Snowboard/Skiing Thread!!

[tomcat360]

Ok that site is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[long_man]

hey Tomcat.....

do you still rock out an "all-in-one" pink suit

Check this site out http://www.fluorescentrompersuits.co.uk/

There's some classics on there.

Long Man - here in NZ, T-Bars and Pomas are a bit of a luxury - a lot of our ski fields only have rope tows, which are a nightmare. You have to wear a climbing harness with a nutcracker attached to it, and you sling that round the rope and hold on tight. It's a real easy way to lose a couple of fingers.

It really sucks to be struggling to get up a hill on a good powder day because the lift is so hard to ride. We don't have gondolas or cable cars either, so it's usually a real scary drive up 4wd tracks in the snow to the base lift, and sometimes a good walk of 30 or 40 minutes as well. The upside of all that is that you can often be sharing a whole mountain with only 30 or 40 other people, and the passes are cheap. It definitely keeps the tourists away, who stick to the few big areas with chair lifts.

man that must really suck

i now count myself lucky for having gondola's, cable cars, chairlifts, drags etc etc

although on the other hand, i have to pay a small fortune, maybe even take out a mortgage for me to have 2 weeks of absolute heaven, whereas you are surrounded by the white fluffy stuff...... those lifts of yours over there sound pretty ugly, but i still think i would prefer to live over there than here in good old "not so snowy, but very rainy" England.....

[Hang11]

You get used to after a while with zero facilities - it's a different feel, pretty much back country riding even in the ski area. I really love boarding in NZ, there's zero flashness at a lot of the local mountains, lots of people ride in their jeans and gardening gloves, it's a real grass roots thing - a lot of the ski areas were set up by high country farmers back in the day, and they have evolved around clubs from there. Bottom line is that the terrain can be sick when it's on, there's no crowds, and no flash cafe's and a distinct lack of posers because it needs a bit of commitment to get up there and ride.

The dodgy lifts are alright after a few days of riding them, your legs get stuffed, but it keeps people away and the rope tows can access a lot of terrain in high winds that chairs couldn't get to.

Have a look here - www.chillout.co.nz - most of the mountains this pass covers are within two hours of where I live - there's some really good riding to be had, and a good little article about using rope tows.

[tomcat360]

Alright, I've always said I've wanted to live in NZ, this now affirms that

I hike when there is no snow, just to hike, so of course I hike to find snow. Backcountry is great.

Do your tow ropes have the little black plastic handles?

[Hang11]

No handles - they are ropes in the snow, with a pulley every 100 metres or so, and they move at about 20km/h. You have to wear a tow belt or a climbing harness, and there's a thing like a big nutcracker tied to it - you scoot up to the rope, grab hold of it (wearing glove protectors otherwise your gloves get shredded), scoot off, and once you are at full speed, you sling the nutcracker around the rope, clamp it down tight, and hold on. If you don't manage to do that by the first pulley, you have to bail, or your fingers get chopped off. And you have to tie long hair up, or you can get scalped by the pulley

They are a lot easier to use if you're on skis.

Tomcat, if you ever fancy a trip to NZ, the ski fields recruit in April for staff - if you can bag a job as a patroller, liftie or cook at the club fields, it'll be sweet, and you can do it on a working holiday visa - really easy to get if you are under 30.

The best snow report I ever heard was last winter at Mt Olympus - "The good news is that we have had 1.5 metres of the driest powder we've ever seen overnight, the bad news is that avalanches have closed the access road for a few days, the best news is that the staff are all stuck up here having the best riding of their lives, all to themselves", then the guy laughed and hung up the phone. I was gutted....

[tomcat360]

I'm seriously considering that. What places would be good to staff at?

[CheeZee]

... i cant join this thread, its always too depressing .. two of my best buds are off as usual, one to Canada for the season and one to France.

To all that have got white stuff to play in (that means snow to anyone reading in parts of south america lol) and to those that are heading out this season.. anywhere!..

Have a fleshing top time and kick-it large

[Kabazz]

I'm going skiing for my first time in April, can't wait!!

[Hang11]

I'm seriously considering that. What places would be good to staff at?

Any of the small fields on www.chillout.co.nz

My pick would have to be Broken River, Craigieburn, Temple Basin, Mt Cheeseman or Mt Olympus. They all have lodges on the mountain, and the staff live up there, but the guests still have to do the washing up!! The pay is low, but you live and ski for free, and they are all nestled in the middle of the Southern Alps, so right on the money for good skiing, hiking, fishing, hunting etc.

One of my mates did a season as a diesel mechaninc at Mt Lyford, he loved it, but the terrain isn't as out there as those other ones.

Best to avoid Queenstown and Wanaka - really high accommodation prices, but good for partying, and any of the NZski areas like Mt Hutt - much more commercial operations. Ruapehu on the North Island would suck, they get 12,000 punters on a weekend.

[Real Pol]

... i cant join this thread, its always too depressing .. two of my best buds are off as usual, one to Canada for the season and one to France.

To all that have got white stuff to play in (that means snow to anyone reading in parts of south america lol) and to those that are heading out this season.. anywhere!..

Have a fleshing top time and kick-it large

Cheezee!
Get yourself and your wee man (that means kid to anyone reading this in Brighton) out to Bulgaria for a cheap weeks boarding!

Don't block me, I like this forum, but it's better than surfing!

[tomcat360]

I REALLY don't care about the money, if I break even with my plane tickets and have a place to stay for free, then hell, it's definitely worth it.

And what about experience? I've never had to ride a rope tow like that, we have all lifts except a couple little rope tows for either beginner areas or for parks. Also I don't have hardly any backcountry experience. Or avalanche experience.

However I do have heavy-duty diesel mechanics experience....

[Hang11]

If you have diesel mechanic experience, you should easily get sorted out - my mate used to drive a tractor at agricultural college, and that was enough to get him the job!

Nobody has ever ridden rope tows before they come to NZ, it's no drama, will just take you a few hours of falling over to learn how to do it.

I would have thought that the only jobs that required avo or back country experience would be for ski patrol. A lot of the smaller fields run back country courses over the winter anyway, so it would be a good opportunity to do it maybe?

Do you want me to see what I can find out about jobs at those fields? A lot of them have offices near where I work.

[Hang11]

Oh, and the other bonus of working at the ski fields here is that you're only an hour away from some epic waves

From the top of Mt Lyford, you can actually see Mangamaunu (think Rincon) breaking on a decent swell.

[kitesurfer]

Defo time to resurect this thread methinks!

So anyone been yet, how was it etc etc.
Oh and anyone about to go?




19 DTG and counting!

KS

[tomato3000]

31...Just bought a new jacket and am getting excited.

Started doing lunges, squats and calf raises to minimise the first few days of pain!

[tomcat360]

It finally got cold last week, got lots of snow down on the ground, today and yesterday was 75+ degrees


So I have a house to stay in at the top of the mountain this weekend but the snow is going to be non-existant.

[Real Pol]

My first session of the season in the Cairngorms today!!

Mmmmmmmmh SNOW!!!

[tomcat360]

Practiced going switch on the bunny slope all weekend. That's pretty much all that was open.

Gave someone a lesson. That's it. Supposed to be cold all week though.

[libby]

My first EVER snowboarding trip in under 50 days time woooohoooooo!!!!

[Real Pol]

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