Skateboard Vs Snowboard – What’s the Difference?

What’s the difference between the two? One loves concrete surfaces, while the other one adores snow. The shared bond between the two is a combination of stark contrast and similarities. 

But you need to know more about their technical differences while choosing one. You know, passion is energy. One cannot risk wasting it on wrong activities.

Do your homework properly for your next passion. Get into the details! The devil is there sleeping somewhere. I mean, you shouldn’t play hide and seek, no one will look for you, pigeon. Its only you who needs to find the next stay for yourself.

So, let’s dive into the details and get your facts right about these two sports. It will help you a lot in finding out which sport gets along with your personality and suits you well. 

What Is a Skateboard?

A skateboard is a piece of equipment that features a deck, bottom wheels, and trucks. It possesses some other small features as well, but the main part is played by the aforementioned parts. The rider or athlete is supposed to stand on this wooden piece with wheels. 

Being a skateboarding aspirant, one can get benefited from a few different types of snowboards on the market. And each type advocates a different style as it is specifically designed for it.

Generally speaking, there are only two categories: Longboards and shortboards, within these divisions, are many other varieties. 

So, if you are planning to buy one, firstly, you need to figure out what you want to do with it. Long story short, your need defines the kind of skateboard you need. Try answering my question: What do you want to do with it? 

Do you want to learn how to curve, push, or ride a fakie? What fascinates you? Do you fancy bowl skating or a mini ramp? Do you aim for basic skills or advanced skateboarding tricks?

For instance, if you usually run short on energy because of age or any other factor, opt for an electric skateboard instead of a manual skateboard.

In comparison to snowboards, skateboards are shorter and usually come in the famous maple wood or bamboo material for durability. 

What Is a Snowboard?

Snowboarding is comparatively easier to ace at a beginner level, however, its gear costs more than skateboard equipment. You will find snowboarding similar to skateboarding. Do you wonder why? 

Because snowboarding is a marriage between skateboarding, surfing, skiing, and sledding. Don’t you see both include goofy and regular stances? Your stance is determined by your front foot. 

Like a skateboard, a snowboard is a popsicle-shaped flat piece of wood, but it features a sidecut as its longitude has an inward curve. It doesn’t feature wheels but a wooden body wrapped between fiberglass layers to glide on snowy-covered terrains. 

The base of the snowboard is usually made of polyethylene plastic. However, some manufacturers also utilize materials like carbon fiber, aluminum, or piezo dampers. It is typically longer, 55 inches to 62 inches, than a longer skateboard that is 36 inches to 48 inches.

In snowboarding, the board is attached to the rider’s feet with the help of special snowboard bindings, which is clearly absent in the skateboarding sport. If we talk about its types, snowboards are being offered in multiple designs according to the style one opts for. 

Again, one should buy a snowboard according to his or her needs. I mean, trying to ride freestyle snowboard while being equipped with a hard or rigid snowboard will only make you lose teeth and naught else. 

You need to find out the driving force behind your passion for snowboarding. Is it about learning exceptional snowboarding tricks like some advanced snowboard tricks? Or you just want it as your pastime without any set goals. 

Comparison of Skateboard Vs Snowboard 

Let’s get into a quick comparison between the two sports and see what stands unique about each of them.

Stance & Balance

The stance of the rider is the way a surfer stands on the board, and we name it the surf stance. Both sports demand a different stance for a joyful ride.

Although the sideway stance is a requirement for both snowboarding and skateboarding, there are some minor differences you need to pay attention to. As I said, the devil is in the details. 

Just like skateboarders, snowboarders also stand on the board with their feet faced sideways, but with a significant difference in the gap between their feet.

A snowboarder would go for a shoulder-width apart stance while a skateboard rider stands with their feet closer to the ends of the board.

Another difference is the angle of their feet. A duck stance is adopted by snowboarders where the rider’s feet are pointed towards opposite directions, set at 45 degrees. However, skateboarders’ feet are usually set parallel to one another.

A major difference between the two sports is the use of bindings. Unlike snowboarders, a skateboarder’s feet are not strapped in the bindings on the board. 

What does it mean? It means they don’t get to enjoy leaning backward and forward while riding. You don’t believe me? Try it, and don’t come back to me. As I’m not so comfortable around zombies.

Basic Riding Skills

The most basic and significant difference between the two is the fact that snowboard riders ride on a board without wheels while a skateboarder rides a 4-wheeler board.

Therefore, the basic riding skills of both involve some fundamental differences. The most prominent one is the way a rider keeps balance on the board. 

Natural balance is the most important thing that comes hard to master. One cannot transfer the balancing skills of one game to another. I mean, if it could be possible, I’d have been riding a switch between the two until now. 

Another thing is the technique of carving, which is similar in both sports. It is a manner in which skateboard’s wheels turn while the snowboard turn on its edge. Riders of both sports turn by shifting their body weight towards an edge while using their upper body.

Also, it requires different skill sets to stop a snowboard and a skateboard. Skateboarders stop by using their feet, placing them on the ground, or by bailing the board.

However, snowboarders cannot set their feet free of bindings, so it’s not an option for them. Instead, they press the toe-side edge of the board into the snow and lift their heels a bit.

Learning Curve

You must have heard that impatience can cause wise people to do stupid things. Patience is a virtue an athlete should possess. Mind it! Without patience, one cannot achieve excellence.

You must have also witnessed some people comparing the two sports and eventually concluding skateboarding a comparatively tough one. Did you think hitting on the concrete ground will get butterflies in your belly? 

That’s the very reason why skateboarding comes hard to learn, while snowboarding possesses a steeper learning curve. Not to mention, hard snow or ice can hurt you more as compared to soft snow which is gentler on your bones.

Secondly, the moment you decide to skateboard, you are expected to put your feet on a wheeled board which makes it harder. The rider begins rolling the very moment he or she puts feet on it.

Sounds like uncountable butt landings to me. On the flip side, a snowboarder gets to practice on a parallel slope.

Acing the fundamentals of balancing and maneuvering on skateboard demands a lot of effort, strength, practice, and most importantly more time. Skateboarding tends to be more tricky for beginners to get the hang of its basics.

On the contrary, snowboarders typically take one or two days of practice to learn how to ride a mild slope.

Lastly, although the initial learning curve of skateboarding comes quite challenging, the pace of advancement after the basics have been learned proves to be almost the same for both sports. 

However, there’s a discussion on how snowboarding starts to get complicated and trickier after the basic level. This is because snowboarding involves riding pipes, jumping cliffs, and nailing steep slopes.

Cost and Accessibility

Long story short, snowboarding equipment will come costly as compared to skateboard equipment.

In the race of budget-friendliness, skateboarding easily wins by costing you anywhere between $100 to $300. On the contrary, snowboards may feel a bit heavy on your pocket by costing you $450 to $600.

With all those extra accessories like snowboard bindings, snowboarding pants, boots, snowboard jackets, goggles, and gloves, it gets imperative for you to spend extra dollars.

Risks and Dangers

I mean when I say that a minor fall can cost you brand new plastic surgery if you fall off a skateboard. Going slow or fast doesn’t matter as speed is not your enemy here but the ground. Even a minor fall at low speeds can cause you to hit the ground very hard.

What does that mean? It means you need to spend money on safety gear. Well, in contrast to skateboarding, snowboarding proves to be less risky.

However, for intermediate riders, the risk rises and multiplies as they attempt to take on risky steeper slopes at high speed.

One thing a snowboarder should not forget is that their legs are tied to the board so initiating turns or going fast and furious can severely injure their lower limbs if they happen to fall at such speeds.

To conclude, skateboarding proves dangerous for beginners, while snowboarding becomes a Godzilla at advanced levels.

Tricks

Although snowboarding takes after skateboarding and their tricks and stunts are quite similar, there are some deviations like bindings that a rider has to stay fastened into while snowboarding. However, these bindings are absent in skateboarding.

One of the reasons why snowboarding feels easier to master is because a rider stays fastened to the board while performing ollies, taking on rails, or performing 360, while a skateboarder has to muster courage and perform such tricks without any support. 

These tricks get risky in skateboarding if they mess up as falling on the concrete pavement isn’t duck soup. A road rash is harsher than a snow burn, obviously. 

Advanced skateboarders tend to easily transfer their skateboard skill set to snowboarding, however, it is much harder and trickier the other way around.

Just so you know, jumping is very different for both sports as one cannot easily transfer the skills from one sport to another one.

Skills Transfer

As mentioned earlier, both board sports feature different tricks and skills to ace it, however, balancing skills can be quickly transferred over to snowboarding or vice versa. But this is the case only for riders with advanced skills.

And yes! It’s astonishing to note here how some other skateboarding skills transfer to snowboarding.

Being an experienced snowboarder doesn’t guarantee that you will be nailing skateboarding skills with your experience with a snowboard. Do you wonder why? Because riding on a 4-wheeler board isn’t the same as riding a flat wooden board.

Well, the skills that carry over from one to another involve transitions, carving, halfpipe, and other freestyle tricks like that.

Popularity

If we talk in terms of sports events, especially in the United States, both winter snowboarding and skateboarding are equally represented and enjoyed.

Some of the popular ones for skateboarding are Skateboard Vert, Women’s skateboarding street, men’s skateboard park, and Skateboard big air. 

While some of the most prominent events for the snowboarding season are: Snowboard big air, Women’s snowboard Cross, Men’s snowboard slopestyle, and Men’s snowboard Cross.

Snowboarding is without a doubt most popular in areas that receive yearly snowfall. However, skateboarding tends to be more famous in Southern areas that do not experience snow. It is also prevalent in urban spaces where concerned skate parks are easily accessible. 

Is Skateboarding Harder Then Snowboarding?

Yes! Indeed. But consistency, patience, and practice are still the magic keys. If you develop particular skills for balancing on a skateboard, it would become much easier for you to use snowboarding in a couple of days.

But don’t you dare forget that at some point, both sports would become challenging.

Final Thoughts

I’d say, skateboarding and snowboarding are complementary sports. One can hone skills for one and use a part of it by practicing the other. That’s the very reason why many riders are so encouraged to cross-train for added fun.

If you own a brawny physique with a mind that adores daunting activities, try opting for skateboarding.

But if you are a backpacker, adore serenity,  and love nature more than urban spaces, learning snowboarding will do. But in the end, it’s you to decide and not me. So, pick the one that suits you the best!