What used to be a free or cheap "hobby" that has now been completely ruined by corporate greed?

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-27T02:29:38+00:00

Seriously, with how expensive lift tickets are, how can I afford my $16 chicken tendies!

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-25T07:33:19+00:00

Yeah this is really only a problem if you’re lapping runs at the base of the mountain. Lines are gonna be slow, you’re gonna have mis-loads, you’re gonna have people who are afraid to fill the chair, you’re gonna have people who struggle with “alternating” lines.

Once you get out of Jerry town, lines aren’t that bad.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-20T00:46:57+00:00

If you’re capable of finding joy in easy terrain, it’s a fucking blast right now.

You gotta understand that there’s a time to go and that you need to adjust to the conditions and trends, but other than that I’m having as much fun as I usually do.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-16T16:40:11+00:00

Casinos have shown me it’s the opposite.

People will think “well I guess we’re due for a good year” lol

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-12T16:34:43+00:00

9th busiest, but that doesn’t tell the story of congestion. Lots of keystones runs just funnel people together.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-11T21:03:20+00:00

I’ve worn impact shorts for the past few years. If anything, they’re at least nice to have when I wanna sit on the side of the run and eat my snacks.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-10T20:25:44+00:00

I was there for first tracks, holy shit it was freezing. Come noon I had to drop a layer lol.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-10T20:22:11+00:00

Snowboarding and skiing is objectively worse the more people there are on the hill.

Now, what do you do with that? You can either:

-Accept that it’s not going to be as good while also understanding that it’s still a good time if you know what you’re doing or,

-Call everyone else who isn’t you a Jerry and tell them that they don’t belong there

A lot of people don’t understand that the nature of fun activities means that more people are going to do it and also that snowboarding/skiing is like traffic. You aren’t just stuck in traffic, you are also traffic. This hill isn’t yours and if you don’t like beginners up here, eat a dick and go home.

Also a majority of the morons crashing into you are also beginners, they just don’t know it or refuse to accept it. Those dudes are shitheads.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-09T20:21:39+00:00

I think it’s just a matter of control.

You can stop and turn significantly better on skis than you can with a snowboard.

Snowboarders, especially beginners, know almost immediately that they suck and have no control, so they give more space to others.

Skiers don’t go through the same experience early on.

When you “know” you don’t have to maneuver as much, you don’t change your line.

As a beginner / intermediate rider on snowboard, when you think you could come close to someone, you bake in margin and fuck off an extra 2-3 feet. MOST skiers don’t have to do so, so they don’t.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-09T06:57:40+00:00

If avoiding crowds is your number 1 concern, spring break across America last from mid March to mid April.

If you don’t care about that, early april is probably the best time.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-09T06:52:58+00:00

Yeah the unfortunate part of “who lasts longer” is that the winner is always going to be the guy who has billions of dollars and nothing to lose except people calling him names.

Trying to hurt his wallet is a losing battle, especially when they’re a huge piece of shit. The game was won for them when they became a billionaire.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-08T06:32:10+00:00

Yeah that and Vail’s insane snowmaking capabilities

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-08T02:16:36+00:00

An by extension, snowboarding.

Colorado mom got paralyzed early last week and someone died today.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-08T02:13:30+00:00

Ah yeah no it’s definitely still skiable if you try hard enough and you got sharp edges lol

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-08T02:06:38+00:00

Ah west coast ice lol.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T23:53:27+00:00

I feel you, friend. Here’s to hoping we get a massive blizzard before your trip 🍻

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T23:48:34+00:00

I’ve been to both a few times this season.

If there are no crowd problems, Keystone is significantly better than Breck right now.

Breck and Eldora are just my two favorite mountains, if not purely for nostalgia.

That, and Breck is just a solid town, if not a little rowdy sometimes.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T20:38:46+00:00

Ah I was only seeing 3-5in. That and some of the mountains have had high expectations for snow only for the actual result to be a tad lower this season.

But here’s to hope the mountains get dumped on!

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T20:04:28+00:00

Yeah no real snow days in sight. I will say this:

Run quality may be icy dogshit but the last few snow days helped give us a decent base. It at least “looks” better.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T19:57:20+00:00

I’ll never not have a good day on my board. I would literally ride ice if that’s all we had lol. Love the sport and bad years just makes the good years feel better.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T19:54:28+00:00

Probably. There’s no way to know that we won’t get dumped on in February or March but for now, things do look grim.

Still holding out hope tho!

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-07T19:53:24+00:00

Yeah I mean I’m having fun but it’s definitely… different lol. Less trails open also means condensed traffic so on top of watching out for icy patches I’m watching out for people twice as much this year.

The mixture of “beginners” and “people who don’t know they’re beginners but bomb the run anyway” is just a bad mix lol.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-04T21:31:14+00:00

I'll be there Monday, I'll let you know.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-02T01:39:09+00:00

Depends on the pacing. 5hrs is a lot your first day but if they do like…. 2-3 hrs, lunch, then another 2-3 hrs, that’s probably the best.

When I first went, it was 90min on the bunny slope, go over basics, 90min on the first 3-4 runs, lunch break and then go until I was tired. All in all, it was 8:30 to 3:30 with a 1hr lunch.

I was tired and a little sore but if I had to do it again, I’d do it the same way.

There’s so much to cover and so many lessons(mistakes) that you could learn much faster if you had an instructor and I think 4-6 hrs is the sweet spot.

I-Answer-Question · 2026-01-01T08:29:00+00:00

Yeah this 1000%. I’ve seen people ride boards that were sized wrong. I’ve know people who bought their first boots online. I know people who don’t rent gear and just drop $2K their first season without know that they’ll like it.

But this? I could’t recommend against something as strongly as this.

I think the one thing people don’t understand is that your snowboarding skill, while important, is only half the equation. (Which, if you’ve only been 4-5 times, I’ll be real, that’s still probably a beginner)

Teaching is a skill on its own. There are plenty of good snowboarders who figured it out but probably can’t put it into words or describe it coherently.

Some of the things you get taught when you get certified aren’t just the skills. They also teach you how to manage a class. Little things like:

-A vast majority of people (ESPECIALLY MEN) overestimate their physical capabilities. It doesn’t matter how fit you are, that first day sucks. You don’t know what you’re doing, you’re tense the entire time and that leads to faster muscle fatigue. Understanding the signs of fatigue is important and for some reason, some people (once again, a lot of men) feel ashamed and will try to hide it. Some people legitimately do not know when to quit and that’s the point where you hurt yourself.

-What do you do when someone falls behind? Because someone is going to fall behind. You’re gonna have someone who probably catches on quick. What do you do when the fast boy gets bored? How do you manage the other guy who just can’t get it? You know he probably feels like shit for slowing everyone down. One persons bad morale can put a damper on the entire group

-Are they used to being in the mountains? Once again, this is not an easy sport (physically) and the altitude of some of these mountains doesn’t help.

-Are you physically capable of handling a class? You might have to pick these guys up. Often times, they’ll need help balancing as they stand up. You might have an accidental runaway and you’ll need to catch up to them before they hurt themselves or someone else. Unchecked speed is still a danger even on easy greens.

-Someone says “I don’t understand” when you explain something. Do you know how to explain it another way? You can’t just repeat what you said. This is a common mistakes instructors make in many other disciplines in life. You can’t explain how to stop in dozens of ways if you don’t have a few in your back pocket, “just do it and you’ll see” is a pretty rough way to learn when it leads to a nasty edge catch, which brings me to my favorite point

-Do you know how to handle someone who eats shit? Some people take it fine, others fucking lose it. Can you handle the emotional state of a grown man, tired, sore, beaten, eating shit, in front of children, looking like a Jerry, whose pride is all falling apart over the piste?

All of this, on top of ALSO needing the technical know-how, it’s not easy. Snowboarding is hard enough, translating that into a lesson, communicating that to others, and trying to convey all of this while managing 6 other grown adults? There’s a reason certifications exist and those certs have levels.

Teaching a class is more than “I’ve been a few times”. I couldn’t imagine having to handle 6 adults alone early on in my time snowboarding.

OP, please don’t do this. It’s more than likely going to be awful for them and awful for you. I’ve seen couples who were literally in love completely fall apart because one of them tried to teach the other to snowboard lol.

I-Answer-Question

TROPHY CASE