboarders of the world, we apologize. leave the ass-kickin to us. we'll take care of 'em.

[henk4]

Henk, the only thing I can protest in your statement is the generalisation of all boarders.

"as soon as boarder decides to stop, he invariably sits down,"


I fully expected you to step in here :) , and yes it is also a sort of "dare-devil' problem, with many young people avoiding to take proper lessons before venturing out and then experiencing that still some basic techniques are required to become a proper member of the kiing community..

[spi-ti-tout]

Being here in U.A.E, we never have any snow. The only thing we have here that we can board and ski with is sand. Sadly, the problem is the nearest suitable sand is about 30-50kms away and second its not always quite as fun because the dune arent that big :(

Being on this thread I might as well learn why people tend to fight so much about the ski-board issue, as well as learn a little about the sports themselves.

[SPHFerrari]

snowboarders really do mess up the steep slopes sometimes, the less experienced ones anyway. they scrape all the snow down to reveal only ice and then theres huge lumps of powder at the bottom. very annoying.

[dydzi]

snowboarders annoy me beacause, if they're not sitting, they're riding very slow. i am skiing rather fast so its difficult for me to overtake them. however there's the same problem with unexperienced skiers

[Rockefella]

Snowboarders don't bother me except for the fact that they take off a lot of powder when they turn and leave ice, not too fun to turn on when on skis. Also, I don't like the surfer type/slow, almost retarded attitude that SOME of the YOUNGER snowboarders have. (not trying to stereotype)

[werty]

I've been boarding for about 6 years. Right now i have a 155 Nitro Punisher board and the new Flow bindings...only way to ride :)

My coolest ride...going about 80-90mph down a hill. My friend and i race alot.

edit: used to be a skier, now i just fly past them :p

[my porsche]

i mostly ski, ive boarded a few times, but i fell on my arse too hard, i think i have ass damage

[CHEESE-TACULAR]

i tried boarding but never liked it cause i was already a black diamond skiier and it was very slow. what really pisses me off is how snowboarders go down steep slopes
perpendicular with the mountain and leave a trail of packed snow. in the afternoon all that turns to ice and makes skiing more difficult for nwewer skiers and a little annoying for me

[andy.muc]

Right now i have a 155 Nitro Punisher board and the new Flow bindings...only way to ride :)


Uh nice! I had the same board until this year. The white board with the black warrior bearing that big blade.
But i used to have soft bindings... never liked the Flow system.

This year i got me the new Völkl Squad Flex 3. Best board i ever had.
I also got me a new Drake F60 binding and some new Nitro softboots.

[<AAA-MOD>]

in my many years of boarding i've come a long way with all of the board technology. my list of previous boards/bindings

1. 1989-90 Black Snow - Edge (cheapy plastic department store board without any p-tex, but had edges, with cheap plastic bindings

2. 1991-92 Checker Pig very bright neon graphics, with Kemper high-back bindings

3. 1993-94 K2 - Gyrator same very cool graphics as the Gyrator skis (still my fav board graphics) with Kemper high-back bindings

4. 1995-97 Morrow - Blaze big flame graphics, stance too far back, with Morrow bindings

5. 1998-2002 Burton - Air 6.1 awesome board, just a bit too long and set to the rear, with Burton high-backs

6. 2002-present Lamar - Kevin Jones 156 great light board, perfect length for all-around, basic black, with beauty chrome Ride LX mid-back bindings