Snow Sports History Quiz Coming Soon

New to this season, Learn a Snow Sport Month will be posting a snow sports history quiz to test how much you know about alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Check back in mid-October for details.

Snow Sports Terms!

School is out and summer is in full swing, but now might be the perfect time to get excited about learning a snow sport by getting familiar with some new terms and ideas.

For snowboarding, it's important to know what stance is: you ride goofy if your right foot is forward and regular if your left foot is forward. 

If you're just starting out with skiing or snowboarding, you'll find yourself on the bunny slope, where the slope is gentle and great for beginners.

Trails marked with a green circle are the least difficult.

Trails marked with a blue square are for intermediates.

Trails marked with a black diamond are the most difficult.

Trails marked with double black diamonds are extremely difficult and only for experts.

Cross your fingers and listen to your instructor so that you won't end up having a yard sale, or a fall where your clothes and gear end up strewn all over the hill.  If you get up really early, you might just score some first tracks, left by the first run taken on fresh snow.   

If this hasn't cleared things up, check out Ski.com's Ski Term Glossary for tons more terms!

Top 5 Reasons to Learn

We can think of about a million reasons to learn a snow sport, and they all have something to do with how fun it is. Here's some of our other theories, though.

1) Lifelong sport: ski/board/snowshoe with your kids, grandkids, parents, grandparents, anyone. Seeing people of all ages out on the snow is so energizing!

2) Two words: first tracks. There's nothing quite like knowing you were the first one out on a fresh coating of snow, and no better way to start the day.

3) Get outdoors! Getting outdoors in the winter isn't easy-- having a reason to look forward to those snowy days and not resent snow-covered roads makes life a bit sunnier. Plus, resorts usually have great scenery.

4) Physical fitness- burn up to/around 500 calories per hour- and have fun doing it!

5) Lastly..learn a snow sport because you will never appreciate a hot tub and a cup of hot chocolate more! You can't apres-ski unless you've been out on the slopes.

What's your best reason to learn a snow sport? How do you convince friends?

Safety Tips

One of the main concerns of new skiers and boarders is safety. Although they do have some inherent risks, when individuals are conscientious, the sports are remarkably safe- safer than both swimming and bicycling, according to the National Ski Areas Association.

We like this article from ABC of Skiing, which focuses on what you can do before you hit the slopes to ensure your safety. Most of the tips apply not only to skiing, but to other snow sports as well. Here's what they suggest:

• Make sure you are in relatively good physical shape.
• Take a lesson!
• Make sure your gear is in good shape, especially the bindings.
• Wear a helmet.
• Wear a comfortable and weather-appropriate outfit-- beware of loose garmets such as scarves that could get in the way on the lift or while skiing.
• Apply sunscreen- even on cloudy days the sun reflects on snow intensely.
• Wear sunglasses or goggles to make sure you can see well.

Ski or Snowboard?

photo from onthesnow.com, Crested Butte, CO

Lots of beginners wonder which is a better choice to learn: skiing or snowboarding? While it's really up to personal decision and exploration, Vermont Living put it this way: "Learning to snowboard is different from skiing in one distinct regard - although learning to snowboard is twice as hard as learning to ski, your level of ability will increase exponentially faster on a snowboard than on skis."

If all you want is a fun day on the slopes we would truly suggest either one! Pick what interests you more and you will surely enjoy it. What's even more important than the learning curve is finding a great instructor and taking a lesson-- watching a ski movie or two (unfortunately) does not leave you qualified to teach yourself! Experienced skiers find learning to snowboard a completely humbling experience- they truly are two distinctly different sports.

Once January rolls around, Learn a Snow Sport Month will feature tons of deals at resorts around the country (23 states last year!) that will help you figure out just how to get started at learning a snow sport.

The moral of the story is, you should choose to learn what you are most interested in because in the end, any struggles will be rewarded with FUN!

Warmup before you start!

The best way (besides a cup of coffee) to start out a day on the slopes is with a warmup! As with other sports, warming up is a preventative measure that gets your body ready to get moving. Spending 10-15 minutes warming up might prevent an injury later on in the day, or just let you stay out on the snow longer.

Four phases of the warmup:

• Balance work-- Take several seconds to simply stand and balance on one foot. This will help your body make balance adjustments. Feel how the weight falls over the support leg/foot. The same thing happens during your winter sports — movement from one foot to the other, only with a lot more leveraging, power and force because of equipment.
• Limbering movements-- Include small, isolated movements to loosen up the ankles, knees, hips, lower back, and shoulders. You can do side reaches, arm circles, shoulder shrugs, leg swings, trunk twists, pelvic rotations and half squats.
• Skill rehearsal-- Improve the accuracy, timing and coordination of sport skills by taking a couple of warmup runs on gentle terrain.
• Stretch-- end your warmup with some basic stretches, then suit up and get out there!

Visit here for more tips on warming up for winter sports.