The One Thing I’d Pick To Help Become A Better Snowboarder

Today’s reader question:

If you could pick only one thing to get help you become a better snowboarder, what would it be?

Fun question.

Honestly there’s a lot of things that help people become amazing snowboarders (ie. useful trick tips, avoiding injuries, mental strength etc etc), but I think there’s one thing that makes EVERYTHING else way easier.

Live at a ski resort.

I’ve never met an amazing snowboarder who didn’t spend some large amount of time living at a ski resort. It’s seriously a HUGE advantage over the average snowboarder.

It’s obvious that more time on snow makes you a better snowboarder, but I think people underestimate how big an advantage you get by living at a ski resort.

Let’s break it down.

1) Average time on snow is 100 times higher

If you take the average snowboarder and look at their time spent on snow, it’s actually pretty small. The average snowboarder might get maybe 2-3 weeks on snow per year.

Compare this to someone living at a ski resort and 2 weeks on snow is nothing. The average ski bum is averaging 100-200 days per season.

If you think about it, one full season on snow is probably equal to more snowboarding than most people will do in their lifetime.

It gets even crazier when you think about how much time the average high level snowboarder has spent on snow. We’re talking seasons upon seasons upon seasons that just happened because they grew up or lived at ski resorts for a long time.

It’s not exactly hard to see that the guy who has spent 1000 days on snow is going to get better than the guy who’s lucky to get 2 weeks per year.

2) Snowboarding becomes more affordable

Living at a ski resort makes everything cost less and makes getting time on slope a heck of a lot more affordable.

So you already know this, but compared to sports like Basketball where all you need is a hoop and a $20 ball, the average snowboarder is spending an insane amount more to participate in our hobby.

However, a lot of these costs disappear or get reduced for someone living at a ski resort.

Here’s just a few of the things that end up cheaper if you live at a ski resort:

• Season passes are cheaper or free thanks to local employee programs
• Accommodation is cheaper thanks to signing long leases and not staying in motels/hotels
• Travel cost is reduced since you don’t need to pay for flights or long bus rides
• Gear costs less because every local knows someone with a gear sponsor hookup

On a whole, living at a ski resort takes most of your snowboarding costs down from that pricy vacation bracket back to a more normal everyday living expenses.

This means you aren’t having to save a ton of money just to be able to go snowboarding.

3) On-hill snowboard quality goes up

Being a local at a ski resort gives you the advantage of getting more quality from your snowboard time. Not only are you getting a higher amount of snowboard days, but the quality of your days go up as well.

Here’s just 3 advantages:

• You (usually) get to pick when you go riding and when you don’t
• You know which runs are best for which type of riding and snow conditions
• You get to avoid weekend crowds (smaller lift lines = more riding time)

So basically while the average snowboarder visiting the resort is trying to find the good runs or the nice powder stashes, you’ve already ridden for an hour and hit all the best spots on the hill.

The bottom line is this: When it comes to improving your snowboarding, anyone living at a ski resort has a HUGE advantage over anyone who has to rely on vacations and weekend visits.

Even 1 season living at a ski resort will have huge improvements for anyone trying to go from average snowboarder to good snowboarder.

I’m not saying this is a requirement, but man it sure makes it a whole lot easier to improve your snowboarding. So yeah, that’s my answer to your question.

- Jed

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