Heya Gang,

A few friends and I are looking at booking a group Snowboarding getaway to New Zealand for mid-late 2011 for 6-7 of us.

We're all noobs, some havent even seen snow, so if anyone has done a group tour, been snowboarding in the land of the long white cloud or have any advice/do's & don'ts it would be much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

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"sorry we all can't spell prefect english like you's .."

I went and did downhill mountain biking there and heli biking (where they drop you at the top in a helicopter and you ride back down!) and it was awesome!

You can rock up and select tours (well you could then) so booking shouldn't be to much of a hassle (but still wise!)

I can offer advise on great bars in Queenstown but unfortunately nothing on the ski front!

My 2 eldest kids have been snowboarding there with school and absolutely loved it, a mate from work also heads there once a year. Sorry I can't offer any more advice other than to say i'm jealous.

Its all about queenstown. Absolute party town. Main difference to Aust is that you cant stay up on the mountain so you have to drive up everyday. No big deal really.

Coronet Peak and the Remarkables are the two most popular mountains up there. From memory Remarkables was a bit more for beginners.

Another option is Japan. Not a lot dearer and the snow is shitloads better both in quantity and quality and much fewer drunken aussies to deal with.

Brendon

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Losing is worse than death. You have to live with losing....

you'll see the drunken aussies in niseko, that's the japanese bali for ozzie snowboarders
90% Aussies

im going to queenstown in july next year, i dont have many details for you because im not organizing it. all i know is im staying at glebe apartments which are apparently pretty nice

I'm a kiwi and as the boys say, Queenstown is it, head late Aug or late june for best snow and least ice. Rent a house for the week, get a rental car and your set. Just hire your gear at a local shop and get lessons on the easier fields ie remarkables and not treble cone
Oh don't forget to bang the kiwi chicks and party, its a great place with heaps of other shit to do instead of skiing etc, best tip, just ski half days ie afternoons as you get absolutely rooted sking a whole day if your not used to it and the ice is softer....
Al

It depends what you want? If you just want a blast on the slopes & a big pissup - Queenstown. Wanaka is a bit quieter, but has better ski fields in treble cone & Cardrona. Coronet Peak is OK. Remarkables is... unremarkable. Other than the drive, now that's interesting.I did a day heliboarding which was pretty awesome.

Of the four main South Island ski fields mentioned above my recomendation would be Coronet Peak. The road in is sealed all the way, all the others are gravel/mud, which means slow going when you get stuck behind a noob in a campervan. Coronet Peak, Remarks and Mt Hutt all now have radio frequency tags that you wear in your jacket and ski straight through the gates, this reduces the lift queues as you don't have to wait to be scanned each time. You can get passes that do multiple resorts so give a few a shot. If you're totally new to it, I would say do 2 days at the Remarkables then swing over to Coronet for the rest. I went this winter with a large group, we rented a huge house up high on the hill in Queenstown where we could sit in a hot Jacuzzi looking out over the lake and snow covered peaks. We had 9 days of magnificent weather and great ski conditions. Took a day off skiing and did the Shotover Jet and Queenstown Gondola and Luge thing, that was good too.

Cardrona is a very good place for beginners. No point going to Treble Cone.

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