As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, winter’s most important event comes closer and closer: ski and snowboard season. 

Each winter, tens of thousands of Oregonians in the Portland Metropolitan Area head up to their closest ski resorts: Mt. Hood Meadows, Timberline, Skibowl, Cooper Spur and Summit Pass. With close to 5,000 acres of unmatched terrain, spread over five resorts, Mt. Hood has quickly claimed the title as Oregon’s premier ski and snowboard destination. 

Recently, The Wolf met with members of the Tualatin High School ski and snowboard teams to put an end to the age-old debate: skiing vs. snowboarding. From the ski team, we had Joey Brick, Grace Love, Eleanor Evers-Hood, Anders Lien, Pierce Mathis and Sarah Masalmeh. From the snowboard team, we had Caylei Haider and Malia Shrope.

Is skiing or snowboarding the superior sport?

Masalmeh: “Skiing because it’s what I grew up with and it comes more naturally to me, unlike snowboarding.”

Shrope: “Snowboarding because people who snowboard are more chill and skiers are just rude.” 

Brick: “Definitely Skiing. You can go more places, faster, and don’t have to unclip on the lift. Also, skiers in general don’t fall as much as snowboarders; they’re always falling.”

Haider: “Snowboarding is way better than skiing. Personally, the tricks you can do on a snowboard seem a lot cooler to me than what you can do on skis.”

What do you think about people who do the other winter sport?

Shrope: “I think that 95 percent of them are too uptight and can’t relax.”

Lien: “Snowboarders need to stop sitting in the middle of the runs because it’s annoying.”

Who are more reckless and cause more problems on the slopes, skiers or snowboarders?

Brick: “Definitely snowboarders.”

Shrope: “The tiny 8-year-old skiers who think they know everything and constantly cut you off every two seconds.”

Haider: “I think that both sides could be reckless, especially when riders are inexperienced and fly down the hill without knowing how to stop. However, boarders call their drop, but you’ll never hear a skier call, which makes it dangerous because they could drop at the same time and cause a crash.”

Is skiing or snowboarding easier?

Mathis: “Skiing at first, then once you learn the fundamentals snowboarding is easier.”

Lien: “Snowboarding because it’s one board instead of two.”

Is it true that snowboarders have the easy way out of difficult terrain?

Shrope: “Yes because we can take one foot out and not worry about losing our boards.”

Love: “Yes because they just get to unclip one boot and hike out.”

Evers-Hood: “It’s true because they can just fall on their back to stop.”

Is it true that skiing is just glorified ice skating?

Brick: “Not at all. When you’re on the mountain, there are obstacles that make it really fun and you’re also going downhill.”

Evers-Hood: “No, our skis are bigger and have two sides.”