Snowboarding for Geeks

Yeah, I never spent enough time skiing/boarding to progress past the beginner or early intermediate stage. The first time I went skiing I was already having fun because I was at a place with a long, meandering set of green trails.

They had a good combination of steeper bits to build speed and then leveled off to allow me to "regroup" and recover if I was pushing myself a bit. I understand how funny it is to think of "pushing yourself" on a green trail but this was the first time I'd gone skiing. The length of the trails helped a lot since even without being a major challenge, I could enjoy gliding through the woods for a good while before having to get back in line for the lift.

I didn't even bother with the short "bunny slopes" after a preliminary run or two since they were not long enough to get a feel for it before you had to just stop and start over.

I went a few more times over that winter and the next one and got to the point where I was feeling good on some of the easier "blues". I understood how edges worked and it mostly felt natural.

Snowboarding was very different for me. I have never taken the time to get any good at it because starting off is just so uncomfortable, awkward, and un-fun for me. I guess with skiing, it feels like the very basics feel like normal standing posture with some modification. I liked my legs being separate and not both strapped together in one direction.

What you're saying makes complete sense to me. I don't go often enough to ever get particularly good but I can still have fun and get some exercise as a noob skier. I've never had fun as a noob snowboarder and it makes it harder to put in the effort knowing that I don't have the money and time to devote to getting past that stage and to the fun parts.

My 2 cents for beginners, most of these are covered in the article:

1. Get a flying-v or CamRock - makes turning easier and will hold an edge better until you figure out how to carve.

2. Don't put your feet perpendicular to the board, you want some angle, 30° Front, 15° Back. It will make it easier to square your shoulders down the hill and get your weight on the front of your edge.

3. Start on a Blue slope. Seriously. I hate seeing beginners exhausting themselves on green slopes straining to get enough speed to get on edge and then catching the opposite edge because there is not enough slope.

When you're learning, you'll catch an edge quite often and you'll fall fast and hard... a helmet is a must. If I didn't have one, I'd probably have been in the hospital at least a few times. :)

I got my passion for snowboard with 26. I got to get myself busy somehow during Winter time on the Swiss/French Alps.

However nowadays I seldom do it, as I fear to suffer a 2nd injury and recovery from the first one wasn't that fun.

In my unscientific opinion, I think there is some skills overlap with skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding. They all put your body at a 90 degree angle to the direction you're heading and you have to adjust your center of gravity over the board to turn. So it's very possible your skateboarding skills will help you learn faster than people who don't surf and skateboard.