Snowboarders Can Learn from the Ski Diva

The skier-snowboarder feud? It’s in large measure old hat, kept alive by the media template that “confrontation makes news.”

While it’s true that snowboarding and skiing have some fundamental differences, they have some similarities as well, which means that a snowboarder can gain insight from a skier and vice-versa.

The Ski Diva is a blog published by Wendy Clinch. As the name suggests, the Ski Diva is written by a woman skier, for women skiers. (There’s also a discussion forum associated with it, but it’s a “no boys allowed” club.) Yet the Ski Diva blog also has some things to say that men snowboarders, and indeed all snowboarders can profit from. Here are some of my favorite entries:

Skiing steep, which points to two resources that give you a better understanding of your favorite mountain;

O Say Can You See, or what to do when you can’t see well on the slopes;

Have you ever shared a pass?, about theft of service and child care, and a few resorts’ family-friendly ticketing practices;

Ski diva goes legit, about Wendy’s entry to an association of snowsports journalists (you go, girl!);

Getting back into skiing … after the kids arrive;

The Zen of Skiing, or reflections on skiing (or snowboarding) as a metaphor for life;

Skinny on Reviews, or how to read reviews about skis (or snowboards);

Core of your being, about core strength training, an overlooked part of snow sliding;

A conversation about fear, and its place on the mountain; and

Things I don’t get about skiing, a list of habits that imperil human health and well-being.