well you see its kinda like gaper skiing, cause you just go down the mountain, as oppose to skateboards with 2 tips that you do tricks with. i found that interesting
longboards can definalty be compared to backcountry pow. its smooth and if you do what my friends do is simple controled "walking" on the board. as in street skating is compared to park by that it is more techincal "throwing" tricks.... if that makes sense