Selling someone a great snowboard and then sending them to Falls Creek for the rest of their life feels like an incomplete transaction. The best snow on the planet is not in Victoria. It is in Hokkaido, in BC, in the Alps, in Patagonia. Getting there is a different kind of challenge — and it is one that Mint Tours has been solving for Australian riders for nearly two decades.
Mint Tours is our official international snow travel partner. Here is why we back them and what they can do for you.
Who Mint Tours Are
Mint Tours was started in Queenstown, New Zealand, and has grown into one of the most respected boutique snowboard tour operators in the world. They are not a general travel agency that happens to book ski trips. They are a snowboard operation run by riders who have spent their careers chasing the best snow on earth and building the local knowledge and guide networks to access it properly.
Their headquarters span three locations that reflect where they operate most seriously: Asahikawa in Hokkaido Japan — one of the snowiest places on the planet — Bend Oregon, and Torquay here in Victoria. They are embedded in the snowboarding world at a level most travel companies are not. Former Olympians and X Games medalists are on their guide team. Chad Otterstrom, one of the most respected names in backcountry snowboarding, is one of their lead guides.
We have been connected with Mint for nearly twenty years — first as customers, then as partners, and for a period Mint were actually based out of our Richmond store. We know them personally and we know how they operate. When our customers ask about international snow trips, we recommend Mint without hesitation.
Where They Go
Japan — Mint's heartland. Hokkaido has been their northern hemisphere base for over twenty years. They have deeper local knowledge and better access to terrain in Japan than any other Australian-connected operation we know of. This includes getting riders beyond the Niseko crowds into zones that most tour groups never see. Japan's powder — cold, light, consistent — is genuinely unlike anything you ride in Australia and it tends to be the trip that changes what Australian riders think snowboarding can be.
Canada — BC and the Okanagan. Whistler plus backcountry access in the surrounding ranges. Big mountain terrain, consistent snow, one of the strongest snowboard cultures in the world.
New Zealand — including heli operations accessing terrain in the Southern Alps well beyond the lift network. Mt Hutt, Cardrona, Treble Cone plus backcountry zones.
Europe — Alps across France, Austria and Switzerland. Chamonix for serious freeride, resort access across the major range for those who want the full European experience.
South America — Chile and Argentina in the northern hemisphere summer, which means Australian riders can chase a second winter without waiting a full year. The Chile Road Trip moves between resorts and accesses terrain across the Andes.
Central Asia — emerging destinations in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and beyond for riders who want to get genuinely off the beaten track.
What Makes Mint Different
Small groups. Mint runs boutique tours with guides who know the terrain personally — not bus tours with fifty people and a resort representative who has been there once. The logistics are handled completely so you can focus entirely on riding. Accommodation, transport, lift tickets, local guide knowledge, daily flexibility to go where conditions are best — all of it sorted.
Their approach is built around chasing conditions rather than following a fixed itinerary. If it snowed three feet overnight at a zone thirty minutes away from the scheduled resort, Mint goes there. That kind of flexibility requires genuine local knowledge and the relationships to make it happen. It is what separates a Mint trip from booking flights and a lift pass yourself.
The tours run across ability levels — from coached freeride programs for riders who want to develop their off-piste technique, through to serious backcountry and heli operations for experienced riders looking for the most challenging terrain available.
How to Book
Come into our Richmond store and we can make a direct introduction to the Mint team. We have been working with them long enough to know which trips suit which riders and we can help you figure out where to go, when, and at what level based on your riding and what you are looking for from a snow trip.
Alternatively, visit Mint Tours directly at minttours.com and tell them you are a Twelve Board Store customer.
Full Mint Tours Partnership Page · Shop Jones Snowboards · Visit Our Melbourne Store
