Hello

[Vicente]

..........................................................................................................................If you can get the air fare for under $1000, ................................................................As you can see that the actual cost is not bad:

BTW, I've never skied Europe, but eventaull I will. That is in my TO-DO list.

Wowwoo, Snowrider, you do have great deal for 5 days skiing. :face (330):

I haven't skied in Euro neither. How much would be? I suppose USD 3,xxx if from TW.:face (44):

[skier666]

that one is very close to seoul, enroute from airport to the bigger resorts. This one (yong pong) is my favourite, its 3 hrs further from yangji, I ll be this one as long as I could, there is also a giant spa over there. :)
http://www.yongpyong.co.kr/eng/pop_slope.asp
http://www.goski.com/content/yongpyong

cost wise - flight from hk is normally 3xxx hk dollars return. car rental is like 2000hkd for 4 days, guest house is like 500hkd a night per room, ski ticket is most expensive though, its like 600-800 a day pp.
food is another expensive item if u want good food.

I considered usa and canada many times for longer trip, however each time I came up with a figure more expensive then europe. :)

carver, you can consider lake tahoe in april. you can fly into reno and stay in the casino hotels. the food and room rate are cheap in casino. there is at least one free bus to take you to and back from the resort. the lift ticket is almost free in spring. it is better to have a friend to split the room cost. spring skiing is great, my favorite time. i can give you more detail if you are interested in the future.

[carver_hk]

snowrider - I guess its not the flight ticket that kills but the flight time (like 20 hours oneway) and the time getting to ski resorts that added together would make a short trip(4-5 days) impossible. I just made a search on flight ticket cost, its not too expensive though. I m seeing like 1000usd to 1300usd return from hk. I do love the snow as you described though. I believe I will be skiing in the us or canada when I have longer vacation. :)

korea snow condition is almost always icy. So its good if you love speed.

Since you are a professional, may be you could get a job in Europe sometimes so that you could travel for free?

[carver_hk]

carver, you can consider lake tahoe in april. you can fly into reno and stay in the casino hotels. the food and room rate are cheap in casino. there is at least one free bus to take you to and back from the resort. the lift ticket is almost free in spring. it is better to have a friend to split the room cost. spring skiing is great, my favorite time. i can give you more detail if you are interested in the future.

oh! you posted while I was typing. Thanks for the insider information. Its quite possible I ll do that sooner or later. I ll ask for more details when I really got the chance. Thanks in advance for giving help.

[snowrider]

Vincente - Since I've been organizing ski trips for years, it's not hard for me to find the deal and plan for the trip. (P.S., But I am only good at finding deals in the States though.)

Skier666 - That's what we (a group of friends) did last year. We visited Tahoe in the prime time from 02/08 to 02/13. We stayed at Mount Bleu for 5 nights, skied 2 days at Heavenly, 1 day at Kirkwood, and 1 day at Squaw. The total cost of lodging + lift tickets was less than $490. Best of all ... no rental car was needed. About your suggestion about April skiing, I would not recommend. I would not risk my ski trip on the spring snow.

Carver - About your suggestion that I could "... get a job in Europe ...", that's what some of my ski coworkers think. Here's the plan (a retirement plan) - travel and ski all over the world. Some world class ski resorts offer good employment opportunity (including lodging) to level-3 instructors. They plan to ski (and teach) around the world, including Colorado, Utah, Alps, South America, and Australia - one resort a season. Why a retirement plan? Almost all (99%) ski instructors here are part-time instructors, so the plan is for the retirement from their full-time jobs.

[carver_hk]

Here's the plan (a retirement plan) - travel and ski all over the world. Some world class ski resorts offer good employment opportunity (including lodging) to level-3 instructors.

Wow! That's great news. Someone told me that I should quit my job and work in the ski industry instead. I though it was a joke. I never know there is such a good opportunity for the less then wealthy. I ll consider getting a credential sometimes in the future then.

[skier666]

About your suggestion about April skiing, I would not recommend. I would not risk my ski trip on the spring snow.

I am wondering what is your experience skiing in April here:face (46):

[skier666]

Wow! That's great news. Someone told me that I should quit my job and work in the ski industry instead. I though it was a joke. I never know there is such a good opportunity for the less then wealthy. I ll consider getting a credential sometimes in the future then.

I am not sure about Europe but I am under the impression the pay is low in US. Unless you like doing it, I think it is silly to do it just for some free stuff. We don't see many level 3s around so I guess it is not easy to get.

[carver_hk]

I am not sure about Europe but I am under the impression the pay is low in US. Unless you like doing it, I think it is silly to do it just for some free stuff. We don't see many level 3s around so I guess it is not easy to get.

yes, i understand. It could be big investment to get a level 3 and in return for some very little money. However if talking about retirement one should have enough cash for the living. The 'teaching arrangement' should really be kind of travel for free stuff.

[snowrider]

I am wondering what is your experience skiing in April here:face (46):

I don't know. I've never tried April skiing there. My point was that ... for a ski trip, I would rather ski in some months that guarantees great snow. April could be good and could be slush. I enjoy more on dry snow instead of slush snow.

[snowrider]

I am not sure about Europe but I am under the impression the pay is low in US. Unless you like doing it, I think it is silly to do it just for some free stuff. We don't see many level 3s around so I guess it is not easy to get.

Yes, the pay for instructors is very low in the States. I believe that it's the same in Europe. The thing is not about making money from teaching skiing. For lower level of instructors, the thing is the opportunity to get training which is not open to outsiders. For L-3 instructors with the plan that I mention in previous posting, the thing is about skiing everywhere around the world without incurring too much cost. Of course, if one is wealthy, s/he can hire a private coach all the time and ski out of her/his pocket around the world all the time. You know that skiing is a luxury sport, and not everyone afford to do that in this way.

[skier666]

[quote=""snowrider""]I don't know. I've never tried April skiing there. My point was that ... for a ski trip, I would rather ski in some months that guarantees great snow. April could be good and could be slush. I enjoy more on dry snow instead of slush snow.[/quote]

It is the weather. How do you guarantee it?

There is only occasional dry snow in Sierra. The snow here is pretty wet and tracked out very quickly. How do you know if you have not skied it:face (46):

[snowrider]

It is the weather. How do you guarantee it?

There is only occasional dry snow in Sierra. The snow here is pretty wet and tracked out very quickly. How do you know if you have not skied it:face (46):

Sorry that I really don't know. The only thing that I can estimate is the temperature. That's why I try to take ski trips in prime time intead of early or late season. We were lucky last year when we visited there. We got big dump 2 out of 4 ski days. In those 2 days, we even rented real power skis (waist ~ 120 mm). It was really an enjoyable thing.