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Skoarding is a recently developed extreme sport composed of the two alpine sports, skiing and snowboarding. Skoarding has newly been defined as a specific sport or pastime the main factor being that a proficient snowboarder taking up the pastime of skiing and skiing in the specific style of a snowboarder.
The word was likely invented in 2008 in Ski Utah's 2008 Ski/Snowboard Lingo awards, mentioned then as an entrant to a new word competition, meaning skiing and snowboarding, rather than skiing in the style of snowboarding. Skoarding is not a word used to describe two sports. It is an integration of two alpine disciplines skiing and snowboarding.
Skoarding was first developed/discovered in 2011 in the French alpine ski resort of Peisey Nancroix close to Les Arcs. Whilst switching their snowboards for fats skis Simon Wilkinson and Leon Baker discovered that after many years snowboarding that placing two skis on in the usual fashion but still "riding" in the same style that they have always been accustomed to should in fact be called something completely new.
Although laughed at by friends the idea soon caught on and many new characteristics became quickly apparent. firstly the choice of route on "the hill" whilst traditional skiers choose a predictive smooth pattern snowboarders are renowned for their completely unpredictable riding pattern and this is one of the most prolific Skoarder traits.
Other Skoarding traits include "hanging" with groups of snowboarders, one skier "hanging" with a group of snowboarders will quite quickly find him/herself becoming a Skoarder without realising it. Becoming a Skoarder can happen is several different ways, this can happen completely by accident by "hanging" or by default a snowboarder trying skiing and just getting stuck in but following the same style he/she is accustomed to.
Currently Skoarding is not largely recognised as a designated alternative to skiing, but there are community groups forming and growing in numbers as people are realising that this is not just a fad.
Technique
It is very simple to ascertain whether someone is skiing or skoarding. Anybody who has been taught to ski from scratch will be aware that all the motion of the turns is done by the legs and lower body. A snowboarder trying to ski, and hence skoard, will initiate all ski turns using a rotation of their upper body. Whilst this is certainly not the most efficient or technically beautiful approach, it certainly does work and is very familiar movement for a proficient snowboarder