I’ve been on sporadic snowboarding trips over the past 3 years. I’ve managed to get to a point of relative comfort on blues and willingness to go on blacks with the understanding that I’ll probably falling leaf all the way down.

Given that I had lot of learning left to go on snowboarding, going skiing for the first time seemed like an odd decision. But thanks to over 12 feet of new powder to break falls and a very patient boyfriend, I decided to give it a shot.

The verdict:

Less gear Looking cool Double black: no problem Quick & easy recoveries after falls Chance of wrist injury (bad in tech) Flat runs are evil Getting off lifts the hardest part Going on toe edge against every bodily instinct	More gear Looking slightly-less-cool Double black: shitshitshitshit Look absolutely ridiculous after falls Chance of knee injury Flat runs conquered with poles Just stand up off the lift What edge?

If you’re brand new to both, your choices are pretty even. You should go with whatever sport more of your friends like as that means more travel buddies and free tips.

There’s one major exception that changes the equation: if you’re like me and have snowboarded for awhile, skiing will seem SO easy.

Last weekend at Kirkwood, I tried skiing for the first time and went down a black with parallel skis my first afternoon. All of the practice I’d had balancing on alternate edges of a board made skis seem like the most stable, predictable platforms in the world. And if you imagine that your feet are still on a board and must stay a fixed distance apart, you’ll keep your skis parallel in no time. I’ll need to take a few lessons to shake out some bad skiing habits, and afterwards… well, who says you need to choose just one?