5 ms·

I spent hundreds of hours as a park rat on a tiny hill in Wisconsin when I was a teenager. Sometimes I regret not using that time to be more productive and work

I spent hundreds of hours as a park rat on a tiny hill in Wisconsin when I was a teenager. Sometimes I regret not using that time to be more productive and work on my future. On the other hand, it makes me happy to strap into a snowboard for the first time in over 2 years and still be in the 95th percentile on the slope after a few warm up runs. All that being said, I’d learn to ski instead. Snowboarding is a ton of fun in the park if you have the time and money to invest into it, but you can’t be hucking 30 footers into your 40s in good conscience when people depend on you to be healthy. I concussed myself so many times when I was 17 on hard falls, just completely out of it sitting on the hill. It’s a very dangerous sport. Probably as dangerous as football in terms of TBI risk. If you’re only going to be able to get out a few weekends a year, skiing has better returns.

wavefunction 5y ago
Hucking 30 footers is cool but there's nothing like a fresh powder run on a longboard just floating. Going fast and floating like I'm surfing has been my thing while snowboarding for the past thirty years and it still holds up in my middle age.
- bonestamp2 5y ago
  Agreed. I also hung up my skateboard tricks in favor of a longboard for the same reason.
llimllib 5y ago
for whatever it's worth, my wife and I are in our 40s and love to snowboard together. It's true that I'm not hucking 20 footers any longer, but I still have a blast on the steeps and in the trees, and don't see any reason I'd need to return to skiing.
celticninja 5y ago
I do both pretty well but much prefer to snowboard than ski. Of course I'm into my 40s and still playing in the park so maybe that's something to do with it.
ramesh31 5y ago
>I concussed myself so many times when I was 17 on hard falls, just completely out of it sitting on the hill. It’s a very dangerous sport. Probably as dangerous as football in terms of TBI risk. This is why, honestly, I will never suggest someone to bother learning it as an adult. Unless you are extremely athletic and completely set on it, it's just going to be an afternoon of pain and frustration. I've seen it happen over and over again. Learning to ski or snowboard requires falling thousands of times. Which isn't a big deal when you're 12, but at 32 it's a whole different story.
- _0w8t 5y ago
  Downhill ski is much easier and safer to learn. I did it in one hour together with an instructor when I was 25. I felt only couple of times. And I was with another novice, so not all attention was on me. This was a common experience among my friends. Then I tried snowboarding couple of years later. But even after 2 training painful sessions with different instructors I could not get it. The last instructor encouraged me to try one more lesson. He suspected as I was tall, it will just take more time for my body to learn to balance properly. But I realized that snowboard just did not click with me. And only few of people I know who tried snowboarding in the late twenties continued with it.
- scarecrowbob 5y ago
  I can comment on snowboarding. But I did take up skiing as an adult and my experience doesn't line up with this. My kid graduated high school, so I moved to a small town in Colorado to learn how to ski and ice climb. I am somewhat athletic, but not competitively so. I started skiing at 42, and I am now in my 3rd year of doing it. I do wear a helmet. But I don't fall, and certainly not thousands of times. I'm old enough that I'm very conservative... but I fall infrequently enough that I can remember the 3 times I've done it this season. Skiing really isn't that dangerous or even physically demanding.
  - phillc73 5y ago
    Similar to you, I started skiing at 45, the same time as my almost 4yr old did. That first season, I remember falling a few times, but absolutely not more than 20 for the whole season. Four years later, I have a ski crazy 7yr old who rips down blacks full tilt. I fall in very choppy or icy conditions somehow trying to keep him in sight. Didn’t fall at all today, fell once yesterday in chop. In decent conditions, I rarely fall, but as I’m the designated driver, I really don’t push things too hard. Also firmly in the wear a helmet camp. A lot of US ski and snowboard films show athletes who forgo this, and I generally try to avoid letting the kid watch them. Favourite ski films are Supervention and Supervention 2. Both are generally free online (try Redbull TV).
aaronmu 5y ago
I see a lot of snowboarders get into an identity crisis as they get older. Should I still snowboard if I'm not sending jumps and jibs all the time? Yes. Yes you absolutely should. The truth is that there is just no feeling like laying down a sick carve on a snowboard. Nothing compares.
- te_chris 5y ago
  100%! Just got back from a week in the Zillertal and it was incredible and all I can think of is how to go back. Finally did it on my own gear this time too, what a massive difference a good board, binding, boot combo makes. I'm a late convert, so not a park rat at all, but just hitting reds all day (Europe, so just Blue, Red, Black grades) along with the mountain culture makes for my absolute favourite holidays.
- chiefalchemist 5y ago
  As I got older I switched my focus to riding switch. While I'm not as solid riding switch I can keep up and often pass most I ride with. Along with building up my switch skills I worked on frontside and backside 180s. Basically being able to flip from one to the other and back. Sometimes I forget which is my natural stance and which it switch. I was progressing up to 360s from either stance but haven't been out enough the that couple of years. I'm in my 50s. I do most of my riding in Vermont (mostly Killington) so my skills are almost legit ;)
  - atoav 5y ago
    I am goofy on skateboard and regular on the snowboard for some odd reason. This of course meant riding switch on both came easier to me than to most people.
  - bonestamp2 5y ago
    Thank you, your comment back brought warm memories for me! I grew up in the Canadian rockies, but my family moved to Ontario in my teens. The skiing was terrible there so I switched to snowboarding to keep it interesting. But, we used to come down to Killington in the winter to get some real mountain time in. Thankfully I'm in California now so I've got some good mountains nearby. Thanks again and I hope Killington is still as great, or maybe even better, than it once was.
monkmartinez 5y ago
I came to this same conclusion two weekends ago in Flagstaff. I am 43 and have only snowboarded my entire life. Lots and lots when I was younger, not as much anymore with kids, their club soccer and demanding schools. I am a professional firefighter and get paid to workout at work... so I am not elite athletic, but I am fit. My hips just don't have the same mobility they once did. Sitting down at the top every single run is tiring and I am beginning to dislike that one aspect the most. My wife skis and she just stands there peacefully while the kids and I strap in. I never paid much attention to this until this last trip... "I am a snowboarder and this is part of the deal." Well, I am not much into that part of the deal any longer. Walking around the resort or restaurants in ski boots doesn't look like it feels as good as snowboard boots. However, I think I am willing to give that up for convenience on the runs... which is why I am there spending a fortune after all. So, I decided that I am going to rent skis and just send it over spring break for a two day trip. My kids say they are going to disown me... that's ok, I can cruze with their mom (lol)! Watching them strap in without grunting and twisting due to their far superior flexibility is awesome... I remember that, its just time to move on and just enjoy the time on the mountain; COMFORTABLY.
- RandallBrown 5y ago
  Burton has some new step in bindings that seem to resolve a lot of the issues people had with older styles.
  - meetingthrower 5y ago
    Can confirm. 49 and got the step ins this year. Magic. No difference in control.
- greatpatton 5y ago
  I'm 48, been skiing since I was 3 and switched to mainly snowboard at 17 (and living less then 30min from a lot of ski resorts). I ski from time to time, mainly when with the kids and when the snow is hard. But as soon as there is powder, nothing is better than my snowboard. Just today, I'm back from a day of freeriding with friends and the kids. This will always remain an incredible feeling that I will never get on my skis. Modern carving skis are also fun, but different. There is never a too old to ride. I know snowboarders in their 70s. Modern binding takes seconds to tie and nothing will beat softboots (especially in stairs), and the pain you can get with some ski boots. And at the end of the day I will always feel less tired when snowboarding than skiing.

wavefunction 5y ago

Hucking 30 footers is cool but there's nothing like a fresh powder run on a longboard just floating. Going fast and floating like I'm surfing has been my thing while snowboarding for the past thirty years and it still holds up in my middle age.

bonestamp2 5y ago
Agreed. I also hung up my skateboard tricks in favor of a longboard for the same reason.

llimllib 5y ago

for whatever it's worth, my wife and I are in our 40s and love to snowboard together. It's true that I'm not hucking 20 footers any longer, but I still have a blast on the steeps and in the trees, and don't see any reason I'd need to return to skiing.

celticninja 5y ago

I do both pretty well but much prefer to snowboard than ski. Of course I'm into my 40s and still playing in the park so maybe that's something to do with it.

ramesh31 5y ago

>I concussed myself so many times when I was 17 on hard falls, just completely out of it sitting on the hill. It’s a very dangerous sport. Probably as dangerous as football in terms of TBI risk. This is why, honestly, I will never suggest someone to bother learning it as an adult. Unless you are extremely athletic and completely set on it, it's just going to be an afternoon of pain and frustration. I've seen it happen over and over again. Learning to ski or snowboard requires falling thousands of times. Which isn't a big deal when you're 12, but at 32 it's a whole different story.

_0w8t 5y ago
Downhill ski is much easier and safer to learn. I did it in one hour together with an instructor when I was 25. I felt only couple of times. And I was with another novice, so not all attention was on me. This was a common experience among my friends. Then I tried snowboarding couple of years later. But even after 2 training painful sessions with different instructors I could not get it. The last instructor encouraged me to try one more lesson. He suspected as I was tall, it will just take more time for my body to learn to balance properly. But I realized that snowboard just did not click with me. And only few of people I know who tried snowboarding in the late twenties continued with it.
scarecrowbob 5y ago
I can comment on snowboarding. But I did take up skiing as an adult and my experience doesn't line up with this. My kid graduated high school, so I moved to a small town in Colorado to learn how to ski and ice climb. I am somewhat athletic, but not competitively so. I started skiing at 42, and I am now in my 3rd year of doing it. I do wear a helmet. But I don't fall, and certainly not thousands of times. I'm old enough that I'm very conservative... but I fall infrequently enough that I can remember the 3 times I've done it this season. Skiing really isn't that dangerous or even physically demanding.
- phillc73 5y ago
  Similar to you, I started skiing at 45, the same time as my almost 4yr old did. That first season, I remember falling a few times, but absolutely not more than 20 for the whole season. Four years later, I have a ski crazy 7yr old who rips down blacks full tilt. I fall in very choppy or icy conditions somehow trying to keep him in sight. Didn’t fall at all today, fell once yesterday in chop. In decent conditions, I rarely fall, but as I’m the designated driver, I really don’t push things too hard. Also firmly in the wear a helmet camp. A lot of US ski and snowboard films show athletes who forgo this, and I generally try to avoid letting the kid watch them. Favourite ski films are Supervention and Supervention 2. Both are generally free online (try Redbull TV).

aaronmu 5y ago

I see a lot of snowboarders get into an identity crisis as they get older. Should I still snowboard if I'm not sending jumps and jibs all the time? Yes. Yes you absolutely should. The truth is that there is just no feeling like laying down a sick carve on a snowboard. Nothing compares.

te_chris 5y ago
100%! Just got back from a week in the Zillertal and it was incredible and all I can think of is how to go back. Finally did it on my own gear this time too, what a massive difference a good board, binding, boot combo makes. I'm a late convert, so not a park rat at all, but just hitting reds all day (Europe, so just Blue, Red, Black grades) along with the mountain culture makes for my absolute favourite holidays.
chiefalchemist 5y ago
As I got older I switched my focus to riding switch. While I'm not as solid riding switch I can keep up and often pass most I ride with. Along with building up my switch skills I worked on frontside and backside 180s. Basically being able to flip from one to the other and back. Sometimes I forget which is my natural stance and which it switch. I was progressing up to 360s from either stance but haven't been out enough the that couple of years. I'm in my 50s. I do most of my riding in Vermont (mostly Killington) so my skills are almost legit ;)
- atoav 5y ago
  I am goofy on skateboard and regular on the snowboard for some odd reason. This of course meant riding switch on both came easier to me than to most people.
- bonestamp2 5y ago
  Thank you, your comment back brought warm memories for me! I grew up in the Canadian rockies, but my family moved to Ontario in my teens. The skiing was terrible there so I switched to snowboarding to keep it interesting. But, we used to come down to Killington in the winter to get some real mountain time in. Thankfully I'm in California now so I've got some good mountains nearby. Thanks again and I hope Killington is still as great, or maybe even better, than it once was.

monkmartinez 5y ago

I came to this same conclusion two weekends ago in Flagstaff. I am 43 and have only snowboarded my entire life. Lots and lots when I was younger, not as much anymore with kids, their club soccer and demanding schools. I am a professional firefighter and get paid to workout at work... so I am not elite athletic, but I am fit. My hips just don't have the same mobility they once did. Sitting down at the top every single run is tiring and I am beginning to dislike that one aspect the most. My wife skis and she just stands there peacefully while the kids and I strap in. I never paid much attention to this until this last trip... "I am a snowboarder and this is part of the deal." Well, I am not much into that part of the deal any longer. Walking around the resort or restaurants in ski boots doesn't look like it feels as good as snowboard boots. However, I think I am willing to give that up for convenience on the runs... which is why I am there spending a fortune after all. So, I decided that I am going to rent skis and just send it over spring break for a two day trip. My kids say they are going to disown me... that's ok, I can cruze with their mom (lol)! Watching them strap in without grunting and twisting due to their far superior flexibility is awesome... I remember that, its just time to move on and just enjoy the time on the mountain; COMFORTABLY.

RandallBrown 5y ago
Burton has some new step in bindings that seem to resolve a lot of the issues people had with older styles.
- meetingthrower 5y ago
  Can confirm. 49 and got the step ins this year. Magic. No difference in control.
greatpatton 5y ago
I'm 48, been skiing since I was 3 and switched to mainly snowboard at 17 (and living less then 30min from a lot of ski resorts). I ski from time to time, mainly when with the kids and when the snow is hard. But as soon as there is powder, nothing is better than my snowboard. Just today, I'm back from a day of freeriding with friends and the kids. This will always remain an incredible feeling that I will never get on my skis. Modern carving skis are also fun, but different. There is never a too old to ride. I know snowboarders in their 70s. Modern binding takes seconds to tie and nothing will beat softboots (especially in stairs), and the pain you can get with some ski boots. And at the end of the day I will always feel less tired when snowboarding than skiing.