Trying snowboarding at 58?

Airmiles

The Father -Son ski-trip is fast approaching.

My 12yo is board-curious and I was pondering the wisdom of trying a half-day snowboard lesson as a change from our usual ski-ing.

I'm fit and strong for my age (deadlift 1.5x bodyweight), BUT I've always had this perception of early stage snowboarding being high-risk for wrists and shoulders. Since I've had issues with both in the past I'm feeling a bit wary of the idea.

What do people think? Is it advisable? Is a half day, realistically, even worth it?

 I'm an expert skier and have always been told I'd find it easy but I'm sceptical it's that simple. OTOH, getting to manage a few basic turns would be really satisfying.

Thanks 

Kurtis

Kind of depends how much you throw yourself into it.
Being a good skier you should pick it up quickly, but a half day certainly isn't much. 

Jalapeno

ankles/wrist - yes

the bruises on you bum will be worse

drofluf

Be prepared to be bruised; I am (or was) a strong skier but even when I was skiing every day it took a lot to change my mindset from going forward with free feet to going sideways with them locked. 

But a whole lot easier than monoskiing. 

duotone

For a half a day, I wouldn't bother tbh. Stick to the skiing & enjoy that.

DiscoStu

WEAR A HELMET.
I cannot stress this enough. If you're getting a lesson then they should make you wear a helmet anyway but if you keep at it then don't take the risk.
I had a snowboard accident. Slipped on an icy nursery slope, banged the back of my head, ended up with a brain tumour and major brain surgery to remove it. I was just wearing a woolly hat.

Dominic

I am an experienced skier ......spent a couple of seasons as an instructor in Mayrhoffen and Zermatt in the early  80's and have quite a bit of experience .
Normally I ski every year but I'm older and less interested in huge speed although I can cut my way through a steep mogulfield I tend to run out of puff quickly and need to break a few times especially at altitude.
5 years ago we were very snowed=in on a weekend in Saas Fee .2 of the old school friends I ski with are truly experts ( have been in a documentry skiing down Everest in the late 80s etc ) ...we wanted to go out although all the upper lifts were closed so we decided to get some snowboard lessons on the Lower slopes .................I was a good skateboarder as a kid so I thought I would be just about ok ...........I was fucking useless and so were they .
Being an 'expert' skier will not help you at all .

TTBZ

Half a day doesn't feel like it would be long enough to get the hang of it. The first lesson you're just going down on your toe edge. Prepare for burning calves, even as a cyclist mine were fucked after the first lesson!

Airmiles

Cheers folks - that kind of confirms my suspicions.
Good point about calves, @TTBZ ;

I'll stick to skis, then 

blobb

Funnily enough, I found being a (semi) decent skateboarder helped a lot more than being a (semi) decent skiier. Maybe because you learn how to fall over as a skater? Anyway, I reckon you should try it, think of all the idiots that do it in lessons. the instructors will keep you safe. I tried it for a bit but I soon went back to skiis, just more fun than boards.

Kurtis

I found it totally different to skateboarding but once you get your head round not being able to move your feet and figure out how to stop it's not that difficult.
I didn’t get any lessons though so might have been doing it all wrong. 
Most of the soreness was just from using muscles in a way I wasn't used too, kind of thing. Was totally knackered after! 
Bloody good fun though!

drofluf

My conclusion was if I only had a week a year in the mountains why waste any of it getting battered on the nursery slopes when I could be out on the proper slopes

hassleham

Definitely recommend having a go. I wear wristguards under my gloves to prevent wrist injuries. Padded shorts are great too!

pt22

If you can source a cheap motorcycle back and tailbone protector I’d consider it. I learned how to snowboard with my armoured jacket and back protector and it was very useful. 

On a snowboard you go down quickly, and with little notice as compared to skis. 

After day 1 you’ll be fine I’m sure. 

snowblind

Just be mindful of the fact that at 58 you don't bounce as well as you did when you were 28. I reached 40 and decided going back to rugby was a good idea. It was great fun and did wonders for my fitness right up until I snapped an ACL. Damage that would have been trivial a decade ago can become more of a consideration, happen a lot easier and take longer to fix.

There comes a point at which you have to trade brief moments of fun against longer term comfort. That said, being able to enjoy life with your kids is worth a knock or two. Everything is a trade-off.

"You gotta  - accentuate the positive, eee liminate the negative..."