Extreme Snowboarding. Photo credit: 4ever.eu

Although the two sports of skiing and snowboarding are often grouped together, they should be seen as two separate sports. Yes, they both look similar going down a ski slope, and involve similar abilities and equipment, but the movements and the muscles used are different. The two sports are also different in how one gets on and off the resort lifts. With each foot attached to a different ski, skiers use their feet separately, while snowboarders’ feet are both connected to the same ski-like board, which is wider than one ski alone. Skiers’ feet are allowed to move freely while the snowboarder’s feet are locked onto one position on the snowboard.

According to Mabey Ski, a trusted ski website, in the 1760s, the Norwegian army held skill competitions involving using two waxed boards attached to boots and skied down slopes, around trees, and across level snowfields. Soldiers did all this while shooting at targets to prepare for real-world army operations. These races influenced the Olympic sport we know today as biathlon. The first national race took place in Oslo in the 1860s.

Snowboarding, on the other hand, wasn’t always a thing. According to the United States Snowboarding Hall of Fame, California skier and skater Tom Sims patented the first snowboard in the late 1960s; however, skiing was still the predominant sport on the mountain. Sims was also involved in getting his design into the Olympics, although it wasn’t until the 1980s that snowboarding was recognized as an Olympic sport. After that it gained popularity, and now you almost see more snowboarders than skiers. At one point in time it was believed that skiing would eventually die out, but new skiers are still hitting the slopes, disproving this prediction.

My aunt and uncle are both experienced on both skis and snowboards. They agreed that skiing is easier to learn but harder to get better at. They claim that snowboarding, on the other hand, is much more difficult to learn but easier to master.