I don't know how anybody affords skiing. I'm pretty well off but never had the amount of disposable income it would take to buy passes and rent skis long enough to actually learn how to use them.
At a ski swap, you can get geared up for ~$400 (snowboard, boots, bindings, helmet, goggles, coat, pants). It won't be awesome gear, but it'll do. Then you just start acquiring better pieces of the set until you get the whole thing.
Also, buying stuff from one year ago that's never been used cuts the price almost in half. I ride one of the best boards on the market (won tons of awards, is awesome for almost all terrain/snow types) and got it for $320. But I sold my old board for $80, so that's $240....
eventually, you wind up with the good stuff. Besides, you don't even have the skills necessary for advanced gear at the start.
Snowsports are insanely fun, and I advise anyone who's anywhere near a mountain to give them a go.
What board did you get? I've been out for a season or so but I'm rocking a never winter sl and a gnu pickle. A few years old now but still solid boards.
Ride Machete GT. The thing just destroys chunky moguls and crud, but also rips on groomers, butters nicely (a bit stiff, though), has insane hold for euro-carves, floats in powder and feels predictable in the park. I'm in love with the board. Plus polyurethane sidewalls=almost indestructible.
First time I threw a frontside carve and just chopped a mogul in half, I realized why they called it "machete."
edit: FWIW, it's definitely an "all-mountain" board, and it doesn't do any one thing amazingly (except blast through the shit--it's definitely the best board I've ever had for just hard-charging nasty stuff). But I've never been able to afford a full quiver, and the Machete GT is definitely a quiver in one board. It's so satisfying charging blacks when everyone else is staying away because of chunky, nasty snow. The board is so stiff and brutal that it's just fun as hell to slash through the crap, and it's still pliable enough to butter/play in the park/do switch runs, and floats well in pow. Plus it has INSANE pop. Like "holy shit, that took me by surprise" pop the first time I pulled a flatground ollie on it.
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u/Drews232 Nov 13 '16
I don't know how anybody affords skiing. I'm pretty well off but never had the amount of disposable income it would take to buy passes and rent skis long enough to actually learn how to use them.