jared

The majority of new skis don't have intergrated bindings. You really should be able to find a pair without bindings.

Just to clarify the area was not on the ski field, it was out of bounds. There couldn't have been more warnings not to go out of bounds at the moment with the current conditions and a death and a near miss last week. No excuses - he shouldn't have been there (esp. without any gear)

We managed to pick up a cold last weekend in QT as well - so did the 2 people we stayed with and 2 other unfortunates that we had over for dinner. If you go there stay away from the locals! they are all infected!

I can do you some pics from the weekend before last. Queenstown has had enough snow to get things started but some more would be appreciated. Parks are all looking good.

I made it to Coronet Peak. A natural coating plus extensive snowmaking made most of the mountain skiable.

You should be able to make the trip to either Chch or QT in 2 flights from Perth via sydney. QT airport is about 10 mins drive to "downtown" QT but the airport is kind of in the built up area depending on where you stay it could be as little as 3 minutes to get there. Coronet Peak and the Remarkables are about 20 and 40 minutes from town respectively. How much of a pain in the arse that is depends on how you feel about being in a car for half an hour (with a one in ten chance of having to put chains on - that can be a pain in the arse, but it also means powder day!) "...Mount Hutt/

In years of skiing in NZ I have never seen a ski field closed for longer than a day (in the south island where any self respecting ski tourist would go). Weather passes through here pretty quick (which is why we dont end up getting that much snow, it doesnt snow for long enough!) That said I have not spent much time at Mt Hutt or surrounding areas which seem to be more wind affected that southern lakes area.

sounds like you have your learning sorted but if people are looking for other resources then the spytunes.co.uk vids on youtube and their website have been helping me a bit lately.

Getting off topic a little but... Much of the Somali piracy is in response to rampant illegal commercial fishing and the dumping of toxic (nuclear) waste off their coast. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVV_gQDsp1m8v7nPcumVc5McYV-Q "Some Somali pirates have reportedly claimed to be acting as "coastguards" protecting their waters from illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste. Ould Abdallah cited the case of a Spanish trawler captured by pirates while illegally fishing for tuna off Somalia in April."

I was worndering if anyone has any experience with High Society brand skis or snowboards. They are a fairly small company from Aspen and I have been given the chance to get some of their skis for a fairly good price but I dont know too much about them - any experience out there good bad or otherwise?

If you get a meter of new snow in a day you can expect it to compact somwhat under its own weight. I would try to find out how much snow fell rather that look at absoulute depth. The day after a large amount of snow you could get 50cm settlement - with 45cm of new snow that would show up as a 5cm loss but still be an epic powder day.

I never had any trouble with the still camera but my vid camera needed some care. If you have been using it outside (-5ish or less) its fine, but when you take it inside to the warm cafe the big temp change causes condensation to form on the inside and the camera wont work till the whole thing warms up and dries out. Eventually I learned to leave it outside the building in my bag when I was going in for lunch. (I sat by the window I left my bag outside so I could see it most of the time)

When I lived in Japan I got stuff from backcountry dot com - but I only ever got skis shipped to NZ from them. In Japan wangel sports in Tokyo have a web site with prices on it and a phone number. Found at wangel dot jp (note no .co in there) The shop in kutchan near Niseko also have a web site but I cant remember their address. They are good at discounting powder skis.

You can use the ATM at the post office in Kutchan (or any post office) to get money out of your bank account in NZ if your card has the cirrius symbol on it. I believe that it may also be able to give you money off your credit card. If your a NZer then your credit and eftpos cards might be on the same card. ours was and that confused the Japanese ATMs and we could not access the credit card part of our card - could only get money out of our bank account via the cirrius thing. Cost us $5 a transaction. Please note that ATMs close at night and public holidays and tend to leave those that rel

If I was preping for the season again (my NZ season is just finishing) I would Eat lots of Calcium Lift some weights to increase bone density Have my bindings checked by a professional Do good things to get Karma levels up As I didnt do these things I now have had 8 weeks on crutches and today found out I have at least 4 more to look forward to perhaps more. I am going insane! (more literally than you think I mean)

Hestra - the best gloves I have ever owned (for winter rather than spring) also they were half the price from backcountrystore.com shipping included than from the store in Japan* (*a few years ago now)

How was her year away? did she manage in Canada away from her parents. Perhaps finishing school in Canada might be the best option if they can afford it.

might also be worth checking out the ferrys - or flying and sending your stuff by land from Narita to wherever your staying in Sapporo.

aparantly lots of the mums are in the cities working in factories and the grandparants are raising the kids at home - hence the no breast feeding.

dunno about marmite from abroad but ours (NZ) is made from yeast left over from the beer making process. (if you can call Speights beer)