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The part I find hard is over short uphill sections that they can skate or sidestep over where I'll have to unstrap and either boot pack or transition. I find I just have to beat them down the hill to give me a head start. Transitioning is slower as well.

Its not a race in the BC like the ski resort so I think they can hold they're fucking horses

But no one likes to wait

Fitness is key. Every year i plan on training all summer. It never seems to happen.
Ride with other snowboarders is a good option too.

Forget skiers. Try keeping up with a six-year-younger splitboarding wife who was a collegiate All-American cross country runner. Jeez!

I don't see what's the big deal here. If your efficient and have your system down you should be able to keep up (for the most part). When I started splitting I must have transitioned (In my living room) 50 times before ever getting on snow.

That said, I do get frustrated when fellow splitters don't have there shit together. Nothings more annoying when even though it's a no rush situation, people are fumbling around. We have a guy in our crew whos the worst! Meet him at the trailhead @ 7 and your lucky to leave by 8. We confronted him about getting his shit together a few weeks ago, his reply was "I'm sick of complying with other peoples schedule, I'm doing my own thing". My faithful token skier friend and I looked at each other dumbfounded. Well than I replied, looks like we wont be calling you next time. He hasn't been out again.
Moral of my off topic rant. Weak links break.

It really just depends on the tour. Some places are just as quick for boarders and skiers, others are deadly annoying on a snowboard. I can keep up, and often pass most skiers going in, but on the out I get destroyed on many of our exits here. So likely for me, I will relearn skiing again for some routes, and split for others. I said it, I like skiing too, I dont have any issue with skiing, so suck it Burton

There needs to be a emoticon for this.

Easily the most important recommendation in this entire thread.

Honestly, just get out more. You'll get more efficient at everything and the extra two minutes it might take to transition won't even matter. It also helps if you're willing to "out-gnarly" all your skier "friends" on the down.

The only advantage skiers have is super-steep ice.

Curious to know how many people can shred on their split skis? I def cannot. There is just no way I can edge that fat ski with a soft boot. People have different exits where they ride, so I am sure results vary, but I know I pray for my life when I am exiting steep, hard snow tree sections.

As both a skier and a splitter, I think it is pretty simple. You can't transition as fast as a skier unless you seek out pokey skiers. Assuming you are fit enough to keep up on the skinner and social enough to want to talk to your partners on the climb, the best you can do is practice making very efficient transitions, be careful where you stop, eat efficiently (put food in your pockets so you can munch on the climb, figure out how to traverse, and tour with compatible people. No, it's not a race, but it isn't a great feeling to always have partners waiting for you and sometimes you want to get off a ridgeline quickly. If you are slope test dummy, it is pretty easy to get to the bottom faster than most skiers and get a jump on your transition.

I've found that if your partners are always grumpy about you being behind or you are always grumpy about a partner falling behind, you need new partners.

cough hardboots cough

that being said I don't shred on my split skis, but hardboots help a lot.

I wouldn't call it shredding, but I can get by. That took a lot of practice and awkward falls to pick up. I think for the coastal bushwhack- rolling, tight trees, and weird snow- having short wide skis and leather boots (your splitboard as skis) can work pretty well.

Also, this made me think of the Scott Newsome Interview from push.ca:
http://web.archive.org/web/20120519235944/http://push.ca/blogs/spencerfrancey/archive/2011/04/08/scott-newsome-canada-s-first-snowboard-guide.aspx

Totally cracked me up! Thank you!