When the subject is winter sports, it is very hard to deny the supremacy skiing and snowboarding hold over all other activities in the category. While dog-sledding, bobsledding and curling all have their niche demographics, these two sports hold a pretty much universal appeal, and are the main driving force behind the Western world's seasonal pilgrimage to the slopes.

However, because their sports constantly vie for popularity, skiers and snowboarders do not always get along. In fact, rivalries between the two (albeit friendly) are the norm rather than the exception, and it is a well-known fact in the winter sports circles that these two demographics very rarely mingle.

What, however, is the exact reason behind this rivalry? Well, first and foremost, the divide between skiers and snowboarders seems to come down to a culture clash. The two groups are fundamentally different in ideology, mentality, approach to their preferred sport and often even age, which goes a long way towards explaining why they enjoy a sometimes friendly, sometimes semi-serious rivalry.

Generational Gap

The gap dividing skiers and snowboarders starts at the very origin of their preferred sport, and the amount of time it has existed for. Snowboarding is part of the second wave of 'extreme sports' to have come around, and its existence dates back less than thirty years, to the mid-1980s; skiing, on the other hand, has long been the staple of well-bred high society. It is not difficult to see how these two sports, and their inherent cultures, would clash.

Personality-wise, there is also a perceived divided between these two sub-cultures of the 'slope clan', although in this case it may come down to stereotypes more than actual fact. Because of their sport's association with the upper classes, as well as its history, boarders perceive 'two-plankers' as stodgy, conservative, and lacking a sense of humour. They, on the other hand, may see their more modern counterparts as a gaggle of neon-coloured, law-breaking, unintelligent, risk-taking juveniles. Again, however, these are traits enforced mostly by japes traded between the two demographics, which are not really blood enemies as much as simply competing factions in the great yearly wintertime game.

In the end, however, skiers and snowboarders both share at least one thing in common: their love of the slopes and of all things related to winter sports. The clothes, equipment, age group, mentality and approach may be different, but where it counts - in the spirit and the heart - these two groups are very much alike.