In today’s world of cheap airfares for long distances flights with limited luggage weight allowances, we as the traveler are always looking to save as much weight and room as we can while still packing everything in. Traveling with your skis or snowboard can be a pain especially when these items take up a lot of our weight allowance and space. If you’re going for an extended time you may want to pay the extra fee on that budget airline and get an additional bag. If you’re going to get the extra bag, look at the not so budget airlines as these usually have the additional baggage allowance built into the airfare price. Here are a few hacks for saving weight and room. Board bag and ski bag. When buying a ski or board bag always keep an eye on the weight of the bag empty. Just because it’s a big bag and you can fit everything in it doesn’t mean it will save you in the long run. A bigger bag means more weight which can mean less gear to take with you. It’s a catch 22. You could get slogged for overweight baggage and the bag might not even

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

“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

If you can imagine your snowboard as a car, your snowboard bindings are definitely your steering wheel. As anyone who has watched the Fast and the Furious will know this is an imperative to winning the next quarter mile and for your shred setup its vital for your Performance on the snow. There are three main things to consider when choosing your snowboard bindings: Fit, Flex and Features. 1. Fit Obviously bindings come in different sizes to fit different boots, and a snug fit between boot and binding is vital for effective control. Perhaps less obviously, different bindings also fit different boards. While most brands’ products will work OK together there are exceptions Burton for example, make their boards with three-screw insert patterns, meaning you need a set of Burton bindings to ride them. These days, a lot of their boards feature the ‘ICS channel system’, two sliding inserts which also require a conversion kit (which Burton provide with new boards) or better still, one of their EST bindings. These are designed specifically to work with the channel, so won’t fit with other companies’ boards. Make sure your bindings will fit your boot and your board before you buy them!

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

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