What a lot of people don't realize is that snowboarding has changed a lot since it started - both in ability and culture. Even when I started skiing in the mid-90s, snowboarding was still the "rebel" thing to do. You almost never saw adults snowboarding, it was always teens and young adults. You combine that primary age group with the desire to rebel against the norm, and you have yourself a new sport that has a strong correlation with asshole punks. So please, don't think people who complained about skiers back then were coming out of nowhere with their criticism.

It's changed a lot since then. Snowboarding soon overtook skiing as the "cool" sport to do while skiing became the thing stuck-up squares did. New entrants to mountain sports soon started picking snowboarding over skiing because of the "cool" factor. Pretty soon, freestyle and "new-school" skiing took off, which made skiing cool again.

Nowadays, you'll get punks and assholes on both skis and snowboards.

Also, for people who have never skied or snowboarded, there IS merit to skiers complaining about snowboarders. Skiing and snowboarding use different types of turns etc., which make an impact on the snow. Skiers, with short turns, tend to create moguls - which is sometimes a sought after type of ski trail. Snowboarders tend to make longer turns, and only the good ones know how to carve properly. By carving, they dig the side of the board into the snow on a sharper angle - thereby making less contact with the snow. This is good for turning and also doesn't impact the snow as much. Most snowboarders don't carve. As such, they end up sideswiping the snow in irregular formations. A lot of skiers don't know how to carve as well, but since ski turns are more consistent, they'll push the snow into a fairly consistent pattern and create moguls. The inconsistent mounds of snow that snowboarders create are not fun to ski through.

As a skier, I tend to prefer to ski with other skiers rather than snowboarders. But this is mainly because snowboarders are slower, have less maneuverability, and require more time to put their board on after a chairlift. I don't like waiting. For example, if you get to a flat section, skiers can just skate. Snowboarders have to take their board off and walk.

But at the same time, my uncle and my college friend are both fantastic snowboarders who pride themselves on keeping up with skiers and doing all the terrain a skier does, rather than just sitting in the terrain park all day. The only time I get annoyed is if I have to wait for them in a flat section (but I usually lend them a pole in those situations).