Snowboarding is Better than Skiing, and Here’s Why

The age-old competition between two boards and one has been raging for decades. But the real question is, which is better? We have the answer right here. But if you don’t like this answer, be sure to check out the dark side’s argument.

Is your grandmother still giving you a tough time about being a snowboarder? While most people recognize that sliding down snow in any form, whether it be on one plank or two, is pretty awesome, there are still a few sticklers out there that insist that snowboarding is an inferior sport.

Don’t get mad—instead, feel bad. After all, naysayers only feel this way because they’ve never felt that euphoric sensation of snowboarding down a mountain in waist-deep powder. Here’s how you can educate old-schoolers about what makes snowboarding so fantastic.

We Worked Hard to Get Here
No matter how good you are at snowboarding, you probably still spent the majority of your first day on a snowboard on your butt. But you didn’t give up and resort to skiing—which, most would agree, is an easier sport to pick up. You bucked up to the challenge, put in your time, and honed a skill that definitely isn’t easy. Snowboarders are a tough breed.

Our Gear is Wonderful
There is not a single person on this earth who will argue that ski boots are more comfortable than snowboard boots. While your skiing pal struggles to squeeze his tootsies into his foot prisons, you’ll swagger on by in your snowboard boots that are almost comfortable enough to drive in.

But that’s not all—snowboarding basically requires one item: a snowboard. That’s a heck of a lot easier to tote around than two awkward skis and two even more awkward poles. Our stuff is cheaper, too. Take that!

We’re Inclusive
As a breed, snowboarders are generally a pretty friendly bunch. Many of us started off as skiers, so we hold no animosity in our hearts—we even rely on them for a cat track tug every so often. There aren’t any “snowboarder only” resorts out there, unlike those antiquated few ski-only resorts still kicking around that scoff at…well, we’re not sure what they’re scoffing at, but we feel bad that they’ll never know how fun it is to snowboard.

We’re Influencers
Snowboarding’s influence goes beyond our own sport: we’ve also helped revolutionize the world of freeskiing. Skiing has borrowed from our style and our gear technology—but that’s cool, because we like to share.

Things are Happening
It’s pretty wild to think that most of the guys and gals who pioneered this sport are still alive and shredding it up on their local mountain. Snowboarding is a relatively young sport, and the politics of the industry—though they aren’t always pretty—are pretty exciting to follow. There are a lot of people who are deeply passionate about snowboarding, and it’s great to witness the many changes taking place in our sport, whether it’s revolutionizing equipment or finally finding a competition format that works for everyone. It’s an exciting time to be a snowboarder.

There’s Nothing Else Like It
Yes, we have to pause to strap into our bindings. No, cat tracks aren’t always awesome. But there’s a certain freedom that comes with snowboarding that you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll feel it while you dance through the trees or surf along a glacier—and if you get just the right number of beers into your skier friends, they’ll reluctantly admit that snowboarding in pristine conditions looks pretty damn dreamy.