Userb3 wrote:
I'm in my early 40s, and haven't been on skis in 20 years. In high school,
I was a hot dog on the intermediate slopes, and could make it down most
black diamonds without bodily injury, but that was 20+ years ago and only
skiing once or twice a year. My wife and son have never skied (we're all
southerners).

A friend in Utah has invited the wife, my son and I to visit or a few days,
and we're planning to spend 1 to 3 days on the slopes.

So - Should we ski or snowboard while we're in Utah? With which are we most
likely to be able to enjoy the most with only a half day or day of
instruction?

If I have it straight, you've never snowboarded but you were at one time
an intermediate skier, and your wife and son have never done either.

I think if it's only a day or two on the slopes, you'll definitely have
a more fun time dusting off your skis or more appropriately renting some
modern equipment.

Snowboarding has a quicker learning curve than skiing but unfortunately
it is also more painful. After a half-day of instruction if someone is
athletic/talented they may be getting around OK but more likely they
will still be falling a lot and those beginner snowboarder falls are
hard and painful. Learning to ski is a slower path to feeling confident
on the tougher slopes, but there aren't as many falls and they aren't
near as abrupt/hard.

If your wife is the same age as you she would probably prefer a slower
learning curve with less falls and so I'd suggest skiing. Unless she's
the adventurous athletic type then she may enjoy snowboarding and be
willing to take a lot of crashes. If your son is a teenager or an
athletic kid over 8 he probably will want to snowboard and can take the
pain. If he's a young kid put him on skis.

If you plan more trips, everyone should maybe consider what they want to
do in the future. If they want to snowboard, an investment in pain now
may be worth it.


Neil