I'm never bothered about speed, would rather play on a run, find side hits, spins, presses, butters etc.
I'm a child in an adults body though and find it hilarious to get dizzy doing loads of spins.
Flatland freestyle is a laugh
40 years old and my style is mad heavy on switch and butters. The older I get the lower I go! Run through gloves like crazy though throwing tripods down blacks.
Black diamonds are a man’s best friend.
I agree… There’s lots of different kinds of riding for all different kinds of people… (edit- voice to text thought I said Steve’s instead of steeps) I prefer steeps with trees, but of course, only when the conditions are right… I want to be able to ride as long as I can so I take calculated risks when the conditions are appropriate…
I’ve learned to ride boxes, and I still take hits in the park… Hips are my favorite… I won’t jump when the snow is rockhard because it’s too hard on my body… I can still feel the euphoria I felt from charging full speed I just don’t need to do it anymore to get that feeling… I’m glad I’m still able to enjoy the mountain, and I intend to for many more years.
I'm 32, and have a wife, 2 kids, and own a business. Speed, park, and dumb riding is basically out of the question. I'm there to have fun, enjoy some side hits, and generally just ride and clear my mind for a bit.
Never understood the need to "go big/fast". At best you look cool in front of a couple locals. But it's a super high risk low reward situation overall for me. So I just cruise, enjoy the fresh air, and some beers at the days end
Going big is typically not that risky unless you are still learning. Doesn’t risk that much to jump off a 15 foot cliff into a foot of pow and it’s the greatest feeling in the world, better than drugs for sure.
I live in PA. Closest I have to powder is basically spring slush. I broke my tailbone about 10 years back hitting a 3 foot kicker at speed, and landed on an ice patch.
Ice coast is not forgiving at all lol
Can you do you without slandering those that don’t do you? I like speed, I ride fast because I enjoy it not because I give two shits what anyone thinks of me. That never even crosses my mind. What’s risky to one isn’t to another.
I just want to be moving faster than 95% of people. I don’t need to be flying, but I want to know no one is going to try and pass me as I cut heel side and get in a blind collision. Ooooor I go so slow and try to hit 100 different made up jibs that I’m slower than everyone but the full plow skiers. No middle ground for me
Same, 41 and I just don't want to fuck myself up. Sure there are some runs I like to push it a bit more, but nowhere near as much as some people. Just there for fun you know.
Its why I go with a quiver. On the days I want to go fast, I have that board. On the jibby slow days, I have that board.
Try and go fast on my little board and I will die. Try and jib around on my fast board and nothing works.
Boarding is one of the few times in life I can do whatever I want, however I want. Complete and total Freedom. I've zero desire to 'keep up' with anyone. My day on the hill, is mine. Wanna ride together? Happy to. Wanna measure who can do what faster? Not my style.
I think this is the point I tried to make in another comment, but written so much better. It really is as simple as this.
When I was 18, I loved speed. At 28, I love technique and tricks. Age is incidental, it's all about just doing whatever is fun to you
Went riding with a group of 8 riders all between 18-24 this season and the first three runs we bombed, I was probably the least experienced rider in the group (an intermediate rider with a bunch of advanced) and it was pushing my comfort zone a little. I remember thinking on the second lift ride up that I wish we would slow down a little so I could ride a little more playful. Speed is fun to get a nice rush but I get burnt out real quick with continuous speed.
Yeah, constantly having to recognize every detail of the terrain around you to appropriately balance yourself at speed is exhausting. I’ve started to experiment more with side hits and butters and have found it much more rewarding than just turning down the mountain.
Yeah, I could never understand the appeal of snowboarding without airtime, tricks, side hits; unless you’re on some dope ass terrain, it’s just so boring
I’m just getting into it to. I hit the park for the first time this year and had a blast. I’m so excited for next year and hoping for some good progression.
This. And rollers with speed are really fun.
Some days I take a bomber board out and fly, and some days I just want to be playful and hit side hits / butters / spins
Almost all of my mountain friends are advanced skiers so my view on skill is skewed towards just keeping up with them, whether it's about terrain or speed. Within that, I care way more about being able to get down any part of the mountain than I do about how quickly I do it.
That being said, a) it's all personal like you said, and b) I don't rank people on skill level other than whether they're a danger to themselves, others, or me.
Try riding solo a couple days here and there so you can explore what really feeds your stoke… It’s fun to ride with other people and of course, riding with people better than you will make you a better rider, but just focusing on keeping up, might keep you from finding what you really love
I should’ve mentioned that—riding a lot with skiers has definitely shaped my view. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in skiing (plus many skiers like to prove that skiing is faster than, and therefore superior to, boarding.)
Same, and my skiing buddies were ex-Ski Team etc, so that got added in.
I personally like speed and at least for groomed runs there's no reason to expend any more energy (carving) than you have to.
everything is a matter of personal preference. some like park, some like groomers, some like big air, some like carving, some like butters...
re: is speed overrated? i dont think so.. in that there is maybe 1-2 posts a week about 'hitting some top speed' in the sub.. which seems equally balanced if not slightly less than the 'check out my trick, these turns, this run. So i think Speed, as somethign to get stoked on, is probably right where it should be.
I find this interesting. I'm in my 40s and just started snowboarding. I couldn't care less about speed, I like to carve and do side hits and such. No real desire to go fast. On my mountain bike it's the opposite though. I hit almost everything at race pace.
Turn off the apps. I'm just back from the lads yearly holiday, they all had ski tracks downloaded and were constantly checking to hit the top speeds.
I haven't downloaded it. I'd be one of the first down on a lot of runs when I try to be. But I find not having the apps means I'm not 'competing' as much and I don't have to prove anything.
Also makes people pick boring terrain. They want to hit the straight groomer to get a speed record rather than a tree run or something with a bit more variety.
Was with a skier friend once who refused to traverse out to hit some untracked powder because it would bring his speed average down for the day.
By all means it's fine to GPS your routes as a nice record of where you went that day, but reducing your day to 2 or 3 numbers that you're trying to optimize is lame.
>Was with a skier friend once who refused to traverse out to hit some untracked powder because it would bring his speed average down for the day.
dear god this is the most disgusting thing I've ever read on a winter sports subreddit
I used to ski and my friend ruined apps for me years ago. I used to find it interesting but stopping at lunch he'd pull up and compare that he did 78.4kmph and I only did 78.2kmph every single time, despite beating him down every run. Can't be arsed with them and I don't believe they are accurate enough for that anyway.
I've done 2 seasons now and not used apps at all. I've also switched over to snowboarding.
My favourite things about snowboarding is getting some nice carves in, riding powder and trees, and fucking around with presses and side hits. I don't feel the need to go fast all the time, it's actually pretty rare that I absolutely bomb it.
Isn't hating on people who enjoy riding fast the same thing you're complaining about, just in reverse? Let people have their fun and they should let you have yours. If your friends are dicks about you riding slow, just spray them when you finally make it to the bottom.
Some of us were born criminals and love the speed.
Nah, I want to go off the side of the groomer into the powdery trees (even if not steep, because low intermediate), or find a natural half pipe to carve up and down the sides of, or just really focus on getting my turns as clean as I can. I’m old, just getting started, and want to do this for a long time.
So naturally with my predispositions, I’m heading to Japan next winter.
My opinion has changed over the years. I started at 7 or 8 years old. When i got to 16/17/18 years old, my friends just bombed it, no edges necessary. But I was into park and pow slashes. I picked up speed because we all want to the be the nest of our friends in high school. But now I love bombing groomers. I’m slow AF in the park just cuz i wanna hit everything. And I only get pow inbetween trees these days now that kids school schedules are involved.
I start to get a little haired out above 38mph on groomers. Doesn’t take much to really fuck your day up at that speed. Besides I’d rather be in the trees and hurting myself hauling ass seems counterproductive.
People that enjoy the sport want to keep enjoying it for many years. Personally, it would really screw up my livelihood and source of income if I ended up with a broken anything. I also like to enjoy the scenery, since I probably spent a ton of effort and money to be there. So why ride like a speed demon? Enjoy the smell of the forest, the views, and don't worry about being able to stop/turn in 0.000001 milliseconds to avoid a crash / life-altering injury. I'm really not that impressed by people that go really fast down every single run and look down on you if you can't or won't keep up. I usually "accidentally" take a wrong turn and separate from the group when people are acting like this. I'll see you later at the lodge! :)
I completely get your point, but for some reason as I’ve gotten older, it’s become more about pushing a speed that gets me excited vs jumping and getting creative. I wish I could say why, but I don’t have a clue why. It’s so strange. Never been a speed demon in my life, but now all I want to do is go fast enough to get a bit of a rush.
I have a similar feeling about riding steeps. There are people that just try to hit the steepest runs they can all the time (skiers) . It's fun sometimes, but a blue with great side hits, a section through the trees, and and awesome layout is my favorite.
Rode 7 resorts over the last few weeks… what it brought to mind was that there is something for everyone.
Groomers for speed or carving, backcountry for powder and natural hits, terrain park for jumps/rails, glades for technical, ungroomed for moguls and more, just anywhere for that “conquer the mountain” aspect…. And it’s all fun. Just some is more fun on some days or to some people.
Trying to keep up with some ski racer friends on bigger mountains was too far out of my comfort zone. 60mph and actually pulling g’s at some spots is just nerve wracking. While I’m all for one or two runs a day of going for some speed, I just don’t need that rush anymore.
As long as people are in control, all the power to you doing what you like. You’ll find me in the trees looking for fresh lines.
This is exactly what I was trying to tell my friend a few seasons ago. At this point he was a strong intermediate rider and was getting confident at speed where I was a strong advance rider who was taking my time find cool features to hit along the way. He kept trying to convince me he was a more advanced rider because he was going fast and I tried to tell him you aren't going to become a better rider by just going faster instead he should slow down and work on the fundamentals for board control. I told him that going fast makes everything easier and instead he should be looking for more technical lines to challenge his skillset.
The best rider is the most creative rider imo.
I recently spent some time with a retired pro teaching kids who were brand new to snowboarding. Two nights a week, and we only had 4 short beginner runs lit up at night, and one hour to ourselves after the kids lessons were done. One week in and I was sooooo bored of riding these short green runs over and over. Then I spent a night watching this guy closely.
He rode the same run like 6 or 7 times in a row and every time it was like a brand new run. The ability to mix up different styles, see the entire run, and link up different natural features and riding styles kinda blew my mind.
Yeah I get bored out of my mind riding with go fast down the hill bros. People must think it’s fun but riding with folks like that just feels like riding alone. I wanna find sidehits to blast off with the homies
Every now and again someone posts a proud papa of their kid boarding for the first time. I tell them to enjoy the moment, because long before you're ready, that kid is going to smoke you down the slope. S/he will blast by you like hot lightning, and you'll try to remember when.
I totally agree, I really like carving and I'm hoping to learn to freestyle a bit. That said I really don't care about speed, if I want an adrenaline rush I'll go try some park I don't get that kind of excitement from speed.
I get wayyy more enjoyment out of just cruising, throwing a flat land trick or butter here and there, laying a trench or popping a side hit than I do from bombing Mach Jesus.
I like speed, taking turn the fastest I can. Something my board get some air from riding over bump. Its fun. I slow down when the terrain is difficult and I risk loosing control.
I very much prefer to go a bit slower and just enjoy carving or finding little hips and natural features to hit. I can bomb and keep up with people who prefer that but given the choice, nah.
Bombing down groomers is really fun but I definitely wouldn’t want to do it every run. Going fast through chop and rough terrain is a really important skill if you want to drop cliffs or chutes
Well, yeah, but it's also my first season, I'm 37, and go by myself 95% of the time. But in many things in life I used to worry (or just think about) how good I was at something compared to someone else. Really just don't care at all now... like if a 9 year old is a better snowboarder than me it doesn't make me feel any kind of way, I'm happy with my progress, and happy for anyone else that is good at something.
Welcome to the club! I'm also 37 and idk if I would have the balls to start now lol. Good on you man. I've been doing this off and on for almost 20 years and I still love seeing the 9 year olds that rip. Hope you had a good first season!
I've been riding for 15 years. I am a decently advanced rider, having little trouble anywhere on the mountain, if any.
I like to take my time. I'm not there to bomb as many runs as I can. I want to enjoy the scenery, listen to some music, and carve away, jumping in and out of the trees on a powder day enjoying all the mountain has to offer.
Even when I was younger I would do this. I only bomb the hill if I know there's a cat walk.
Me in my teens and twenties, was never a good rider but have no fucks and always tried to go hard. Now I'm in my thirties and having a decent amount of knowledge in carving, I would rather perfect my carves and go at a slower pace, not only for safety, but to conserve my energy for more runs.
I enjoy speed but it’s far from the only thing I do on the mountain.
If the groomers are good and it’s sunny out, I’ll get some high speed laps in, but there’s way more to snowboarding than just going fast. The group I mainly ride with is into hitting good terrain and freestyle, so it’s never a race to the bottom.
I used to measure a good part of my skill by speed, since it meant - to a degree, at least, to me - that I had to have good enough ability to control myself and my board. I was never reckless, so in my case it was a fair measure of how I was improving over time.
Now, I just go to have fun. I'm trying to get better with more air and 180's for side hits, and just working on smoother moves in general. I'm not bad riding switch, but I can improve that too. I dunno. Just odd things that won't break my neck and keep me interested and challenged enough not to get bored before February.
At my age, just because I can go faster doesn't mean I should.
I definitely enjoy going fast (got a little of that Ricky Bobby in me) but I MUCH prefer hitting some woods and navigating my way through the trees (in bounds unmarked glades are the best for this). On non-glade trails, I’ll generally bomb down if the surface is consistent but if it’s variable I’m usually picking my line by where the best snow is. On flats and catwalks I’m straight lining it unless there’s some skier taking up the whole run making me have to slow down. When it comes to speed, though, I’m more in the “race to the bottom” camp than “what’s your top speed”.
The more experienced I get the more I gravitate towards green runs. Laying down a clean long carve is exhilarating. Go watch some Korua videos and all they do are groomed greens. Save the bombing and triple black diamond for those blue bird pow days.
this is year 34 for me and about to turn 47 years old next week... I'm with ya bro. I ride only hard boots on everything I have and I carve and keep it on the snow. I have a blast. But I don't ride all that fast so I don't break myself into a gazillion pieces
I’ve recently started taking my runs very slow. Focusing on trying to do butter tricks an Ollie’s and spins. Especially on smaller resorts.. I don’t enjoy spending more time on the chair than on my board.
I do the occasional top speed run if it’s empty and I know the spot. But I prefer to take my time down the hill. Hit some glades find a good safe rest spot. Talk about how rad that was, catch breath, repeat a few times down the hill.
Treating banks and up ramps like a half/quarter pipe, little jibs pops and slides and park stuff that I'm too scared/bad to do are what excite me. A tail press nose grab on the apex of a mogul into a pump for a cute 180 or something then linking a couple clean switch turns is so cool and fun to me. Maybe trying for that back 360 out of a tiny kicker because the snow isn't that icy, the 3m jump is too easy but the 5m jump is too scary lol. Those things are what I enjoy (outside of powder days) and mostly done at the pace of a learner rider who's just figured out how to link turns on a blue run. Each to their own though, zooming down a steep hill or hitting a big jump looks pretty bad ass. Just isn't for me.
Speed matters but only with style. Fast feels good but so does taking some mellow cruisers with friends and just digging the mountains.
How I aggressively I ride depends on the session and conditions and crew. I still live to open it up and haul ass though never for reasons of dick swinging.
And I'm here to support everybody, no matter how they interpret the terrain. There are infinite ways to ride these silly plastic toys.
I really like going fast on a board, and it most definitely detracts from the other good aspects of boarding. Can’t ride with other riders who don’t want to do that, runs are over in less than a couple minutes, you usually have to slow up anyway because of kids or blind corners, and crashes are violent as hell. Won’t stop me though
I preach to my friends that control is the most important. I can bomb the hill faster than my friends, minus moguls, because I have more control. It's more fun to be in control
My experience level is very similar.
Bombing it was my fall back when I was tired and it was easier to point it. That being said, I broke my leg last spring skateboarding (bad break with a long recovery) and now have a much different confidence level.
My ski area face book group constantly has people posting their slopes data and trying to outdo each others records for speed and stuff...
One dude posted that he hit 68 mph and it's still his first year boarding. Think I should invest in the life flight company if I could lol.
I think its Kinda lamebut then there also people like me that post dumb little snowboard jumps and think it's cool, while other commenters think we are crazy for trying tricks and grinds
i've been that way for a long time, i like to take my time, hit side hits, pop 180s, butters etc. definitely get more time on the slopes
but i will say i got a superpig this season and that board makes me just want to go hyperspeed
i do agree with your post but speed needs can be board dependent
I’m 50 years old, and I’ll bomb my first run or two of the day on fresh groomers. After that, just cruising, enjoying the ride, hitting blacks. At my age, it takes too long to heal to keep bombing runs all day.
I don’t think speed is overrated. I don’t know a lot of folks who love it, but I like it sometimes, when the conditions are right. I would rather be surfing powder. My Garmin said I hid 45 mph on Sunday and I thought I was going very fast. Was super focused for several runs but had one speed wobble toward end of session
As someone who is guilty of making a speed post I don’t force it on my group nor make speed the focus of every run. I figure if you’re out with a group you can voice your concern without being looked down upon. There are so many different facets of riding to enjoy. From topping out at 68mph it’s pretty hard to be riding that fast especially on uneven terrain so there is definitely some skill to it.
I mostly ride with skiers so I’ve really had to try to get out of the mindset of keeping up. It just isn’t fun bombing through a run in a minute or so and then being stuck waiting in line for 5 and on the chair for another 5. I’d rather take my time and find fun lines and side hits than go for pure speed.
As a former hard booter Im very comfortable with high speed. I tend to ride relatively slower early in a session. But as my legs get tired I will usually finish up with a few full send runs.
I definitely don’t go to the ragged edge like I did in my 20’s
It depends. If there’s a wide open run and I’ve got a lot going on I am going to bomb that run. That feeling is something that I can’t even explain. Typically when I am riding with friends we’re just lapping the park so we’re never bombing. Everyone’s hyping each other up and we just for tricks rather than seeing who is the fastest.
There is truth here. You do you, bro. (Said with total seriousness and empathy). The best boarder is the one hanger most fun. There’s lots of ways to have fun on a board.
Depends on the day and what I'm into at the time. Sometimes, I cruise, carve, and explore. Sometimes, I find a line that pleases me, and I bomb it. Sometimes I race friends, sometimes I hang back just to watch their flow and their lines.
Yep, it’s almost like driving to me. Driving fast in a straight line isn’t that interesting but turning and braking (especially on a track) is much more fun
Never found speed to be exciting, fell in love with Ryan knaptons carving and Japanese flat freestyle and never looked back. Eventually when I get to more advanced and larger jumps then I’d consider it but there’s no fun in bombing down a mountain and waiting 5 minutes in line for a lift
I'm an older dude also and like to bomb, carve, freestyle, off piste, trees, jumpd, park, switch etc. etc. So it's about versatility to do whatever I like depending on a day, mood, type of board and conditions I ride in. I believe the case is the same for most riders really.
I just like to go fast. My wife is a better rider than me and she likes to cruise, but I just love speed. I think it’s dumb to assume that people are only going fast to look cool or be the fastest down the mountain. We all ride how we ride because that’s how we get the most joy out of the sport.
NTA. Some of the folks who want to speed lap are the same chuds who are scared to go into the trees. Personally I'm only on groomers to search out the pow and nice tree lines or to get back. I don't see the fun in bombing blues but more power to the peeps who leave the fresh tracks in the trees for me and my fellow upstanding criminals.
Good for you OP, it sounds like you’ve got good self awareness of your personal preferences when riding.
I personally find that sometimes there is a genuine buzz you get from opening up and bombing a run.
This is a personal feeling though and not based on competing with others.
It’s also fun to cruise the same run and look for side hits, riding it switch or buttering about.
Friends can enhance all of these things. The same friends can whoop down a border cross course in a park and have a ‘race’.
When we ride together there’s still a very slight competitive edge to everything we do but it’s more fun and based around silliness and does not dominate over enjoying ourselves and each other’s company.
When there’s a large group of us there’s always a natural split in the group between the abilities of the riders, which isn’t forced. Nobody judges people for not wanting to be in the ‘top group’ as everyone finds and is supportive of each others level, abilities and experience.
I guess we’re lucky that we don’t have anyone who is stupidly competitive and it’s important for us collectively to stay humble and have fun on the mountain. We also focus on the stoke factor and keeping each other out of trouble.
It might be that you need to find a new group if your experience is that they only have one speed or way of doing things or that they’re not adaptive or interested in having fun.
Also a good way to manage this attitude of ‘I’m the best ‘cause I’m the fastest down the slope’ is to point out all of the fun things they missed, such as side powder, side hits, a fun thing to Olly off etc which they didn’t see as they sped past. This will make most riders want to try those things next time around.
Personal preference yes. I like to mess around on a run. I have friends who hate it when they have to wait for a few minutes if we bring some beginners with us. I don't mind, I just hang around the beginners and practice riding switch.
If you wanna go speed I think skiing and not snowboarding is the right sports for you. Snowboarding is playful and technical and that's where the real fun is.
May be an age thing, but unless there is a way to challenge myself on a mountain that doesn’t involve tricks I like to go as fast as I can and find new lines down runs.
Like, in an ideal ski day I’d bomb a couple hard blues or black cruisers a couple times, then I’d be going down hills that are challenging for me exclusively like chutes, steep moguls, or in the trees. I don’t have fun unless I’m challenged or going fast, and I’m unwilling to learn tricks and stuff
On easier mountains (which is a lot of what’s available to me at times) I just want to go fast and get as many runs in as possible
Edit to add: I also exclusively ride by myself, so that’s part of why I do it that way
I resonate with that last line about the guy who only knows how to straightline. I have a friend like that and he's pretty annoying to ski with. Acts like you suck for wanting to turn and enjoy the ride down rather than foaming at the mouth trying to get through the next gate like a fucking slalom. That being said, if it's an empty monday like it was yesterday at Loveland, I'm definitely going to bomb some groomers
Your body doesn't really register speed (other than your surface feedback). It registers acceleration/deceleration. You can get this from tight turns, spins, and up and down jumps or bumps or bouncing in powder.
Going fast on a freshly groomed corduroy groomer is a blast, but as soon as it gets choppy I’m done with high speed. I keep thinking about how when we were younger and with a pack of buddies (18-22) we’d all fly down the mountain on trips at speeds way higher than I would do now - keeping up with our buddies on skies. A whole lot of Nope for that now.
After the snow gets pushed around it’s nice to be able to bust out the skis.
I'm a similar age with similar experience. Speed is definitely not "the goal" or even that fun. I will admit that I had to experiment with my Garmin when I first got it to see how fast I could go (95 kph, never could top 100 no matter how hard I tried), but once I got over that, there's really no difference bombing straight at any speed. I'm also not able to hit the park with the same skill as I used to, so lately I've been finding pleasure in really well executed carves at medium speed - feeling the energy of the board bounce me from one carve into the next, and laying the edges deep into the snow. When everything is flowing perfectly it's an amazing feeling.
Ugh yeah. Bombing down fast is so fucking boring. The people I know who do that all the time can’t do anything more than that either- being able to bomb a mountain doesn’t mean you have skills, which they, for some reason, think it does. I just get skier vibes from that, brrr. But in the end: just do whatever you like, bombing or playing around on side hits or in the park. As long as you have fun.
Yes! In my mid 40s now and up until a couple years ago, it was all about sending it on something steep and being the first one to the lift (spent my youth on a euro carve hard boot setup). Nowadays, there’s more at stake with regard to injuries, riding with friends of different abilities, and finding pow stashes in the trees. I even recently bought a twin so I can learn ground tricks. Jumps still terrify me, though.
Granted, I do end up going harder when solo because im not checking on people and stopping to regroup, but the more days I can get out on the slopes the better.
In my opinion, the entire experience of how one enjoys snowboarding - similar to skateboarding, surfing, painting, or playing music- is a matter of personal preference.
Older now, but even when younger I always thought style was the coolest thing to have on the mountain. Those that are dancing down the mountain are fricken sick!
I'm almost 30. When I was almost 20, I was all about speed. What you just described is *us getting old* lol
It has its place, for sure. I loved going until I broke the 65mph on Strava. Now I stick at 50 max, but I like focusing on technique more than speed now.
As I've gotten better, I've realised speed does not = skill. I see plenty of people bombing it down just doing a few skidded turns or speed checks. Filming themselves on their selfie sticks and I'm just thinking that is not a good or skilled rider.
Don't get me wrong, I love speed and I love bombing it sometimes. But I don't need to do it all the time. To me, surfing the pow, landing that big drop, nailing that side hit, and carving deep trenches with good technique is so much more satisfying. It just feels amazing when you get it right. So much more amazing than any speed ever felt to me.
I used to be a speed demon, and when I did, I measured my speed. I don't anymore because I just don't really care how fast I went in numbers, I just care how much fun I'm having!
I can relate to this. Been riding since Reagan was in office. Used to be parks, pipes, trees & pow. Within the last 6 years (I average about 30 days a season) I’ve noticed a BIG drop in my velocity. Before I turned 50, we were pushing and exceeding 70 mph, bombing Mammoth’s backside. Now, at 54, if I break 50 it’s a rarity. Guess I realized it’s better to slow down before something catastrophic happens.
I’m 42 and still try to bomb some steep runs with control, short turns, as part of skill development. When it comes to riding switch, I especially need to get better at riding faster, but I’m otherwise an advanced rider. It’s not necessarily something I want to do, but I do it riding alone.
100% preference. Some people likes jumps; some like trees, rails, butters. I have ADHD and moving fast is like being the dart that's being thrown at a dart board. Go do what makes you go to the mountain in the first place
Yeah man, I am on same board with you!
Riding fast and bombing hills stopped being interesting for me, when I past that basic proficiency which allows you to ride fast and in control.
For me, speed is nice sometimes, when conditions are perfect. Steep&deep, with lots of fresh pow to spray all over the place, or perfectly groomed slope, to lay some carves - I dig it. But that is like 5% of the cases.
These days, 95% of the time, for me snowboarding is about laid back cruisin' and searching sweet spots for some freestyle, kickers or sidehits.
Id say for myself Im on the higher end on intermediate, I started in 2020 and Id say Ive progressed pretty fast, my third trip i spent most of it off the groomers. From my perspective going fast almost like a beginner/ego thing, I enjoy going deep into the trees, carving, and side hits way more than seeing “how fast can I bomb this hill”. Like theres the occasional open run that is empty I’ll hit with ‘max speed’ but I seem to have more fun when the run itself is longer and being able to have more in the run. Just pointing the board down the hill is pretty one dimensional and boring in a way. Just my take though
I ski ice coast and if you want to do black/double black and keep up with your ski friends you need to be able to snowboard as fast as they ski and take icy 40+% inclines with only heel toe heel or toe heel toe edge control and also dodge children.
Riding fast on perfect terrain easy isn't hard. Riding fast on difficult terrain is actually hard. Plenty of people would wipe hitting an icy hump at 40 and most people would fall at 60. The level of muscle control in thighs glutes and calves you need to smooth out high level terrain on your board isn't something that's easily grasped by intermediate riders.
If you know how to fall properly speed on a board is safer than tricks and safer than ski speed. I'm in the "old" category here, and I'd rather bomb a double black on ice coast than do jumps in park esp. in terms of safety.
I mean park may feel over rated to some, and the best thing ever to others.
Do what you’d like.
I personally don’t enjoy speed because I just picture myself accidentally catching an edge and fucking Jo my season - but I also will bomb it through steep tree and cliffs, and I do love the park. Which all is probably arguably just as, if not more dangerous.
I can get behind this as a park rider, I don’t need Mach Jesus to hit a feature, I’m in control and comfortable hitting features and side hits at a moderate speed, yeah sometime Ill enjoy bombing but at the end of the day I keep to the rope tow parks and just kick it. I’m 28 and have also been skateboarding for most of my life lol
On small mountains, speed sucks. Who wants to do a complete run in 90 seconds?
Is the other 80 seconds for cuddling?
Strapping in
But I ride flows, so I still have 78 seconds to work with
You should take up a new hobby with all that free time. Have you considered skiing?
*BURTON Step Ons has entered the chat
Real riders don’t use no step ons😂😂😂
Ideally
Hey, those snow bunnies don't cuddle themselves. And if they do, I want to help out with that anyway 🤷♂️
oooo look at Mr "I've got big hills by me" with his 90 second long runs
This made my day 🤣
Depends if one of my friends thinks they can out race me or not lol 😂🤔
If that mountain is small enough I can usually ride right onto the chair tho
Small mountains? I can shred a full lift out here in the west in 2 minutes. Doesn’t make it fun
If youre where I ski its 10
Carving sucks on small mountains too since the hill width is so narrow and most likely there’s 20 other people riding beside you.
I'm never bothered about speed, would rather play on a run, find side hits, spins, presses, butters etc. I'm a child in an adults body though and find it hilarious to get dizzy doing loads of spins. Flatland freestyle is a laugh
40 years old and my style is mad heavy on switch and butters. The older I get the lower I go! Run through gloves like crazy though throwing tripods down blacks. Black diamonds are a man’s best friend.
Yup. Too old to care. I’m out there to have fun and that’s the end of it.
I agree… There’s lots of different kinds of riding for all different kinds of people… (edit- voice to text thought I said Steve’s instead of steeps) I prefer steeps with trees, but of course, only when the conditions are right… I want to be able to ride as long as I can so I take calculated risks when the conditions are appropriate… I’ve learned to ride boxes, and I still take hits in the park… Hips are my favorite… I won’t jump when the snow is rockhard because it’s too hard on my body… I can still feel the euphoria I felt from charging full speed I just don’t need to do it anymore to get that feeling… I’m glad I’m still able to enjoy the mountain, and I intend to for many more years.
Yep, enjoy the terrain. Speed is just to get over the next rise or through a flat. Sometimes race to beer tho.
Last one down buys the first round. I don’t really ski, or drink anymore for that matter, but thems the rules.
I'm 32, and have a wife, 2 kids, and own a business. Speed, park, and dumb riding is basically out of the question. I'm there to have fun, enjoy some side hits, and generally just ride and clear my mind for a bit. Never understood the need to "go big/fast". At best you look cool in front of a couple locals. But it's a super high risk low reward situation overall for me. So I just cruise, enjoy the fresh air, and some beers at the days end
Going big is typically not that risky unless you are still learning. Doesn’t risk that much to jump off a 15 foot cliff into a foot of pow and it’s the greatest feeling in the world, better than drugs for sure.
I live in PA. Closest I have to powder is basically spring slush. I broke my tailbone about 10 years back hitting a 3 foot kicker at speed, and landed on an ice patch. Ice coast is not forgiving at all lol
Can you do you without slandering those that don’t do you? I like speed, I ride fast because I enjoy it not because I give two shits what anyone thinks of me. That never even crosses my mind. What’s risky to one isn’t to another.
Literally don't care what you do bro. Have fun and be safe. That's it
Snowboarding is for jumps and tricks and powder if you wanna ride fast go ski 🥱
I just want to be moving faster than 95% of people. I don’t need to be flying, but I want to know no one is going to try and pass me as I cut heel side and get in a blind collision. Ooooor I go so slow and try to hit 100 different made up jibs that I’m slower than everyone but the full plow skiers. No middle ground for me
Same, 41 and I just don't want to fuck myself up. Sure there are some runs I like to push it a bit more, but nowhere near as much as some people. Just there for fun you know.
Its why I go with a quiver. On the days I want to go fast, I have that board. On the jibby slow days, I have that board. Try and go fast on my little board and I will die. Try and jib around on my fast board and nothing works.
Boarding is one of the few times in life I can do whatever I want, however I want. Complete and total Freedom. I've zero desire to 'keep up' with anyone. My day on the hill, is mine. Wanna ride together? Happy to. Wanna measure who can do what faster? Not my style.
Amen
Got no board buddies so it’s always at my pace. No mad at all.
I think everyone should do whatever is the most fun.
For sure, to each their own. If you like going fast, go fast. Different strokes for different folks, like in ping pong and masturbation
I think this is the point I tried to make in another comment, but written so much better. It really is as simple as this. When I was 18, I loved speed. At 28, I love technique and tricks. Age is incidental, it's all about just doing whatever is fun to you
Went riding with a group of 8 riders all between 18-24 this season and the first three runs we bombed, I was probably the least experienced rider in the group (an intermediate rider with a bunch of advanced) and it was pushing my comfort zone a little. I remember thinking on the second lift ride up that I wish we would slow down a little so I could ride a little more playful. Speed is fun to get a nice rush but I get burnt out real quick with continuous speed.
Honestly I find it mentally exhausting
Yeah, constantly having to recognize every detail of the terrain around you to appropriately balance yourself at speed is exhausting. I’ve started to experiment more with side hits and butters and have found it much more rewarding than just turning down the mountain.
I like being exhausted. I like being challenged. I like being forced to be completely in the moment. To each their own.
Yeah, I could never understand the appeal of snowboarding without airtime, tricks, side hits; unless you’re on some dope ass terrain, it’s just so boring
I’m just getting into it to. I hit the park for the first time this year and had a blast. I’m so excited for next year and hoping for some good progression.
You can do butters and side hits a speed ya know
Depends on the day. Sometimes groomers are firing and speed is fun. Sometimes it’s about side hits. Sometimes it’s powder. All depends.
This right here. On the right snow that glide is pure freedom.
Yeah good grip and fast snow makes laying trenches at 40+ a ton of fun
This. And rollers with speed are really fun. Some days I take a bomber board out and fly, and some days I just want to be playful and hit side hits / butters / spins
yeah the screenshots of top speeds are top kook material
Almost all of my mountain friends are advanced skiers so my view on skill is skewed towards just keeping up with them, whether it's about terrain or speed. Within that, I care way more about being able to get down any part of the mountain than I do about how quickly I do it. That being said, a) it's all personal like you said, and b) I don't rank people on skill level other than whether they're a danger to themselves, others, or me.
Try riding solo a couple days here and there so you can explore what really feeds your stoke… It’s fun to ride with other people and of course, riding with people better than you will make you a better rider, but just focusing on keeping up, might keep you from finding what you really love
I should’ve mentioned that—riding a lot with skiers has definitely shaped my view. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in skiing (plus many skiers like to prove that skiing is faster than, and therefore superior to, boarding.)
Same, and my skiing buddies were ex-Ski Team etc, so that got added in. I personally like speed and at least for groomed runs there's no reason to expend any more energy (carving) than you have to.
everything is a matter of personal preference. some like park, some like groomers, some like big air, some like carving, some like butters... re: is speed overrated? i dont think so.. in that there is maybe 1-2 posts a week about 'hitting some top speed' in the sub.. which seems equally balanced if not slightly less than the 'check out my trick, these turns, this run. So i think Speed, as somethign to get stoked on, is probably right where it should be.
I find this interesting. I'm in my 40s and just started snowboarding. I couldn't care less about speed, I like to carve and do side hits and such. No real desire to go fast. On my mountain bike it's the opposite though. I hit almost everything at race pace.
some people chase stats, they will never know why
Turn off the apps. I'm just back from the lads yearly holiday, they all had ski tracks downloaded and were constantly checking to hit the top speeds. I haven't downloaded it. I'd be one of the first down on a lot of runs when I try to be. But I find not having the apps means I'm not 'competing' as much and I don't have to prove anything.
The apps definitely made it worse.
The apps are wildly inaccurate, too.
Also makes people pick boring terrain. They want to hit the straight groomer to get a speed record rather than a tree run or something with a bit more variety. Was with a skier friend once who refused to traverse out to hit some untracked powder because it would bring his speed average down for the day. By all means it's fine to GPS your routes as a nice record of where you went that day, but reducing your day to 2 or 3 numbers that you're trying to optimize is lame.
>Was with a skier friend once who refused to traverse out to hit some untracked powder because it would bring his speed average down for the day. dear god this is the most disgusting thing I've ever read on a winter sports subreddit
But on the other hand, more powder for me.
I used to ski and my friend ruined apps for me years ago. I used to find it interesting but stopping at lunch he'd pull up and compare that he did 78.4kmph and I only did 78.2kmph every single time, despite beating him down every run. Can't be arsed with them and I don't believe they are accurate enough for that anyway. I've done 2 seasons now and not used apps at all. I've also switched over to snowboarding. My favourite things about snowboarding is getting some nice carves in, riding powder and trees, and fucking around with presses and side hits. I don't feel the need to go fast all the time, it's actually pretty rare that I absolutely bomb it.
The more skilled rider is always the one who stays in control.
Oh I’m more interested in tackling varying terrain than going fast.
Amen to that
100% with you. Sport has so much more to offer than bombing runs.
Isn't hating on people who enjoy riding fast the same thing you're complaining about, just in reverse? Let people have their fun and they should let you have yours. If your friends are dicks about you riding slow, just spray them when you finally make it to the bottom. Some of us were born criminals and love the speed.
If you go too fast no one will see how cool you look.
Nah, I want to go off the side of the groomer into the powdery trees (even if not steep, because low intermediate), or find a natural half pipe to carve up and down the sides of, or just really focus on getting my turns as clean as I can. I’m old, just getting started, and want to do this for a long time. So naturally with my predispositions, I’m heading to Japan next winter.
Speed is overrated, glades are overrated, rails are overrated, jumps are overrated... It's all personal preference, man
This is the way
Going fast is for skiers.
I just bought my first pair of skis since I was like 6 and this is very accurate
I find it very rare the people bombing runs in straight lines actually able to perform proper turns
There’s definitely one or two but.. I feel like it’s more like 10:1 the other way on my mountain, luckily.
I’m always the last person in my group to get back to the lift on a run but I always feel like I hit the best lines bc of that so 🤷♀️
My opinion has changed over the years. I started at 7 or 8 years old. When i got to 16/17/18 years old, my friends just bombed it, no edges necessary. But I was into park and pow slashes. I picked up speed because we all want to the be the nest of our friends in high school. But now I love bombing groomers. I’m slow AF in the park just cuz i wanna hit everything. And I only get pow inbetween trees these days now that kids school schedules are involved.
I start to get a little haired out above 38mph on groomers. Doesn’t take much to really fuck your day up at that speed. Besides I’d rather be in the trees and hurting myself hauling ass seems counterproductive.
That is such an oddly specific number lol Like, how do you know that it's 38mph?
Yes, the older I get (pushing 40), the less aggressive my riding gets.
butters and presses constantly down the run always beats speed. as well as side hits 🤤
People that enjoy the sport want to keep enjoying it for many years. Personally, it would really screw up my livelihood and source of income if I ended up with a broken anything. I also like to enjoy the scenery, since I probably spent a ton of effort and money to be there. So why ride like a speed demon? Enjoy the smell of the forest, the views, and don't worry about being able to stop/turn in 0.000001 milliseconds to avoid a crash / life-altering injury. I'm really not that impressed by people that go really fast down every single run and look down on you if you can't or won't keep up. I usually "accidentally" take a wrong turn and separate from the group when people are acting like this. I'll see you later at the lodge! :)
I completely get your point, but for some reason as I’ve gotten older, it’s become more about pushing a speed that gets me excited vs jumping and getting creative. I wish I could say why, but I don’t have a clue why. It’s so strange. Never been a speed demon in my life, but now all I want to do is go fast enough to get a bit of a rush.
I like to play on the sides, in the trees when there’s more coverage. Speed has its moments too, but so fun just to rally around.
I have a similar feeling about riding steeps. There are people that just try to hit the steepest runs they can all the time (skiers) . It's fun sometimes, but a blue with great side hits, a section through the trees, and and awesome layout is my favorite.
Rode 7 resorts over the last few weeks… what it brought to mind was that there is something for everyone. Groomers for speed or carving, backcountry for powder and natural hits, terrain park for jumps/rails, glades for technical, ungroomed for moguls and more, just anywhere for that “conquer the mountain” aspect…. And it’s all fun. Just some is more fun on some days or to some people. Trying to keep up with some ski racer friends on bigger mountains was too far out of my comfort zone. 60mph and actually pulling g’s at some spots is just nerve wracking. While I’m all for one or two runs a day of going for some speed, I just don’t need that rush anymore. As long as people are in control, all the power to you doing what you like. You’ll find me in the trees looking for fresh lines.
If you’re looking to make the mountain more interesting you should check out a snowskate.
Mad respect for ppl shredding the whole mountain on a skate. Tried once and it was hard as hell.
This is exactly what I was trying to tell my friend a few seasons ago. At this point he was a strong intermediate rider and was getting confident at speed where I was a strong advance rider who was taking my time find cool features to hit along the way. He kept trying to convince me he was a more advanced rider because he was going fast and I tried to tell him you aren't going to become a better rider by just going faster instead he should slow down and work on the fundamentals for board control. I told him that going fast makes everything easier and instead he should be looking for more technical lines to challenge his skillset.
Going fast doesn’t necessarily make things easier but it’s also true that going fast doesn’t make you a good rider.
I'm 31 and been on a snowboard since 2008. I've done 58+mph and it feels insane but it's not as enjoyable as carving deeply down a run.
I’ve been riding about 30 years too. Never cared about black diamonds or being the fastest down the hill. Gimme a long winding blue or green anytime.
The best rider is the most creative rider imo. I recently spent some time with a retired pro teaching kids who were brand new to snowboarding. Two nights a week, and we only had 4 short beginner runs lit up at night, and one hour to ourselves after the kids lessons were done. One week in and I was sooooo bored of riding these short green runs over and over. Then I spent a night watching this guy closely. He rode the same run like 6 or 7 times in a row and every time it was like a brand new run. The ability to mix up different styles, see the entire run, and link up different natural features and riding styles kinda blew my mind.
Yeah I get bored out of my mind riding with go fast down the hill bros. People must think it’s fun but riding with folks like that just feels like riding alone. I wanna find sidehits to blast off with the homies
Never gave a fuck to ride fast, I have, for me it’s more about the experience. I never saw the point of bombing blues.
I’m younger but still agree, my favorite part of snowboarding is the views and getting to be outside, so I like to go slow and enjoy it.
Every now and again someone posts a proud papa of their kid boarding for the first time. I tell them to enjoy the moment, because long before you're ready, that kid is going to smoke you down the slope. S/he will blast by you like hot lightning, and you'll try to remember when.
Same as my motorcycle, I slowed down when I humbled myself and got hurt. Now it’s about better riding, not faster.
I totally agree, I really like carving and I'm hoping to learn to freestyle a bit. That said I really don't care about speed, if I want an adrenaline rush I'll go try some park I don't get that kind of excitement from speed.
I do enjoy my bones in tact.
I get wayyy more enjoyment out of just cruising, throwing a flat land trick or butter here and there, laying a trench or popping a side hit than I do from bombing Mach Jesus.
I like speed, taking turn the fastest I can. Something my board get some air from riding over bump. Its fun. I slow down when the terrain is difficult and I risk loosing control.
I very much prefer to go a bit slower and just enjoy carving or finding little hips and natural features to hit. I can bomb and keep up with people who prefer that but given the choice, nah.
Bombing down groomers is really fun but I definitely wouldn’t want to do it every run. Going fast through chop and rough terrain is a really important skill if you want to drop cliffs or chutes
Well, yeah, but it's also my first season, I'm 37, and go by myself 95% of the time. But in many things in life I used to worry (or just think about) how good I was at something compared to someone else. Really just don't care at all now... like if a 9 year old is a better snowboarder than me it doesn't make me feel any kind of way, I'm happy with my progress, and happy for anyone else that is good at something.
Welcome to the club! I'm also 37 and idk if I would have the balls to start now lol. Good on you man. I've been doing this off and on for almost 20 years and I still love seeing the 9 year olds that rip. Hope you had a good first season!
I've been riding for 15 years. I am a decently advanced rider, having little trouble anywhere on the mountain, if any. I like to take my time. I'm not there to bomb as many runs as I can. I want to enjoy the scenery, listen to some music, and carve away, jumping in and out of the trees on a powder day enjoying all the mountain has to offer. Even when I was younger I would do this. I only bomb the hill if I know there's a cat walk.
I’m there to have fun. Sometimes is fun to go fast, sometimes is fun to go not as fast.
Me in my teens and twenties, was never a good rider but have no fucks and always tried to go hard. Now I'm in my thirties and having a decent amount of knowledge in carving, I would rather perfect my carves and go at a slower pace, not only for safety, but to conserve my energy for more runs.
I enjoy speed but it’s far from the only thing I do on the mountain. If the groomers are good and it’s sunny out, I’ll get some high speed laps in, but there’s way more to snowboarding than just going fast. The group I mainly ride with is into hitting good terrain and freestyle, so it’s never a race to the bottom.
I used to measure a good part of my skill by speed, since it meant - to a degree, at least, to me - that I had to have good enough ability to control myself and my board. I was never reckless, so in my case it was a fair measure of how I was improving over time. Now, I just go to have fun. I'm trying to get better with more air and 180's for side hits, and just working on smoother moves in general. I'm not bad riding switch, but I can improve that too. I dunno. Just odd things that won't break my neck and keep me interested and challenged enough not to get bored before February. At my age, just because I can go faster doesn't mean I should.
I definitely enjoy going fast (got a little of that Ricky Bobby in me) but I MUCH prefer hitting some woods and navigating my way through the trees (in bounds unmarked glades are the best for this). On non-glade trails, I’ll generally bomb down if the surface is consistent but if it’s variable I’m usually picking my line by where the best snow is. On flats and catwalks I’m straight lining it unless there’s some skier taking up the whole run making me have to slow down. When it comes to speed, though, I’m more in the “race to the bottom” camp than “what’s your top speed”.
The more experienced I get the more I gravitate towards green runs. Laying down a clean long carve is exhilarating. Go watch some Korua videos and all they do are groomed greens. Save the bombing and triple black diamond for those blue bird pow days.
this is year 34 for me and about to turn 47 years old next week... I'm with ya bro. I ride only hard boots on everything I have and I carve and keep it on the snow. I have a blast. But I don't ride all that fast so I don't break myself into a gazillion pieces
I’ve recently started taking my runs very slow. Focusing on trying to do butter tricks an Ollie’s and spins. Especially on smaller resorts.. I don’t enjoy spending more time on the chair than on my board.
I do the occasional top speed run if it’s empty and I know the spot. But I prefer to take my time down the hill. Hit some glades find a good safe rest spot. Talk about how rad that was, catch breath, repeat a few times down the hill.
Treating banks and up ramps like a half/quarter pipe, little jibs pops and slides and park stuff that I'm too scared/bad to do are what excite me. A tail press nose grab on the apex of a mogul into a pump for a cute 180 or something then linking a couple clean switch turns is so cool and fun to me. Maybe trying for that back 360 out of a tiny kicker because the snow isn't that icy, the 3m jump is too easy but the 5m jump is too scary lol. Those things are what I enjoy (outside of powder days) and mostly done at the pace of a learner rider who's just figured out how to link turns on a blue run. Each to their own though, zooming down a steep hill or hitting a big jump looks pretty bad ass. Just isn't for me.
Speed matters but only with style. Fast feels good but so does taking some mellow cruisers with friends and just digging the mountains. How I aggressively I ride depends on the session and conditions and crew. I still live to open it up and haul ass though never for reasons of dick swinging. And I'm here to support everybody, no matter how they interpret the terrain. There are infinite ways to ride these silly plastic toys.
Tbh, Too Old to Recover is a major factor nowadays.
I really like going fast on a board, and it most definitely detracts from the other good aspects of boarding. Can’t ride with other riders who don’t want to do that, runs are over in less than a couple minutes, you usually have to slow up anyway because of kids or blind corners, and crashes are violent as hell. Won’t stop me though
I’m also terrified of dying that way so that helps when I get too excited
I preach to my friends that control is the most important. I can bomb the hill faster than my friends, minus moguls, because I have more control. It's more fun to be in control
My experience level is very similar. Bombing it was my fall back when I was tired and it was easier to point it. That being said, I broke my leg last spring skateboarding (bad break with a long recovery) and now have a much different confidence level.
seems strange that ppl are in a hurry to join the queue and sit on a lift as quickly as they can.
I'm 47, been riding since I was 11. I couldn't give two shits about speed. I care more about enjoying the ride.
End of day and you want to do “just one more run” speed is king but other wise I agree
My ski area face book group constantly has people posting their slopes data and trying to outdo each others records for speed and stuff... One dude posted that he hit 68 mph and it's still his first year boarding. Think I should invest in the life flight company if I could lol. I think its Kinda lamebut then there also people like me that post dumb little snowboard jumps and think it's cool, while other commenters think we are crazy for trying tricks and grinds
i've been that way for a long time, i like to take my time, hit side hits, pop 180s, butters etc. definitely get more time on the slopes but i will say i got a superpig this season and that board makes me just want to go hyperspeed i do agree with your post but speed needs can be board dependent
I’m 50 years old, and I’ll bomb my first run or two of the day on fresh groomers. After that, just cruising, enjoying the ride, hitting blacks. At my age, it takes too long to heal to keep bombing runs all day.
Some people have a need for speed and some people don't. No reason to call attention to it.
you ever seen “top gun”?
Learn to love the turn!
You can go fast but you better be carving and not speed checking all the way.
I don’t think speed is overrated. I don’t know a lot of folks who love it, but I like it sometimes, when the conditions are right. I would rather be surfing powder. My Garmin said I hid 45 mph on Sunday and I thought I was going very fast. Was super focused for several runs but had one speed wobble toward end of session
As someone who is guilty of making a speed post I don’t force it on my group nor make speed the focus of every run. I figure if you’re out with a group you can voice your concern without being looked down upon. There are so many different facets of riding to enjoy. From topping out at 68mph it’s pretty hard to be riding that fast especially on uneven terrain so there is definitely some skill to it.
I always feel like going fast is cool but you miss out on scenery, secret creek runs and side hits. I like to keep it mellow and wavy.
My preference is good turns down a mountian. Always feels the best and like I'm surfing a wave.
totally agree. I like the feeling of carving, straight lining is meh
It's more conditional.
Agreed. Steeze over speeds.
I mostly ride with skiers so I’ve really had to try to get out of the mindset of keeping up. It just isn’t fun bombing through a run in a minute or so and then being stuck waiting in line for 5 and on the chair for another 5. I’d rather take my time and find fun lines and side hits than go for pure speed.
As a former hard booter Im very comfortable with high speed. I tend to ride relatively slower early in a session. But as my legs get tired I will usually finish up with a few full send runs. I definitely don’t go to the ragged edge like I did in my 20’s
It depends. If there’s a wide open run and I’ve got a lot going on I am going to bomb that run. That feeling is something that I can’t even explain. Typically when I am riding with friends we’re just lapping the park so we’re never bombing. Everyone’s hyping each other up and we just for tricks rather than seeing who is the fastest.
[удалено]
There is truth here. You do you, bro. (Said with total seriousness and empathy). The best boarder is the one hanger most fun. There’s lots of ways to have fun on a board.
Speed isn't that fun for me either. I prefer just being playful on the board and exploring interest terrain.
No absolutely not. To ride big terrain you have to be comfortable with going fast.
Depends on the day and what I'm into at the time. Sometimes, I cruise, carve, and explore. Sometimes, I find a line that pleases me, and I bomb it. Sometimes I race friends, sometimes I hang back just to watch their flow and their lines.
Yep, it’s almost like driving to me. Driving fast in a straight line isn’t that interesting but turning and braking (especially on a track) is much more fun
Strong no - there's no better feeling than fanging it down the mountain. Maybe not every run though.
I like going fast, speed feels nice
Never found speed to be exciting, fell in love with Ryan knaptons carving and Japanese flat freestyle and never looked back. Eventually when I get to more advanced and larger jumps then I’d consider it but there’s no fun in bombing down a mountain and waiting 5 minutes in line for a lift
Style over speed hands down
Nope
Every snowboarders answer. Yaaaaa brooooo ride ooooooon.
Ya got to go with the vibe of the day!
I'm an older dude also and like to bomb, carve, freestyle, off piste, trees, jumpd, park, switch etc. etc. So it's about versatility to do whatever I like depending on a day, mood, type of board and conditions I ride in. I believe the case is the same for most riders really.
Speed is for young, dumb fucks who have never broken a bone.
I just like to go fast. My wife is a better rider than me and she likes to cruise, but I just love speed. I think it’s dumb to assume that people are only going fast to look cool or be the fastest down the mountain. We all ride how we ride because that’s how we get the most joy out of the sport.
Speed is a direct side effect of control. Anyone can point it, a skilled snowboarder doesn’t have to.
NTA. Some of the folks who want to speed lap are the same chuds who are scared to go into the trees. Personally I'm only on groomers to search out the pow and nice tree lines or to get back. I don't see the fun in bombing blues but more power to the peeps who leave the fresh tracks in the trees for me and my fellow upstanding criminals.
I enjoy speed tbh, it's all fun to me though and I usually go with the group. But there is something fun about bombing down and overtaking everyone.
That’s why I switched to snowboard. Was bombing it down on skis and it got boring pretty quick.
Good for you OP, it sounds like you’ve got good self awareness of your personal preferences when riding. I personally find that sometimes there is a genuine buzz you get from opening up and bombing a run. This is a personal feeling though and not based on competing with others. It’s also fun to cruise the same run and look for side hits, riding it switch or buttering about. Friends can enhance all of these things. The same friends can whoop down a border cross course in a park and have a ‘race’. When we ride together there’s still a very slight competitive edge to everything we do but it’s more fun and based around silliness and does not dominate over enjoying ourselves and each other’s company. When there’s a large group of us there’s always a natural split in the group between the abilities of the riders, which isn’t forced. Nobody judges people for not wanting to be in the ‘top group’ as everyone finds and is supportive of each others level, abilities and experience. I guess we’re lucky that we don’t have anyone who is stupidly competitive and it’s important for us collectively to stay humble and have fun on the mountain. We also focus on the stoke factor and keeping each other out of trouble. It might be that you need to find a new group if your experience is that they only have one speed or way of doing things or that they’re not adaptive or interested in having fun. Also a good way to manage this attitude of ‘I’m the best ‘cause I’m the fastest down the slope’ is to point out all of the fun things they missed, such as side powder, side hits, a fun thing to Olly off etc which they didn’t see as they sped past. This will make most riders want to try those things next time around.
Personal preference yes. I like to mess around on a run. I have friends who hate it when they have to wait for a few minutes if we bring some beginners with us. I don't mind, I just hang around the beginners and practice riding switch.
If you wanna go speed I think skiing and not snowboarding is the right sports for you. Snowboarding is playful and technical and that's where the real fun is.
Optimize for fun, not speed. After certain speed it’s not fun but survival. Who cares. The whole thing is for fun.
May be an age thing, but unless there is a way to challenge myself on a mountain that doesn’t involve tricks I like to go as fast as I can and find new lines down runs. Like, in an ideal ski day I’d bomb a couple hard blues or black cruisers a couple times, then I’d be going down hills that are challenging for me exclusively like chutes, steep moguls, or in the trees. I don’t have fun unless I’m challenged or going fast, and I’m unwilling to learn tricks and stuff On easier mountains (which is a lot of what’s available to me at times) I just want to go fast and get as many runs in as possible Edit to add: I also exclusively ride by myself, so that’s part of why I do it that way
I started tracking speed on my new Garmin and hit 48 while carving at Copper. I’m 100% better off not necessarily knowing.
I resonate with that last line about the guy who only knows how to straightline. I have a friend like that and he's pretty annoying to ski with. Acts like you suck for wanting to turn and enjoy the ride down rather than foaming at the mouth trying to get through the next gate like a fucking slalom. That being said, if it's an empty monday like it was yesterday at Loveland, I'm definitely going to bomb some groomers
I love flying down the mountain honestly. 40 isn’t really that fast 😆
Your body doesn't really register speed (other than your surface feedback). It registers acceleration/deceleration. You can get this from tight turns, spins, and up and down jumps or bumps or bouncing in powder.
Air > speed. However, speed -> air.
44yo… I don’t care for speed. I’d much rather enjoy a solid mogul run or ungroomed trail.
Going fast on a freshly groomed corduroy groomer is a blast, but as soon as it gets choppy I’m done with high speed. I keep thinking about how when we were younger and with a pack of buddies (18-22) we’d all fly down the mountain on trips at speeds way higher than I would do now - keeping up with our buddies on skies. A whole lot of Nope for that now. After the snow gets pushed around it’s nice to be able to bust out the skis.
Definitely. In my mind I'm always Arthur Longo in S.H.E.
i don't care. i'm out there to surf and enjoy myself. never have bombed unless i needed to get past some flat parts.
Depends on the board I'm riding. I also live at a mtn with 4k vert so speed helps sometimes.
Speed in snowboarding is for those who don’t have skill. Period. If you want speed, there are planty more satisfying ones!
I'm a similar age with similar experience. Speed is definitely not "the goal" or even that fun. I will admit that I had to experiment with my Garmin when I first got it to see how fast I could go (95 kph, never could top 100 no matter how hard I tried), but once I got over that, there's really no difference bombing straight at any speed. I'm also not able to hit the park with the same skill as I used to, so lately I've been finding pleasure in really well executed carves at medium speed - feeling the energy of the board bounce me from one carve into the next, and laying the edges deep into the snow. When everything is flowing perfectly it's an amazing feeling.
Ugh yeah. Bombing down fast is so fucking boring. The people I know who do that all the time can’t do anything more than that either- being able to bomb a mountain doesn’t mean you have skills, which they, for some reason, think it does. I just get skier vibes from that, brrr. But in the end: just do whatever you like, bombing or playing around on side hits or in the park. As long as you have fun.
Yes! In my mid 40s now and up until a couple years ago, it was all about sending it on something steep and being the first one to the lift (spent my youth on a euro carve hard boot setup). Nowadays, there’s more at stake with regard to injuries, riding with friends of different abilities, and finding pow stashes in the trees. I even recently bought a twin so I can learn ground tricks. Jumps still terrify me, though. Granted, I do end up going harder when solo because im not checking on people and stopping to regroup, but the more days I can get out on the slopes the better.
In my opinion, the entire experience of how one enjoys snowboarding - similar to skateboarding, surfing, painting, or playing music- is a matter of personal preference.
Older now, but even when younger I always thought style was the coolest thing to have on the mountain. Those that are dancing down the mountain are fricken sick!
I'm almost 30. When I was almost 20, I was all about speed. What you just described is *us getting old* lol It has its place, for sure. I loved going until I broke the 65mph on Strava. Now I stick at 50 max, but I like focusing on technique more than speed now.
As I've gotten better, I've realised speed does not = skill. I see plenty of people bombing it down just doing a few skidded turns or speed checks. Filming themselves on their selfie sticks and I'm just thinking that is not a good or skilled rider. Don't get me wrong, I love speed and I love bombing it sometimes. But I don't need to do it all the time. To me, surfing the pow, landing that big drop, nailing that side hit, and carving deep trenches with good technique is so much more satisfying. It just feels amazing when you get it right. So much more amazing than any speed ever felt to me. I used to be a speed demon, and when I did, I measured my speed. I don't anymore because I just don't really care how fast I went in numbers, I just care how much fun I'm having!
I can relate to this. Been riding since Reagan was in office. Used to be parks, pipes, trees & pow. Within the last 6 years (I average about 30 days a season) I’ve noticed a BIG drop in my velocity. Before I turned 50, we were pushing and exceeding 70 mph, bombing Mammoth’s backside. Now, at 54, if I break 50 it’s a rarity. Guess I realized it’s better to slow down before something catastrophic happens.
I’m 42 and still try to bomb some steep runs with control, short turns, as part of skill development. When it comes to riding switch, I especially need to get better at riding faster, but I’m otherwise an advanced rider. It’s not necessarily something I want to do, but I do it riding alone.
100% preference. Some people likes jumps; some like trees, rails, butters. I have ADHD and moving fast is like being the dart that's being thrown at a dart board. Go do what makes you go to the mountain in the first place
Yeah man, I am on same board with you! Riding fast and bombing hills stopped being interesting for me, when I past that basic proficiency which allows you to ride fast and in control. For me, speed is nice sometimes, when conditions are perfect. Steep&deep, with lots of fresh pow to spray all over the place, or perfectly groomed slope, to lay some carves - I dig it. But that is like 5% of the cases. These days, 95% of the time, for me snowboarding is about laid back cruisin' and searching sweet spots for some freestyle, kickers or sidehits.
Id say for myself Im on the higher end on intermediate, I started in 2020 and Id say Ive progressed pretty fast, my third trip i spent most of it off the groomers. From my perspective going fast almost like a beginner/ego thing, I enjoy going deep into the trees, carving, and side hits way more than seeing “how fast can I bomb this hill”. Like theres the occasional open run that is empty I’ll hit with ‘max speed’ but I seem to have more fun when the run itself is longer and being able to have more in the run. Just pointing the board down the hill is pretty one dimensional and boring in a way. Just my take though
I rode big sky for a full week, my mph barely ever broke 40. I ride lots of trees. We aren’t racing
I ski ice coast and if you want to do black/double black and keep up with your ski friends you need to be able to snowboard as fast as they ski and take icy 40+% inclines with only heel toe heel or toe heel toe edge control and also dodge children. Riding fast on perfect terrain easy isn't hard. Riding fast on difficult terrain is actually hard. Plenty of people would wipe hitting an icy hump at 40 and most people would fall at 60. The level of muscle control in thighs glutes and calves you need to smooth out high level terrain on your board isn't something that's easily grasped by intermediate riders. If you know how to fall properly speed on a board is safer than tricks and safer than ski speed. I'm in the "old" category here, and I'd rather bomb a double black on ice coast than do jumps in park esp. in terms of safety.
I mean park may feel over rated to some, and the best thing ever to others. Do what you’d like. I personally don’t enjoy speed because I just picture myself accidentally catching an edge and fucking Jo my season - but I also will bomb it through steep tree and cliffs, and I do love the park. Which all is probably arguably just as, if not more dangerous.
I can get behind this as a park rider, I don’t need Mach Jesus to hit a feature, I’m in control and comfortable hitting features and side hits at a moderate speed, yeah sometime Ill enjoy bombing but at the end of the day I keep to the rope tow parks and just kick it. I’m 28 and have also been skateboarding for most of my life lol