Blog

New this year are Euro Snack kiosks located on both mountains, serving Liege Waffles and European hot dogs served in crusty baguettes. In addition, the newly re-opened Raven’s Nest Restaurant will feature fresh Artisan sandwiches and a great selection of soups and salads. Other new menu items to look forward to at Whistler Blackcomb’s existing restaurants include:  Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine at Rendezvous Lodge; New Artisan sandwiches, salads, soups and stews at the Rendezvous and Roundhouse Lodges;  a Latin American inspired menu at Merlin’s Bar at the base of Blackcomb; hot carved-to-order sandwiches at the Horstman Hut; and new paninis and made-to-order salads at Pika’s.

Great snow, great food - a winning combination.

We hear you like snow. Well it just so happens that Copper Mountain Resort have received some this year, and by some they mean some record breaking amounts! It’s feeling more like February with a 53″ mid-mountain base and over 2000 open acres. Copper Mountain have now received 149″ inches of the white stuff; nearly 3/5ths of there annual snowfall! This year has been huge and the conditions have been awesome. Copper Mountain are averaging nearly 1 in 4 days as a Snow Day! If you haven’t picked up your Snow Day Pass, now’s the time!

Flights to Japan for late 2010-early 2011 are selling fast!  Ski Traveller has negotiated special ’ski package airfares’ that allow you to book your flights now and pay 60 days prior to departure.  Ring Sarah 09 520 8334 or Lianne 09 520 8335 about booking your flights to Japan.  Do not delay or you will miss out.

From Chitose Airport a 2.5 transfer will bring you to the powdery slopes of Furano.  For those who overnight in Tokyo there are flights directly to Asahikawa Airport, which is only an hour from the resort.

Similar to its fellow ski resort Niseko, the light dry powder of Furano makes for a memorable ski holiday.   The lack of wind makes this a family and beginners delight and the lifts are open from 8.30am until 9pm.  There are stunning views of steaming volcanoes and the rural countryside making this one of the few resorts where you will see a blue sky day.

Furano boasts Japan’s only Ski Host Programme which is staffed by English speaking locals.  Playing host to 12 FIS ski and snowboard world cup events has honed the credentials of Furano Resort.

There are two base areas with the Prince Hotel located on one side in a ski-in-ski-out location and the Kitanomine base that has pensions, some apartments and hotel style accommodation.

Families will enjoy kid zone activities and there are plenty of day trips.  They include dog sledding, ice fishing, kimono wearing, cheese making classes and ice village tours.

In the evening there is a secluded adult hideaway, Soh’s Bar where you can wine and dine hidden the forest and a short walk from the new Furano Prince Hotel, otherwise it is just ten minutes by taxi or bus to the local town.

Talk to Sarah she was in Furano last season.
sarahh@skitraveller.co.nz
www.skitraveller.co.nz

From Sapporo‘s Chitose Airport a 2.5 hour transfer will take you to Niseko, reputed to be “The powder capital of the world” with an average of 16 metres of snowfall a season.

Niseko has it all.  Incredible terrain spread across three mountain faces and four base areas.  There is unbelievable light dry powder and challenging bowls to explore.  The efficient lift system has covered chairs to allow you to ride in comfort, especially if you are into night skiing as Niskeo has the largest lit area in Japan.  So try night skiing or Hokkaido Powder Guides can take you on guided backcountry trips on the back of Mt Annupuri.

The variety of nightlife sparks in Hirafu village, with a selection of good restaurants such as the Abucha, where you can enjoy a delicious Suki Yaki hot pot, or Kamimura  which is a Japanese fine dining restaurant.  There are further dining alternatives in Kutchan and Annupuri.

Accommodation in the area varies from ski lodges and pensions to luxury self catering apartments.

Ski Traveller has some great value ski airfares to Japan….you must book at least one week accommodation with Ski Traveller to use these ski airfares to Japan.  Save $1000’s by booking your ski airfares to Japan with Ski Traveller.

ex Sydney / Melbourne / Brisbane to Sapporo in Japan (to ski at Niskeo)
Airfares from AU$ 1900 including taxes return.
We have space available in December 09 and January 2010.

Toll Free 1800 15 95 25
Email: info@skitraveller.co.nz

Snowvision held a FAB BlackOnWhite First Tracks pre Apres Ski Function on the 8th of May at the VW Continental Cars Showroom…..I am a bit slow getting around to writing about this, but found the pictures I took at the evening and it reminded me to get this up on the blog.  Snowvision raises money to support NZ Ski Athletes so the function was to raise money and to introduce two new sponsors for 2008: Ski Traveller and Power Plate.  It was a fantastic evening, Morton Estate Wines (another sponsor) provided the wine and the caterers worked wonders with the food!  We offered 4 FREE Nights & 4 FREE Days Skiing in Vail to any person from the evening that signed up for the newly launched Apres Ski Club of New Zealand!  So remember, if you sign up to the club and book your ski holiday with Ski Traveller you are in to win 4 Nights in Vail & 4 Days FREE Skiing - the odds are very good ! 
Below are a few piccies from the night …….we hope our clients enjoyed the evening and we do hope that Fiona, from Snowvision, makes this an annual event.  Ski Traveller also launched our WIN A Snow Holiday to Aspen as the evening and we wanted to say a BIG thank-you to Air New Zealand, United Airlines and AspenSnowmass for providing such a fabulous prize.

Lianne - Ski Traveller

Air New Zealand has released some FAB Ski Airfares to help you get to the slopes in North America!  Give us a call today so we can get you on the flights, you must book early to get the BEST Value Airfares.

An ADDED Feature for this year is you can choose to UPGRADE to Premium Economy Class or even to Premier Business Class on your long-haul flights.

The flights at Christmas are filling fast, give us a call to book your flights as soon as you know your dates…..you have 28 days once we book the flights to decide these are right and get the e-tickets issued, but you do need to get these booked now for travel at Christmas and Early January.

Direct flights to Vancover 4 times per week: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Sunday….same days returning.
Direct flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco: daily or twice daily.
 

Two shows in Wellington, Friday night and Sunday night…..at the FAMOUS Embassy Theatre.  Saturday night was the All Blacks vs Ireland rugby game. Great Warren Miller Film & Ski Expo…..the team chatted to lots of people about Skiiing in Colorado and our brochure supplies are now getting very low, which is great as that means we have been spreading the word about how good the skiing is in Colorado - “enter a higher state” is their moto!  United Airlines have some great airfares specials to Colorado released in conjunction with the Warren Miller Film - great value but you must book & pay for these before the end of June.

Telluride is of particular interest, we have run out of these brochures …… if you would like to book your holiday to Telluride, be in quick, lots of you are keen to go this coming season.  We have the stunning Lumiere Hotel, Telluride Mountain Lodge and some great condos - you can choose to be on the mountain or in the quaint historic township, linked to the mountain by a gondola.

Check out the Ski Traveller Team hard at work at the Wellington Warren Miller Show.

Oh we can recommend the following restaurants and cafes in Wellington: Maranui Cafe in Lyall Bay (our favourite, we visited twice) located in the surf club right on the beach at Lyall Bay….fantastic.  Hazel’s behind the Embassy Theatre is great too, we ‘bumped’ in the All Black Coach Graham Henry there on Friday night.  You also must try Chow, Lido and Monsoon Poon.

it’s Friday afternoon already…..this week has gone soooo quickly.  Sarah and I are really busy loading all the new products we sourced at the Mountain Travel Symposium on to the website and into our quoting system…we are ready to take your bookings now for next season!!  Please call 0800 11 22 99 or email us to book your flights early, we have great “ski airfares” with Air New Zealand and Air Canada which are fantastic, the cheaper levels will sell out FAST.
Have a great w/end….I am off to Waihi Beach to get a bit of ‘beach time’ before summer ends!
Talk soon,
Lianne
PS - did you know you can ski in Dubai?  if you are heading via dubai to europe or just want to check out dubai…..let us know, we have a FAB hotel that overlooks the indoor ski slopes!