Are you or your kids giving up skiing to try snowboarding? Or are you trying snowboarding for the first time? If you’ve already tried snowboarding you don’t need us to tell you it requires a different skill set then skiing and can be extremely challenging.

The American Journal of Sports Medicine did a study at a ski resort in Vermont looking at over 12,000 injuries over 18 winter seasons. The results showed that most injuries occurred in young, inexperienced snowboarders.

What this study tells us is that snowboarding incorporates a crucial balancing aspect to it that skiing doesn’t have to the same degree. The difference is so drastic that they have a greater potential to become injured snowboarding then they do skiing.

So we think, as parents, having the conversation and being sure that your child (or you) has more experience with snowboarding before advancing and doing things that could cause more injury is an important one to have before they hit the slopes each winter (however mild).