It's become the new rivalry of the mountain. Snowboarding vs. skiing. Snowboarders vs. skiers. If you're a snowboarder you can't stand the wide turns made by skiers, if you're a skier, you can't stand the speed and sharpness of snowboarding. It's a battle that will probably consume the mountain for years to come, until we all learn to share the powder equally.
An article in the United Kingdom paper Daily Mail states that a new report for the National Ski Areas Association in the US has made steps toward figuring out which snow sport is more dangerous than the other, and the result is surprising to most.
The research found that while snowboarders are 50 to 70 per cent more likely to get injured, there is less risk of a serious injury.
Rochester Institute of Technology states that snowboarders were also around 30 per cent less likely to be killed than skiers because the risk of 'collisions with fixed objects, where somebody is going at a relatively high speed' was higher on skis.
An increase in the number of people wearing helmets on the slopes has halved the number of head injuries since 1999.
The research also found that the traditional skier's injury of a broken leg has also been all but eradicated by improvements in bindings, which now commonly have quick release mechanisms.
