How does skiboarding feel different from skiing ?

[jjue]

This is a question I have been asked by skiers on the lifts , and a variety of similar questions like " why no poles?" and why not just ski ?, why so short ?"

I found this web link about why snowboarding is different from skiing which I think has some parallels to how skiboarding is different from skiing .. to paraphrase and helps me describe to others a bit of what the skiboard experience is like .

"Skiboarding is easier and simpler than skiing.

Skiboarding is simpler than skiing in a few ways. For one, there is much less equipment to carry around - it's just you and your board. No poles, nothing extra

You can ride in a more comfortable , more upright stance.

Skiboarding,is very intuitive. The correct body position comes naturally and easily, and the learning curve is rapid.

Skiboarding is easier on the body.

Skiboarding is much easier on the body than skiing - my knees can attest! Picture a ski turn in your mind. Most of the force of the turn is being applied to the inside of the downhill leg, with the knee turned slightly inward towards the uphill boot. The hips rotate back over the ski. It is a complex and counterintuitive position.

In skiboarding, however, most of the force of a turn is placed on the body's large muscle groups and the skeleton as a whole. Picture a smooth skiboard two footed turn . The knees are bent evenly, the force of the turn is being distributed through the large quad muscles and the torso. In fact, the position looks a lot like you would look if you jumped off a ledge and landed in a stable crouch. It is a very natural position where nothing twists or tweaks. I think this is why: a) skiboarding is easier than skiing, and B) why it feels so good.

The sensation: Skiboarding is more fun.

A skiboard turn is a very freeing and addicting feeling that feels different than skiing. In a skiboard turn, there is a sweeping motion where your body swings out away from your feet, with the edges of your boards carving a perfect line in the snow or sending a huge spray of powder into the air. It is a sensation that is difficult to describe. You ride your boards smoothly from carve to carve , with a deeper and tighter carve then any ski .

Those who know the sensation, like me, wish that every person could be lucky enough to have a chance to experience it. And I don't just mean kids -- I'm talking about people from all age groups and walks of life. Skiboarding is fun, and it feeds your body a freedom difficult to find anywhere else."


Here is the original web link applied to snowboarding vs skiing

http://snowboarding.about.com/cs/zin...perience_3.htm


So why not just snowboard instead of skiboard? I have never snowboarded , so maybe some of those who have snowboarded and moved on to skiboarding can help out . ( I have teleboarded on a monoboard ) Skiboarding has a lot in common with the general feel of the snowboard carve and the snowboard experience on the slope .but there is a big plus , you can skate your boards around , you do not have to keep putting your rear foot in and out of your binding , and there is alot of cool things you can do having both your feet free rather than both locked into one board . Now with our larger skiboards there are no conditions we can't ride just like snowboards including deep pow .. And there is the overall feel of shorter boards and manuverability that make the skiboard feel so special compared to long skis and snowboards!


But , of course, this is all words ... THIS is what it is all about :

Leptisuisse carving on BGP 99cm and 110 ALP Skiboards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OZEFhmYltA

Leptisuisse in deep unbroken pow on 110 ALP Skiboards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEY8LQ0ByBA

And here is Ben Wannamker throwing up some snow in deep pow on 110 Condor Skiboards ...

[Gracker]

Finally

A straight answer to give to skiers up a life

Also, Ben makes a good background!

[mahatma]

Skiboard feel and snowboard feel

jjue,

I often feel my experience with skiboarding is different from many others. I don't revel in that difference. As a matter of fact, many people on this forum make me feel like a slow learner. I came from snowboarding but in my case found no transferable skills. I also did not spend my first morning skiboarding getting bored on the greens and then finished my day ripping down double diamond blacks. I stayed on the bunnies for 3 straight days, spent 2 more on the blues and then began the process of tackling more and more of the mountain. For me, the sensation of speed associated with being pointed in the direction I was going and having my legs bobbing around independently was almost frightening. Again, for me the entire spectrum of skills needed were totally different. So why did I not just say "well, that was interesting" and grab my snowboard after that first hectic morning? I couldn't get past the fact that my face hurt from smiling so much. I loved the feeling of attachment I had to the mountain. Not a sketchy, I need to pay attention to every little thing or die feeling rather an approriate sort of marriage was established. I love that feel. To this day I am never bored. I always feel the mountain under me. That said, my equipment is sophisticated enough that as I progress it seems to be there waiting me. "Glad you could make it old man" my 120's say to me. "Want to stay here or go somewhere else? I'm good either way." they state like an old friend who is just happy to have me along. I look down and say "Let's go get some." They smile back, make some trash-talk comment about that last run and we go. When we get to the bottom of the run we thank the mountain "just for being there". The relationship is the addiction. The mountain would be lonely without us, the skiboards would lonely without me and I'd be lonely without both of them. We all need and appreciate each other. That is skiboarding. It is different because it begins with the relationship. The skills come but they are born from the existing relationship. Some skills from different activities may or may not transfer. But, at the end of the day the relationship will be there and will call you back. Very satisfying.

Sorry jjue, not exactly what you were looking for there. It just came out.

[jjue]

Hi Mahatma , actually your comments are exactly what I am looking for!!! I am very interested in how different folks take to skiboarding and how they got there .. while many folks take to skiboarding like a duck to water , others take longer ... I , like you , took a while to " get " it but coming from a totally different direction . It actually has taken me a couple of seasons to really get it .. I am an expert skier who has skied all his life and I thought that skiboarders had it all wrong and that skiboards really " ought " to be mounted toward the rear like skis and that like, skiers feel , it was better to use poles to get the full performance out of skiboards . I turned all my skiboards into short skis after riding them for short periods of time center mounted . It is a tribute to skiboards that they work well that way , but I didn't realize that I was missing out on the whole "ethos" of what makes skiboarding a different sport .
Once I really threw away my poles and tried riding these things in all conditions from the center mount position , it hit me .. this IS REALLY COOL AND DIFFERENT . not just skiing on short twintips but SKIBOARDING .. a different winter sport all together , with its own set of special skills and joys , it's own " relationship " with the mountain and with the rider . Sometimes "expert" skiers are the very hardest folks to really "get " how skiboarding is different then skiing . One of the key things for me was throwing away the poles . With poles in hand , I have a lifetime of ingrained ways that I drive two planked devices which can be a big impediment to letting the skiboard " teach " me .. once I move to the center mount position and got rid of the poles and let the board teach me what I had to do , the real joy of discovering what skiboarding was all about finally got to me !

(ps. More info on skiboarding vs skiing

More on how skiboarding is different from ski techinique can be found in this thread

http://www.sbol.ws/vbulletin/upload/...&threadid=5574

More on how poles can get in the way of skiboarding properly and how skiboard technique is different from ski technique can be found in this thread which has vid clips :
http://www.sbol.ws/vbulletin/upload/...&threadid=5670)

[mahatma]

Making me laugh

jjue,

I couldn't help but laugh reading your response. The reasons are entirely mine. This past weekend I did a few runs on regular skis and except for when I was in the lift line I kept wondering what to do with these things in my hands. That and I kept crossing my tips. Very irritating by the way - crossing your tips. I guess the best thing I could say about my regular ski experience was that hockey stopping was no problem. A little ungainly as they just didn't swing around as easily as my skiboards but not a problem. I didn't get the warm fuzzy I get with skiboards. Oh, the poles do make it easy to push out of the skis.

[Manlenium]

More fluid motion. My main reason for liking skiboarding is the speed, and you dont have that extra 60cm protecting you. More balance comes from your body then the ski itself. Which makes learning easier and landings more precise.....

[jjue]

Originally posted by Manlenium
More fluid motion. ........ More balance comes from your body then the ski itself. .....

Manlenium , this is a great point and speaks to the question as to "why so short?" , some twintippers are riding their twintips poleless and the question arises how is the feel of poleless skiing different from skiboarding ? I really think that the shortness of skiboards leads to a more intimate feel with the mountain , as boards get longer into the long ski and snowboard range , you lose that initmate feel with the mountain and the snow , the board gets into the way of that very special skiboard feel where as you say " more balance comes from your body then the ski itself ...... " There is always a balance between stability vs the intimate FEEL of skiboarding as our boards get longer . This occurs in our own skiboard range from 75cm boards all the way through 130 cm boards where we trade off manuverability , and the feel of just riding down the mountain with a minimum of interference from the board , for stability and we all find that special length where the stability and the mauverability equation hits that magic "Best " length for us . The other thing skiers don't really understand is that the turn radius of their " parabolic" twin tip skis are really at least twice the turn radius of even the longest of our skiboards which all have snowboard like turn radii and lead to a much nicer carving feel. In order to get a skiboard like turn radius in skis longer than the Sherpa , the tips would have to get enormous compared to the waist . I really think we are reaching the limits of length in producing boards with the true skiboard feel in the 130 Sherpa shape .

[Manlenium]

The way you plug those Sherpas ...You make them sound like the must have for powder players.
While Ktps will be my next purchase next season, I may put up some cash for some Sherpas. Sometimes I feel like I need some longer planks for that heavy powder. Thats most likely the only time they would come out. I am a true sub 100er after all.

[pinkkid]

great thread to start jjue! hmmm, lots to ponder and think about, but then again switching to skiboarding was a no brainer for myself and for my brother & husband who let me be the genie pig! The actual day of the switch, the first time outting the skiboards on and getting to the lift.. well that was comical really!!!! but I made it to the top of Diamond Peak and instantly slid around and did the skate thing and a spin then fell on my butt while everyone looked at me and laughed, including myself just cracking up silly because it was fun! Well the rest of the day went smoothly and I felt extremely comfortable and I skiboarded down a black like it was a blue, I am was so impressed and had more fun than I ever had that there was no way I was going back to normal ski's; but I had to let my husband & brother try them so on my long ski's I was while they had a ton of fun too!!! They also took to them like fish in water and I ordered their skiboards right away! I don't recall going o greens, never felt the need to. But each person is different!!!!!
The actual feel of skiboarding vs skiing is hard to describe it just feels good & fun & free; but the difference between skiing and skiboarding for me is 100% pure freedom when I skiboard, and one more time; SKIBOARDING IS MORE FUN!
I can go fast on my long ski's, but I certainly feel a little more in control on Skiboards. I do wonder how I'd do again on my long ski's, I wasn't an expert like many of you on the forum were and still are, but we all have decided to put our long ski's on Craig's List by next weekend so I'll never know! LOL!!!!!!!! I will just go to long skiboards in honor of the old guys rule club here on the forum!! LOL!!!!!! heh-heh!

Skiboards are more fun than long ski's and snowboards! Skiboards are the best of both long ski's and snowboards!

SKIBOARDS ROCK!!!

shelley

[evanthehunter]

yarps

yah, I skied for a year and I guess I just got too good at it as I was bored. I immediatly started searching for a solution the next summer. My 2 brothers both snowboard so I was thinking about that. I think how I found this sport was from a friend who I never knew even skiboarded. he mentioned it and I immetiatly started searching the internet and found Greco who helped me pick out my Line weapons. the next snow I immetiatly fell in love with em. at first it almost feels like u dont have any edges but u soon learn after like 20 seconds of skiiing how to carve properly. After that I was instantly bombing hills and leaving snowboarders in the dust errr snow, lol. after a day I went into the park and started doing some grabs. now here I am, mid july and wishing for snow, so I can nail down that 360! lol.

[mahatma]

evanthehunter,

Great. One more skiboarder who makes me feel like I took the "short bus" to the resort. 20 seconds to figure out how to carve properly. @!$*)((^#. Ha ha. Very, very glad you made the scene.

[evanthehunter]

evanthehunter,

Great. One more skiboarder who makes me feel like I took the "short bus" to the resort. 20 seconds to figure out how to carve properly. @!$*)((^#. Ha ha. Very, very glad you made the scene.

yah, but I had at least a year of skiing every weekend, I ice skate, and I rollerblade, so yah , with skiing its pretty much the same thing, just with skiboards they dont have much of an edge and feel like ur slipping around at first.

[TheGoudaDoctor]

I dont wanna sound critical or mean, but that Leptisuisse guy looks like a SERIOUS gaper.

[tyberesk]

I dont wanna sound critical or mean, but that Leptisuisse guy looks like a SERIOUS gaper.

...dude

[Greco]

for the others, what makes him a gaper? many on here won't care though because if they worried about what other people thought they would be snowboarding. i bet a lot of members have never even heard that term.