I’ll mention a few facts before I start. These are my first skiboards, I’ve never used snowblades/skiblades before because I found it pointless. I am 5’9″, 170lbs. I have 5 years of experience of snowboarding, and 3/4 skiing before that.
After finally convincing my parents to let me buy some skiboards, they still seemed pretty hesitant about how I would hold up, especially because my dad wants to take me to Whistler during the 2nd week of March.
It took me about 3 runs to get used to the feeling of 2 small boards under me, unlike the 1 board I’m used to. I went down the hill keeping up with my friend who has many years, roughly 9/10, of skiing. I had no problems, and soon learned how to turn properly, hockey stop, etc. My biggest fear was small lumps made by beginner snowboarders and skiers. I leaned forward to keep my certain of balance and, according to my friend, I was jumping off of them like a “Mexican Jumping Bean” because I had crouched down for speed.
Next I tried them in the powdery sections to the side of the runs. I had non-release certain mount bindings, Snowjam Extreme II’s to be exact, and had no problem. It was easy to keep my balance a bit back to make sure I didn’t fall forward.
My next experiment was riding switch, a.k.a. backwards. I am quite hesitant in doing this but know what to do. My friend taught me, and now it seems just as easy as riding forwards.
And did I mention I like the stiffness of these? They give me the good flex I like, and after watching a few skiers I was carving down the hill no problem.
I am extremely happy with my purchase of these, and I can’t wait to hit the slopes again.
I read all the warnings of not pushing yourself too far because you will get hurt. After reading these, I decided to not do anything in the park expect for 1 hip jump, and hitting up the super pipes. No they did not have any regular half pipes.
Rider – Pawel – Beginning Skiboarder
