The Skiing Thread

[Blue]

I go every year and have done for over a decade.
the two fields near Queenstown are crap.We stopped staying at Queenstown and prefer to stay at Wanaka. Cardrona is very reliable and we ski mostly there.but on good days you can't keep us away from Treble Cone.
Once in the past 5 or 6 years we have had to do the jet boating etc due to poor skiing conditions.
The slopes are much less congested than in Oz.
I now refuse to go down to our snow anymore,it is just too crowded.
price wise NZ is a little cheaper than staying on snow in Oz (you don't stay on snow in NZ)

Great advice, thanks. Looking at the snow reports treble cone and Cardrona see to have done reasonably well so far.

Maybe I will change to Wanaka. Any lodging advice perchance?

 

[rugbyskier]

A few more from Thredbo:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-prn1/63386_434220742762_8076314_n.jpg

In the 'root suit'

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-prn1/59164_434221497762_5538670_n.jpg

Short turns on High Noon

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-prn1/63373_434221662762_4725366_n.jpg

At the top of Sponars

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-ash4/s720x720/418802_10151120799206827_2113530321_n.jpg

Sometimes you have to do snowploughs when you're teaching

 

[Blue]

Rugbyskier that reminded of this on Snowmass Mountain, Colorado:

I took this photo on a First Tracks morning. At 8 in the morning it's a hard choice.

I discovered that Coffee Pot joined Naked Lady so it all works out in the end.

 

[rugbyskier]

Great advice, thanks. Looking at the snow reports treble cone and Cardrona see to have done reasonably well so far.

Maybe I will change to Wanaka. Any lodging advice perchance?

Yep, Wanaka for the skiing and Queenstown for the partying.

I haven't stayed in Wanaka - drove over for dinner with friends from Canberra! There seems to a range of motels and apartments, with the Edgewater resort as well.

 

[Blue]

10 days in Sun Peaks - would you get bored? I know in Whistler you won't.

I know a few families that go to Sunpeaks every year for the reasons you mention, Rugbyskier.

 

[I like to watch]

Try these people.
http://holiday.accommodationwanaka.com/holiday/Accommodation

In regards to Treble Cone, it is really only good for strong intermediate skiers and above.Or weaker skiers in a lesson.

 

[rugbyskier]

10 days in Sun Peaks - would you get bored? I know in Whistler you won't.

I know a few families that go to Sunpeaks every year for the reasons you mention, Rugbyskier.

I don't think I'll get bored as there's plenty of terrain and if you hook up with locals they'll show you some good sidecountry runs. I'm going to be there over Christmas and New Year and there's plenty of activities on over that period.

I'm getting a car for the duration so there's opportunities to do day trips to Big White and other nearby resorts.

 

[rugbyskier]

I haven't skied for about 6 or 7 years now (since a knee reco and more recently more knee surgery) but am keen to get back into it.

Thanks to my Dad being a keen skier I've skied since I was really young.

I did several years on telemark skis and have done plenty of backcountry in Australia and Japan but then reverted back to downhill gear.

I've skied in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and spent a season in Canada in 05/06 (at Big White, British Columbia).

Keen to go back to Japan or Canada in the next year or so.

Good to hear you're getting back on the boards.

Where have you skied in Japan? I've been to Hakuba, Myoko and Nozawa Onsen on Honshu and Niseko (aka Kuta-on-the-snow) and Furano on Hokkaido. The next trip to Japan will probably be in 2015 and I'm looking at Zao Onsen for that one.

 

[Braveheart81]

Good to hear you're getting back on the boards.

Where have you skied in Japan? I've been to Hakuba, Myoko and Nozawa Onsen on Honshu and Niseko (aka Kuta-on-the-snow) and Furano on Hokkaido. The next trip to Japan will probably be in 2015 and I'm looking at Zao Onsen for that one.

I have been to Furano twice.

I've also been to a place called Asahidake. Asahidake is basically a backcountry resort. There is one cable car (one of the big 40 or 50 people ones) and then there are only about 3 or 4 groomed runs down the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain there are cat trails on either side that loop back to the cable car. The idea is that you ski off-piste and as long as you head downhill you will end up hitting a cat trail that takes you back to the cable car. The mountain is also an active volcano and you can hike up from the top of the cable car to look at various vents in the volcano that spew out steam etc.

The other place I've skied in Japan is an area called the Tokachi Mountains. There is no resort here. This was all backcountry hiking up mountains and then skiing down. There are several onsens in the area and a bus that travels up the road to each onsen. Being the lazy person that I am, I worked out that I could hike about 100m from the onsen at the top of the road and be in knee to thigh deep powder and then ski down for close to an hour to the onsen at the bottom of the hill and then pay a few dollars for the bus to take me back up to the top of the hill.

 

[rugbyskier]

I heard from a few people in Furano about Asahidake and the backcountry/onsen experience in Tokachidake. Hakkoda, on the top end of Honshu, is a similar off-piste resort to Asahidake and there was a big article in the SMH a few years ago about how members of the Thredbo ski patrol rescued a number of people trapped in an avalanche there.

Love Japan for the powder skiing and the cultural experience. Took a little while to get used to the onsen rituals but once I did I found them a great way to recover from the days skiing. The craziness of Tokyo is awesome, with the manga nerds and maid cafes in Akihabara and the Harajuku girls on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[cyclopath]

rugbyskier I am thinking of updating my much loved boots of the past 8 years (Nordicas). I have a shocking set of feet - basically taper continuously from the heel to a fat paddle at the front, with a high instep.
So I want to get them WELL-fitted. Anyone you particularly recommend?

 

[rugbyskier]

rugbyskier I am thinking of updating my much loved boots of the past 8 years (Nordicas). I have a shocking set of feet - basically taper continuously from the heel to a fat paddle at the front, with a high instep.
So I want to get them WELL-fitted. Anyone you particularly recommend?

Jindabyne Sports are the best bootfitters - they have stores in the old town centre in Jindy and in the Village Square in Thredbo. Larry Adler is good too - there's stores in Jindabyne and Collaroy in Sydney.

You have very similar feet to mine. I had a pair of Nordica Beast 12s and I updated last year to the Nordica Hot Rod 9.5s. They are the most comfortable boots I've had.

 

[cyclopath]

Yeah, mine are Beasts. Will look out for the Hot Rods.
In the Village Square, is it the guy next to the stairs? I had heard he's pretty good.
Thanks for the tips.

 

[rugbyskier]

Yep, Jindy Sports are next to the stairs. Good luck, but I think you can't go wrong if you look at the Hot Rods first.

 

[rugbyskier]

Rugbyskier that reminded of this on Snowmass Mountain, Colorado:

I took this photo on a First Tracks morning. At 8 in the morning it's a hard choice.

I discovered that Coffee Pot joined Naked Lady so it all works out in the end.

I assume you ploughed the Naked Lady?

 

[fatprop]

Jindabyne Sports are the best bootfitters - they have stores in the old town centre in Jindy and in the Village Square in Thredbo. Larry Adler is good too - there's stores in Jindabyne and Collaroy in Sydney.

You have very similar feet to mine. I had a pair of Nordica Beast 12s and I updated last year to the Nordica Hot Rod 9.5s. They are the most comfortable boots I've had.

I had Larry Adler make me up a pair of Strolz custom foams a few seasons ago, just the best thing I had ever done.

I put them on of a morning, lock them down and undo them when I take them off.

Absolute comfort skiing for the first time.

 

[cyclopath]

I had Larry Adler make me up a pair of Strolz custom foams a few seasons ago, just the best thing I had ever done.

I put them on of a morning, lock them down and undo them when I take them off.

Absolute comfort skiing for the first time.

Thanks mate. They go into any boot shell?

 

[terry j]

I assume you ploughed the Naked Lady?

No, he froze.



Always enjoyed skiing except for one major problem, had a hell of a time getting boots that did not hurt. A certain way to ensure the day is not enjoyable.

Decided to buy a pair and have them fitted (used the one at the stairs) but even then no luck. So have given up finally.

But having taken the girls down for a few years along the way my eldest one day decided after finishing HS that she would become a ski instructor. Talk about something coming from left field!

And she did. She ended up at smiggins and has been there for maybe five years now? In summer she works for a few months and gets money so she can head off OS and ski, then back for the season here.

Ha, so we decided to bite the bullet and buy a unit at jindy...which seemed a reasonable plan...however the latest is 'I have done it for five (?) years now and think I want to do something else'!!

Arrgghh. She reckons she can work it that the unit be used by the resorts for staff accommo or something, hope so because having a unit for only a few years is not a good idea money wise.

She may decide to keep going for a few more years, time will tell. She has been bitten by the 'park bug'..I think park is what they call using rails etc to ski off. So no more 'getting level three instructor' (or whatever the highest level is), she wants to do this freestyle type of stuff.

 

[fatprop]

Thanks mate. They go into any boot shell?

Not that I am aware

When they did mine they blew out a new shell first (to fit my clown feet), then built new foot beds, then did the foam including the tongue

 

[Blue]

I assume you ploughed the Naked Lady?

Gentle carving is more my style as long there are a few big moguls along the way