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Journals from March 2006( Page :1 2 3 )
POSTED BY:
baldguy
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RESORT:
Kagura
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Niigata |
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POSTED DATE :
30th March 2006
10:25 AM |
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After some friends had been going on about this place it was time to try it out. It was late January by the time we could and were lucky to go just after a new snowfall so there was a lot of powder about.
Had another good day, but can't help feeling disappointed with the place. It's just a very different kind from Happo (where I was the just before) and I prefer Happo. There just didn't seem much to Kagura, though I hear a lot of its appeal is the backcountry.
It's going to take a while for me to be ready for that though! |
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POSTED BY:
baldguy
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RESORT:
Happo-one
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
30th March 2006
10:23 AM |
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My first experience of a Japanese resort and seems that I picked a good one. Well, my friends did. Really enjoyed it and it was early January so the conditions were excellent. Impressed with the size of the place, the snow, the views. |
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POSTED BY:
bryantp
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RESORT:
Kagura
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Niigata |
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POSTED DATE :
28th March 2006
14:55 PM |
VISITED ON :
26th March 2006 |
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Day 34 at Kagura/Naeba. We rode Kagura all day. In the morning, trees were okay. By late afternoon, snow was sticky and that made it difficult on some of the flatter places. We retreated to Naeba to ride the Snowboard Cross. It was closed but...we reopened it for several runs. Even on weak snow this is exciting. With the backed turns, you can absolutely fly. It's a must do. |
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POSTED BY:
norcalnate
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RESORT:
Kamui Ski Links
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Hokkaido |
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POSTED DATE :
27th March 2006
20:38 PM |
VISITED ON :
26th March 2006 |
PHAT AIR-2006. Those that were there were the ones that counted, so name dropping doesn't seem to be necessary in matters such as this. However, BIG ASANTE SANA to Chico, Red, Coach, Yoshi, Kaname, DUDE and all the others who put their hearts and souls into making PHAT AIR Bigger Badder & Bester than ever before. Almost not to be, but once again the SNOWGODS were on our side showing an affinity for our approach to the lifestyle....
Showed up in the parking lot to heavy winds, a bunch a dudes lollygagging around, and a look of disbelief on Chico's grill as he informed the Gondola was not to be in service this day. Thought he must be joking, but no. So, in the wind and rain and costumes everyone gathered, brainstormed, hiked and jibbed the park, made a jib out of some benches, and the like. Eventually some gave up & moved their party somewhere else. BUT the core stuck around not willing to give up the dream so easily. Congregated in the lodge where i decided to get saucy. Everybody was throwing back at a steady rate, not quite noon just waiting for something to happen. Then it did. The rain turned to snow. The wind died down. And then the monotone voice came over the loudspeaker to inform the masses the gondola would be moving shortly. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH YEAAAAAAAAAH, BROTHER!!!
After gathering gear & hanging out, listening to tunes with MKEITH, hit up the gondola with Coach and MKEITH for a long ride up. By the time we got off the Gondola DOGGZILLA was completely BODED! Went a little to hard on the sauce and showed up to a spectacular set up not knowing whether i'd make it through the day. 4 well sized, shaped and mainained hits looking over a field of POW waiting to be obliterated. After taking a few snaps of the hits being de-virginized, swayed my way up to the drop point, struggled to strap in and launched into a much deserved yard sale which was quite refreshing...After that, i couldn't get enough as even though the belt wasn't on the line, no satisfaction in the performance Dogg was giving...
Anyways, quick rundown of what Dogg does remember in his jaded, boozed state of mind...
Rooster-The European Champion was going Global, lucha-libre style while showing off his Gold Medals he won with a Broken Freaking Neck.
Coach-ACD cliff drops, LA 99 off the rafters once again, large, style and finesse as always. Standard setter.
Chico-Nothing outta reach. Going for everything starting out with the benches in the rain and finishing up with an inverted Triple Lindy.
Red-Bringing it to another level once again. Talking Trash & Backing it Up. Taking Photos & Hucking Himself up to the Clouds. Thought he was going clip the lower kicker for a second there, but he proved to be the better man despite almost decappitating the Cook.
Stayner-Mullethead Old School 99. Kept me sober enough to function with his words of wisdom while always making sure i had a beer off the tap. This is what friends are for. My Boozing Idol, if you will. BB & Mullethead jumps never fail to please the crowd.
MKEITH-Don't know what to call the costume, but loved it. Surprised Coach & i by just proceeding unannounced and hitting the bench jib. Results weren't as pleasant when the cameras managed to get out. Hitting the Booz hard as well as the jumps. My Showing off Music in my car idol, if you will.
Yoshi, Masaya, Matsu, Chiho, Cook, Mai and anyone else i'm forgetting. Unreal day where the weather came around like nothing else. Sequenced jumps, PHAT AIR, plenty of booz AND nothing like that final ride-cruzing down from the set-up as a KREW after the mountain has closed and no one or nothing else to worry about. And the best thing is: it only gets better than this....
Sorry didn't take as many pics this year, but here's a sampling and i'll place some more on my member page and get more out to you all in the usual fashion...Until the next time...
Doggzilla |
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POSTED BY:
norcalnate
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RESORT:
Daisetsuzan Kurodake
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Hokkaido |
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POSTED DATE :
27th March 2006
19:46 PM |
VISITED ON :
25th March 2006 |
1984. Not meant to be that hard, especially on the return to Pristine Hokkaido Playing Surface on a BlueBird. But things aren't always as they should be, especially when the last words outta Roosters' mouth on the confirmation call is "Drink lots of Booze!" i obliged and Rooster held up his own and the both of us were in UGLY conditions when we met up with the Cook in the parking lot. The UGLINESS continued throughout the day, and i thought there was no way we would peak.
The clouds cleared once we got off the lift, so the weather was no longer in my corner as an excuse to turn back. The POWDER was deep and we were taking ages to get nowhere. After 50 minutes, we stopped for a break to look down to see how little we accomplished. Moods were nasty as more than once Rooster busted out in 4 letter word laden tirades. Decided to push for the cornice in the meantime, but felt as we approached that any stop there would ensure no peak. Or at least i did. The cornice was huge and as i moved onto the last steep climb, Rooster called me on the radio letting me know that there would be violent retribution for not hitting the cornice in these conditions. So, i cruised back down and we each took turns hitting it a few times. The cornice was huge and the landing was sweet, but the hikes back up were dreadful.
Hurting, unHappy, and almost HATING, Rooster pushed on, which was encouraging and started the brutal final ascent. Making negative progress with the PAWS as i'd slip back 2 feet for every step up. Ended up Booting it up, and not soon enough did we hit the top. Cook was struggling up the last bit, but with a little of the Rooster's sweet talk, she perservered and NO REGRETS were to be had by anyone on this day. Still don't know how we peaked. Weird.
After sharing a Classic, the time had finally come to shred. The Bowl was in perfect shape, with thigh-high pow allowing you to just let it all out, and float, spray, and manipulate virgin lines through the mountain in slow-motion. No holds barred as we wrecked the tree trun all the way down to top of the ropeway. From there, down the not always so pleasant ride to the bottom. Steep, filled with sharp turns as expected, there was surprisingly quite a bit a powder around to actually get in some turns. But unless you're making the first tracks down during the day, it can be more hassle than anything. And BY THIS TIME, i wanted off the MOUNTAIN more than anything. Beat, bruised and broken. Not the attitude allowed as Phat Air countdown was T minus......Needless to say, great day. Better than sitting on my couch, smoking ciggies feeling sorry for myself for getting too boozed the night before. As i said, we're better than that.... |
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POSTED BY:
ishidoraman
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RESORT:
Ishiuchi Maruyama
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Niigata |
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POSTED DATE :
27th March 2006
10:42 AM |
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LATE DECEMBER
2nd day out and I hit Ishiuchi once more. It was a bit of a late start as my legs were protesting! But had half a day out there. Snow again was excellent and we had had about 20cm or so overnight. I couldn't do more than 4 hours though so made my way back to the pension and then Saitama that evening.
What a fantastic start - couldn't ask for more. |
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POSTED BY:
ishidoraman
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RESORT:
Ishiuchi Maruyama
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Niigata |
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POSTED DATE :
27th March 2006
10:41 AM |
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It's taken a while to get round to it, but I'm going to try and keep a record of my season.
LATE DECEMBER
I was itching to get out there with all the news of huge snowfalls and it was after Christmas before I could make it out for the first time.
First destination was Ishiuchi. I have a colleague who owns a small pension right on the slopes. That along with the fact that I really like the place has made it one of my fave places.
The snow was amazing. First time out is always good but this time it was spectacular. Deep fluffy snow all the way and not many other people. (I think they had problems getting there!)
I was on my own so got a lot of action in - so much so that the legs were pretty sore that evening. Nothing a good onsen can't fix though. :) |
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POSTED BY:
snowcat
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RESORT:
Hakuba Cortina Kokusai
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
23rd March 2006
21:32 PM |
VISITED ON :
23rd March 2006 |
Today at the Cortina first day out in 2 years, had to get out the cobwebs,
I took it easy riding on the sides but that resort has a lot of snow and I wonder to myself how do Avalanches NOT HAPPEN, anyway I was at the top the mountain on the narrow trails, bad idea I was exhausted, anyway I decided to do something fun,(lots of fun!!!)
I used my rented board as a luge to get out of that situation as quick as possible.
I can still hear that schoolboy on the chairlift laughing his head off.
I might try to get a spot on the St. Kitts and Nevis luge team. |
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POSTED BY:
norcalnate
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RESORT:
Hakuba 47 Winter Sports Park
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
23rd March 2006
11:03 AM |
VISITED ON :
19th March 2006 |
After a crushing defeat at Nationals, had some free time left in Nagano and felt compelled to check out what all the hype is about. So me K-Dubbs and NakaJun hopped on the free shuttle from Nagano St and were heading up the gondola by 10:30.
With a steady snow coming down as we arrived (which continued all day) and the mammoth size of the resort or 7 resorts or whatever it is, expectations were high. Not to be. The Gondola left us somewhere around the middle of the mountain, err glacier and was basically just waiting to lose an edge coming down. Decided a push up to the peak might find us some better snow. Up to the top where the snow was serviceable and did the runs on the Goryu side for an hour or so. Not too thrilling as the groomers felt narrow and the fact that there were about 300,000 heads on the slopes ensured we couldn't get into a rhythm. Headed back over to 47 and thought maybe some top to bottom runs would bring our spirits up. It was weird but the snow on the top third was serviceable like i said, the middle third was an ice rink, and the bottom third was wet heavy spring slush. Felt like a trip to the park may save the day as we saw a variety of hits and jibs coming up from the gondola. Closer inspection showed these to be some of the worst maintained hits i've seen in Japan. No interest whatsoever. By 12:30 we were done, having no fun and having no desire to continue. Felt spoiled to be from the North & Off to the parking lot where we were able to get some scrilla back on the passes....but had to wait 4 hours before the shuttle bus came to take us back.
Another odd thing that struck me was that throughout the day, i never heard anyone else complaining about the conditions making me think this is just a normal day here??? It was a Sunday, so i kind of expected the crowds, but with the narrow groomers, nothing ever got going. Although, the lifts moved surprisingly fast for there being 800,000 people on the resort. What made this day special was the fact that i saw at least 6 different skiiers & boarders crashing into one another. Nobody was hurt though as there wasn't enough speed, but it just made me realize i can't remember the last day i saw riders running into one another. Oh yea, the time Big Sexy slammed his floater into my back at Kamui under the Gondola. And knowing nothing about the mountain kept us out of the BC, but with the snow conditions as they were, i can't imagine there was anything worthwhile back there on this day either. With the amount of area, i'm sure there are some sweet lines to be had on the right day in the right conditions. Well, maybe. Just happy to get some cash back & be back in Ezo. Pics of the madness to be posted a little later.....
Kwaheri |
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POSTED BY:
c-squared
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RESORT:
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
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Hokkaido |
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POSTED DATE :
22nd March 2006
19:33 PM |
VISITED ON :
18th March 2006 |
Crew: Ken, James, Chas, Sam, Duncan, Kevin, Joyce, Mio, Ian, Wolfie
Damn, I didn't even want to write this journal as this was a trip that could have gone a hundred times better, to say the least. Bad weather, bad luck and some bad accidents plagued what should have been the last of the season blow out.
Day one - it hadn't snowed in about three days by the time we got there and the temps were warm - warm enough to have melted off the phenomenal 50cm+ of new snow that had arrived a week before. By the time we got there, the snow had crusted to icefloe hardness and anyone who fell on it was risking a broken bone. The only things we could do is play around on Strawberry Fields and the park on Hanazono. Worst thing about it was that I cleared my kickers on the park but didn't land a single jump in Strawberries, Even worse about that is that every single cracker-ass stack where I fell on my face got caught on film. Damn it, Johnson - where were you when I landed the damn things!
Day two - a lot better. We got about 5cm new snow overnight which was enough to cover the tracks from the previous day. As planned, we spent most of the day on Annapuri. The backbowls of Ozawa and Kozannosawa were frozen out and were too crusty to be enjoyed but the valley between Higashiyama and Annapuri (Yunosawa) was cool enough. We did that about 5 times, much to the dismay of the ski patrol. Problem that hit me this day was a bad fall on an ice patch trying to avoid Kevin who suddenly stopped short in front of me. I thought I had lost all my teeth and broken my neck, but "luckily", only ended up with a slight concussion that plagued later in the day.
Day three - despite initial whoops and hollers over tons of powder coming down, high winds shut down 90% of the mountain for the day. All of Annapuri was closed, leaving us only the bottom of Hirafu. We managed to do Miharashi twice before they shut down the Hirafu gondola. But coming out of Miharashi, I had a head-on collision with Ken in a natural half-pipe. He was coming down, and I was coming up. He managed to get his helmet down to protect himself. I didn't and the end result was me getting knocked unconscious for about two minutes with Joyce, Ken and Mio freaking out at the bottom of this pipe over my limp spread-eagled body. I came to, shook it off and stumbled back to the village. Yeah, that pretty much ended my day.
Anyways, this seems to be the tradition where my last trip of the season which has always occured at Niseko seems to suck ass.
BUT it was still a kick-ass season, with record amounts of pow and opening up of new possibilities. The mandatory highlights:
1) Jumping a ravine on Kozannosawa in January. Didn't know it was there, but cleared it and felt damn good about it.
2) Hakkoda again. The four hour snowshoe trek + one hour down was the bomb.
3) The Badger (hell with it, it's real name is the Tanuki Chute). The ultimate run of Nozawa Onsen. Too dangerous to do after January, however.
4) New runs in Myoko Kogen. Yet more tree runs in Suginohara and the discovery of Akakura Onsen will make me go back.
5) Seeing the potential of new backcountry chutes on Kijimidaira, Tsugaike, Naeba (why? the cool new Yahoo.co.jp maps off snowjapan.com)
Anyways, the season is over for me and it's now time to pick up my rock climbing shoes and get back into wakeboarding/windsurfing. Now if only work could stay out of the way.... |
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POSTED BY:
bryantp
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RESORT:
Shiga Kogen (ALL AREAS)
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
20th March 2006
19:22 PM |
VISITED ON :
19th March 2006 |
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Days 32 and 33 at Shiga Kogen. Just when I was writing off the season, we got snow. Deep powder - well, no but snow. By Sunday, darting into the trees was become rewarding yet it seemed I had them all to myself. Incredible but very cool. Sick as a dog and loving it anyway. Shiga always rocks. |
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POSTED BY:
scoobydoo
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RESORT:
Hakuba Cortina Kokusai
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
20th March 2006
17:24 PM |
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Day 6
Cortina
Last day and almost time to go home. We decided to go somewhere that none of us had ever been before and Cortina was the winner. OK for half a day, but I prefer the other resorts we had been to. There's a fairly steep run there that was fun though.
Next morning off back home and to reality. |
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POSTED BY:
scoobydoo
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RESORT:
Hakuba Goryu
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
20th March 2006
17:22 PM |
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Day 5
Goryu/47.
Back to the riding and it was Monday so the slopes weren't busy. We started off at Goryu but ended up at 47 - we like the park there. Good place Goryu/47. |
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POSTED BY:
scoobydoo
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POSTED DATE :
20th March 2006
17:21 PM |
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Day 4
DAY OFF
Lazy day, lying in, onsen, walking, a bit of cross country. |
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POSTED BY:
scoobydoo
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RESORT:
Tsugaike Kogen
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Nagano |
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POSTED DATE :
20th March 2006
17:21 PM |
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Day 3
Tsugaike.
No snow overnight but the conditions were still pretty good. It was a Saturday as well so fairly crowded. We made it just a half day and retired to the onsen. |
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Journals from March 2006 ( Page :
1 2 3 )
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January, 2009
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December, 2008
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April, 2008
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January, 2008
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