Skiing Vs. Snowboarding for Beginners: Biggest Differences

In 2022, I headed to my first ski lodge, where I attempted a few beginner runs on a snowboard.

To kick off 2022, I planned a trip to a Colorado ski resort with friends. 

In the weeks before the trip, I debated skiing versus snowboarding. I was unfamiliar with both and determined to take a class. Procrastination got the best of me, and by the time I signed up, all the ski lessons were full. 

Snowboarding classes were still available, so the decision was made for me.

My first day on the slopes was a hilarious disaster. My friends and I didn’t pick up the sport as naturally as we had hoped. The day ended up with us walking down a run instead of snowboarding down it.

Even though I didn’t finish my first day as a snowboarding pro, I did understand the appeal. It was fun to be challenged by something new and spend the day outdoors. 

The next year, I decided to give skiing a shot.

The following winter, I headed to Colorado’s Winter Park Resort for a work trip.

I planned to take Amtrak’s Winter Park Express train to the resort. Once there, I’d spend two days on the slopes. I was itching for another new experience, so I booked a ski lesson one day and tried snowboarding the next day. 

This time, I didn’t procrastinate. I booked the ski lesson a few weeks in advance and was eager to compare the two sports. Here are the major differences I noticed.

Let’s start with the gear. Snowboard boots were much more comfortable than ski boots.

My first time snowboarding was with a friend who grew up skiing.

As we each stepped into the massive snowboard boots, she exclaimed how comfortable they were. To me, they felt awkward and bulky, but she promised that they were far more comfortable than any pair of ski boots she ever wore.

A year later, I finally understood what she meant. 

The ski boots I wore were coated in a hard plastic shell, which meant my feet didn’t have much flexibility inside the shoe. They also had two awkward bumps at the front and back of each boot for ski clips, making it feel like I was never walking on a flat surface. 

Simple tasks like walking downstairs were challenging. Meanwhile, my snowboard boots had a softer and cushier interior and the bottoms were completely flat.

I didn’t mind wearing the snowboard boots all day, but I couldn’t wait to get out of the ski boots.

On skis, you face down the mountain. On a snowboard, you’re perpendicular.

One of the biggest differences between the two sports is where your hips and chest face the mountain while you’re skiing or snowboarding.

I knew there would be a difference, and I was curious which way I would prefer to face — either straight downward on skis or perpendicular on a snowboard. 

While skiing, my hips and chest were directly facing forward. This allowed me to use my peripheral vision. I could tell if anyone else was coming down the mountain on my left or right.

On the snowboard, however, my hips were perpendicular to the slope. This made looking behind me slightly easier, but I had a larger blind spot on my snowboard that made peripheral sight more uncomfortable.

Of course, neither skiing nor snowboarding gives you complete 360-degree views, but I felt like my vision was overall better on skis — especially as a beginner. 

Navigating on flat surfaces is exhausting on a snowboard.

Between lift lines and catwalks on runs, I had to learn to navigate on flat surfaces while snowboarding and skiing. 

After trying the two, I learned skiers have it way easier.

That’s because most skiers, myself included, use poles. With my poles, I could push myself on flat patches and propel myself forward. 

Snowboarders, on the other hand, don’t have poles. I needed to prioritize momentum during any flat area, and if I ended up coming to a stop, I needed to unclip my back foot and skate around. 

Skating on a snowboard was utterly exhausting, and after trying skiing, I longed for the ease of poles. 

I fell a lot more learning to snowboard.

Before my first snowboarding lesson, I crowdsourced advice and tips.

Every single person told me to prepare to fall. A lot. 

I went into the class expecting my fair share of topples, but I had no idea just how often I would find myself on the ground.

During the four-hour snowboarding class, I fell dozens of times. When I hit the slopes, I was on the ground more than I was standing.

When I went into my skiing lesson, I expected the same number of falls. During the four-house lesson, I didn’t fall a single time.

I did attempt a green run later that day and fell a few times, but it still didn’t come close to the number of falls I took during my first day of snowboarding.

Getting on and off lifts was easier on skis.

Another place where I struggled as a beginner snowboarder was getting on and off the ski lifts.

When the lift ends, it doesn’t stop moving. Instead, skiers and snowboarders must hop off their seats and ski or snowboard down a slight decline to the start of their run.

Again, ski poles were a major advantage in this situation. When I got off a lift on skis, I felt sturdy and confident. I never fell.

Getting off a lift on a snowboard, however, seemed like a skill within itself. I had to keep my balance while pushing off the lift. The result was fall after fall.

On my first day of snowboarding, I didn’t successfully get off one single lift without falling. Meanwhile, I navigated lifts easily on my first day of skiing. 

Different parts of my body ached after both skiing and snowboarding.

Before trying skiing and snowboarding, I didn’t realize how hard the sports would be on my body.

After snowboarding, my wrists were aching from falling forward onto my hands all day.

My calves were also not prepared for snowboarding. While on a snowboard, you use the toeside and heelside edge of the board to turn. After many toeside turns, my calves burned.

Skiing was also a hard workout. “Pizza-ing,” which is when you point your skis into a triangle to stop, can strain your knees. That’s the technique I was taught, and by the end of my first day on skis, my knees were sore from all the “pizza-ing.”

Either way, my body was exhausted by the end of my first day on both a snowboard and skis.

The biggest difference I spotted between the two was learning how to stop.

My biggest concern with learning how to ski and snowboard was learning how to stop.

If I wanted to do either of the sports safely and comfortably, I knew I needed to be confident in my ability to brake quickly and effectively.

Luckily, this skill took little time to learn on a snowboard. With my board perpendicular to the slope, I could put downward pressure on my heels and immediately stop. While I wasn’t able to get down mountains on my first snowboarding day, I was able to feel comfortable stopping.

This wasn’t the case for skiing. Anytime I picked up any speed, my “pizza-ing” maneuver wasn’t strong enough to slow me down. Instead, I spent my first day stopping by intentionally falling over. 

I’m sure it’s a skill I could learn on skis, but the confidence I had with stopping on snowboards was enough to stick with that sport instead. 

Everyone told me that “snowboarding is harder to learn but easier to master, while skiing is easier to learn and harder to master.” So far, I think the saying rings true.

After two winters in Colorado, I imagine I’ve heard the phrase close to a hundred times from friends. And I’ve recited it nearly as much to others.

That’s because after trying both, I’m starting to understand why it’s said so often.

While my first day on a snowboard last year was disastrous, my second day went much smoother. By the end of day two, I could get down blue runs, and after about five days, I felt confident navigating on the heelside and toeside edges of the board.

I’m not quite as confident yet with skiing. I’ve skied only one day, and although I fell far less than I did snowboarding, keeping my feet perfectly parallel seems like a skill that would take months, if not years, to master.

After trying both, I think there’s nothing like gliding down a snowy mountain on a sunny day — regardless of whether you’re on skis or a snowboard.

The two sports have their pros and cons.

Since I’ve spent more time on a snowboard overall, I’m sticking with that for now. I’m aiming to master using my toeside edge, and my fingers are crossed that I’ll be on black runs sooner rather than later.