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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 07:19
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Hey just wondering if any toymodders are regular skiers? I'm hoping to plan a trip for some friends next year to Mt Hotham or Falls Creek maybe - not entirely sure. Can anyone recommend any good places to stay for about a dozen ppl? How do the ski fields compare - I remember that Mt Hotham has some nice slopes etc but it's been a long time between drinks! Not necessarily looking for the cheapest accomodation, just something nice and comfy to rest sore knees and ankles 
Is there much in the way of drinking spots at the slopes these days?
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Location:
Coffs Harbour, NSW
Registered:
November 2004
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 12:22
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in australia, skiing.. boarding on ice is not good 
NZ is good for both, take a board for powder days.
japan? board only...
as for aussie resorts, we usually go to perisher blue, simply for the variety, but in a good season, thredbo can be ok... never tried falls or hotham tho.. go to a few travel agents, they can get very good deals, and have access to lots of accomdation, i've found a few flight centres to be good....
other thing is, best deals are gotten when booked before end of april (usually)...
have fun 
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 12:49
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Yeah I've been down to Mt Hotham once a long time ago - skiing was great - luckily we arrived just after a blizzard so the powder was fresh Mmmm
I hear NZ is quite good for skiing too, although I'd have to check on pricing for that one!
Perisher blue ey? What are the slopes like? Smooth or lotsa moguls, narrow, wide, steep, tricky what sort of ratio of black : easy runs are there?
As for the snowboarding. Yeah I hear heaps of ppl prefer the board over the skis, but really you end up going down a hill one way or another
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
September 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 13:26
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i've been down to perisher the past 3 years just because of the variety and size of the resort. I've stayed at the station the past 2 years in jindabyne and that has been pretty good price wise. it was around $500-600 for 5/6 nights with a 5.5 day lift pass and 5 breakfasts and dinners provided.
if you book early they give you the extra night accommodation which is good for the drive back. the only downside is driving up the mountain every day or you can get a skitube pass added on to your lift pass for $120 i think for the 5 days which is a little bit better than driving up. staying in jindy there are a few places to drink, but it's nothing special. we usually just drank in our rooms apart from 2 night when we went into town
skiing vs snowboarding: its all personal preferance. i used to ski however changed over to snowboarding for a challenge. personally i found it very easy to pick up and found that after 3 days you can be quite confident with a few group lessons.
if you're renting snowboard gear i'd reccommend first tracks, i rented from them last year and they were great. you pay a little more than going somewhere else like rebel although the quality of the gear is really good. i managed to get a burton board and bindings with decent salomon boots for around $210 for the week and you can really notice the difference between the cheaper rentals.
hope that helped out a bit.
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 14:23
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So you tend to get what you pay for when it comes to ski/board hire then ey? What's the usual price for a weeks worth of ski gear - I'll need jacket, goggles, pants, poles, boots and skis for 5 days of skiing (5 days seems to be the 'done thing'). I just need a ballpark figure
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 20:28
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I used to be a hotham regular before I started taking my holidays overseas. We used to stay at http://www.mcmillanskiclub.com.au/, mainly because a friend of mine was a member, but it's pretty nice accomodation and nice and close to an access trail. It's not too close to the 'nightlife' but then again, hotham has no real nightlife, just really good snow 
oldcorollas: I agree the boarding is not real crash hot in NSW, but there's a world of difference between NSW and VIC ski slopes.
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 20:35
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You should see the difference between NSW/VIC and British Columbia/Colorado
FIGJAM
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
June 2004
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 20:41
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i would organise to go to NZ. although i have never been myself it works out poretty much the same price or bout $100 more for a week.
also the snow there is apparently awsome from what people tell me and there is hardly ice and mainly powder
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 20:46
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| old_mr2 wrote on Wed, 27 April 2005 06:35 |
You should see the difference between NSW/VIC and British Columbia/Colorado
FIGJAM
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haha, I haven't been to colorado, but I've been to a few places accross canada. Don't get me wrong, there's a world of difference, but I still don't mind skiiing Australian slopes. And of that, I prefer the Victorian ones.
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Location:
Coffs Harbour, NSW
Registered:
November 2004
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Tue, 26 April 2005 21:15
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yeah, ive only been in nsw anyway, so i guess i cant really compare boarding anywhere else
but i am going to queenstown in july (only going in july cos it's far away from my exams, and cos we got heaps cheap plane flights on some special thing), so that should be good
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Location:
Darwin
Registered:
April 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 02:39
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Hey RWDboy,
I've been to Falls Creek 4 times and we stayed at Les Chalets every time. We've had 12-18 people each time.
They are pretty comfy and there's plenty of space. For 12 people you;d be in one of the larger rooms which are up higher. Better views, but a pain on the legs after a hard days skiing.
To get rooms there you have to get in quick; we booked in January to go down in mid July each time and were pretty lucky to get rooms.
Not many drinking spots I don't think though, not that I went out there at all. Just stayed in drinking; was easier than walking back through the snow and going up 4-5 flights of stairs drunk! 
Can't remember prices but most places are about the same. We got deals for the group booking on ski gear though. Check a couple out and that will give you a good indication.
Fingers
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 03:09
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Mmm group discount
I was hoping to book within a few months from now so I don't expect I'll have trouble with that - thanks for the heads up with that.
The only probs with going to NZ is organising flights etc, not exactly heaps cheap  Compared to getting a coupla cars and piling everyone in.... 
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Toymods Social Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 04:26
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As the Toymods resident ski-bum, i feel i have a little to offer here - despite a lack of experience with VIC snowfields.
Old_mr2,
how much BC and Colorado ski/board time have you had?
Im running on 15+ days BC, and 3 months Colorado. Planning to return to one or other next year or two.
RWDboy,
If you are planning for next year, plan for NZ. They have better altitudes, a much better longtidude, and thus theoretically better snow (although this is dependant on time of year, snowfall, location etc etc). The price difference as mentioned before is typically stuff all when you go for the package deals, and it is definitely worth that little extra!!
You always see those $1500 deals for 7 days skiing incl virtually everything - even when i stay in budget accomodation hooked up through family friends ($30/nite) it still costs around $700 or so for a week's skiing. FFS its $80 for one day lift pass at Perisher these days!!! Compare that to the US$75/day PEAK SEASON lift pass at Vail, the no.1 rated Ski resort in North America and the value just dont add up!!
NZ is worthwile. Its not colorado or BC by any accounts, but its well worth the $$ compared to the Packer Corp. alternatives here in Australia..... and hell, you get an overseas trip thrown in!!!
Skiing vs Boarding....
Ive been skiing since i was 5 - i love it. I will ski until i die, and nothing can stop me
I can also snowboard, and do say that it is easy to pick up from a 1st timer perspective. In my opinion skiing is more rewarding, and is fast becoming the more popular of the snow sports with the younger crowd in North America (extremem skiing RAWKS).
You do what you want to do really... i found snowsboarding dull and unchallenging myself, but thats just me
Australia VS North America....
Yeah there is a fair bit of difference. I tried skiing in NSW last year and got the shits with it bigtime, simply because the snow just isnt good enough for me. Its soft and completely unsupportive and heavy as all hell.
I guess i have been spoiled by living in Summit County for 3 months and getting to ski EVERY DAY on the best groomed snow in Colorado...... so fast, so light...... you can cut an edge at 70+kph and hold it around a 30m radius if your strength, equipment and ability are up to it!!! I would go racing down the main run at 4:15pm with the ski patrol last runs and leave nothing but two winding train tracks down the 3km run. Sometimes i would take the whole 5km run down to the bus stop.... only took 4 mins flat
Snow sports are awesome. I could spend the rest of my life skiing....
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 04:41
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Rex is a regular snowboarder has been snow addict since walking age. Goes every year. Shame he lives in Adelaide....
Every year he organises a trip for whoever wants to come to Hotham. Looking a bit light this year as some of his regulars are unavailable/cashless/arseholes.
He loves Hotham because it knows it like the back of his hand and the terrain and layout is unbeatable for Oz. Mountain Nightlife is Rad too.
Considering NZ next year.
SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!!!!!!!
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 05:28
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| Rex_Kelway wrote on Wed, 27 April 2005 14:41 |
the terrain and layout is unbeatable for Oz. Mountain Nightlife is Rad too.
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I agree the terrain is the best I've ski'd in Australia with the closest thing we've got to double blacks (perisher and thredbo barely get close to a black run. Tangent: if you're boarding keep a bunch of speed at the bottom of the double blacks, because it's a long walk back), the snow is normally a bunch thicker and nicer, I think there's only one rope toe in the joint (actually two if you count the cat skiing), with the majority of lifts being quad chairs with foot rests, there's a stack more variety but a lot less runs than perisher.
And the nightlife.... well.
There's not a whole heap but you can make do. I can't count the times I've been mutant on the courtesy bus. There's something about the snow and getting off your dial. And even after a night of being found blacked out in the toilets at zirkys, you're able to ski in the mornings. Albeit so much easier at hotham because you strap you gear on, walk 20 metres, drop in on your first run and wake up about half way down
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Toymods Social Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 05:40
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so maybe this year the witzl should grace the Hotham with his prescence.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 05:55
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you won't regret it.
And you'll notice that Hothams metre and a half of snow is actually a metre and a half, unlike other ski fields that say they have it but there's still grass showing through 
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Toymods Social Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 06:11
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i doubt it would still compare to way they measure snow in Colorado....
eg, morning snow reports say "2 inches new snow".... i get to work and there is almost a freaken foot of powder..... needless to say i was late to work And then took and extra long morning tea which turned into lunch and snuck out early again....
I think they noticed after i did it for the 5th time
I'll think about it - havent planned much for this year yet! Was thinking about a Toymods trip actually.
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Location:
Blue Mountains
Registered:
December 2004
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 09:58
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Can anybody say "Toymods Snow Holiday"??!!
In Aus your biggest expense besides accomodation is likely to be lift passes I've heard that the lift passes, accomodation and gear hire in NZ are unbelievably cheaper which is why even with the cost of airfare its still about the same cost as going to the snow in Aus. I've only ever been to Perisher and Thredbo though because its close enough for me to drive down on a Saturday morning and drive home on the Sunday night.
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 10:27
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| RWDboy wrote on Tue, 26 April 2005 22:49 |
I hear NZ is quite good for skiing too, although I'd have to check on pricing for that one!
Perisher blue ey? What are the slopes like? Smooth or lotsa moguls, narrow, wide, steep, tricky what sort of ratio of black : easy runs are there?
As for the snowboarding. Yeah I hear heaps of ppl prefer the board over the skis, but really you end up going down a hill one way or another
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NZ last year... i think it was $1800-2100 for flights, 16 days car hire, 15 nights accomdation and 12-13 days skiing.. we did both north and south island... only do south . stay in queenstown and then maybe go up north a bit for a day or two if snow is good.
perisher has large range. not so many trees.. runs are kinda short tho, but heaps of lifts...
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 10:30
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so, Mr Witzl.. coming to japan? i'll be there for two seasons
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Toymods Social Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 12:40
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it's on my "to-ski" list. Along with about 50,000 other places!!
i'm tempted though!
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 14:34
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Sounds like Hotham is a good bet! I remember people saying when I went there that the slopes were actually decent and the best in Australia - at least that's what the swedish (or was he swiss?) ski instructor was saying, and I figured being from the northern hemisphere he *might* be telling the truth, but you can never be sure that they aren't just paid to say that I remember the black diamonds being extra fun - I was pretty young and probably wasn't going as flat out as I remember Flying over moguls seems quick at the time.
If anyone feels like organising a massive crazy boonta toymods ski trip then go for it
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
June 2002
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Toymods Social Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 21:55
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When i went to BC i did:
Lake Luise
Sunshine
and another place i forget now....
In Colorado i worked at Breckenridge (Vail Resorts) for 3 months, so:
Breckenridge
Keystone
Copper Mountain
Vail
Vail was damn huge with some very nice groomed runs, but there was nowhere near the extreme terrain and LONG FAST runs like there is at Breck, and Breck just had such a better feel to it (with a bigger and better halfpipe and terrain park than Vail )
Copper was pretty cool, but they got the front face of their mountain in the shade by 2pm and so it was always VERY HARD - but fuck me was it FAST and could you hold an edge... if you fell though... 
If i were to go to BC in the near Future there are a few mountains on my list - Ferne, Red Mountain, Big White..... hmmmm....
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Wed, 27 April 2005 23:10
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I highly recommend both Fernie and Big white, as they were a couple of the mountains that I visited whilst in Canada.
Fernie has great snow and the runs seem great for boarders. Big white was pretty darn good with some great snow to be found on 'out of the way' runs. The village also has a run as the main street, so it's literally ski-in-ski-out. The tube park there is hell fun when you're mutant but don't let anyone fart in the gondola.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Sutho/Hills NSW
Registered:
September 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Thu, 28 April 2005 00:17
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ive just booked a trip to the snow to perisher through snowholidays.com.au for late august
got a few beginners going so just wanted somewhere easy, find perisher pretty good can get busy at times though just dont go in school holidays
definately looking at NZ next year, some of the deals look rather tempting
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
December 2002
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Mon, 02 May 2005 07:19
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| Rex_Kelway wrote on Wed, 27 April 2005 14:11 |
unavailable/cashless/arseholes.
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whens this years trip for? or am i the arsehole?
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: Skiing : need some info!
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Mon, 02 May 2005 13:15
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yeah the snow can be better in n.z but you also get about 5 or 6 real lifts a mountain which can be quite boring and stuffed in big crowds...
and nz not icy? Coronet peak, the main resort for Queenstown is affectioantley referred ot as concrete peak, and having being there acouple of time this is damn true...
however that said, some of the package deals to n.z are dirt cheap and if you go to queenstown youll have an awesome time regardless of skiing....
ive been a skier, now a boarder for the past 8 or 9 years with my 1st trip to candada at christmas!...shit season but still had some awsome powder at fernie, luv that resort- bowls evrywhere! unfortunately my whistler experiecne wasnt much better than a bad season here, slush central
I would suggest perisher or thredbo for your 1st time..its close,theres heaps of beginner runs with a lot of easy to load lifts.... and a much better nightlife than the vic mountains in my opinion
and finally try skiing if you like speed, snowboarding if you like to carve and later want to do tricks....dont let skiers fool you, tricks suck on skis!
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