While both longboarding and snowboarding involve riding a board, the similarities largely end there. Many people wonder if skills from one sport transfer to the other. As someone who loves both, I can tell you that while the feeling of carving down a hill is similar, the techniques are actually quite different. Let’s delve into the nuances of longboarding and snowboarding, highlighting their differences and exploring which boards might offer some crossover for training.
Learning Curves: Snowboarding vs Longboarding
A comparison image of a person snowboarding and a person longboarding, highlighting the different stances and environmentsThe learning curves for snowboarding and longboarding are significantly different. Snowboarding presents a steeper initial challenge, while longboarding is generally easier to pick up.
Snowboarding: The Initial Learning Phase
- Heelside Edge: Beginners typically start by sliding down the slope sideways, using their heel edge for control. They learn to “leaf” back and forth, gaining a sense of balance on the board.
- Toeside Edge: The next step involves sliding on the toeside edge, leaning forward and again controlling the board by leafing. This can be challenging for beginners who are not accustomed to having their back towards the direction of travel.
- Turns and Carving: The critical point in learning to snowboard is connecting the heelside and toeside slides to initiate turning. This involves transitioning the board from one edge, through a flat position and onto the other edge. This crucial skill forms the foundation for all advanced snowboarding maneuvers.
Mastering these basics is essential for all snowboarding disciplines, whether you’re carving groomers, hitting park features, or venturing into powder. Many riders find joy in perfecting these skills alone, spending their time on the slopes with only the basics under their belt.
Longboarding: A More Gradual Start
- Pushing: The starting point for longboarding involves using one foot to propel the board forward, then placing it back on the deck. This pushing action is how longboarders generate speed on flat ground.
- Turning: Unlike snowboarding, turning on a longboard relies primarily on leaning forward and back with slight foot movements. This creates a very different feeling and requires a different set of skills.
- Foot Braking: Once comfortable with pushing and turning, the most crucial skill is learning to foot brake. This involves using a shoe to drag on the pavement in order to slow down or stop safely. This method is much safer than jumping off or riding into grass or other obstacles to stop.
While these are the basics, longboarding also provides many avenues for progression such as dancing, pumping, sliding and even street tricks.
Skills Transfer: Is There Any Crossover?
Despite the common misconception, the mechanics of longboarding and snowboarding don’t translate directly. Even seemingly similar actions, like turning or carving, use fundamentally different techniques on each board. However, there are some things that can be helpful such as balance on a moving board.
Crossover Training: Boards for Snowboarders
While the skills might not directly transfer, there are a few board types that can help improve specific aspects of snowboarding:
Basics/Carving: RipSticks and Freeboards
For improving the basics, I recommend two boards:
- RipStick: Despite not being popular among traditional skateboarders, the RipStick is an amazing cross-training tool for snowboarders. The mechanics used to move forward mimic the foot and body movements required for turning on a snowboard.
- Freeboard: The Freeboard utilizes six wheels—two center caster wheels and four outer edge wheels mounted on reverse kingpin trucks with long hangers. The elevated edge wheels allows the board to be spun easily on the center wheels. This board also includes bindings, which more closely mirror snowboard bindings. The mechanics of riding a Freeboard, paired with bindings, make this the closest wheeled board to snowboarding. However, the Freeboard’s biggest limitation is that it’s mostly for downhill riding, and less suitable for flat ground, park tricks, or jumps.
Park, Vert, and Street: Skateboards
If you’re focused on park riding, a standard skateboard is your best cross-training tool. The ollie on a snowboard shares similarities with the skateboard ollie, and skills like half-pipe, rail, gap, rotation and grab techniques all have crossover potential. Many snowboarders skate in the off-season, as both sports involve similar skills in park and vert environments.
Powder and Trees: Wakeboarding and Surfing
For those who enjoy tree runs and fresh powder, the best training involves similar techniques of leaning onto your back foot, keeping the tip up, and using tail whips to carve.
- Wakeboarding: Wakeboarding can be particularly helpful in simulating the feel of powder riding. The techniques, including getting up on the board, mirror the type of movement needed when riding powder on a snowboard.
- Surfing: While the learning curve for surfing can be steep, there’s a lot of crossover between the two sports. Many people who have experience with both have noted the similarities.
Conclusion: Why Longboarding Still Makes Sense
Even though longboarding doesn’t provide the most direct mechanical crossover to snowboarding, it’s still a great sport to get into. The initial cost is relatively low, the learning curve is much gentler than other boards, and the feeling of speed when bombing a hill is very similar to the feeling you get on a snowboard.
Longboarding is also one of the most versatile board sports. You can use a longboard for commuting, cruising, carving, and even some tricks. You can bring it most places and ride it almost anywhere.
While exploring the different cross-training boards is interesting and helpful for specific goals, I recommend starting with a longboard. It’s an excellent way to experience the joy of riding and progress towards more specialized board sports.
