Where to live for surf and ski??

[QuikR12]

You So Cal quacks are kooks. LOL, kidding, but the question is where can you surf AND ski... I'll be on my way to the beach at 2:00 this afternoon and be there by 3:30, for a swell that is 7.5ft @ 12 seconds. This weekend its 12 @ 16secs.. last weekend was 14ft @ 17!

Portland, Or I say! You can literally surf or ski everyday of the season if you want to, its just an hour and a half away. Wheeeewww hooo, here i come baby!

[Long duc dong]

Yesterday was one of the reasons I love Orange County so much. Newport was supposedly barely chest high, went down to Tresltes not expecting much. Got there to find it a couple of feet overhead and reeling. I surfed the 'middles' area between Lowers and Churches, and it was insane. A foot or two overhead on the sets. It was a bit soft, but the bigger rights had steep, flat faces and were really lining up. I'm a mediocre surfer, but I was going right and usually getting 5-6 good solid backside bottom turn/top turn combos. You could really lean into your backside bottom turns and put all your weight into backhand gouges. The sections were beautiful, some of the best rights I have surfed in a long time. Even the bad rights usually had at least one or two good sections. The lefts were good too, not quite as lined up but with some nice walls with a good end section to hit. I would say it was about 60-70 percent as good as lowers, but with 5-6 people spread out over several peaks instead of 25 on one. I was out there 3 hours, and must have gotten at least 30 waves. The crowd was really spread out, there were several peaks to choose from, so you could pretty much get all the waves you wanted. One of the best days of the summer, that came out of nowhere. I was expecting chest high slop, not 2 feet overhead and lined up.

Oh, I trunked it for 3 hours and was never even close to cold. The water must have been about 71 or 72.

I've had some great days this summer at double overhead Cottons and barbed wires. I've had some really fun Newport too, but this was as much fun as any day I've had this summer.

[hop]

Yesterday was one of the reasons I love Orange County so much. Newport was supposedly barely chest high, went down to Tresltes not expecting much. Got there to find it a couple of feet overhead and reeling. I surfed the 'middles' area between Lowers and Churches, and it was insane. A foot or two overhead on the sets. It was a bit soft, but the bigger rights had steep, flat faces and were really lining up. I'm a mediocre surfer, but I was going right and usually getting 5-6 good solid backside bottom turn/top turn combos. You could really lean into your backside bottom turns and put all your weight into backhand gouges. The sections were beautiful, some of the best rights I have surfed in a long time. Even the bad rights usually had at least one or two good sections. The lefts were good too, not quite as lined up but with some nice walls with a good end section to hit. I would say it was about 60-70 percent as good as lowers, but with 5-6 people spread out over several peaks instead of 25 on one. I was out there 3 hours, and must have gotten at least 30 waves. The crowd was really spread out, there were several peaks to choose from, so you could pretty much get all the waves you wanted. One of the best days of the summer, that came out of nowhere. I was expecting chest high slop, not 2 feet overhead and lined up.

Oh, I trunked it for 3 hours and was never even close to cold. The water must have been about 71 or 72.

I've had some great days this summer at double overhead Cottons and barbed wires. I've had some really fun Newport too, but this was as much fun as any day I've had this summer.

blah blah blah how's the skiing in/near OC?

(totally jealous... up north was a windswept disaster. Thank Neptune for a music fest to keep me busy otherwise I'd have been grumpy all weekend).

[Long duc dong]

blah blah blah how's the skiing in/near OC?

ahh, there's the rub.... I ski Mammoth 2-3 weekends a month which equals an average of maybe 25 hours of driving a month in the winter. You get used to it though. Someday, in my dreams, the Baldy area will get 400 inches a year. I would not hold your breath for that though.

You no what is classic Socal? There are many people down here who insist that Socal's best resort is Mammoth. I guess they missed geography. Don't get me wrong, you can get 30-40 days at Mammoth(or even more) if you are motivated enough, but Mammoth is just not in Socal.

(totally jealous... up north was a windswept disaster. Thank Neptune for a music fest to keep me busy otherwise I'd have been grumpy all weekend).

Yesterday the winds hit us. Everything was shredded down here. I think it may flip the water too, which is really too bad. I have not put on anything more than a spring suit since maybe early June/late May. These winds will probably kick start fall water temps down here.

[hop]

my '03 vintage 4/3 was feeling awfully chilly this am. Luckily I have a new 5/4/3 just waiting to be christened.

[davieboot]

I think I have found the best place for me: Taranaki, New Zealand.

I have heard it described as the coolest area in NZ that does not pander to tourists, so the crowds are relatively light. It has that NZ vibe. It is half way to Auckland and Wellington (about 4 hours each), so it isn't too isolated. Stent Road has a wonderful right break, and the whole Surf Highway is fantastic.

For skiing, Mt. Ruapehu is a few hours away, and despite getting high winds, has 2 ski resorts that have good enough terrain to hold a comp. Hell, Mammoth has high winds and gets blown down plenty. And, for a quick mountain fix, Mt. Taranaki is close by.

Done and done. Try to talk me out of it.

[Adamantium]

You no what is classic Socal? There are many people down here who insist that Socal's best resort is Mammoth. I guess they missed geography. Don't get me wrong, you can get 30-40 days at Mammoth(or even more) if you are motivated enough, but Mammoth is just not in Socal.

People say that because culturally Mammoth is Socal; that's where virtually all of their business comes from after all.

[Long duc dong]

my '03 vintage 4/3 was feeling awfully chilly this am. Luckily I have a new 5/4/3 just waiting to be christened.

That is some devotion. I would guess the cool weather also puts a damper on the 'scenery' , which would be unfortunate.

[hop]

That is some devotion. I would guess the cool weather also puts a damper on the 'scenery' , which would be unfortunate.

The wetsuit look is no bikini, but it isn't all that bad all things considered.

I caved and broke out the 5/4/3 yesterday and today and was almost too warm. I guess I just needed a new 4/3.

[MDJ]

Funny, I just sent my friends an email with the following and then saw this thread.

*********
If I was young and single, my weekend would look like this:

Sat Morning: Ski and Board at Boreal (they opened today)
Sat Afternoon: DH MTB at Northstar
Sun Morning: Scuba in Monterrey
Sun Afternoon: Surf in Santa Cruz

The Quadruple+ weekend.

************

I live in San Jose, surf in Santa Cruz on the weekends (30 min away) and surf Pacifica or Half Moon Bay in the mornings before work. Kirkwood is 3.5 hrs away and the rest of Tahoe another hour.

I surfed this morning and may do a short road or mtb this afternoon if I get home early enough. I also work on SF Bay accross the street from the main kite surfing area so I could always do that every afternoon if I had the time for another hobby.

This is a lot better than when I lived in PA!!

[QuikR12]

This is a lot better than when I lived in PA!!

The west coast is the best coast. by far.

[DeutschBag]

I didn't read one post on this thread, but my answer is:

Japan

[liv2ski]

[QUOTE=hop;2544402]The wetsuit look is no bikini, but it isn't all that bad all things considered.
QUOTE]

Uuuummmm, a hotty in wet neoprene always gets my blood bumpimg.
Davie boot has a pretty sweet setup, but for me, I would likely move back to the SF Valley, so Mammoth was 4.5 hours away and good surf was maybe 1 hour doing the early morning dawn patrol.
Now, I live a few blocks from the beach, but 6-6.5 hours from Mammoth. I hate the drive home twice a month.

[Yard Sale]

I lived in Santa Barbara, Huntington Beach and San Diego and would have to pick Santa Barbara as the best place if you can find a job or don't need one. Huntington Beach is great and when it walls up just go to Newport. San Diego gets to be a long drive to Mammoth but thats my only complaint.

If I had my choice I would live in HI from October to December and ski Jan to end of March.

[shralpingthegnar]

Lake Tahoe is a pretty good base of operations. First off you can surf the lake a few days a year, many more on a SUP. The skiing here is of course world class, and you've got the waves of ocean beach in SF at under 4hrs away. Santa Cruz is also under five hours.
As a bonus, we are 45 mins from an Reno international which has flights to Hawaii and Tahiti nonstop. I'll bet the NW is pretty dam sweet and even more convenient the more I think about it.

[colsurfer]

Get your pilots license and buy a small prop plane.

[Hugh Conway]

Get your pilots license and buy a small prop plane.

so you can get to shitty surf faster? or get stuck on shitty airfields when it snows? or just crash cuz you are fucking tired after a day skiing

Indo = May-November
N. Hemisphere (pick somewhere) November-May

[colsurfer]

so you can get to shitty surf faster? or get stuck on shitty airfields when it snows? or just crash cuz you are fucking tired after a day skiing

Exactly...

[Hugh Conway]

attitude from a dude in colorado who rides popout boards = priceless

[colsurfer]

It is pretty priceless. Glad you could find that equal sign on your keyboard.

[Hugh Conway]

It is pretty priceless. Glad you could find that equal sign on your keyboard.

doesn't compare to Virgin Island "stoke"

[colsurfer]

Wow...thanks for looking up a post of mine. Are you in Russia...got a lot of surf over there. You have no idea what your talking about.

[Long duc dong]

People say that because culturally Mammoth is Socal; that's where virtually all of their business comes from after all.

Yes, it is. It's funny just how different Mammoth and Squaw feel.

Without an airport, Mammoth has always been a very socal place. People don't tend to come from other places. I wonder if the airport has made a significant difference in the type of people hitting Mammoth. I doubt it, but you never know.

[thomasstuart]

Hey Friends.
I would say none, cause they probably have noodles for arms and the locals take all the good shit anyway, I say live at the ocean and drive to the snow. Way better deal.

[emrepaul]

Antalya, Turkey. Ski resort (Saklikent) is 45 min drive from the sea
Alacati, Turkey, 2 hour drive to closest ski resort (Bozdag)

That is of course if you are interested in windsurfing, in which case Alacati is paradise