Let me take you back to the day: it was the winter of 2010, and my buddies and I were snowboarding at Mission Ridge, a small mountain in Eastern Washington. My friends and I were riding in the park and as we approached a jump, I noticed that there was an old lady skiing directly underneath the jump, carving from side to side.

Before I had a chance to warn anyone, my friend Mike came flying off the jump like a comet and ran into the lady with a lot of force. What ensued was 20 minutes of trying to pick her up while Mike apologized. She then proceeded to cuss him out for another 10 minutes while the rest of my friends and I waited in horror. The lady was in the wrong and yet, she continued to scream.

This story is important because it is was the day I realized that I hated skiers. I thought they were just a bunch of rich preppy kids who went down as slowly as they could, completely taking the mountain for themselves while snowboarders just sat and waited.

Then I realized something when talking to some of my skier friends. I realized that skiers hate snowboarders just as much. There is a full rivalry between skiers and snowboarders that has been going on since long before I was alive.

Although this is a rivalry that continues to gain steam on the slopes, I now think that there needs to be a resolution to this in order for skiers and snowboarders can enjoy the mountain together, peacefully.

There are tons of preconceived notions between snowboarders and skiers that have been the base of this ongoing rivalry. Snowboarders think that skiers are rich kids and old women, turning as sharply as they can and taking the entire mountain for themselves, while snowboarders are left sitting there to wait. Most snowboarders consider skiers very selfish.

However, when talking to skiers, I discovered that they think snowboarders are pot smoking hippies, and associate them with skateboarders who have the general reputation of being punk. They are referred to as “knuckle draggers,” because some snowboarders will put their hands in the snow while making turns similar to surfing. Skiers also find snowboarders selfish because they fly down the mountain like maniacs, pushing all of the good snow to the side in an act that skiers call “side blasting.”

If all snowboarders and skiers were just the stereotypes that they are portrayed as then the two would be completely different. In reality skiers and snowboarders are actually very similar, and even if they don’t want to admit it, share a lot of the same characteristics.

If you think about it, skiers and snowboarders enjoy the same thing. They like to drive to a resort in order to ride some sort of board down a mountain. Though the equipment the two use is different, the objective of what they are doing is exactly the same: to get down the mountain as enjoyable as possible.

The similarities don’t stop there.

Although snowboarders perceive skiers, as the ones with all the money, snowboarders need to have money in order to ride the mountain too. Snowboarding gear can cost thousands when you include a helmet (if you actually wear one), a coat, gloves, pants and goggles. Also, lift tickets can cost a fortune. A season pass to Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe can cost upwards of $ 800. It doesn’t matter if you ski or snowboard, it all costs the same. So, before one sport talks about how much money either has, think about the fact that you guys paid the same amount of money to be up on the mountain.

A thing that doesn’t get looked at enough when it comes to skiing versus snowboarding is the fact that everyone on the mountain is going out and enjoying the thing they are passionate about. Skiers are not going up to the mountain to sabotage snowboarders, and vice versa. Everyone is going up with the same goal: have fun.

Whether you are a “knuckle dragger,” or a “two planker” there is plenty of mountain for everyone. Next time you go up and you see someone doing the winter sport opposite of yours, don’t give them a foul look or say something bad about them. Just realize that they are out there trying to have a good time, just like you. So instead of being bitter, just go out and shred the gnar like it was intended to do.

Stone Harper can be reached at sharper@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @StoneHarperNVSB.