The French Climber Lionel Terray famous term “Conquistadors of the Useless” Which I think is a perfect description of the enlightened ones that call these beautiful mountain towns home for the winter and life becomes a lot simpler. After many years of living this dream myself I dedicate this to our fellow Conquistadors! 1.     You consistently buy bulk instant ramen. 2.     You have all the free Wi-Fi passwords in town. 3.     You think beer is a legitimate form of currency 4.     You use duct tape to fix everything clothing, furniture, vehicles etc. 5.     “Doing Laundry” consists of cycling through different flannels on your floor. 6.     You have a day job anight job and possibly a third job for the “hookups” 7.     You might not have been a gear head but you are now. 8.     You collect all your old seasons passes and grow your moustache all summer for the photo. 9.     Your goggle tan is the only tan line on your whole body. 10. You find yourself storm chasing with a car full of gear, sleeping bags and beer. 11. You yank broken skis and snowboards from a dumpster and think: “With a touch of epoxy, these could last an

A short Myoko Powder run from Yesterday 24th January 2016 after a solid 50cm dump. This was shot Akakan off the Champion 3 Chair. There were so many more good turns had that day and more to come! love this place! To find ou more about Epic Snow Tours check out www.epicsnow.co

“this is first mate Scott speaking, we are starting our decent in to Narita airport, we have made up time a bit of time for the Epic Snow Crew and our arrival will be at 6:45pm” Yep that’s right a big ol shout out over the PA system on Jetstar as we started out decent into Narita. Our excitement level was high after hearing that although the good time started on our first leg to cairns and then on from there. We arrived at Gold Coast airport bright and early for check and got put in isle seats… who doesn’t love a bit of leg room! After having a conversation with the happy looking dude sitting next to us, he turns out to be Captain Paul was the pilot flying us on to Narita from Cairns! Didn’t he look after us on the long haul flight!. A quick convo in the terminal and we were in the cockpit checking out the flight deck and getting a tonne of happy snaps and meeting first mate Scotty …. What a couple of legends! The good times didn’t stop there! Introduced to Cabin Manager Nat who’s a mad keen skier and our attendant

Goggles are and can be a very understated piece of equipment when you are piecing this year’s list of essentials together. I’ve done it myself, you put off replacing them for another year claiming that “they are fine, I don’t NEED new gogs.” As the foam falls away from the frame and the lenses have more scratches on them as if the face hugger from aliens has tried to get through them. Trust me. Save the dollars, buy cheap beers, eat instant ramen for a month and treat yourself. Without your precious peepers you will never be able to see that Epic pow run in all its glory or when the blinding spring sun is beaming down on you and your squinting like Renee Zellweger on the beach when she forgets her sunglasses. Goggles mean EVERYTHING! Sure some people wear sunglasses on the mountain, but if you want to be taken seriously and start pushing your riding, invest in a descent set of goggles. From the fit to the Lenses here are some recommendations as to what will get you the best pair of goggles you will ever own: 1. Its all about the fit; The process of buying goggles can

Open Snow & Tahoe Snow Forecaster, Bryan Allegretto breaks down the current state of El Niño and what it could mean for U.S. West Coast resorts this coming year.  

To get you stoked on the next Epic Snow Tour here is a 30 second short of Co-Founder Benny V shredding some deep deep powder in one of Myoko Japan’s secret spots. Its constantly knee to waste deep in this run with face shot after face shot. To find out more about Epic Snow’s tours, visit www.epicsnow.co for full tour details.

Getting fit for the POW! The ultimate at home program designed to reduce injury and have you shred ready! Unfortunately some of us can’t be hitting the snow year round meaning snow trips are limited to a couple weeks of the year and the body isn’t conditioned to Snowboard… I’m going to keep this simple, to the point and easy to apply in a 2 x a week program to get you ready for your kick ass snow trip What needs to be strong? It starts with the feet! Your whole body’s structure begins with the feet, effecting everything form the knees, pelvis, shoulders and even your breathing! We have weak feet due to wearing shoes from a young age which can cause knee pain and bad posture in some cases… I’ve got 2 awesome exercises that will help you 1. Build the connective tissue surrounding the joints and reduce your likelihood for injury 2. Develop stronger feet, ankles and knees to have even better control of your board… What else do I need to do? Well your CORE is super important when it comes to boarding… 1. The lower back needs to be strong 2. The bodies ability to

Imagine for a moment that you are on your board or skis and you’re at the top of a 10,000 feet wide open mountain and you’ve just dropped in. Your attention is focused on the movements of your body, the tension in your muscles, the force of your lungs breathing the brisk mountain air and the feel of the snow beneath your board or skis. You are living in the moment, utterly absorbed in the present activity. Time seems to fall away. What you are experiencing in that moment is known as flow, a state of complete immersion in an activity. Flow State is described as the mental state of flow, as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” Snow boarders and Skiers are some of the best know examples of people being in the flow state, you are living in that moment. Whether you are competing in slope style, big mountain, in the powder or just out on the hill, Flow states are common place. Benefits

What a day we had! Blue bird Pow day, I have never had a day quite like it! Super lucky for us but not for some. That night we saw on the news that there was a rescue over at Akakura Kanko, but not just a rescue, a body was found on Sunday from the day before, the day that we were there!!!! A little bit scary. Nipple deep powder it would be easy to get lost and buried. Safety first kids! Thats why we here at Epic Snow hit the hill prepared. When the snows heavy, even when you are on piste you should have avalanche gear, Beacon, Probe, Shovel and resort map at the very least. Helmets are also a must. Anyway back to the snow….. This place does not let up!. That night the clouds came back. Only a little of the fresh stuff in the morning but all day it was F*cking PUKING as the crazy canucks say. Akakura Kanko was our destination, no rescue can scare us! Straight to the top where the snow flakes where as big as a strawberry and thats where we stayed all day. Sessioning two tree runs on either side