Sharing the Slopes : Recreation: Skiers have had to learn to make more room for their more radical counterparts, snowboarders. The latter sport has a growing following in O.C.

Skiers say they see them coming from a distance, an ominous blur against the white. Charging recklessly across the powder, done up in snappy mountain threads more street than snow. The outlaws of the slopes, the snowboarders, are here.

“Most of them are young and decent kids, I guess,” sighs Larry Evers, 38, who’s been skiing for 15 years. “But the thing is, they’re radical, doing all their tricks and routines. They really mess up the quality (of the ski runs) by acting so aggressive. . . . They make you nervous.”

Oh, c’mon, loosen your bindings, replies Dan Brown, a former skier turned snowboarder.

“Most of us don’t screw things up any more than the skiers,” says the 25-year-old Laguna Niguel resident, an avid snowboarder since hanging up his skis four years ago. “They just like to pick on us. I think they’re bitter; they feel left behind because snowboarding is taking over.”

That may be a stretch, but just about everybody from resort managers to snowboarding groups agree that the sport has grown quickly in recent years. The Surf Industry Manufacturers Assn. in Corona del Mar estimates that nationally 2.2 million snowboarders are expected to visit the mountains this season, up from 1.9 million last year. Board sales, the association notes, should jump more than 30,000 above the 130,000 mark of 1992-93.

Brown and others say Orange County, like most of the Southland, has a loyal and rising number of followers. This demands a peaceful coexistence between skiers and snowboarders, a fact the resorts recognize. While some don’t allow snowboarding, most do and have tried to minimize tensions by creating special snowboard runs featuring “half pipes,” or banks of snow used for tricks, much like skateboard ramps. They also have staffers patrol the slopes, warning visitors about unruly behavior.

“All that helps and I’m trying to be hopeful,” says Evers, from Huntington Beach. “It’s a real drag, though, when they come screaming down the slopes, tearing everything up when you’re trying to have a relaxing day.”

Adds Paul Herman, a 29-year-old Long Beach skier: “What I hate is when they cut you off or act like they own the place. They hoot and holler and say things to you, especially if you’re in the way. No respect.”

It all comes down to philosophies, concedes Brown. Pointing out that snowboarders tend to be younger (the core age group is 13 to 25 years old), Brown says that most skiers go for fast descents, performed gracefully if boringly, while snowboarders prefer acting up with almost acrobatic maneuverings on the mountain face.

Even their clothes are provocative; snowboarders have taken the radical urban styles, bright colors and baggy sizes onto the slopes, often annoying the sensibilities of more restrained skiers.

“Skiers are into speed, we’re into style,” Brown says. “Sometimes those (attitudes) don’t get along. The (two sports) are just very different.”

Instead of two long skis, snowboarding is done on a sleek fiberglass plank (which can cost as much as $500 new; used ones come as cheap as $100) somewhere between the size of a skateboard and a surfboard. The rider stands sideways, with his or her feet hooked into a pair of latches. From this position, the snowboarder can slash and cut through the powder, leaping from moguls to perform “aerials,” or air-born tricks.

The moves are similar to those done by surfers and skateboarders. No surprise there; snowboarding actually developed in the early ‘80s in response to both those pastimes. Surfers and skateboarders, already dominating the sea and the asphalt, naturally turned to the snow.

Back then, though, snowboarders were such a minority that most skiers hardly noticed them, and usually only as a curiosity. But not now. Skiers may not like it, but snowboarding has become an important sport. There are even contests, many of them televised on channels like ESPN. Mt. Baldy, for instance, plans to hold no fewer than four snowboard competitions in the next two months.

Some skiers, especially younger ones, have met the lure of snowboarding by crossing over. Mindy Clark, the marketing director for Snow Summit in Big Bear, notes that it rarely works the other way.

“Skiers (become snowboarders) but not vice versa,” she says. “It’s easier for snowboarders to get good once they learn, unlike skiing which is easier to learn but harder to get good at.”

Damon Saunders, 19, from Westminster, agrees. He says he found skiing somewhat difficult to pick up, even though he’s been surfing and skateboarding since he was 12. But snowboarding felt very natural, almost from the start. Now, he’s hooked.

“A common day when I’m not in school may start out with surfing in the morning, then a drive up to the mountains,” Saunders says. “We’ll do some styling in the snow in the afternoon, then come home, watch TV, then go out and skateboard ‘til dark. That’s a great day!”

An added attraction, Saunders felt obliged to note, are the girls and women who have taken up the sport in recent years. “There are some hot ones, and young, too. Not like (the older women) skiing,” he says.

In fact, snowboarding is experiencing a surge in feminine participation, says Fran Richards of Transworld Snowboarding magazine. This year, she predicts that 30% of the snowboarders will be women, compared to the 10% who surf and skateboard. “Women have a greater ability to be more competitive in snowboarding than surfing,” she explains.

That’s what appealed to Sara Sheen, a 20-year-old from Costa Mesa. Always looking for a new recreation, Sheen, who also teaches aerobics, tried surfing and skateboarding but wasn’t impressed. Snowboarding, however, eventually felt right, even though her first outings were difficult.

“I’d recommend trying it twice, not once,” she says. “You fall down all the time in the beginning, it’s not fun. But then you catch on somehow and there’s not as much pain. You stop landing on your butt all the time.

“What I like about it now are all the tricks and maneuvers. To me, it’s like dancing.”

As for the tension between skiers and snowboarders, Sheen has seen her share. Like Brown and Saunders, she’s been yelled at and joked about while in lift lines. Sheen has also seen fights, as has Brown.

“I guess we both bother each other,” she says. “It’s too bad, but I don’t thing we like each other.”

Evers won’t go that far, believing that a little respect on both sides can mean a lot. “They (snowboarders) aren’t going to go away, skiers have to understand that. But (snowboarders should) realize that we were there first and we’re not going away either.”

Where to Get on ‘Board

Here is a sampling of ski resorts, and whether they allow snowboarding, according to Sportours.

Yes

Banff/Lake Louise, Canada Bear Mountain, Calif. Beaver Creek, Colo. Big Mountain, Mont. Big Sky, Mont. Breckenridge, Colo. Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Jackson Hole, Wyo. Keystone, Colo. Mammoth, Calif. Mountain High, Calif. Mt. Bachelor, Ore. Mt. Baldy, Calif. Snowbird, Utah Snowmass, Colo. Snow Summit, Calif. Snow Valley, Calif. Squaw Valley, North Lake Tahoe, Calif. Steamboat Springs, Colo. Sun Valley, Ida. Telluride, Colo. Tiehack/Buttermilk, Colo. Vail, Colo. Whistler/Blackcomb, Canada No Aspen, Colo. Deer Valley, Utah Park City, Utah Taos, N.M.