snowboard noob neets season ticket adivce

[Guillermo]

i went snowboarding a few times last year and just rented each time. I took lessons and then pretty much stuck to the bunny hill, and can make it down without falling but am still a major noob... (I also went to Whitefish and took the lift to the top with my brothers and friends - who have all been boarding for like 15-20 years - but it sucked and took me like an hour to snowplow the whole way down, falling every 2 mintues hahaha.)

So anyhow, I'm buying a board, bindings and boots, and want to get a season pass somewhere. I want to start on the bunny hill again, but will obviously be ready to move on after a few times.

For you experienced guys, where would you recommend getting a season pass for a season of learning? I work in the NW, and was kinda thinking of getting a season at COP cause then I could go at nights after work. However, people tell me how boring little hills get when you're learning, so i'm not sure if this would be a waste of money. But if I did get the COP pass, then I could just buy random lift tickets for when I wanted to go to the mountains.

Looking for any advice, thanks guys! :thumbsup:

[Guillermo]

^^Oh, I am from the US and live in Calgary alone and don't know anyone here who snowboards. (otherwise I would just do what my friends do, you know?)

[LadyLuck]

Hey,

I have never bought a season pass, I dont go boarding enough for it to pay off.

Why not grab one of the lake louise or sunshine cards, its $90-$100 and you get two day passes out of it free and other days discounted as well.

[Jsen-DC2]

lake louise has a nice bunny hill, i prefer lake louise over sunshine, imo sunshine is not that good for noobs because it funnels everyone into a small valley at the bottom.

[Guillermo]

Is it worth driving to lake louise just to go on the bunny hill? I'm just wondering if it would be better to get a pass for COP to use the bunny hill, etc., and then just go a few times to the real mountains (might get that card you mentioned, ladyluck).

[maxomilll]

You can buy season pass's at most local ski shops, like ski cellar and such, there usually cheaper then buying at the hill, you'll also probs get hooked up with a deal if you buy a hole boarding package plus pass. Um cop imo is wayyyy over priced especially if you can't ride park. The only good thing about cop is the park, and even then...meh. Hit up the mountains as much as possible. You'll get good fast.

[Jsen-DC2]

soo many kids at cop tho, and they always get in the way. its such a piss off. after a couple times you should be good enough to hit up the mountain at louise.:dunno:

[SOAB]

just pick a mountain and forget about the bunny hills.

just go straight to the top and stick to the green runs. that way, you'll have way more time actually learning how to snowboard instead if learning how to get on a t-bar or in line for the lifts.

[mazdavirgin]

COP is actually a really good hill for people to learn on... You get out there and it's cheap especially if you have your own gear. You can ride the bunny hill for less than 35$ a day if you have the discount cards which is a kick ass deal since Sunshine or Lake Louise will be close to 65 with the discount cards not to mention you have to pay for the gas to get out there and sometimes in the winter you just frankly can't make it out there since it's a 2 hour drive out on icy scary roads...

If you buy a pass to a hill you have to be prepared to go almost every weekend at least one day to make it worth your while. Passes for the ski hills are >700$...

Personally I am pretty partial to Sunshine they just have better snow, open earlier, stay open later, and all in all and their terrain park kicks ass. Not to mention the significantly shorter drive. I can understand why new snowboarders wouldnt like it as much though due to the traverses but frankly I much rather ride Sunshine than Lake Louise.

A seasons pass for COP is about 400$ or so but yeah I like COP it's a fun place to stop by and ride park :) They are pretty busy on weekends but it's still a great place for boarders of all abilities especially if you want to work on your park skills. The mini parks are very forgiving :P

[syritis]

the ex and myself toured several different hills last year. she seems to like fernie the best due to the bottom half of the hill is very flat so there isn't much need to stay on only the bunny hill. rarely are there any chair lines and hill price is the same as anywhere else. (79$ for the day i believe) long drive though. 3 hours +/-

sunshine has a decent size bunny park but the progressive step to the rest of the hill is fairly large. even the easiest way down you'll have to carry some speed to get over the uphill sections. long line ups

louise has an ok bunny hill (carpet & T-bar) and the progression to the witwaxi is fairly easy. just don't go on the first few days during the waxi 500. last thing anyone needs is a slower person cutting across a blind hill. main chair always has a large line but the rest are fairly open.

if your very determined to get a seasons pass get it for COP so you'll use it on days after work. Their bunny hill is probably the largest they don't have a T-bar and the progression is quite a jump to the top of the hill and that has some fast sections. I really despise COP and IMHO not even close to worth the money.

norquay I haven't been to in years and fortress is closed.

Edmonton's rabbit hill i neat to go to once if your up there but not worth the trip for itself

as everyone else has stated unless you plan on going 10+ times there isn't much need for a seasons pass.
sunshine discount pass. 90$ = 1,4 and 7 days are free. (pays for itself after 4 visits)
lake louise discount pass. 100$ = 1 and 2 day are free, 50$ everyday after that and 10% off the pro shop all year. (pays for itself after 2 visits)

[mazdavirgin]

Yeah I don't get why people hate on COP so much. I ride there almost every week once the park is built :P On the weekends I am usually up at Sunshine and frankly I have never found the lines that bad for the upper chairs.

Anyways seasons passes are not worth it unless you are going more than about 15 times a season due to the discount cards(Which if you are going every weekend one day a week is still almost every weekend of the season). Frankly if you are riding alone though you really have to take into account the cost of the gas to get you out there and the banff park pass.

[Mys73ri0]

forget a season and pass and get:

http://www.skilouise.com/louise_cards.php

http://www.skibanff.com/tickets_passes/sunshine_marmot.php

Louise cards should be awesome this year as they teamed up with Castle and KH. More excuses to call in sick this year!

[almerick]

Originally posted by Mys73ri0

http://www.skilouise.com/louise_cards.php


Wow thanks for posting that! I really like going to Louise and most likely will be heading up to kicking horse again this year!:clap:

Never been to castle though, how is it there?. Anyways the most expensive part of snowboarding I find: the gas.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by Mys73ri0
forget a season and pass and get:

http://www.skilouise.com/louise_cards.php

http://www.skibanff.com/tickets_passes/sunshine_marmot.php

Louise cards should be awesome this year as they teamed up with Castle and KH. More excuses to call in sick this year!

Agreed. Just get the ski cards. You get some free days and save on lift tickets the other days.

When I was learning, I tried the bunny hill a few times, but found it extremely hard as I could never get enough speed to really do anything. You can practice on your toe and heel edge, but definitely not enough speed to learn how to carve.

Sunshine does have a good beginner run for learning. The Strawberry Triple chair takes you to a good green run. Take a right when you get off, run 44. It doesn't have any flat spots, and enough speed to help you learn how to carve. It ends up right beside the bunny hill.

[freshprince1]

Nakiska would be a good place to learn. It's closer than Louise, and Sunshine and is still a full sized hill. If you get the Louise Pass, I think it still might be good for Nakiska (at least it was back in the day).

I would say just get a Lousie card and Sunshine card. I did the math once and I think you have to go 13 times or more to get your moneys worth with a full seasons pass. The cheaper card gives you a few free days and a 20% discount on every other day. I would just go to one of the big hills and learn from there. It's better to learn on the real deal, sink or swim is how I learn best.

Good luck. I can't wait to get back on the slopes this year.

[Guillermo]

Hey guys, thanks for all of the great info and advice in this thread! I wouldn't have any idea wtf i was doing without help like this, haha. Thanks again for everything! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[hrdkore]

yo.... Nakiska is a good hill for beginners and intermediates, the only this is the snow is pretty packed there on days that it isnt snowing. If you're willing to drive the distance louise is good and so is sunshine, you just have to try the hills yourself. I was swayed from sunhine from other boarders, but i find it good when you're skills have leveled up and you go to the backside.

[Mys73ri0]

http://www.skircr.com/loyalty_cards/index.asp

There's the ski cards for Nakiska and RCR...

It's not a bad idea to buy a few Nakiska cards and register them under DIFFERENT names and you can go for $40 a few times... it was even better last year when the card was $20... made teaching noobs who wanted to go a 'real' hill cheaper...

[dimi]

I am on my fourth sunshine pass. It was $500 before the June 15 deadline. I got around 30 days last year.

Very good value for the following reasons.

1. Close relative to other resorts
2. Early open/Late close
3. More snow than any resort in the relative area.
4. Decent park
5. DELIRIUM DIVE! When it gets windy on Sunshine (pretty often) all the snow gets blown into Delirium Dive, so there is always fresh powder to be found if you are down with a beacon & shovel. If the dive is open I don't ride other runs.

Louise is another 45 mins each way, and that's big for me. Didn't get anywhere near as much snow as Sunshine either.

You cannot progress at COP, unless you want to go the park route.

Nakiska sucks.

If I had the time for driving my season pass would be Kicking Horse.

[shakalaka]

I am pretty much EXACTLY in the same position as you. Just went a couple of times at COP last season. Although I bought my gear after a couple times (cheap stuff) I only went like 3-4 times overall. But would like to continue this year.

I think I am gonna go to COP this season as well just to learn enough. I want to get decent at it first before I go anywhere else. I took the lift up to the top at COP and literally took me half hour to get down, which included numerous falling.

I took one lesson at COP and I don't think it did anything, I am just gonna go and try to keep doing it and falling until I learn it I guess.:dunno:

[austic]

I would say get the COP pass and go to the mountains.
Main reason is at your stage the more you go the better you will get. When i was learning going 2-3 evenings a week made a world of difference. once you get good enough but a LL or sunshine card and hit them on the ocasional weekend.
Guarenteed you will get more boarding in this way and become a better boarder.

[Guillermo]

Originally posted by austic
I would say get the COP pass and go to the mountains.
Main reason is at your stage the more you go the better you will get. When i was learning going 2-3 evenings a week made a world of difference. once you get good enough but a LL or sunshine card and hit them on the ocasional weekend.
Guarenteed you will get more boarding in this way and become a better boarder.

Yea, I think this is what I'm planning to do. I work literally a 10 minute drive from COP, so I could go 2 or 3 times per week after work... even if it's just for an hour or two. And then hit up the resorts on the weekends. :thumbsup:

man, i cannot wait for the snow!

[thrasher22]

I don't know why everyone is suggesting places like Sunshine or Louise if you barely know how to board and are rolling solo...
You're going to be tired after a couple hours, why would you drive 2+ hours and pay $70+? Its like buying an $800 board your first season (which TONS of people do), you're spending a lot of money and only getting a small amount of the value.

If you get bored of COP hit Norquay, they have deals all the time, its only an hour away and is a smaller mountain to learn on!

But to answer the original post, if you plan on going once a week all season a pass is a good choice if you plan on forcing yourself to go at least 12 times, which is good motivation to get better :dunno:

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by thrasher22
Its like buying an $800 board your first season (which TONS of people do), you're spending a lot of money and only getting a small amount of the value.

Nothing quite like seeing a new boarder decked out in brand new burton gear. Burton board, burton bindings, burton boots, buton jacket, burton mitts, burton helmet, burton snow pants :) They are like walking billboards falling all over the place whilst wearing ~2k worth of gear. Quite funny to see frankly especially when people buy aggressive side cut boards and they keep catching their edges...

So many people rant about COP but frankly until you can carve(None of that weak back leg surfing fake carving so many boarders seem to do...) properly from top to bottom of the hill you have no business spending cash to go to a mountain hill. It is quite frankly a waste of time and we don't want you scrapping off all the snow from the runs :)

[dimi]

Originally posted by thrasher22
I don't know why everyone is suggesting places like Sunshine or Louise if you barely know how to board and are rolling solo...
You're going to be tired after a couple hours, why would you drive 2+ hours and pay $70+? Its like buying an $800 board your first season (which TONS of people do), you're spending a lot of money and only getting a small amount of the value.

If you get bored of COP hit Norquay, they have deals all the time, its only an hour away and is a smaller mountain to learn on!

But to answer the original post, if you plan on going once a week all season a pass is a good choice if you plan on forcing yourself to go at least 12 times, which is good motivation to get better :dunno:

Don't get me wrong I also learned to snowboard on COP and its a great place to learn. However, he said he plans to go every weekend. If that's the case he will get bored of COP by his 5th time I would guess. I know I was. So I wouldn't get a season pass. Now if you want to do some terrain park features, COP is limitless and I would get a pass, but I highly doubt that's the case.

On top of that COP hinders your progression. The runs are almost always all ice, and a lot of friends have quit just because of the pain and suffering of scraping and falling on ice. It really sucks. When you go to the mountains and experience a bit of powder, you'll be hooked.

Go to COP 4-5 times, get a sunshine or Louise card, preferably both. If you average a sunshine card over the 7 times that you go its around $50 a go if remember correctly. Louise is $100 card for 2 days so again $50. Not too bad if you use your whole day.

Going to Norquay is totally pointless. It's another 15 mins to sunshine and Norquay doesn't get anywhere near the snow. But then again I am very partial to Sunshine.

Then next year you get a Sunshine or Louise season pass early bird for $500 and you are set. $500 for a mountain season pass is insane value.

[SilverGS]

My brother in law learned a couple years ago and did exactly what some people have mentioned already.

Went to COP 3-4 times a week and paid for a private instructor to help him with his technique. On weekends he would go out to whatever hill in the mountains he felt like.

Not sure if he ended up getting a pass to COP but he probably should of.

He went from never having been snowboarding before at the beginning of the season to having his instructors license buy the end of the season.