I'm looking at going boarding winter 08 and was after some ideas. I've been to Austra, Switzerland, France before, but I'm going June/July which is their summer so it will have to be southern hemisphere. Was thinking South America, but its a huge flight. So it really leaves Oz & NZ. Don't know much about either country as far as snowboarding is concerned. I've seen a couple of piste maps for Thredbo and it looked pretty average. Has anyone been in Oz and/or NZ? I'm looking for somewhere that has preferably a park, on piste accomodation & longish runs.

NZ is awesome... head down to Queenstown and there will be plenty of good slopes for ya!

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'04 E46 S/C M3 Coupe

Queenstowns good if you want to combine the party with the snow but if its only the snow you're after head to some of the slopes around the southern areas like Wanaka and treble cone.

Yeah Queenstown is great! No hotels in the fields but there is 2 very close to town (Coronet Peak & The Remarkables) sp? And heaps of others with a bit more of a drive, all of them can be done in a day there and back.

My pick of the lot is Treble Cone. It has the best runs and one really long and steep one, its awesome!

Theres shitloads of other adrenaline driven activities to do there aswell, bungy, jetboating, canyon swings etc.

If you go there I recomend heliskiing, really good and they pick the best spots, nothing like being droped at the top of a mountain and having all the fresh powder to yourself!!!

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500+hp and helis on tap, eta - June 2025.

Riggs, very interested in heli-skiing. Don’t know too much about it. How much is it? And how long do you get to board for? I’m guessing it’s all pretty good untouched powder?

Yip Queenstown is the place to go for sure, 4 awesome fields catering for all levels of ability and heaps of other stuff there to do as well. Personally I would go a bit later in the season ie end of Aug even early Sept maybe as the weather warms up a bit and still a solid base of snow - nothing like ski-ing in jeans and a t shirt ....., just watch out for NZ school holidays as they are not the same dates as here.
Could always fly into Christchurch and have a night in Methven and ski Mt Hutt and then off to Queenstown after that if you want to get the most out of the good fields down south.
Peace

I go to Falls Creek every year and its not as lame as you think... One of the best terrain parks south of the X Games The best part is you stay on the mountain and ski & out of your front door, not having to take a 45min bus ride every morning like NZ.

Snow conditions can be off and on, but thats the same as NZ. Just ask anyone that went to Queenstown this year, its was shit snow.

Yeah on piste accomodation is a big plus. How long are the runs there, how long does it take to get to the lifts?

Dont waste your time in AUS - they are hills - not mountains....Queenstown is the place to go -
AUS is ok for beginners but once you have been on mountains - like Europe - then AUS is a real downer...
NZ is the go for sure!

Cool, thanks for replies. TBH I’m a bit of a snow snob and would hate average conditions, I’d prefer to miss it all together rather than go and have sh*t snow. I board in Scotland once and only lasted an hour. The snow was ok, but the runs were so short and they only had t-bars and poma tows. So I guess it would be wise to skip Oz if I’m going to book in advance. Japan might be an option. I’m also looking at Chile although it’s a big old flight from Perth and $$. I’m also thinking heli-skiing in NZ might be another option, if the snow was no good lower down.