Snowboarding

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Zed
Zed
WA
1274 posts
Zed Zed
WA, 1274 posts
5 Oct 2007 10:38am
How do the ski resorts in Oz and NZ compare to European resorts? I've boarded in Switzerland, Austria and France which are awesome, but next year I'm going to try somewhere closer to home. However it's a bit tough trying to determine how good Oz & NZ are. I know it won't be as good as Europe, but how much worse is it? Personally if it's pretty average I'd prefer not to go at all rather than board on crappy runs. Plan b is Chlie or Japan, but obviously muchas $$
Dawn Patrol
Dawn Patrol
WA
1991 posts
WA, 1991 posts
5 Oct 2007 11:23am
I havn't boarded anywhere else apart from austalia, but this is my take on things. The actual accomodation is fantastic. I've been to Hotham and Falls, and although different setups, I thought they were both really good, but I don't have anything to truely compare them to.
The snow on the other hand. Last year it was 30cm tops, in other words, **** house. The year before that we had it over a metre, and it was great. This year was a good season, but I didn't get to go.
Last year was the worst year in something like 40years, so hopefully its not a frequent thing. But from what i have heard from other people, our seasons are still a bit of hit and miss.
Although the snow here is probably incomparable to the stuff in europe, I thought it was great when it was deeper, and most of the runs are groomed everyday.
Zed
Zed
WA
1274 posts
Zed Zed
WA, 1274 posts
5 Oct 2007 11:41am
Actually it's not so much the snow (although it is good to have snow) it's the runs, the off-piste stuff like that. i went boarding up in Scotland and they had plenty of snow, but it was ** because the the runs were really short and all they had were t-bars and poma tows, no chair lifts. It was also really windy. I like nice long runs. How long are the runs where u went and was it mostly chair lifts or t-bars?

Apparently u can heli-ski in NZ, that would be awesome. Get out your checkbook.
Dawn Patrol
Dawn Patrol
WA
1991 posts
WA, 1991 posts
5 Oct 2007 11:53am
Both Hotham and Falls Creek have plenty of chairlifts. With many of the runs at hotham i found i could mix and match which way i wanted to had down.

www.mthotham.com.au and
fallscreek.com.au/map/
are the maps of the mountains. I'm pretty sure I found info about the length of the runs on the websites, but they are mostly good length. Pretty much all are over a few hundred metres. On the hotham map find davenport access. Its over a k long.
tt
tt
SA
64 posts
tt tt
SA, 64 posts
6 Oct 2007 12:37am
What ever you do dont waste your time and money boarding in oz cos all your going to get is ripped off, rubbish conditions, short runs and a massive trek to get there. If you want to board closer to home NZ is ideal due to colder climate more resorts cheaper costs and cos you dont stay on the mountain you can pick and choose which resort has the better conditions on the day and go there. Seeing as you are living in WA i would recomend Japan in particular any resort on the north island of hokkaido, i spent a couple of weeks in Niseko in march and was rewarded with fresh knee deep pow and true subzero conditions almost every day!
Zed
Zed
WA
1274 posts
Zed Zed
WA, 1274 posts
5 Oct 2007 11:40pm
quote:
Originally posted by tt

What ever you do dont waste your time and money boarding in oz cos all your going to get is ripped off, rubbish conditions, short runs and a massive trek to get there. If you want to board closer to home NZ is ideal due to colder climate more resorts cheaper costs and cos you dont stay on the mountain you can pick and choose which resort has the better conditions on the day and go there. Seeing as you are living in WA i would recomend Japan in particular any resort on the north island of hokkaido, i spent a couple of weeks in Niseko in march and was rewarded with fresh knee deep pow and true subzero conditions almost every day!



Yeah that's what I was thinking re Oz. The worst thing is short runs. If u end up boarding in Europe/USA you become a bit of a snow snob so I'm a fussy b**tard. Japan sounds good.
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