It seems that many snowboarders pick up longboarding as something to do in the summertime. For me, it was the opposite. This winter was the first time I've had a chance to snowboard...

Pre-slopes

The very first thing I noticed was how much more stuff you have to have to snowboard. For longboarding, you need a board. For snowboarding you need a board ($250 - $1000), bindings ($25-$200), boots ($40-$170) and snow gear-good gloves, goggles, thermals, a coat and snow pants. You also need a mountain with snow and a lift ticket. For me it was Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, BC, Canada. Once you have all that gathered you're set.

Pre-lessons

The first couple of days I tried to learn on my own, with the help of a brother-in-law, Ben, and with my background of longboarding. Once I was strapped in, I quickly found myself hurtling straight down the hill. That was fun, but the only way I could stop was falling backwards and sliding. The snow was soft, so it didn't hurt and it was actually kind of fun to slide down the hill in a big puff of snow.

At first, it felt very strange having both feet strapped in. You can't jump out when you feel you are losing control, which is good because a loose snowboard hurtling down the hill could knock someone cold. If you find yourself on flat ground, you have to loosen your bindings, pull your foot out and with your other foot still stuck on the board at a perpendicular angle, pushing is VERY awkward. It also feels strange having your ankles held stiff by the boots. It helps you when you are riding, but it's a very different feel to get used to.

As I started to figure out turning, I found it is almost nothing like longboarding. Trying to turn by leaning the direction you want to go will do nothing but put you up on your edge and eventually you'll topple over. Trying to turn by moving your front foot around causes you to "catch an edge" and you'll find yourself on the ground quickly. The best way for me was to move my back foot around until the board was facing the way I wanted to go. It definitely didn't come naturally, and after a week, I still had to think about each turn before I made it. I have only ridden a Freebord couple of times, but from what I remember, if there is anything compares to a snowboarding, that's it.

Lessons

I highly recommend lessons. Mike, my instructor who was coincidentally also a longboarder turned snowboarder, compared snowboarding to surfing, you drop in, find a something to look at, e.g. a tree or sign, move your head that way, then move your arm around to point at the object and you move in that direction. It worked. We skipped the green runs and went on to the steeper blue runs. After a few minutes, he had me making wide turns down the mountain without falling. After a couple hours of practice, I felt comfortable making smaller, faster turns.

I found that the best thing I could do was completely avoid comparing snowboarding to longboarding in my mind, every time I did that, I forgot what I was doing and fell. Snowboarding was a mental exercise more than physical.

Post-Lessons

After my lessons, I felt good enough to go to the top of the mountain and make my way down. Everything went well until I found myself on a cat track. A cat track is a zigzagging trail down the mountain, about the width of a road and not steep at all. They are lame for the learner. There isn't enough room to turn; there are too many flat spots where I found myself having to un-strap and push because I didn't have enough speed. That was where I acquired the bruised wrists and sore elbows.

I was also worried about the cold, being from Florida, I hate it. It wasn't a problem though, get a decent jacket, snow pants and gloves and you'll be fine. It was sunny out and I was sweating and shedding layers of clothing after a half hour.

Snowboarding is awesome. The views are beautiful, there is so much potential for speed, on your first day out you'll be going down hills steeper than you'd ever dream of longboarding down. After a week, it starts to feel somewhat natural, and hopefully, after a couple times doing it, it will be like longboarding where you don't concentrate on how to longboard, but on pushing your limits, and the great feeling of the wind in your face.

What has been your experience with snowboarding? Post comments below.