s3phis
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Posts posted by s3phis
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I don't really understand why you've taken it as if it's a personal thing against you, but like I mentioned earlier, for good or for worse the main group the resorts are appealing to are their Japanese guests and they rarely get bothered by post-poning the opening day. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with the way the resort handles its grand opening but it was looking quite hopeful when half the ski field was blanketed in white snow back in Nov this year.
Again going back to what I said, snide remarks to other posters whether they're guests, lodge owners or work at ski resorts, isn't going to really change much other than make other people worked up and annoyed. If you've got a case, why not take it to the resorts so that they can at least realise that it's negatively affecting their guests?
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You missed my point, it wasn't about having the resort to yourself but a response to why the ski resorts in Japan wouldn't deploy artificial snow early in the season as there's just not enough people to justify the increased costs.
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When I was testing out the 2011 skis, I fell in love with the Head iTitan super shapes. I ended up keeping them for this season and keen to really start pushing them out throughout the winter snow.
I'd recommend asking at a rental store if you can switch skis throughout the day. Most of the rental stores are okay with it.
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seemore: In Japan, it wouldn't be economically feasible as the customers don't really start arriving until around the 20th due to the holidays etc. I can't really speak for many other resorts but most of the time, if you are able to ski in the first half of December, it's basically like having your own private ski resort. It's just not viable to create artificial snow for, like, 5-10 people (sure it's a bit of an exageration but yeah). I mean, if you compare lift prices between Japan and Australia, Japan's almost half price but machine running costs are about the same. I don't have a hand in any part of the management of the actual resort but even from an outside perspective, making snow early would probably result in a fairly big loss.
Of course, if there are enough foreign tourists to offset the costs for the earlybirds, then resorts would seriously consider the options.
I think probing into what people are expecting and when would be something I'd think would help in making business decisions. To go off on a tangent... I don't think Japanese companies are very good at collecting information and analysing data before making business propositions. I always have a saying that the Japanese companies that are actually making money are the ones with gaijin CEOs >_>;... but that's a personal gripe I've had that's waaaaay off topic
;With regards to opening days etc, I don't think the resorts really acknowledge it as a problem. This isn't to say that your experiences aren't worth their time or anything, quite the opposite but rather that the issues haven't been conveyed across. Like I said earlier, I don't actually have much to do with the resort itself or the accomodations etc but I can absolutely understand people's dissapointment if their holidays aren't what they had hoped it'd be. If you really want to make a difference, I think rather than letting off steam here, it'd be better to organise an effort to let the resorts know how it's affecting you.
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I laughed...
When there's not enough snow, everyone's always saying to just give me a day off work xD. I remember a few years back, my boss was like "oh and can you bring some snow with you?" and I took a bottle of water, "it melted on the way D:"... except we had 30cm the day I arrived >_<.
That said, we had 15cm of snow fall at the bottom over night. Snow is still falling but now it's a complete white out as well.
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Avoid the airports and banks where possible. Airports tend to try and capitalise on the "last minute forex" some people try and get done, you know, the money you forgot to exchange but really need it when you land and the exchange rate is not the first thing on your mind.
Banks tend to just be.. well.. banks?
The rates tend to be better with independents, for example, I know a few currency exchange agencies that specialise in JPY/AUD investments and they tend to have great AUD->JPY rates but mediocre JPY->AUD rates. It's also easier to find better rates in your home country because at least it's easier to ask around.
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I guess it is my mistake. We had our exams on the 13th-14th at Kokenashi. I believe they also moved a few groomers up there in late November to start pressing down the snow.
I suppose I hadn't really looked at the events around those days.
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The Nagasaka gondola and 2 of the yamabiko lifts were on in the last week of November, I took some new elans up on the first week of Dec.
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Originally Posted By: grillerI know that Go Native. But the date some choose though is just simply unrealistic, almost every year. I can't think of once when Nozawa has hit that date, and I seem to recall that every single year it is postponed often by weeks. And take a look at Ryoma's comments above where he basically say they don't actually expect to open!
Niseko may be different in that it usually is able to open close to that date. But lots of places on Honshu simply are not.
The past few years have been opening as scheduled at Noz... even last year, we opened the top half of the mountain on the scheduled date.
From my memory...
2010 Season: on time (although it was only really half the resort)
2009 Season: On time with the entire resort open
2008 Season: a lot earlier, a number of the lifts and a gondola were started 3 or 4 weeks early. Couldn't get the entire place running because the staff hadn't arrived.
2007 Season: late and the snow was pretty terrible the entire season
I'm not sure when the predictions are done but it's not like we look at the weather forecast for the next 3 days and then say "Okay, our season officially starts tomorrow!". I haven't bothered asking but I'm assuming that the snow was forecasted to arrive sooner, hence almost all the resorts having plans to open early. In essence, I think most people are looking back at previous years in a negative light because they had their hopes up.
Generally speaking, the school doesn't start for a few weeks after the ski fields are open because we time our opening with the winter holidays. This year we're opening on the 18th with the lifts etc running earlier.
If you have an accurate method for predicting weather 5 months in advanced, I'm sure all the ski resorts will welcome it. -
I haven't really had time to follow the forums but I would have thought most people would have done that? *shrug*
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I'm stuck behind a desk for most of the time and I've got a bad habit of causing blizzards on my days off. I can honestly say I have not seen more than 3-5m of Nozawa at a time for the past 4 or 5 years.
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Originally Posted By: grillerBut the resort advertisers a 21st November opening date!
You know, like nearly 3 weeks ago.
And that was my original point.
Yeah, you could go along with the over optimistic announcements or go from previous experience. I honestly never pay attention to when they "want" to be open by. I think we're still on track for an 11th opening (wait, was it the 11th? >_>; plz don't quote me D:) -
A bit of trivia about Natto...
soy beans (daizu) was often used as horse feed in feudal Japan as it was plentiful and a lot cheaper than other feeds and was usually wrapped and carried in straw. The story goes that during a battle campaign, the Minamoto camp was ambushed. They had just started boiling the soy beans for their horses and, in their rush, they just packed it up in their straw containers. When they opened their feed bags, the beans had, of course, fermented. Since their horses generally were worth more than themselves, the soldiers tried the beans first and found that they liked it.
The thing about this story is that it tends to be regionally accurate as well as all the areas that were known for breeding horses tend to like natto where as the regions that were more cattle breeding areas, such as Kansai.
Personally, I can't stand being next to someone who's eating natto.
Going back to breakfasts, personally, I like my eggs sunny side down with some sausages and rice with pickles. My diet is probably an overdose of carbohydrates considering that my portions of rice is a bit over the top...
I also dislike grilled fish, it makes my oven/broiler stink
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I usually expect the all the runs to be open around 10th~20th Dec in Noz. The top half is usually skiiable by the 10th.
Generally speaking, the staff here are still doing their summer jobs until about the 12th~16th. If you think of it that way, they generally expect to be able to do their work (carptenteering/building etc etc) until that date. The instructor/coach refresher courses are held around te 14th~17th of Dec for the qualified coaches etc and they're usually done in less than ideal snow because they want to get it done before the season really starts.
Either way, we've got a bit of snow coming over and a bit of warmth on Monday/Tuesday but wednesday onwards looks like the freezing level is going to just drop down the mountain fairly rapidly. We're still lacking snow on the base of the mountain but we're going to have more than ample snow by the time the winter holidays start.
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Had some snow last night.
The base is still a bit sparse but it's looking good for the 11th Dec opening. As predicted, our snow is looking to arrive a little bit earlier this year!
Unfortunately, the snow-cams on the mountain have snow stuck on them so I can't see what it's like up there but I expect it's looking pretty promising >_<.
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I'm arriving there on the 6th unless I get called up early due to snow. Regardless, I think the snow will be earlier this year than last year. 2009~2010, I think we had decent snow around 15th last year with the roads being closed from the 19th onwards. 2008~2009 season was worse, we didn't get any respectable snow until the 25th.
I suspect we'll have a big dump of snow around mid Dec and then another dump around early Jan. I suppose I'll keep you guys updated when I get there
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Originally Posted By: ippyits on the basement1 floor. Namba parks is HUGE so i advise you find the information desk first and theyll point you in the right direction.
Yeah, I know Osaka (particularly Namba) more than I do my home town. XD
I didn't realise that you could get a freeboard there >_> -
Hmmm... I'll have to find it when I head over that way after Golden Week!
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Where abouts in Namba Parks?
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While I think both options are good, I personally would prefer to stay in one place. If you make friends with the locals, you end up finding out more about the resort/village and all the small things that only the locals know. I think it's good to have a base somewhere and go on excursions from there every now and then. I've found that there's heaps of good information that you can get from the people around:
-Locals know the pistes, side countries and back countries
Natural half-pipes; best bowls and powder...
-Instructors tend to know which ski resort is good at different times
If you go to the smaller ski resorts, you can get the weekday season passes for, like, JPY 10,000~20,000 *and* there's no one ever there. It's a blast to have a course all to yourself.
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holy crap... those photos are fantastic o.O
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I want to try out the new Zeal Optics goggles. Retail launch is set for the 2011 season but we're expecting a few to come out for review/testing mid this year. Hopefully get my hands on one >_>;
I've got two pairs of Head Titan skis that I got for demo and allowed to take home; I'm still hoping I get a pair of Elan twin tips >_<.
I also love how the Japanese don't want anything that's "last season" so the end of season sales are, like, half price. What's even better is that the "old" models here are still new for the southern hemisphere
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Regarding hot wax, I like using Toko for everything. Generally, I go with the JPY 1100 yellow/red depending on conditions. I tried the JPY 20,000 spray wax before... man do those things make you go fast o.O
Personally... I find that while there's a difference between a waxed/maintained ski/board and one that is not, there's not a huge difference in the wax you use or how you apply it. A lot of people are quite vocal about how you should do it (e.g. whether you have to use paper or not, how to heat/cool your skis before/after waxing etc etc) but after doing it every night, you'll only really be affected if you're doing races etc.
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Personally, I don't think it's worth getting an iron if you're considering using a step-down transformer back at home. If you're using something with 800-1200w @ 110v, you end up getting a pretty heavy and pricey transformer. The one I have at home is pretty huge and is definitely not something you want to move around too much... but then again I've got it powering my 110v sockets in my house.
I have a soft spot for Toko irons but I'm not particularly bothered by using a normal clothing iron with wax paper. However, you can buy waxing irons for about JPY 3,000~5,000 for the cheaper ones.
Next season - let's remember this
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
It's a company that's basically run by the village.