**Official Snowboarding & Skiing Thread**

[JaJunk]

Question for you skiing enthusiasts. I've never been, obviously, and I was thinking about going around Christmas time this year. Must I buy all the expensive gear that I will only use once, or is there a place near the slopes where I can rent clothing?

[JaJunk]

Maybe somebody in the night crew will know...

[DrinkNoH2O]

Typically you can't rent clothing from what I've seen (though I'm sure there are exceptions).

Do you have some kind of coat/jacket that would work? Almost any Columbia or North Face outdoor winter jacket would work fine, for your first time you probably don't need to invest in a new ski jacket if you have something similar already. Same thing goes for gloves, hopefully you have some lying around that would work.

I would definitely pick up some pants, however. Nothing is worse than a wet ass when you're skiing/snowboarding. If you shop around you can probably pick up some decent pants for $60-70. Here's a good place to start:

http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/out...Mens-Ski-Pants

I just noticed you're in Texas... you probably don't have a whole lot of winter gear then. Do you have anything to start with?

[ovationman240]

Wow, just when I thought it was 100% better to live where it's warm, I realize that most of you have never snowboarded. I guess living in New York isn't ALL bad.

[DrinkNoH2O]

Originally Posted by ovationman240

Wow, just when I thought it was 100% better to live where it's warm, I realize that most of you have never snowboarded. I guess living in New York isn't ALL bad.

It is 100% better to live where it's warm, but it's 200% better to live where it's warm and where you can be in the mountains in 2 hours ;-)

[ovationman240]

Originally Posted by DrinkNoH2O

It is 100% better to live where it's warm, but it's 200% better to live where it's warm and where you can be in the mountains in 2 hours ;-)

Suck it.

[gravedigger07]

Anyone hit the slopes/backcountry yet?

[JaJunk]

Planning on going to California in March. Will be my first time skiing. About how much, for one day, should I be expecting to spend? Mind you, I will be needing a lesson and equipment.

[mcwyffe]

i cannot fucking wait to get on my snowboad. im hopefully going next weekend.

[pats4life2003]

^matt...i am the same son

I can't wait and I'm going next weekend as well

I have been dieing to go all year...massanutten and wintergreen here i com

[mcwyffe]

Originally Posted by pats4life2003

^matt...i am the same son

I can't wait and I'm going next weekend as well

I have been dieing to go all year...massanutten and wintergreen here i com

its my favorite thing ever. i will be spending a lot of time in wisconsin and a smaller place in illinois. then hopefully colorado over spring break.

[nadia]

Originally Posted by gravedigger07

Anyone hit the slopes/backcountry yet?

Just spent 3 days in UT. Couldn't have hit a better weekend this early in the season. Snow started Saturday morning & kept going through last night. We'll be back in January, and a couple times after that.

[GSUdawg521]

I went skiing for the first time every this past February. My gf and her mom and I went up to Maggie Valley in the Smokey Mountains in NC and got a cabin for two nights. We bought all the necessary apparel and accessories which kinda sucks when you then factor in the lift pass (which we realized isn't just if you wanna use the lifts, it's basically the pass to be on the snow). But the good thing is we liked it so when we go again we've already got the stuff. Got a great priced, really nice jacket that was on sale and got them to take off an extra % since a button was ripped off and got pants cheap online.

I was surprised at how good I was at it, having not so much as skated in maybe more than a decade. We spent the day on the bunny slope. I wanted to go bigger but we spent so much time and then were tired and the lift lines were crazy, plus anything but the bunny seemed too intimidating. I would've liked something in between. But supposedly we're going again in a few months, somewhere else. So I'll have that experience and can manage time better and know what I want.

All I heard when reading about skiing for beginners online was that you're gonna fall, you're gonna fall a lot, just get used to it, etc etc. But I didn't ever fall and thought it was fun (even though it seemed like we didn't do much).

[DrinkNoH2O]

I drove up to the crappy local mountain (about an hour from downtown LA, Mt. Baldy) on Saturday - they had just gotten a ton of snow but there was freezing rain coming down so we decided not to ride.

Mammoth will have 6 feet on new snow by the time these storms are done. I wish I had more vacation time to burn...

[pats4life2003]

i would love to go out west

always been a dream...I love the white mountains and new england snowboarding, but nothing is like out west..nothing..okay maybe the alps

[mr. testaverde]

Originally Posted by pats4life2003

i would love to go out west

always been a dream...I love the white mountains and new england snowboarding, but nothing is like out west..nothing..okay maybe the alps

you owe it to yourself to go out west. i went to utah about 10 years ago and was in colorado a year ago this week. its light years above new england skiing.

[pats4life2003]

that's what I've heard and I would love to go

i know i will someday

[Foreverford05]

Been working up at Massanutten (local resort) as an instructor, and its about the only time im okay with it not being summer. Love it up there. So what gear are yal totin' this time a season? I got a pair of Salomon skis size 170, a pair of Atomics size 153 (to teach on), a Ride board size 155, Burton bindings, Burton boots. The boots/bindings are whiteout, which look awesome on the red/black face of my board.

[wampa3]

Originally Posted by pats4life2003

i would love to go out west

always been a dream...I love the white mountains and new england snowboarding, but nothing is like out west..nothing..okay maybe the alps

I was in Austria 2 years ago and my friends out their taught me how to snowboard in the Alps, not too shabby of a place to start. Not only was it beautifu, but the snow conditions were great. Now I just found out that my work has a ski club and lift pass prices are essentially cut in half. WOOHOO! Seven Springs, here I come.

[Foreverford05]

So hows everyones ski endeavors after the round of storms? Massanutten got hit real good, but now this rain has dampened my spirits. Got a full week of instructing comin up, so hopefully it cools down

[AtlasDMB714]

Went snowboarding today at NorthStar at Lake Tahoe. It was fun

[Pick Me Up Love]

ya'll need to make it out to utah if you get a chance. i work in park city at st regis resort which is located on deer valley. i ski deer valley and park city mountain resort for free. you will never experience snow like there is in utah. our motto is true, it really is the greatest snow on earth.

we have 16 ski resorts in the state.. snowbird is fucking AMAZING if anyone comes out here. the place receives an AVERAGE of 642 inches per year.. yummy.

skiing is the shit. i wish i would have picked it up much earlier in my life. oh well. now im loving the shit out of it. im truly lucky to live in a place so conducive to skiing/boarding.

come to utah if you want a seriously bad ass winter sports experience.

[gravedigger07]

Originally Posted by Pick Me Up Love

ya'll need to make it out to utah if you get a chance. i work in park city at st regis resort which is located on deer valley. i ski deer valley and park city mountain resort for free. you will never experience snow like there is in utah. our motto is true, it really is the greatest snow on earth.

we have 16 ski resorts in the state.. snowbird is fucking AMAZING if anyone comes out here. the place receives an AVERAGE of 642 inches per year.. yummy.

skiing is the shit. i wish i would have picked it up much earlier in my life. oh well. now im loving the shit out of it. im truly lucky to live in a place so conducive to skiing/boarding.

come to utah if you want a seriously bad ass winter sports experience.

I will come to Utah to rip on some sick pow anytime bro. Can you get me free lift tickets? Maybe even a place to kick it lol

[mr. testaverde]

i was talking to my dad this past weekend about how i've never been to sunday river, and just a few minutes ago i was talking to my g/f on the phone and she said that we've been invited to stay for free at a friend's house up there two weekends from now, and all we need to do is provide food and lift ticket money! i definitely want to do it, but i'm 99% sure i'm going to maine in 5 weeks for a snowmobiling trip so i need to save $$ as much as possible, since that trip will run me almost a grand or so

[nadia]

Originally Posted by Pick Me Up Love

ya'll need to make it out to utah if you get a chance. i work in park city at st regis resort which is located on deer valley. i ski deer valley and park city mountain resort for free. you will never experience snow like there is in utah. our motto is true, it really is the greatest snow on earth.

we have 16 ski resorts in the state.. snowbird is fucking AMAZING if anyone comes out here. the place receives an AVERAGE of 642 inches per year.. yummy.

skiing is the shit. i wish i would have picked it up much earlier in my life. oh well. now im loving the shit out of it. im truly lucky to live in a place so conducive to skiing/boarding.

come to utah if you want a seriously bad ass winter sports experience.

Have fun out there! I was a liftie at Alta back in the day. I'm staying at a condo in Park City in March for a week, but we'll be skiing in Little Cottonwood. Hope the snow picks up by then!!

[Rodey]

I haven't been skiing in a long, long time, like at the very least ten years. I was never a big skier, just went once in a blue moon and would probably have to learn all over again. That leads me to my question:

I really want to get back into either skiing or snowboarding, but I have no idea which to do. I sort of have an itch to try snowboarding, but I don't know, I like skiing as well. I know that you can get more speed on skis than a snowboard, so that would eventually be cool. I just don't know which to go after and learn now since I'm basically starting from scratch. Any suggestions?

[AutumnMarieGrey]

Rodey-I found 'boarding harder to grasp, but then again I've been a skiier for 6 years so it I kind of expected it. You probably won't have so much of a problem seeing as you haven't been for so long.It just depends on what you feel more comfortable with. You could always try renting something for a day-maybe with an instructor-see how you get on. Usually rental on the mountains do a little deal for you.

Quick question for all you guys-I usually get my skiing in at the end of the season (usually get away between Feb-April) but this year I don't really have the chance to get away and my plans got screwed up so I'm going to have to plan for later in the year. So, any hints as to what kind of dates should I be going for the best snow(probably along east coast of the US)between start of season and Xmas?

[spoot388]

to rodey

this was a long time ago, but i tried snowboarding a few times when i was in my school's ski club and ever after several weeks i couldn't get it down. my ankle was also sore from having it twisted while trying to walk with the board. skiing was much easier and much more enjoyable. i know everyone is different, but if you rarely go, skiing would probably be the best choice. you'll spend the entire day trying to figure out snowboarding and never actually get anywhere.

[Rodey]

If I were to give snowboarding a try, should I just rent a board and then hit the bunny hill or should I fork out for a lesson?

[trautwein.m]

My suggestion would be to fork out a lesson, unless you're very good at activities that require a lot of balance. You'll progress much faster and it will become much more fun a lot faster. Or find a friend who will teach you, but usually the 'pros' know exactly what to say and are better at seeing what you're doing wrong.

First time I snowboarded I got the hang of it quickly and now I can keep up with anyone. But I've been doing sports like that my whole life.

Also, didn't know this thread was here. I'm going to be KILLING powder in Maine all weekend! Anyone else?