There are many conflicting arguments when it comes to skiing vs snowboarding. I personally have experience with both sports but spend most of my time on my skis. There are definitely some major differences between the sports and both hold many advantages and disadvantages. But at the end of the day, the decision is all personal preference.

Many beginners struggle with the question, “Should I learn how to ski or snowboard?”. However there is no right answer. I personally would say if you’re not a patient person or just want to learn the basics and simply get down the mountain, skiing would be the easier choice. On the other hand, If you have past experience with anything like. skateboarding, wakeboarding, or surfing most of those skills can be transferred to snowboarding in one way or another. The basics of skiing are more easily attained for most people. Simple maneuvers such as pizza or hockey stops usually feel pretty natural and can be picked up pretty fast. A major difference between the two is the way that you stand. Most people feel much more comfortable and natural facing down the mountain (skiing) rather than perpendicular looking over your shoulder (snowboarding).

When it comes to advanced skiing and snowboarding, most people would say that park skiing, or even backcountry skiing looks “cooler” or more “impressive” than snowboarders on the same terrain. Skiing has more opportunity for jump tricks like flips and corks where you have a much larger bag of grabs to select from. If you watch live skiing competitions such as the X Games or the Olympics, typically you will say much larger tricks with more flips and spins on skis.  A rather skilled snowboarder Kyle Salvador, even admits, “Park skiing has much more style and looks more impressive than snowboarding, seeing a snowboarder hit a backcountry booter (a large jump) is underwhelming compared to a skier hitting the same jump.” It all comes down to opinion but most people could probably agree. 

There is no correct choice between skiing and snowboarding but I will say from experience, skiing is typically the easier choice to learn the basics. However if you think that snowboarding looks like more fun and you are willing to spend a little extra time, Go for it.