'Boarders and skiers share a chair and the fun

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 599, 15 August 1995, Page 17 (Supplement)

'Boarders and skiers share a chair and the fun

We've all heard the jokes and the nicknames, but the supposed "skier/ snowboarder conflict" has been hyped out of all proportion. Most of this perceived conflict has arisen from misunderstanding between the two groups. John Bache (a boarder) attempts to demystify some of the areas of confusion: Many skiers are unaware that snowboarders have been carving the snow-cov-ered slopes of Mt Ruapehu for close to 10 years. From its roots as an off-beat extremist sport enjoyed by hard-core pioneers on homemade snowboards, the sport has developed into a huge industry. Most ski manufacturers have realised this and have developed snowboard lines to try and prevent losing further saies to the specialist snowboard manufacturers. Ski resorts that initially banned "knuckle-draggers" from their trails have also been forced to do a uturn as revenue dropped. Despite the increasing levels of acceptance the sport is enjoying, there are still some areas of concern. As a snowboarder, I hear some recurring themes in the criticisms levelled at us by skiers: "Snowboarders are out of control." Due to the relative youth of the sport, the proportion of novices to experienced riders is much higher than for a sport such as skiing which has been aroundlonger. However this proportion is falling with every

season, as the number of intermediate/advanced snowboarders increases. Everyone was a beginner once. "Snowboarders are reckless." Not far wrong here in the case of many. Most snowboarders seem to fall into the 15-25 year old category, and are predominantly male. They often ride in groups, and are inclined to launch themselves off anything that will provide the all-important big air. In the same way that this "hormonallycharged group" also provides a fair-sized chunk of our road crash statistics, so some degree of "hoonish" behaviour is likely. The point being, if they were on skis, or any other device, they ' d probably still be hoons, so it's not the fault of snowboarding. "They don't know the rules" Many snowboarders don't come from a skiing background and learn to ride by following their mates around the mountain. The New Zealand Snowboard Association recognises this, and encourages all first-time snowboarders to take a lesson. Not only does this speed up the beginner' s learning process, but they also learn mountain etiquette. "The noise they make is frightening." Nothing much can be done about this one unfortunately. This is because of the larger surfaCe area of a snowboard, which when slid sideways across a resistanceoffering surface (such as snow, ice or rock) will produce a louder noise than a ski — simple laws of physics.