2013 Snow Thread

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jimmy_22

Likes Dirt
cleeshoy said:
Didn't work at all. We lived off our savings during that period (which we obviously planned for!). Its a great lifestyle choice. We saved heaps of cash by eating lunch at home after riding. Food "on the mountain" is hideously pricey.

We would get there for first lifts and ride until around 1-2pm. Given we were there for the season we didn't need to ride until "last lifts" - In fact I think I only rode to last lifts (around 4:30pm) once - and that was because I had a mate who was there for a short period and wanted to ski as much as possible.

Didn't ride everyday. We would usually have Saturday off, just so we wouldn't have to fight the weekend crowds. Of course if it dumped 8 inches on Friday night we would ride for a few hours on Saturday :)
When you are there for the season you can just pick and choose when you want to ride - I reckon my wife took every 3rd day off. On those "off days", we would go hiking, go to the gym, etc.

One thing we enjoyed doing was getting up super early and hiking up the mountain before the lifts started. Get to the top, strap in and get first tracks. Its nice to see the looks on peoples faces who are on the chairlifts thinking they are going to get first tracks :)

In the end I think I rode just over 100 days that season. Certainly one to remember!

We had to get some extended tourist visa as we were there for >3 months. I think it was valid for 12 months but you could get one for 5 years if you wanted to. Of course, given you have a US passport that doesn't really apply to you (lucky thing!)
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how much would you recommend saving? sorry for all the questions, i figure if im heading over there i might as well try and make the most of what's on offer, i think Breck sounds like it will be the winner.

as for steep terrain, I'm more of a park rat anyways but given that you can get the epic pass i think that would be the best outcome to change it up a bit
 
B

B.utters

Likes Dirt
jimmy_22 said:
I'm more of a park rat anyways but given that you can get the epic pass i think that would be the best outcome to change it up a bit
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In that case Breck 100%, thinking about that park gives me an erection. I'm sure you will if you are there but make sure you check out Keystone too, watch this twice, once of the riding and a second time to look at all the features in the background:

[video=youtube;nYzlWois5eU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzlWois5eU[/video]
 
cleeshoy

cleeshoy

Eats Squid
jimmy_22 said:
how much would you recommend saving? sorry for all the questions, i figure if im heading over there i might as well try and make the most of what's on offer, i think Breck sounds like it will be the winner.

as for steep terrain, I'm more of a park rat anyways but given that you can get the epic pass i think that would be the best outcome to change it up a bit
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Save as much as humanly possible. I won't say how much we saved but I can tell you we saved for 18 months to make this trip happen.

A breakdown of costs (from memory):
* airfares - I think we used FF points, so not much. Make sure you adhere to baggage restrictions though - I think its 2 x 23kg bags to the USA? Of course the domestic flights might have less generous allowances so check, check , check!
* We were quite lucky as we leased a friends condo (3 bedroom place with garage, TV, full internet, etc) for maybe $250/week? In that way we just took care of the place but also meant they could come and visit and use the spare rooms. $250 a week for 5 months (we travelled about the last month) = $5,000 just in accomodation (that's half an S-Works bike!). Of course if you live in a share house, costs are MUCH less.
* Season Pass was ~$500
* Friends lent us their old university car - it was pretty old but it got us to the hills. We did pay $400 for some decent snow tyres though. Petrol was pretty cheap ($4 a gallon). I reckon $20 a week at most? The buses that go around Breck are free I think?
* Biggest expense would have been food but we cooked at home the majority of the time. Groceries are cheaper in the US then Aus. We certainly didn't skimp on meals - standard meat and 3 veg or pasta or whatever your mum makes at home. (although no lamb roast!). I can say lamb is hard to find in the USA-they don't seem to eat it much?
* Our travel insurance was just under $1000 I think? We were there for 6 months and made sure we got the top cover. US hospitals are not cheap (if you read about the horror stories)
* Wife and I are not drinkers so alcohol was $0. But if we went to dinner, costs ranged from under $20 (Rita's make the most awesome burritos + I think they have cheap margaritas) to >$150 (fine dining places). Pizza is super cheap and plentiful!
* We bought alot of gear over there as its so cheap. New snowboards (under $300), new top-of-the-line jackets (under $300). Sites like steepandcheap.com, whiskeymilitia.com, etc are awesome for cheap snow gear.

We did save fair bit so certainly lived it up in regards to shopping. We returned to Aus with something like 2 snowboard bags and 6 suitcases :). Excess baggage was $300 but that was alot cheaper then shipping it via other options.

let me know if you have any other questions :)
 
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Mattydv

Mattydv

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Jimmy, I know you've got a US passport, but have you thought about Canada/Europe instead?

cleeshoy said:
Whilst based in Breck, our pass also gave us access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, A-Basin and Heavenly (CA). Basically it was a case of wake up in the morning and see which resort had the most snow and drive there (we had a car which helped also). I think it was a called the "Epic pass" or something like that - but is great value for money that's for sure.
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Ugh, this was what I was thinking of. Don't know why I thought it had Tahoe in it :doh:

rider124 said:
chest mounted gopro when snowboarding? worth it?
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Nope. Just hack an old stock up and use that instead.
 
cameron_15

cameron_15

Eats Squid
So after twiddling my thumbs for a fair few weeks deciding what board I wanted, I'd come full circle and landed back at the T.Rice pro. Today I was all set to head in to the shop and pick up the 157. I decided to check eBay because I was bored on the train home and stumbled across a brand new 157 T.rice. Just won it for $450 posted. Stoked.

$190 extra beer money for the winter!

Getting super keen to get back to Treble cone and play in the saddle basin again! 28 days, I just hope they get some bloody snow!
 
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dog boy

dog boy

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There is so much snow on Nz at the moment! 2 weeks till I head over, I cant wait.
With this much snow do you think remarkables will have the stash up and running by early - mid July? its been closed every time I have been there.

 
Mattydv

Mattydv

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Haven't looked at the reports, but obviously it depends if the snow has been falling over the Qtown area. The Wanaka side of the range can get significant snow and Qtown miss a bit, which may have happened, as I think that this big dump has been centred around Canterbury?

If it's been fairly consistent I'd say it might be open, but then again they may not have been planning for an early open, rendering the snow useless.
 
cameron_15

cameron_15

Eats Squid
What's the boarding like at Mt Hutt? They've got heaps of snow at the moment and I'm seriously considering flying to NZ a week early and staying there for a few days before driving down to wanaka.

Edit: For that matter, any where else in the Canterbury area? Thinking of spending 6 days in the area before joining up with the rest of my group and heading to wanaka. I'm pretty keen to ride some powder, advanced off piste runs for this leg of the trip. Has anyone boarded at any of the smaller NZ ski fields? Looking at Porters, Temple basin, Fox peak, Mt dobson etc
 
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Mattydv

Mattydv

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Mt Hutt is pretty cool, worth checking out if you're around the area. I also really like Ohau for another option, and Temple Basin up near Arthurs Pass can be rad. The clubbies of NZ are real diamonds in the rough, especially when the snow is good.

On the topic of Mt Hutt, one of the blasts they set off 2(?) days ago trigged an avvy that derailed the triple chair and ended up causing a bit of damage to the station!

Edit: Cardrona this morning. Epic.
996184_10151549719837946_1892515455_n.jpg
 
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Mattydv

Mattydv

Likes Bikes and Dirt
stringbean said:
heading over in september, stay in whistler or vancouver till novemberish then to revelstoke with a mate for the winter. can not wait!
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Revelstoke ay? I only made the call to not to Revel and do Red Mountain instead about a week ago. I'll definitely be coming up for a few weekends though, as it's only about 4 hours from Red.

Can I ask what's making you choose Revel? I know plenty of people that have lived in/done Canadian seasons, and heaps have said that whilst Revel is the best place place in terms of terrain (and becoming huge), it is batshit boring if you were to live there...
 
S

stringbean

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Mattydv said:
Revelstoke ay? I only made the call to not to Revel and do Red Mountain instead about a week ago. I'll definitely be coming up for a few weekends though, as it's only about 4 hours from Red.

Can I ask what's making you choose Revel? I know plenty of people that have lived in/done Canadian seasons, and heaps have said that whilst Revel is the best place place in terms of terrain (and becoming huge), it is batshit boring if you were to live there...
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A mate did revy last season and loved it so he's goin back again so figured id head there with him and see what its like, if i get sick of it i can probably head somewhere else. He's said its a bit boring quiet but i can probably live with that haha.
 
donthucktoflat

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
stringbean said:
A mate did revy last season and loved it so he's goin back again so figured id head there with him and see what its like, if i get sick of it i can probably head somewhere else. He's said its a bit boring quiet but i can probably live with that haha.
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Boring quiet is the way to go. Ride hard, ride often and save for another season. My head chef a couple of years ago has done 18 straight winters there and couldn't stop talking about the joint. By all accounts it's a pretty special joint. Get there before the whole world finds out
 
B

brisneyland

Likes Dirt
Anyone ridden Perisher or Thredders lately?

Working in Orange for the next ten days and brought my car and board. Could potentially scoot down for a few days but it's hard to get excited about aussie snow and $110 lift tickets.
 
donthucktoflat

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
Well im heading to buller on Tuesday. Any other burners going to be there? I'll be skiing.

Also going in to book a trip to nz in the last week of august. One week in qtown. Perhaps wanaka is a better option?
 
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