Skis to Snowboard ?

[BUCKAROO]

Just looking for some quick input. I have been snow kiting for 10 years now and have never tried a snowboard. I never wanted to invest in a board. I was talking to my neighbor and he has a snow board I can try. Is there a big learning curve ? Anything I need to know? Are you going to say I need a lesson ?

[MK]

It's worth working the kinks of the board out on a hill or pulled behind a snowmobile. Consider hitting a local slope and get the feel of it down. The first thing that helped me on a snowboard was learning what I was taught as the "falling leaf technique."

As a leaf falls it shifts left to right and back, then repeats continuously. Starting with small distances like a few feet right then left, back and forth; try this on the board from atop a hill then gradually add a few more feet until you get comfortable with the speed and the balance. You'll know if you are digging your heels in too much because you will "scrape" down the hill. You will need to release a little pressure on the heal side by leaning slightly forward and not scrape but ride the heelside edge of the board. Use the scrape technique for stopping or slowing down. Unfortunately you will discover "catching a front edge." This will slam you forward, try not to do this.

Not sure if this makes sense or if others have a quick typable solution to add. Also, finding a comfortable stance for your feet. Kiting will require you to ride in both directions so developing your ability to ride in both directions will be helpful. Set your bindings to have a comfortable stance for your anatomy. This becomes personal preference and simply just needs to be tried and adjusted until you find comfort. "General" settings are 10-15% duck setting but again find what works for you.

Most injuries on a snowboard are from when you fall so learn to not reach out if you go down and simply take the hit on your back side, shoulders, or bring your arms to your chest when falling forward. It doesn't sound pleasant but it beats worse options by extending your arms (sprains, breaks).

A little speed actually helps with your balance. Learning to play within your balance points, not too far forward or backward, is where the surfing feel is fun. You'll take a beating so pad up:) As expected an instructor will save you a lot of time and potential injury. This is an example but look for whats closest to you: http://www.welchvillage.com/snowboard-l ... and-up.cfm

Enjoy the pursuit and keep us posted on your progress.

[Pete]

Learn how to be proficient on the snowboard before attempting to kite with it. You need to learn edge control (forward, backward, heelside and toeside). Hopefully you have a buddy that is willing to teach you the basics. Depending upon you foot size board choice is important.

[kiteboymn]

I think getting the basic feel behind a snowmobile at slow speeds is a great way to go because you're in total control. On the hill you have to deal with getting off the lift
which is "interesting" if you've never done it. Then you have to deal with speed management and edge catching. Don't get me wrong, and don't let me scare you, boarding is great, just learn it at your own pace till you figure it out. Riding a snow board will help you loads if you water kite as well.

Kiteboy

[slopecat]

Riding a snow board will help you loads if you water kite as well.

I will second that comment in a big way!

Skiing, boarding and kites were all new to me about the same time in 2011. I started kiting with skis in the winter. When summer came around I took more lessons in the water and really struggled. For a couple of years I strugged in the water while taking more lessons. I kind of spread them out quite a bit and that probably didn't help me.

I also tried to learn how to ride a snowboard on the slopes, taking multiple lessons over a couple of seasons at Trollhaugen and Afton. Progress was slow at first but it was steady and I enjoyed it. Last winter I tried kiting with a snowboard for the first time. I had maybe five sessions during the season and it went pretty well. I was hoping this would help me out in the water as others had suggested it should.

Not knowing if I was going to give up on kiteboarding or not I didn't get out and give it another try until late this past summer. It had been a little over a year since my last attempt. I went up to Malmo by myself and gave it another shot on a light wind day. After trying to find enough wind to launch for 15 mintues I finally got the kite in the air. I leaned back, got the board on, dove the kite and rode for nearly two minutes. That may not sound like much but it was light years beyond what I had done before. Huge grin! After getting a ways out from shore I stopped and got situated, dove the kite in the other direction and rode most of the way back to shore.

I had two more sessions like that before it got too cold to go out anymore. I improved quite a bit each time. There is no doubt snowboarding in the winter helped me a lot when I got back in the water.

I think if I would have tried to learn kiting on a snowboard I may given up before I got hooked on it.

Mike

[Matt V]

A few kiteskiers around here have tried to make the leap from skis to a snowboard. But none of them have really given up the skis for a snowboard. Though I am exclusively a kitesnowboarder, it is obvious that skis have almost every advantage over a snowboard. Speed and mobility are the top 2. I would do some soul searching before you get too much into it. And more importantly, make sure the gear you are using is not holding you back. If you are over a size 11 boot, then you should be on a wide board. Twintips with a centered duck stance make things really smooth.

The only advantage to a snowboard that I have found is that you can dice up wonderous wind lips, hella holes, and crazy cornices that skis would maybe just survive (if at all). A snowboard, for me, really comes into its own when you are riding on something that you think can't be ridden. A snowboard will ride crazy things most of the time while a ski will be stuck in it 30ft behind you. If you think that feature is going to swallow your ski and leg to the hip if you dig in, you can almost always stay on top with a snowboard. And having the full torque of your body rigidly connected to the board with both legs, is the ultimate in feature control. On skis, you only can twist with the force your knee can handle. On a snowboard, you can apply what seems like as much torque as your hips can dish out. With this much directional control on a snowboard, you can ride through tall horse weed rows, over harvested soybean fields, and catchy grass that would never permit a ski to pass. (Harvested corn is still a no go even for a snowboard)

So I hope you have a great time trying out the board, but still hang on to your skis. Unless of course, you are having trouble making it over with that 12foot tall cornice with a 2foot overhang. Then, a snowboard can be just what the doctor ordered.

P.S. those little "half-pipes" around Baldy in Wyoming ate me. So take my advice with a grain of salt. Hmpppph......."half-pipe" - more like crevasse or small slit of sunshine 30ft up, or the Pit of Carkoon from the original Return.

[Cory M]

Interesting discussion and I relate to a lot of what has been said. I switched to the snowboard 20 years ago so I naturally snowkite with the board. But I have been tempted to buy some skis for speed and mobility. Telemark seems to have a certain appeal to me but I have not seen many use them so maybe there is a reason?

I don't have the counterpoint but I would imagine the people that do both will use the snowboard most of the time if there is fresh snow for the points that Matt V indicated. Though it is amazing the edge the skis can hold on almost bare ice when most are on a blades of some sort.

[Drvermin]

I learned to snowboard at the old fogey age when I was 50 years old. My 6 year old and I took a private lesson together two years earlier and after 30 minutes she was carving up a storm and I was recovering from a bruised elbow and tailbone.

Eventually I found an instructor at Afton that did not rush me and he taught me how to be in control so I did not fall (as much) and things went much better. Since that point I have helped others learn using what I learned.

Have someone hold your hands while you are strapped in the board and you are on the bunny hill. Keep your heels dug in a bit and slowly and carefully tip your toes down so you start to slide. Move only just a little bit and then tip your toes up so you stop. Repeat this many times going further and further so you get control at stopping. Your helper person is there for you to hold for balance so you avoid the falls.

After you can slide down and stop now you can move on to tipping one toe down and going towards one side. Pull the toe up and you should get back to perpendicular to the slope and stop. Keep practicing so you can go 3-5 feet and stop. At this point your helper is not needed. Practice small deliberate moves all the way down the bunny hill.

Eventually move up to bigger and bigger slides and stops until you can go 20-30' and stop and remain in control. Keep practicing and you will get so you can go and stop at will on any slope. I taught 2 older geezers by this method and in an hour or so they were going down the bunny hill without falling. After 3 hours they were going up the chairlifts and coming down at Afton with no problems. They were not fast, but they had the basics under control. The rest is just riding time.

About safety: A helmet is a must and elbow pads, knee pads and gloves with wrist guards are strongly suggested. My coworker shattered her elbow and now has over 10 screws in her elbow. She fell getting to the lodge from her car! Knee pads are great for taking a rest and sitting on one's knees and not getting cold and wet. They are not just for falls. Wrist guards REALLY help with broken wrists. My friend is one of the heads of Ski Patrol at Afton Alps and he said you cannot believe the number of wrist injuries they see each year. Wrists are very hard to repair. Even if you take a really bad fall on your wrist, breaking a long bone in your arm is far, far easier to repair than a wrist is. So protect your wrists!

[fabrino]

yes, interesting discussion!!
I am a lifelong skier but I was toying with idea of trying kite-snowboarding (especially on powder days)
for two reasons..

i. soft boots.. man I hate those heavy rigid skiboots
ii. better jumping..am i right on this?

I was hoping that, being able to ride a board in the water, the transition from skis to board on the snow would not be to difficult, but maybe I am wrong again..

[Mike G.]

I enjoy doing both. I find I like the snowboard best in deep powder, but for anything else I prefer skiis.
The skiis are much much faster.. you typically can use one size smaller kite since the skis have so little friction.
But I love the floaty feel of the snowboard in the fluffy stuff.
Jumping.. pretty much the same as far as I can tell.
I learned to snowboard by volunteering as a chaperone for my son's middle school; the lessons and rental are free, and all you have to do is play bus cop with a bunch of surly teenagers (yeh.. its almost not worth it). This was a great way to learn on the cheap.
I agree with the comment to use softer flexing snowboard boots.
As others have said.. don't limit yourself, expand your horizons and give it a go..

[Drvermin]

"As others have said.. don't limit yourself, expand your horizons and give it a go.."

Cross over to the Dark Side Young Kitewalker.

[KitingKen]

Just switched to snowboard this year after learning to kite last year on skis. I love it and haven't put my skis on since! I recommend hitting the slopes a couple times first and learning how to ride both left and right foot forward, both toe and healside. That may help you avoid some face plants.

Stick with it. It may take 3-4 good kiting sessions and then all of sudden, bam, it feels as natural as skis. I find the board works much better in deeper snow and drifts. Also less clumsy to jump with. Skis kind of flop around and get crossed up sometimes.

Good luck!

[Jason_L]

My advice would be to just give it a try on a light wind day. I think skis give an advantage for beginners, edging on ice, and jumping but I have always used a board and prefer the feel because it translates more directly to summer riding on a board. It definitely helps having snowboarding experience on a hill, however when kiting you are primarily on your heel edge and can use the kite to balance against.

You will notice more difficulty than skis when launching the kite and getting into your bindings. One option is to get into the board and then tug the kite to get it to pivot, catch the wind and launch. Another option is a binding that allows you to step in the back like Flow or K2 Cinch and then just one buckle to secure per binding. That way you can launch the kite and then put it off to one side of the window or touchdown while you step in and buckle up the bindings. Good luck and most of all have fun!

[Matt V]

I did forget the best part of skiing for me - Taking the ski boots off! It is like having a drink of water after walking 100 miles through the desert. Or like opening that first Christmas present when you were a kid. Or like finding a rest area along the road when you needed one 30miles back.

For snowboard boots, I would recommend getting a 1/2 size larger than usual size, smelly used pair off of Craigs list. Make sure they are a cheap and flexible model. Being used and broken in is even better. Expensive mid-range to high-end boots will retain their stiffness for years of heavy use and will be worthless for kitesnowboarding on anything soft. When they start to fall apart, duct tape em.

[Barry P]

I agree with Jason. Just get out there and give it a go. I bet you'll figure it out pretty quick. Since you've been kiting for several years, you know how to use a kite to your advantage. The kite+control bar is sort of like hanging on to a hand rail and so I think it makes learning to use the snowboard edge maybe easier than on a ski slope. I still suck toe-side though, but this winter is going to be my breakthrough year!!

Surface conditions vary so widely day to day, week to week, no single 'edge' device is going to be THE ANSWER. Having a variety of edge tools ready to go is worth working on.

I kited on skies alone for many years. I added a snowboard to my winter edge arsenal three years ago. Soon after I added a Switchblade attachment to my snowboard.

I LOVE the Switchblade for bare ice or ice with an unattached snow cover (and it was easy to learn to use). I used to hate those kind of conditions. The Switchblade totally transformed that. As long as the ice thickness is safe, I'm out on it and loving it.

I use skies for hard pack or rough conditions, or if I just want to get as much speed as possible.

Snowboard for anything that has a little cush to as deep and fluffy as Minnesota can serve up.

[KitingKen]

Hey BUCKAROO, post us an update if you've given the board a try. What do you think?

Its interesting reading through the posts. Seems that those who've tried both tend to like skis a bit better. I had posted above that I switched to board this year. I've gotten about 10 good sessions in now on the board and am loving it. The board works great for drift busting, going through cat tails, navigating ditches and obstacles, etc. As others posted, skis are definitely faster and perhaps better on the slippery stuff, although I haven't tried a switchblade yet.

Ideally have both. Board for when you need four wheel drive, skis for when you feel like breaking speed records.

One note, the smartest thing I did learning to board was get heavy padding... knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet of course. I've used all of them heavily. For the ski slopes, I bought some used hocky breezers for $20 which saved my butt and hips. Can't use the breezers well with a kite harness, but mine has a little padding already.

Have fun! Looking forward to your report.

[Matt V]

Two words - Butt Pad

I started using these back in '11. I have made them for most of the snowboarders here and anyone with one will never go without them.

These are made out of some Walmart workout mat that you cut into a shape that just slides into your bibs. Though not shown, you need to reinforce just above the crotch cutout. Any piece of fabric sewed on both sides makes it impossible for them to rip. At the top, it is nice to have some fleece sewn so that the catchy EVA foam does not push up your coat back.

These will ride up more if you use them with pants. Bibs are the solution to this. Harness wise, I use the Ozone "Access" harness and love the extra padding that you get at the kidneys.

[BUCKAROO]

I have not made it out yet, I am waiting for some snow to help cushion the fall. All the tips are great, thanks to all for the input.