The Epic Road Trip New Zealand was one of those trips you will remeber for ever, lots of Laughs powder snow and sometimes a little to much to drink…. for the tour Epic Snow teamed up with Summit Balm Lip Balms for a special gift for all the team on the trip! Katie from Summit Balm wrote a beautiful article about our trip in land the of the long white cloud! Here’s a small excerpt from the article. Read the full article HERE Next up, day 3 offers turns at Ohau Ski Resort – Part of the Famous New Zealand Club-fields (small privately owned ski hills) which can be found midway between Christchurch and Queenstown. A day of exploring runs like ‘The Boulevard’ (a groomed trail as wide as a highway) and ‘The Escalator’ amongst amazing conditions what’s better than that?! Then off to Wanaka for a stay at Stony Ridge Lodge and recover after a 1.5hr drive of terrible Kiwi accent impersonations and plenty of laughs. Stony Ridge Lodge offers the perfect environment for some memorable family dinners. Shop for Summit Balm NOW “Summit Balm was born as a result of a long, unsuccessful search for the perfect all
The Essentials
- info, TOURS, Travel
- epicsnow, japan, luggage, Snow, snow equipment, snowboard, snowboard boots, snowboarding, snowpack, snowskiing, Travel, travelinsurance
When travelling to cold places its always good to plan your wardrobe before you go. I have so many first time working holiday visa kids heading to places like Canada, USA, Europe and Japan coming in to the shop saying that “they will just buy every thing over in place X when they get there”. To me this is dumb. What do you do when you get off the plane in say Calgary and its -30 outside and you brought your “Australian winter hoodie” yep thats right you freeze your arse off until you get to a shop to buy one and that may not be right away as soon as you land. Us veterans do know how to do the luggage pack and know that when we are on holidays that wasting time searching for that jacket that is just right takes away form precious time on the hill. So its always good to be prepared before you go and have every thing you need. A good start is the basics. Here are a few essential items to start with. Walking around wear – not ski gear although the cool kids do both Soft shell Jacket down parker/jacket for the
Know Before You GO
- info, TOURS, Travel
- Adventure, avalanche, brainfarm, colorado avalanche, epicsnow, jeremy jones, knowbeforeyougo, skiing, Snow, snow equipment, snowboard, snowboarding, snowmobile, snowpack, snowskiing, snowsled, travis rice, utah avalanche
Avalanche Safety is imperative when going in to the back country, always Know Before You Go! ” It doesn’t matter if you have made thousands of good calls – all it takes is one bad call and that is one too many. Some days the mountains are screaming GET OUT OF HERE and some days they are saying come on in – it’s time to party.” – Jeremy Jones
Pow Pow Pow Pow Pow 70cms and its still snowing, hang on let me just re-wind a bit to yesterday when we arrived in Myoko.
Looking after & Preparing your Boots for Winter.
- Gear, info, Safety, Travel
- boots, custom, custom boots, epicsnow, preparation, Ski, ski boots, snow equipment, snowboard, snowboard boots, snowboarding, snowskiing, winter, winter is coming
Your ski and snowboard boots are the make or break of a good day on the hill. It is a must when purchasing your boots to have them properly boot fitted by a professional ski boot fitter for that perfect day on the mountain. After purchasing and using your boots, storing your boots correctly is key. This will provide proper hygiene and increase the lifespan significantly. Having them ready to go is important, but looking after them is equally important. For the start of the season good preparation starts with the last day of the previous season. First of all you should always make sure your boots a dry before storing them. When your finished for the season use a damp cloth and some mild soapy water clean the shell of any dirt marks or impurities and leave to dry. Pull the liners and foot beds out and leave them in a dry place to dry for a few days (I leave mine in outside undercover in the sun for a day then bring them inside to dry for another few days). Note: if liners are not removable leave them in a dry place with news paper scrunched up to draw
Building Booters in the Backcountry
- Freestyle, General, info, Jumps, TOURS, Travel
- back country, blocks, booters, buiding booters, construction, country, diy, epicsnow, how too, Snow, snowboard, snowboarding, snowpack, snowskiing
Building Booters Who doesn’t love watching those epic video parts where the pro launches off a perfectly placed booter built in the middle of nowhere, spinning some switch 1660 quadrillion triple cork thing (pretty sure that’s a thing -ha) landing in to a perfect down ramp of untouched powder and riding out like the wizard they are. How did the booter get there? did they use a snow groomer ?why is it so perfect? Well, it takes patience and an understanding of the snowpack. All those backcountry booters are handmade and built by the filming crew and the riders. 1. Find the right location. When searching for that sweet spot, always make sure that there is a good run in where you will have enough speed and good landing zone (if you crash you don’t want to end up cartwheeling into a tree). Test the run in before you build to ensure you have enough speed. 2. How big do you make it? Once you have established that sweet spot you will want to work out the exact size of the height/distance you will travel in the air. If you want to go higher for a steeper landing build the
30 Seconds of Powder
- Fitness, info, TOURS, Travel
- epicsnow, japan, japow, kneedeep, nippledeep, pow, powder, shred, sn, snowboard, snowboarding, wastedeep
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.
Aero plane food. Late 2011 I was on my way back to The Northern hemisphere for my second full season in the Canadian Rockies. This one was going to be different. I spent the last 6 months working crazy long days to save as much as I could. I was doing a ski bum season! This was the dream. Halfway through my second flight, Auckland to Vancouver the long haul, I started to feel quezie in my stomach. “It’s ok I thought” “I’ve never had food poisoning” oh wasn’t I wrong. I’ve never had food posing that I can remember and definitely in my adult life. Never had I grasped the full scale of what people meant when the say “it was coming out of both holes” but yep that’s where I was in the cramped aeroplane cubicle with it coming out of both ends. Not the nicest clean up. Geez I smelt. But what did I eat? I’ve heard that it can take 6-12 hours to kick in, so I can only put it down to three meals. You know what it’s like when you fly- you get bored so you eat. 1st meal At the Brisbane airport with mum
Hank Williams Jr., Slayer, MGMT, Steel Panther. Besides being good old fashioned legends these artists are a few of many that make up my Snowboarding playlist. That’s right! I spend hours over the summer months compiling a 200+ song playlist that will be my companion every day of the season. It never asks for anything either, just a little power and and this little guy keeps me singing on every chair and tree run from November right through till May. Feeling nervous on top of a jump run in the park? Or had the perfect song come on floating through the trees? That’s the difference a song can make! The purists out there who say “I need to hear my carve bro” have never had deaudmau5 aural psynapse while hammering tree lines or Midnight Oils ‘Beds are Burning’ blaring at the top of a freshly blanketed groomer run. Take it from me friends, it’s hard to top! Combined with this must have essential you must also be aware of the risks. 1. During your rigorous check list of pockets before heading up you take one step off the gondola and realise that your faithful but shoddy apple headphones that are holding together