Just got our hot little hands on the new K2 Graphics for the 2014 season – get frothing!
These will rolling in to our store from April – we will be stocking a good proportion of the range, and if we don’t have what you’re after let us know and we can order it in.
We will be putting these in our store with full descriptions and specs in the coming weeks. In the meantime click the images to enlarge and the Model Name is in the image caption & you can scroll with the arrow keys.
Please contact us for any more information or to stake your claim with a pre-order.
Continuing our series of Oakley product reviews, today brings a change of pace from the sport-oriented models I have checked out so far.
While the Radarlocks and Racing Jackets have fared superbly on the slopes, they weren’t quite at home around the groovy new digs of aussieskier.com in Melbourne’s Chapel St/Greville St district, so when the opportunity arose to review some more lifestyle-oriented models I jumped at the chance and was sent a pair of the new Heaven Series in the Plaintiff frame style
The Plaintiff is Oakley’s answer to the classic ‘Aviator’ style of sunglasses, however they are not without Oakley’s typical innovation and engineering nous.
Oakley Plaintiff Heaven Edition
The Heaven Series is comprised of a number of models with Matte Black Frames and Ice Blue Iridium lenses. I was looking forward to this lens as I have a number of styles with their darker Fire Iridium lens which is superb in bright sun but is left wanting in variable light.
The first thing I noticed about the Plaintiffs was their light weight – you can barely feel them in your pocket & they sit comfortably on your face. The ear stems are straight in typical Oakley fashion and grip your head well with no presure points, the sprung hinge is interesting as it resembles an older style leaf spring from cars of a bygone era.
The field of view is excellent, and the frame style does not block peripheral vision as some thick-stemmed wraparound models can do – this is particularly important for driving and answers a criticism I have of many sunglasses. However the bottoms of the frames tend to sit on my cheeks which is not ideal.
The lens tint can cope with bright sunlight but is not so dark that it impedes your vision in variable light such as driving through shadows. In fact the combination of the lens tint and peripheral vision made these a particularly good pair of sunnies for driving.
Overall I really enjoyed these sunglasses and they will be my main go-to pair over this summer for driving and general city usage.
The Heaven Series is a limited edition with only 3000 units manufactured in each style, and they are only available from selected retailers. For more details see the below graphic:
We have some more Oakley reviews to come, we are racing the clock to receive a pair of their new space-age Airwave goggles before Tim goes to Canada, and our Hotham blogger is also a very keen cyclist so I have passed on the pair of Racing Jackets I reviewed earlier to him and he is going to review them here from a cyclist’s perspective.
Oakley Heaven Series
Review Disclosure: I received these Sunglasses at no cost from Oakley Australia for review purposes. My opinions are my own.
aussieskier.com has been a trusted source of information on Snow & Weather conditions, Gear Reviews and Industry news since launching in 2010 and we plan to extend the same themes of honesty and integrity to our new venture.
There’s no escaping the current boom in online retailing, and it is our mission to provide the best possible online shopping experience. I live, eat & breathe technology & have participated in online communities since 1993. aussieskier.com has been 100% developed internally by myself, which allows an agile approach and continuous upgrades.
I won’t rest in my quest to provide our customers with the most seamless, informative & secure online shopping experience, and follow this up with service that is beyond reproach.
However some people find that certain items are better seen in person, so in addition to our online store we also have a shopfront, the ‘aussieskier Garage’ located at 2 Grattan St Prahran 3181. We are currently renovating and will be opening in the coming days so you will be able to check out our range, try on our gear, or if (heaven forbid) there is an issue our door is open to resolve anything in person.
We are starting small with an initial focus on the best gear for those lucky people venturing on an overseas ski trip this summer, or a Christmas gift for the snow-lover in your family. We commence with wider skis, backcountry & avalanche safety equipment and quality accessories, with more brands and stock to be added in the coming weeks, and have placed orders with the major wholesalers to arrive in time for the 2013 Australian Winter.
Also we will be launching an all new logo and website design in the coming weeks, which will feature a responsive design for painless shopping on Mobile and Tablet browsers.
Richard & Tim
This is too big a job to do alone, so I’m pleased to introduce my business partner Tim Gale to the aussieskier family. Tim has a similar background to myself as a Mt Buller Race Club Alumni who then joined the Ski School and progressed through the levels to become an APSI Level IV, fully certified instructor. It was actually myself who hired him back in 2004! Our shared race & instructing backgrounds give us a strong technical focus on our skiing, but whereas my recent adventures have been in off-piste and backcountry skiing, Tim brings along a strong Terrain Park acumen, having been a TBR (Team Buller Riders) Freestyle coach since 2009 and also a coach of the Australian Aerials Development team, so he is well placed to advise skiers looking for the gear to perfect their latest tricks.
So what about the blog?
The blog is my baby. I started doing it because I love it, nothing has changed, and I treasure the participation from our readers with their comments here & on facebook, but most of all the Instagrams submitted with the #aussieskier hashtag. If anything this new focus will provide the means to expand the reach to the 5 major resorts to provide the honest snow reports you know & love Australia-wide, plus snow forecast summaries, equipment reviews, industry news & more. I am constantly looking at ways to integrate our vibrant community into our new retail venture, providing trusted, crowd-sourced reviews to ensure the gear you choose is the very best for your needs.
Anyway, enough about us, go shopping! & don’t forget to Like us on Facebook to be kept up to date with the latest products & DEALS!
With the season on it’s last legs, we can start to look at the post game performance of the Hero pass and Buller Season Pass, an area of hot discussion during the pre-season.
The most exciting thing is what the introduction of the HERO pass means for Hotham skiers, could great developments be in the near future?
Visitor Numbers to the resorts have been interesting this year. Despite the HERO pass, Buller still managed above average to get 476,421 visitor days, Hotham, hot on the heels had 447,294. Both are above average though Hotham achieved a new record. In evaluating the success of the Hotham HERO pass, we have to do a little work with the numbers.
Since 1985, Buller’s Visitor Days has been very variable, a low of 136,000 in 1993 to a high of 578,000 in 2000, Hotham contrasting with a low of 154,000 in 1993 to a high of 447,294. What’s far more interesting is when we start to look at averages and standard deviations.
Real Visitor Days for Mt Hotham and Mt Buller. 100 = 1985
Expected Visitor Days 2013. We can be 95% sure the number will fall in the respective area. Graph shows the variability of Buller compared to Hotham making it hard to forecast Buller Visitor Days
Hotham, not surprisingly have experienced Visitor Day growth over the past 28 years with an annualised rate of 2.33%, Buller with a meer 0.47%. On top of that the average Visitor days for Buller is 419,700 versus 286,600 for Hotham. The standard deviation for both actually hovers closely, Buller 22.62% vs 23.59%. Though strip out the growth rates and relate it in Real terms, Hotham comes in at 10.20% vs Buller’s 21.77. Buller has substantially more wild swings than Hotham.
What does that all mean? What’s clear from these numbers is the Hotham has experienced sustained growth in numbers but also that it’s Visitor Days are less seasonally vulnerable than Mt Buller. As a result, Buller is more prone to higher variability of revenues; subject to the luck of the draw with higher highs and lower troughs.
In running a business, this poses many things to think about. Take for example farmers who experience different yields from their crops depending on the weather, they can struggle for years due to drought and then rebound with a few bumper years.
A while ago, the finance world came up with the idea of Futures. The farmer and the buyer would get together before planting and come to an agreement on price for their product. The farmer, knowing what they would receive, could then go out and buy themselves the seed and the equipment without the fear of not knowing if they would sell enough to cover their costs. One distinct advantage of this is that the bank is able to lend based on these contract, so the farmer doesn’t need to use their savings to go and purchase the seed.
Futures is a system that is suited for a business which experiences great variability with the revenues from year to year.
The irony of the ski industry is that what appears to have happened is that the businesses that experience the wild swings go to the spot market (waiting for day visitors to pay daily rates) whereas the businesses that don’t experience the variability have gone for the futures contracts (early bird season passes).
What’s the implications of this for skiers and boarders?
A company that experiences wild swings has to have a very robust war chest. They need to hold larger quantities of money to cover those years when margins are very thin and they make little profit. So whilst in a good year they will make lots of money, they will have to sock much of it away for leaner times instead of investing into development and infrastructure. For Bullerphiles I’m afraid that this means that you have to wait for those new chairlifts or snowmaking to appear.
For Hothamphiles, this is great news.
Hotham has been able to generate much more income this year, war chests can be leaner and hence this frees up more money for investment in development. There’s even a bigger issue at play here, on selling more Hotham HERO passes again this year for next season, they have locked in contracts. Whilst they don’t collect all the money from you now, they can take those contracts to the bank, borrow on them and then use that money for development. Take for example a chairlift that might cost $10million to build, take $6 million from this year and then borrow the other $4 million on future passes. So instead of having to wait for a new chairlift in 2014, you could potentially see one in 2013.
As a result of the HERO pass, expect to see great things come of Hotham. For Bullerphiles, keep praying to the snow god for good seasons.
So tell us, did you swap to Hotham this year and buy another HERO pass for next season? Â What improvements at your resort do you want to see come of this?
P.S. I don’t have any numbers for Perisher or Thredbo but if you’d like me to run them, please feel free to send them to us.
Nathan Gunn is the resident numbers man. His website is the place to go for all things budget and saving. If you have a topic you want him to explore, just send your suggestion to us.
It was another warm one yesterday. Just about t-shirt weather. The snow is what you’d expect, softening up during the day. There were still some areas that were soft enough, not rock hard and not slush either. It was just a matter knowing where to look.
There is absolutely no one up here either. It was very quiet during the week and it is only marginally busier this weekend. Given how much snow is still left everyone would have to be glad they are here.
Starting to see a few signs of ‘stress’ around the place. The creek hasn’t come through out in the orchard yet but some more warm weather and it could show up. This time last year we were a week off closing!
The weather during last week was pretty ‘special’ – gusts up to 140km/h & torrential rain meaning Wed/Thu were pretty much a write-off as far as skiing was concerned.
The rain turned to snow around 1am on Friday morning, and by all accounts the skiing was pretty good on Friday arvo.
We arrived that evening and the wind was still particularly strong, I had low expectations about the weekend as I felt the storm was too energetic and would be doing more damage than could be repaired by the snowfall.
As it turns out I was partially right but thankfully wrong also – while the Northside and Summit areas were scoured by the wind, it had blown vigorously into the Bull Run and Federation bowls, filling in all the bumps and buffing them absolutely smooth.
The temperature unfortunately rose during the early hours of Saturday but the winds dropped as well. We headed out not knowing what to expect and were extremely content with what we found – a deserted Bull Run bowl caked smooth in a layer of creamy new snow. It was sublime, in fact one untracked run on Hog’s Back was probably my best for the year. The mountain was deserted and there was virtually no competition for the untracked snow so we hit many of our favourite lines and had a ball.
However the temps continued to rise and brought the rain with it, so it became a pretty soggy affair and the snow turned more glue-like, so we decided to pack it in at about 12:30 which is by far our earliest finish of the year, but we still had some fantastic runs early.
I took out the Suunto Ambit GPS watch for its first test drive, here is what it recorded for Saturday. I want to ski with it a lot more and do some ski touring before I write a review, but if you want to know anything in the interim ask a question on our Facebook page and I will do my best to answer.
No pics due to the poor weather & visibility.
Saturday morning dawned sunny and was bluebird all day. Even though the temps were warm there was a chill in the breeze which meant that a lot of the Southside that froze overnight didn’t thaw unless you were in the edges of the bowls that have the Easterly or Westerly aspects. So Northside skiing was the go and we did a ton of laps in the Grimus area before we decided to explore around Southside and finally Bull Run.
Wood Run 9th Sept 2012Hog’s Back 9th Sept 2012Bull Run Bowl 9th Sept 2012SCV Hut Run 9th Sept 2012Buller West Ridge 9th Sept 2012Federation Bluff 9th Sept 2012Buller Summit 9th Sept 2012
Overall it has been a great weekend of spring skiing, and I’ve decided to sneak in Monday as well, the temperature is forecast to be a little higher with winds from the North which means there is some tasty terrain which didn’t thaw today that should yield some lovely corn snow tomorrow, keep an eye out for the pics and the report.
Tons of Instagrams arrived this weekend with the #aussieskier hashtag – all the resorts were covered and it looked like it was great everywhere. Check them out on aussieskier.com/social
Also it’s looking like there could be a little more snow later this week – will Friday be the 6th in a row with fresh snow?
With yet another Friday storm rolling through things were looking good again.
Some of the forecasts for the amount of snow we were going to get were just downright fanciful. The temperatures in Melbourne and Adelaide were simply too high for anything but rain in the early stages of the front coming through. Thankfully, it turned to snow early Friday morning and continued through the day. The winds were some of the worst we have seen all season. It’s not often you see Village going on wind hold.
This morning the riding was pretty good. So long as you got out as early as possible. There weren’t a huge amount of people out waiting for the first chair up either. It took a while for Gotcha to open up due to all the snow that built up at the load meaning you had to hike the Extreme Zone or just stick to HV laps. Keogh’s/Orchard was also late opening and would have had a truckload of ice on the towers. By the time it opened the snow was already ‘off’. If you had a clean line it was still good but was noticeably heavier from about 9.30. There were a lot of damp skiers and boarders by the end of the day. It certainly didn’t stay cold.
Not many pics to show, didn’t stop all that much this morning. Checkout how small the sign at the top of Mary’s Slide is these days.
For this week a review of Oakley’s Racing Jacket sunglasses.
Oakley has had a Racing Jacket model for some years, but after the raging success of their Jawbone model they have added a retention strap & changeable ‘O’ icons on the arms and re-badged the Jawbone as the Racing Jacket.
If you’re a fan of any outdoor action sport where the participants wear sunglasses, it’s likely that you’ve seen many pairs of these adorning the faces of your favourite athletes. Dozens of riders in the Tour de France Peloton favour this model including Bradley Wiggins (who also used the Radarlock in this year’s Tour), Mark Cavendish and Lance Armstrong (are we still allowed to mention him?!?!?)
Oakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses Review
I was supplied Racing Jackets in the Polished Black frame colour with the VR28 Blue Iridium and Light Grey lens tints (See Oakley Website for more)
Once again these sunglasses feature Switchlock technology & ship with two sets of lenses to favour different light conditions, the hard case has slots for two spare sets of lenses as well as those in the glasses, and the soft case also features separate compartments for spare lenses.
Oakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses ReviewOakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses Review
Switching the lenses is a simple affair, first release the catch held inside the nosepiece, then swing out the lower arm:
Oakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses ReviewOakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses Review
Once the arm is swung out you quickly remove the lens and replace it with the other tint, by lining it up in the grooves, swinging the arm closed and locking the nosepiece – naturally you need to do this separately on both sides.
Here are the sunglasses with each lens inserted:
Oakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses ReviewOakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses Review
And finally with the strap attached – you can pull this tight to keep the glasses safely on your face, or have it loose to have them hanging around your neck when not required:
Oakley Racing Jacket Sunglasses Review
So, what did I do with them?
As with my review of the Radarlocks I wanted to test these out while ski touring in the Backcountry, so I chose to wear them while skiing out the back of Mt Loch beyond the Mt Hotham resort (Trip Report Here)
The days I skied with the Racing Jackets were sunny all day so I had no cause to change the lenses ‘in the field’ but it’s a pretty simple affair, though harder to avoid the dreaded fingerprint smudge than with other models.
Here’s a couple of shots of me wearing them while on that trip:
Richard top of Mt Loch wearing Oakley Racing JacketsRichard climbing up to Machinery Spur wearing Oakley Racing Jackets
Fit/Comfort: They are not feather-weight on your face, also they preferred to sit with the arms inside your beanie, not on top of this. In the past I’ve found that this can give you sore ears.
Vision/Optical Clarity: I know I mention it in every Oakley review I’ve done, but their optical clarity really is second to none, and the Racing Jackets arguably beat out the Radarlocks and Airbrakes that I’ve previously tested, I’m not an expert but I’m guessing it’s to do with having two lenses where they can tailor the curvature perfectly to your eyes, whereas the other models have a single lens. Peripheral vision is excellent
Ventilation: The lenses are well-vented, to the point that my eyes started to water a little while skiing fast in-resort on my way back from the backcountry, but this turned out to be a good thing as the shape of the frame makes for a snug fit against my face, so there is not much opportunity for ventilation apart from through the vents. Due to the slow-moving nature of ski-touring unless there is a breeze there is bound to be fogging of sunglasses.
Lens Tints: The VR28 Blue Iridium lens was a great all-round skiing lens. I don’t like extremely dark lenses as things can change while you’re skiing, and I like a lens that’s versatile enough to cope with some variable conditions before you bite the bullet and change lenses. I did not get a chance to test the Light Grey lenses while skiing.
Durability: The Racing Jackets feel well made and the hinge mechanisms are solid. My main fear is that the spare lenses are quite small and fiddly in your fingers and are susceptible to dropping, scratches and fingerprints. The hard case provided is excellend and has slots of a further pair of lenses.
Appearance/Looks: The model I was given is a little more understated than the other colour combinations available, and I think it’s fair to say that early on a Saturday on Beach Rd you will definitely be ‘looking the part’.
Summary: The Racing Jackets are a great choice of sunglasses for participants in action sports, especially if they favour a more traditional sunglass instead of an ‘M-Frame’ derivative. Two supplied lens tints provide versatility and the switching mechanism is a breeze.
(Review Disclosure: These sunglasses were provided at no cost by Oakley Australia for review purposes)
Unfortunately I have to start this post with some sad news.
Regular aussieskier.com readers will know that I have strongly referenced and recommended Jane Bunn’s weather forecasts over the last couple of years. They were most accurate and an excellent resource. Unfortunately she has closed down her site, I have been in contact via email and she has supplied the following statement:
Unfortunately things have changed, and due to my work commitments I am no longer able to produce an internet forecast. Thank you for your feedback, it is much appreciated.
If you live in regional Victoria you can still catch my weather segment each weeknight on WIN News.
So whilst she cannot continue we should be most thankful over the last couple of years of clear and accurate snow/weather forecasts.
Now – what about the current weather? In case you hadn’t noticed today is particularly warm & windy with most lifts at the resorts on wind hold. Temperatures around the 5 degree mark and winds in excess of 100km/h. Unfortunately warm winds melt snow quicker than anything else so lower North-facing areas will be copping a hiding. The Radar shows the precipitation starting to hit the mountains as at 11:30 while typing this sentence and it will be reaching Melbourne shortly. Naturally this precipitation will begin as rain until the cold air arrives.
There is some serious juice in this storm – the Weather Chaser Composite Radar/Satellite animation is mesmerising, but the million dollar question is the timing of the cold air to transform the damaging rain into snow.
Most forecasts are predicting something in the 20-30cm range, such as Weatherzone & The Frog but Mountainwatch’s Grasshopper does not detail a snow prediction, yet agrees with the tone of all the other forecasts.
So I think the next 36 hours are a great opportunity to do anything but look at the webcams, as they won’t be a pretty sight until things turn late on Thursday or early Friday – my personal feeling with this storm is that there will be a nett loss of snow at lower elevations but a good nett gain up high. Saturday could be the pick of the days or even Sunday which is good news for all the weekend warriors.
Looking further afield, there is the prospect of another storm a week after this one. Not wanting to make too rash a prediction but I’d love a repeat of 2003 where we had regular top-ups of fresh through out September and even into October.
