onthefence

I'm a new-ish rider eventually wanting to learn either pipe or rails/boxes. I have a few questions..

Which is easier to learn?
Which is eaiser to master?
Which is safer?

Any other pros/cons of either that I should know of while making my decision?

Argo

Park. All around answer for you

LuckyRVA

relavent username is relavent

onthefence

Whats this? Some new type of venting system for jackets? lol

Anyway, Pipe vs Park may have been ambiguous. I revised the question to Pipe vs Rails/Boxes...

Cr0_Reps_Smit

it depends what you end up being naturally comfortable with really. personally i kinda suck at pipe other then being able to go back and forth and air a little bit and would rather just lap the park all day then hike the pipe but i haven't plenty of friend who are the opposite.

why are you trying to make this decision when you're still a new-ish rider? are you looking for a new board and not sure what to get? there's no reason you cant do both really.

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LuckyRVA

zing

I've never ridden half pipe myself. But, why not try it out and see which one you like better.

BurtonAvenger

Plain and simple if it's in the park you ride it. Pipe teaches you better edge to edge control and how to maintain speed. You can learn the basics in a day which includes airing out and spinning.

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Angry Snowboarder Because someone has to call it how they see it!

Cane700

It depends on what you are comfortable doing and what you have more access to. Around me, pipes are scarce and parks are abundant.So I am better in the park by far. How safe or dangerous one or the other is depends on how big you go and whether you were ready to go that big

If you have access to both, get out and do both. Both are awesome.

KnoxBoarderX

Pipe is harder, but like other suggestions, try them both and see what you prefer.

lonerider

Rails/Boxes are easier to learn and easier to pretend you are good at - a person with less than a week's worth of riding can probably 50-50 a ride-on box. The thing is that a lot of what you do on a rail/box requires a skill set that is completely unrelated to using your board on the snow (i.e. unlike on snow, you never want to use your edges).

The pipe requires good balance and good edge control (i.e. the skill you pick up from being a good rider on the snow). Until you actually show proficiency at riding, you will look like an idiot. My guess is that you probably won't be able to ride pipe properly until you can ride black diamond groomers runs with confidence (because you have to treat each wall as essentially a very steep slope).

I would say pipe is safer... if you screw up, the curve of the wall acts like a slide. True, you can push too hard off the wall and land in the flat that can suck... but that only is an issue when you are clearing the wall of the pipe by a couple of feet... and let's be realistic, you are not going to get good enough for that to happen any time soon (if ever).

In comparison, there are many many ways to break bones messing up a rail (running into it, slipping out and landing on it, having you board go under it).

I say try both and see what is more fun for you. I personally like pipe more.