sbooker":118ukezi said:
I understand the skiing here in Australia is very conditions dependent but when this mountain has snow (not the sun beaten or rained on type that it normally gets) it is a great place to ski for all levels of skier.
I thought Thredbo was slightly better than Mountain High here in SoCal. Acreage and pitch are similar, but Thredbo is one integrated mountain rather than two connected by bus shuttle or out of bounds skiing, plus Thredbo has some skiing above tree line. The odds of good snow like you are enjoying now are no better at Mountain High than they are at Thredbo. How good is Thredbo's snowmaking? What percentage of the mountain can be kept fully covered from say, mid-July to mid-September, in poor snow years? At Mountain High the answer to that question is about half of its West side and none of the East.
For expert SoCal skiers, Baldy is on a completely different level, though the opportunities with limited snowmaking to take advantage of that terrain have been few and far between during the 9 seasons I've been retired.
sbooker":118ukezi said:
Why do some slopes turn to moguls while other almost adjacent and similar slopes with same gradient and orientation and (it appears) skier traffic not form moguls - or at least not of the same degree?
Skier traffic is key in mogul formation but not the only factor. A narrower run will funnel most people into the same line and build larger moguls. Softer snow is more easily dug out by skiers to start mogul formation.
sbooker":118ukezi said:
fine wind blown snow due to a strong breeze coming from the back of the mountain
This is par for the course at Mammoth, and it's not uncommon for moguls to be smoothed out and/or buried by overnight wind action. Sometimes adjacent runs may have different wind exposure.
sbooker":118ukezi said:
Tony C. You will be disappointed to here Tom had a another day on a snowboard. He is very good at it being just his third day. He now claims he is both a skier and snowboarder and he will do whatever “suits the conditions best”. Lol.
You may find the snowboard experience of my two sons informative.
Adam was highly motivated to ski from age 2 and was a solid advanced skier comfortable with runs like you skied at the top of Mammoth at age 7. By middle school age some of his friends became interested but being in SoCal most of them tried snowboarding. So Adam snowboarded ~5 days a season, mostly at the SoCal locals. Most of these areas are primarily intermediate like yours in Oz, so it was more interesting for him to learn a new sport and hang with friends at places like that. At Mammoth and destination resorts for the other ~15 days/season he stuck with skiing due to his high ability in expert terrain/conditions. Adam's teenage years were when Big Bear developed the terrain parks. With his disparate abilities he could go much bigger on skis than on a board, so he dropped snowboarding completely about age 16.
Andrew was very casual about skiing and with poor natural coordination like me. At age 9 he requested to try snowboarding, not surprising given the situation with his 4 year older brother. I was concerned it wouldn't go well, but his first day was in a blizzard at Mammoth with soft and forgiving conditions. Andrew muddled along skiing and snowboarding about 5 days each per season and progressing little. His skiing was better as he had started earlier, so when he was 15 I explained that he would progress more if he concentrated, and that he was starting from a higher level at skiing. I got him new boots but then he hit his growth spurt and ended up with 12EE feet which were chronically uncomfortable despite more new boots and numerous bootfitting attempts. At age 18 after the last attempt to fit his boots at Park City, I suggested he rent a snowboard for the last day of that trip at Brighton. Over the next 3 seasons he progressed with snowboarding past where he was in skiing and of course likes it better because he's comfortable. Andrew did not snowboard much the 6 years he was in Eureka, but he's back in SoCal now with an Ikon Pass for next season.
Your situation with Tom is different. When we were with you at Mammoth, it made little sense to me for Tom to spend a day at a destination resort as a first time snowboarder rather than being able to ski over most of an elite level mountain in North America. This was the distinction Adam drew at ages 12-15.
Now you are faced more with the Andrew situation of dividing limited time between two sports vs. concentrating on one. This might be OK with Tom as his coordination is more like Adam's than Andrew's, but on the other hand Tom is unlikely to get as much mileage on snow as Adam did. Does Tom surf and/or skateboard?
Then there is the equipment issue. Hopefully you, your wife and daughter have your own boots by now. If you're still renting, rental snowboard boots will nearly always be more comfortable than rental ski boots. That could be informing Tom's view, but my guess is that he just wants to be individualistic. If I were in your position, I'd make him choose one or the other, then buy the boots for the one he chooses. Then it's his decision and you have justification for not paying for him to rent boots on a whim at extra expense.
Given air travel from Brisbane, it probably makes sense for you to continue renting skis, though you'll have to pay more for quality skis. I have heard that Japan can be a problem due to shorter ski sizes, but I suspect at least around Niseko there are now so many westerners that good demos can be had. You should investigate before you go there. It can put a damper on a ski trip if you're on unsuitable gear, as I found out on my first Las Lenas trip in 2005.