East vs. West... Again?

I know, this is sort of an odd question, but yet one that has come up recently with some folks from the east asserting that skiing in the two regions are actually different sports. Their argument focused on the fact that out west they get more snow, the elevation is higher, and for the most part, the vertical drops at ski resorts are longer. I guess the point of this post is that I don’t get how those factors would make the sport a different sport. My opinion is that it would make it similar to golf in that you can play a mountain course or an ocean course and while you would have some very different features, it’s still golf. Additionally, there are ski races all over the world, but wherever they are, they are still ski races. I don’t know. I guess I’m thinking out loud.