Briefly go through the history of boarding with emphasis on snowboarding being accepted through the years as both an olympic sport and a leisure activity. Outline the 'steps to safety' that has been taking to ensure that snowboarding is just as safe - if not safer - than skiing (lessons, leash, yada yada). Explain that the sole reason snowboarding gets a bad rep is because it is viewed as a 'punk teen' sport, and whether or not your school acknowledges it, disallowing it on the trip only adds to this false stereotype.

Unless your trip is to one of the very very few ski-only hills, they have no justification to ban it. Of all the school ski-trips I went on as a kid, they had lessons offered for snowboarding as well as skiing. Whoever you present this to will likely say 'snowboarding is dangerous and we are liable for injuries / don't need any injuries on the trip', in which case you ought explain that casual snowboarding has a much lower % of lower body injuries than skiing because both feet are secure - thus broken/sprained/pulled/twisted legs, knees, and ankles are far more rare than in skiing. The vast majority of snowboarding accidents occur when inexperienced riders travel into the park and do dumb things - however the same applies very much to skiing as well.

If you can make a mature case of it, and not 'OMG ITS A SPORT AND EVERYONE DUZ IT', you may have a shot. Sadly any school that still hasn't accepted snowboarding is likely due to the principal or members of the board being old ski-pricks that have a vendetta with the sport and likely won't change their mind easily.

Best of luck.


[Edited by Oddity on 1/22/2009 at 6:19 AM]

That is the most bass ackwards thing I have heard.  A ski trip that doesn't allow snowboarding?  WTF?  Are there any Tele kooks or ghey bladers in this group? 

Also, the full term that sk areas use for snowboarding is "snowboard skiing".  Jesus, a snowboard is just a mono ski with the bindings mounted correctly.

Overall, I would just say skip the trip.  If they are going to be such jerks about it, I wouldn't participate.  Get your parents, yourself, and others to write into the school for having an exclusionary trip.  Only allowing skiers to go to an area where other forms of sliding are allowed is basically profiling.  Bitch to the school board, news outlets, etc.  Especially if you school is a public one, you can probably put enough pressure on them to cave or have to cancel the whole thing altogether.  If you want to go that far...

I skied before I snowboarded (didn't have any choice in the old days) and know that they're both equally as easy to learn - I was off the bunny hill and on the lifts within 30 minutes of starting both. 

I think skiis are more dangerous because they can get crossed up and legs really twisted/mangled in big wipeouts. Their "releasable bindings" don't always release. Poles are strapped to the wrists without any release, have sharp points and add to the too much equipment mangle mess in a wipeout

snowboards don't have releasing bindings, but legs don't get twisted as much when you eat it.

snowboards have much more surface area and float exponentially better in deep snow - getting stuck in and trudging out of deep snow tires one out and fatigue is when mistakes are more likely

From a statistical stand point snowboarding is slightly more dangerous than skiing.  Ski-Injury.com has great info on rates of injury per skier/rider days, attitudes, etc.  Check it out.

You should go to the mountain on your own time instead of spending a few hours in a stank ass bus full of idiotic booger eaters, have to sit through "safety speeches", and only get 4 hours of ride time, and then repeat the trip back.

where are you going?  Do you have to sign a contract that you won't rent a snowboard when you get there?

just rock up with a snowboard..

if they won't allow snowboarding simply insist that everyone who goes ski on old school unfun straight skiis. By riding "shaped" skiis they are inadvertantly validating snowboarding. sidecut was invented by a snowboarder, not skiers.