Skiing or snowboarding as a 35 year old?
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Anonymous
Yes. Liberty has great teachers and caters to learners of all ages. It is a great place to start. You will be able to enjoy western skiing all the more if you get your bunny slope hours in here. |
Anonymous
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I've taken up snow boarding in my mid 30s. I tried skiing in my 20s and didn't enjoy it much, but I wasn't skiing out west. Skiing in the DC area is awful. Well so is snowboarding.
I took up snowboarding vs skiing because I enjoy all sorts of board sports - like surfing, windsurfing, wakeboarding. It seemed logical to take up snowboarding. I think snowboarding is more fun, but the first day was absolutely awful. Everything hurt so much. I disagree with people saying you should learn at Liberty. Falling on east coast snow/ice is just awful and it will make you not want to take up snowboarding. Go somewhere fun. Take 1-1 lessons for sure if you can afford it. Drink a beer beforehand so you loosen up. |
Anonymous
Nah. Liberty generally does not have "hard" snow/ice. A lot of the time it is warm enough that the snow is "slow" and sticky. If you fall down it's like landing on a slurpee. I took some snowboarding lessons out West and it still hurt like a sonofabitch to fall down. The "better" snow didn't make it hurt less. |
Anonymous
Good to know. I've only been to Liberty a handful of times, and it was icy for me. Same as all the east coast places like Whitetail, 7 Springs, and Snowshoe. Awful. |
Anonymous
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I skied for the first time in my early 40s, out in Colorado. Signed up for a lesson the first morning, and then spent the rest of the day on the bunny slope. Graduated to the green by day 2, and by the end of the week I was going down the (easiest) blue trail. Great fun! (The hardest part was getting off the chair lift.)
Enjoy. |
Anonymous
| I'm 50 and ski every year, here and in Colorado. My in-laws are in their 70s and they ski every year too in New England. Age doesn't have much to do with it, IMO. It's a good idea to be somewhat in shape though (not thin, just have spent time jogging or on stationary bike or treadmill to get your legs used to the activity). Lessons are key when starting out, so you're on the right track. Note too -- lessons and can be private - just you and an instructor (very expensive but may be worth it), group (often up to 6-8 in a class), or small group (generally just 3 or 4 in a class). Give thought too to not trying to ski all day every day. Spend time in the hot tub or shopping or even going snowmobiling or on a snowcat tour -- give your legs a break and see why people love going to ski resorts in the winter (it's definitely not just about skiing). Some amazing restaurants in ski resort towns too, so consider researching some of those ahead of time and perhaps making reservations ahead too. |
Anonymous
| I started skiing at 40. One weekend at wintergreen, where I learned the very basics. Then I went to Utah for a week - that's definitely the way to go. Solitude, a smaller mountain in Big Cottonwood Canyon, has fantastic lessons and hills, but if you're going by yourself you ay not want to go there - the nightlife doesn't exist. |
Anonymous
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I do both, but prefer snowboarding. My advice is still to start with skiing. It’s much faster to get to a point of getting down the hill on your feet, which means it’s a lot less frustrating and painful at the beginning. I had my own kids learn to ski first.
I’d plan on 2-3 days of lessons, and a few days to explore on your own. Maybe even space the lessons out a bit, one on your first day and the 2nd 2-3 days later. |
Anonymous
Plus you will be able to breathe better in the Pennsylvania hills. |
Anonymous
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Female, currently aged 45. At 38, I had the chance to take a business trip out to Aspen and so while I was out there, I signed myself up for a few days of snowboarding lessons. I had tried skiing a few times (no lessons) when I was in college and I didn't find it easy or all that enjoyable and hadn't been on a mountain since. I enjoyed my big west trip. Instructors were great. Classmates were great. It was social and fun. As others have said, it was also painful. In snowboarding, the hardest part is really just figuring out your balance. It takes a few hours to a few days to get it. Once you get it, it's easy. Before you get it, you fall on your butt a lot. But I still had a blast. And I returned to the East Coast with a desire to do more. I bought my own snowboard and went to Liberty several times for the next two seasons. Since then, I've taken other snowboarding trips to better places.
I think what you're thinking about it a great idea. Honestly, falling on your butt a bunch isn't fun. Why not do it on a trip to a beautiful locale? Stay at a nice resort, soak in the hot tub after, flirt with people at bars at night. Repeat. Come back to shitty, boring Liberty already knowing the basics and use their little runs to get better and maintain. I'm 45 and still enjoy snowboarding. The camaraderie is great. Before I met my guy, I would sign up and go on snowboarding trips with local groups or would just go by myself and always made friends. I got married at 42 and my husband, who could ski double-black diamonds but had never been on a snowboard, is now exclusively a snowboarder as well. He says its WAY easier on his knees than the skiing was. I heard the same from a ski patrol person at a resort this past season--she was in her late 60s and had recently switched from skiing to snowboarding. While the first few days suck b/c of all the falling, after that time period, the general act of snowboarding is much easier on the body than skiing. I've had lots of people also tell me that, while your first few hours/days on skis are easier, you can progress with your skills on a snowboard faster than on skis. If you're feeling the call to try out snowboarding, don't let anyone hold you back. It's a real joy of mine and my husband. Two old people tearing it up. Sure you have to bend over to strap into your board. Sure sometimes you get stuck on a flat spot and don't have poles to get you out. But our boots are more comfortable than ski boots. And our clothes are WAY more fashionable.  ENJOY!
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Anonymous
| If OP is still reading, just make sure you have the right socks on and listen on having nothing go into your ski boots. Ski socks are necessary. Otherwise you will get blisters on your legs where crap socks go or you stuff some jeans or such. |
Anonymous
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The adage I heard at snowboarding/ski school:
Skiing is easier to learn, harder to master. Snowboarding is harder to learn, easier to master. |
Anonymous
| I am from Colorado and the one thing the west has over all of these little ski places is AMAZING multi day ski schools. Learn right the first time, avoid doing too much too soon and getting hurt. Skiing you do get more people with knee injuries. Snowboarding you can hurt your tailbone. I don't think it matters which you choose. I am personally Team Snowboard! |
Anonymous
I am 53, and I don't find skiing hard on the knees or the body at all. Whenever I go to Snowshoe, I meet older people who ski and don't have any obvious body problems. Maybe they're just taking it easy and mainly skiing the blue slopes. But that's fun too! |
Anonymous
| Snowboarding is a lot harder than skiing and more people know how to ski than the other away around. |