modern_messiah
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Posts posted by modern_messiah
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Yeha thats what I'm thinking. My experiences with DaKine stuff is good - excellent quality gear which is very important. I just need to find a decent stockist. Do you have a model name you'd recommend? Im heading over to the DaKine site now so I guess it'll be obvious!
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Hi all,
Sorry if this is a the wrong section - it's not a gear review so I guess it shouldn't go there!
It's been a while since I posted but with another trip coming up I'm getting excited lol. Unfortuantely this time I am heading to Lake Tahoe instead of Hakuba like last year - group decision. I guess it's good to have variety right?
Anyway, I just purchased a new setup (Rome design 162, Burton Mission Bindings and some Burton ruler boots) and have decided based on my GFs past experiences with the US airline industry that I want a pretty darn good bag to protect it all.
I need something that will take my board, my boots, my bindings and preferably my jacket and pants as well but I dont want to pay through the roof to get my hands on it. I windsurf during summer and swear by Dakine gear (harnesses etc) but my local snow shop does not stock a lot of Dakine stuff.
Can anyone suggest a good bag? I am eyeing the Burton Wheelie Gig bag at the moment but purely because its the only decent bag at a decent price Snowbiz in Brisbane stock. If I can find something much better I will gladly order it online...
Any help would be appreciated and if you need to know more before answering feel free to ask.
Cheers!
- Matt
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Before my last trip to Japan I watched That's It, That's All probably 7 times through in under a month. I was addicted to it. As someone who is into photography and videography it blew my mind. I'm excited by The B as it seems to be Burton's answer to TITA, but I think people will struggle to top that movie for a long time yet...until someone gives me the reigns on a big budget snowboarding film that is
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Sorry I've taken so long to reply - my notifications don't appear to be working properly
Yeah my intitial research ahs lead me to believe that the west caost may be the way to go. I'm trying to avoid whistler as it's expensive and busy. A few suggested places that are topping my current list are Kicking Horse, Fernie and Red Mountain. As it stands we may hit Fernie for a week, Red for up to 2 weeks (OMG proper tree runs!) and then head into the US and go somewhere in Utah. Then pass through New York on our way out.
As much as going to Japan all the time would be excellent (cheap as chips flights and I really fell in love with the place when i was there) I want to see the world a bit more, and now that I'm hooked on snowboarding my options have gone through the roof.
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Quote:I'm pretty sure that SJ will not want this to become some discussion of what they are and are not, but I have always thought this is quite a unique site/forums. Yes there's tons of ski sites out there, especially for the big destinations, but they are often either just basically promotional tools, run or backed by travel agents and/or full of tiresome attitude. An equivalent idea for other countries really is actually quite hard to find.
That pretty much sums up my experience so far. One site seemed to just be a front for Miley Cyrus pictures! I guess the best I can do is just keep looking - but I may have to wait until I get home again as using a work PC may not be a good idea considering the places I am digging up lol. I'll be sure to read through that other post that was linked earlier on.
Fingers crossed I find something! -
If this is inappropriate feel free to delete it moderators peoples...I'm only asking because I'm getting frustrated looking myself.
I feel a little dirty asking this here, but where can I find equivalent sites like this for the United States and Canada? Or is this truly a unique experience?
I only ask because I think I may be heading to either destination in 2011 (got another trip to Japan at the start of 2010 - flights are so cheap!!!
) and would like to start my research as a large group of us is going for over a month.The problem is every site I have dug up thus far either has a very questionable look about it, or is basically a p**n hosting service!
I figure because this is a such a multicultural community, and that a lot of us would have been to quite a few destinations, that someone would know? Admittedly the bulk of our community here are Japanese (der) British and Australian, so I may be fishing a little bit. I have asked on the tripadvisor forums as well but no one seems to care, or don't even know themselves.
I had such a good time in Hakuba this year and I feel I can directly attribute it to this forum and the people that helped me - but it may be pushing it to seek information about North America on here as well lol.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
- Matt.
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Yeah, one of the boy is still sore lol.
The last day we desperately wanted to head out but a combination of the rain that day, the ice the night before and my extremely sore backside kind of put that to rest before I even got out of bed. It made me feel dirty for skipping my last day of snowboarding for possibly another 12 months but I just couldn't do it!!!
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Yeah we were told that Iwatake is alright but because of the lack of snow it was not worth visiting this season.
Maybe next year
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I really don’t know where to start….I guess I’ll skip over the first day in Tokyo because all we care about here is glorious snow right? I’d like to note my best mate and his little brother were unable to attend the trip because of a serious injury 2 days before we were scheduled to leave – it would have been mental if they were with us! I must also point this was my first time snowboarding so I won’t be able to give you a detailed report of how ‘sick’ the ‘pow’ was and what-not. It’ll be kind of basic sorry.
We arrived by bus at the Wind Jacket Lodge at approximately 3am on the morning of Sunday the 22nd of February. I have never seen snow let alone touched it so queue surprise when I stepped in some on the way out of the bus and promptly sunk knee deep in the stuff. What followed was a struggle to drag my 20kg bag up the icy road in skate shoes. I’m sure I would have laughed if I could have seen myself.
As I have stated we stayed at the Wind Jacket lodge. Despite some earlier reservations about the place it was as expected - a share dorm style accommodation with a very friendly atmosphere. It’s also a place that focuses on the sole reason you are there; to get out onto the snow and have fun! I had to hire a board and a pair of boots and they sorted me out before the first lifts opened the Sunday. The gear was in excellent condition as well. The lodge itself is situated only 100m from the Happo lift to the top of the Cascade Park, and literally 10m from a bus stop for the free shuttles to take you all over Hakuba. Almost as importantly it was only a 5mintue walk up the road from the local pub which was a very cool place.
I won’t run through every day we spent out on the snow as we snowboarded 12 days straight, so I’ll just go through the notable events. We spent the bulk of our time at Happo, Goryu, 47 and Tsugaike. We also did a spot of night boarding at Yanaba…I think that’s what it was called. On advice from others we avoided Iwatake.
We spent the first day at Happo learning how to ride. It was pretty frustrating but by lunch I could leaf easily enough to make my way down pretty much any slope. We went to the top of the gondola for lunch and got stuck in some very strong winds. After about 90mins of trying to wait it out we were told it was not going to let up that day and that we should try and make our way down as soon as possible. None of us thought to just catch the gondola back down so we ventured out and spent the next half an hour struggling down the mountain on what was by now just ice. The wind had blown anything loose away and because of this visibility was down to about 10m. It was pretty harrowing riding back down but I made it and lived to fight another day.
The High Cascade Park at Happo provided us with a good deal of enjoyment over our trip. On my first time to the Park a girl went over the first beginner jump badly and broke her shoulder. We also had a guy staying at the Wind Jacket with us that was back and front flipping a number of jumps…pretty impressive to watch. He showed us a video of him attempting a double back flip on a powder day and landing clean on his head. He’s lucky he didn’t break his neck! We also saw him do a back flip off a small jump some guys had built beside our lodge.
Speaking of powder days – it snowed heavily from midday on Tuesday the 3rd of March right through to the next morning. Excitement was pretty high in the Lodge the night before and the following day did not disappoint. Powder is amazing. I’m sure you all know, although I found falling in deep powder is an exercise in frustration if you want to ride back out. The whole day was an absolute blast to say the least. Two of my mates got their lift passes confiscated for the day as a result of an off piste adventure, but given the conditions we were in they said it was worth it and they’d do it again.
I loved Goryu and 47. As a beginner the green runs were by far the most enjoyable of all the resorts. I liked just cruising along the edges and relaxing, though by the end of the trip I was timing myself and going so fast I nearly went over the edge a few times…once I was good enough to carve the more advanced slopes I felt Goryu and 47 where overall the best resorts in the valley. 90% of the runs were enjoyable and the views were generally very good.
The terrain park at 47 was also the best of the lot. Lots of jumps – I managed to work my way up to the largest table jump they had before they started having a gap between the ramp and lander. I wasn’t really game to do them lol. I did wipe out very badly however. I wasn’t thinking properly on one run and had my weight too far forward as I hit the lip. I went straight over and fell about 3m to the side of the jump – so I didn’t even get the relative comfort of a gradual slope. I was down for about 5minutes but managed to walk it off. I kept riding that day but at night sitting and standing was a big issue. Thankfully after 2 days I was 100% again. Was also the 2nd last day of the trip so I timed it well :-D
It was at 47 that I also learnt a lesson in snowboarding 101 – never put your board down on the snow and let go, even if you thinking you can grab it if it starts to slide away. Not only did I fall flat on my face chasing after it (much to the amusement of the watching Japanese riders) but I went about 100m down the hill, over the edge and ended up in a creek halfway down the mountain. It took me nearly an hour to get the damn thing!!!!
Tsugaike was interesting. The first time we went there it was icy as buggery on the runs so we ended up spending the entire day in their smaller park learning to jump and do our first rails. The second time we went there (in the second week of our trip) they must have had a dump of snow the night before. The entire mountain was covered in about 30cm of powder and the first run of the day was insane. We all free rode together right from the top to the bottom, cutting in and out of the edges, snow flying everywhere and flat lining it whenever possible. I can’t remember having that much fun or feeling that in control of my riding. By the time we got back up the run had been carved to crud and was freezing up everywhere. I could almost say the entire trip was worth it for that one run.
We kept riding the smaller park (The big park was closed) at Tsugaike. I had my scariest fall here. Someone had set a barrel up on one of the jumps with the intention of jumping it, but most people were jumping to the right of it. I decided to do the same as it was the first jump of the day for me. Unfortunately for me the continued pounding of the snow on the other side had carved out a nice divot in the ground and I landed right in the middle of it. I fell backwards as my board slide right out from under me and my back landed on the ridge on the jump. I heard my neck crack and I freaked out. Thankfully I was left with just a very sore neck and took it pretty easy for the rest of the day.
After that scare I was sitting on the edge of a small snow cliff/pack doing my boots up when the whole thing gave way. It was surreal as I could see the snow crack just before the whole section in front of me fell away. I was only about 4m up and I didn’t go over with it (in fact after that I jumped into it for fun) but for some reason that memory is really vivid in my head…I guess its because it was then that I realised how unstable it could be. After all it was supporting my weight for a good few minutes before hand.
Our last snow boarding session was at Yanaba. The guy that runs the Wind Jacket drove us out there for about 3 hours of riding. I was pretty sore from my big fall during the day at 47 so I just took my camera along to film some of the boys riding. The park itself was pretty good though very icy. It would be great fun in better conditions. I managed to eat it badly while filming a mate board sliding a low rail. I was moving to fast so tried to slow myself down and some how managed to fall off onto my sore hip. It hurt like hell and that literally was the last time I stepped onto a board for the remainder of the trip. The video is funny though :-S
We didn’t ride the last day because of a combination of been incredibly sore and the rain/ice from the day before and even though our reason was very solid it felt sacrilegious not to ride. Still, we handed all our gear in and palmed off our remaining tickets to fund one more night of debauchery.
Throw in so many snow fights and general tom foolery and it was the best 2 weeks I’ve ever had. The trip has changed my future travel plans. Everything is based around the availability of snow! I’ll be hunting around for my own boots soon and hopefully a board before I travel next. It’s almost life changing.
I have to give a quick nod to Japan itself. The country blew me away and it’s safe to say society there is a level above anywhere I’ve ever been. I could live there I reckon. Although my Japanese would have to improve because even though I spent a great deal of time learning before I left it probably caused more harm than good. We also had a crazy Japanese guy lecture us on how ignorant westerners are for a good 30mins in Tokyo. He seemed to just randomly pick us out from a crowd – although the first thing he asked us was if we were American. He left me alone after I spoke some Japanese to him that seemed to satisfy him though my friends copped and earful as I watched on…
Finally thanks to all the guys and girls on these excellent forums for their help in planning my trip and helping me select my gear before I left. The information provided by Snow Japan is also top notch and I think the boss here at work will be thankful that I have no real need to check the snow depths more at least 8 months.
I'll definitely be back to Japan that's for sure!!!
Peace!
- Matt
PS:
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My second day ever on the snow and i did my first rail...so happy. I've wiped out badly a few times and nearly joined my mate in the hospital after a particularly bad head smack. Best fun ever etc etc. By my low standards the weather has been great as well.
Not looking forward to writing a TR but that's because it means its over!!!!
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woops..I meant 20cm lol.
3 hours till the bus ride out to Hakuba. Catch ya`ll later!!!
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Actually right now im slightly intoxicated in my hotel in tokyo. Sadly i had macdonalds as my welcome to japan meal but then again after 11hours of travel i couldnt be arsed looking for food and "testing" the local cuisine. I feel bad cause of my mate and all but the rest of us are chomping the bit to get to the snow sunday morning after seeing 0cm of fresh snow fall in hakuba....very enthused lol.
If anyone on these forums is in Hakuba over the next 2 weeks and wants to catch up...pm me!!!
Very excitedly - Matt.
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Shrine prayer thingy - check.
Not going to footy tomorrow night - check.
Not letting my mate play indoor cricket tonight - failed. He pulled his hamstring lol. He'll be right by Sunday though thank god.
No major injuries other than my shoulder our entire lives and it all falls apart now!
Bah
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Yeah, can't really complain too much. another positive is the insurance has been confirmed and will cover both of the fellas for all their costs. So they will get everything back.
Now I just have to sort it out with the airlines and the travel agent so that they know not to expect them to show up anytime soon.
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Been the person he is I have no doubt that when he's all healed he'll boast about it till the cows come home lol.
Hopefully we can look back on it and laugh one day. Right now we are all feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves but we're not sure why!!
I'm trying to think positively about it. Originally the trip was planned for just the 4 that are now going. My mate and his brother tagged on last. So basically back to plan A.
Bit of a crappy positive actually...
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They gave him 2 codeine pills...thats it.
Just got off the phone to his mother as his little brother WAS coming. Because my mate can't go, even though I'm also friends with his little brother, he kind of doesnt want to go without his big brother.
The only good news so far however is that the insurance will cover him, and because he was technically his brothers gaurdian while on the trip the insurance should cover his little bro as well.
From 6 to 4 in 12 hours. Never ever saw this coming lol.
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"Thankfully" there are six of us going...so I still have plenty of company. I just really feel for him because now he has to go through all this while we're over there having (hopefully) the time of our lives. Defintely a few drinks will in his honour lol.
Thanks for the pics SG, I actually have a better understanding of it now other than "it's really bad". I spend a fair amount of time at the gym but have a strict set of exercises I need to do for my right shoulder that my physio gave me. Coming back from the dislocations was hard enough, I can't imagine what this would be like.
The main thing that stinks so bad is that all he effecively did was a front barrel roll...well after he got sat on. I can imagine it hurt a tonne, but he walked off like nothing had happened. I think he hid the emotional and phsyical pain very well. In fact when he told me he needed to go to hospital he broke the news by saying "Japans not going to happen for me".
It's funny that its all he cared about. If someone wants to pay him for his trip they can come in his place lol.
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The sad thing is I joked at the first training session of the season 8 weeks ago that if we were going to break anything we needed to do it straight away so we're all healed up for the trip.
Oh the irony.
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Hi folks.
Not sure why I'm posting this because it's not really related but I'm so damn depressed by it I had to tell someone.
Last night at football (Rugby League) training my best mate was out on the wing. He did a chip and chase (beautiful try) and the defending fullback landed on him as he slid over the line. It was raining pretty hard and no one thought anything of it...until 5mins later when he pulled me out of play and said he needed to go to the hospital.
4 hours later we found out he had a grade 3 AC joint rupture. We are leaving for Hakuba this Friday. He now has 6 months in a sling and up to another 6 months of rehab after that. It was the most innocuous challenge I've ever seen - he didn’t even fall hard enough to wind himself, but its almost as bad an injury as they can come.
I really feel for the bugger (I spent 5 months in a sling last year as a result of 2 dislocations in my shoulder) as it stops him from doing anything. No football, no soccer…and certainly no snowboarding. $4000 for him is potentially gone (insurance may cover it but its not looking good) and my best mate can’t come on the trip we’ve been looking forward to for a year now.
Words can’t explain how sh!tty I feel right now. I’m absolutely gutted.
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lol. Things have stirred up a bit. I hope the snow is good - we had an accident last night and now my best mate can;t come on the trip.
I need anything to take my mind off it
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Ah cool. I'll check all that out if I remember lol. My list is nice and long now...
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Ah sweet - this is more like it. Unfortunately we booked all our stuff in late November last year and had it paid off nice and early (and thankfully so because we saved $1000 each when the agent decided to push the price up to compensate for the strong Yen - he had to foot the bill). Niseko might be a tad late to switch to....
I'm making a list of everything here and will be sure to consider those options first. I like the idea of cheap big meals, though we will dine out on some quality meals a few times.
Fireworks in Japan legal are they? So we can buy some and, within reason, go nuts? Totally different here in Aus....the boys will like that lol.
Familia if the kicker is gone we will rebuild it, and film the ensuing carnage.
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meh, snow is snow. As long as I can slide across the stuff I'm happy happy happy.
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Lol, sorry. By Sony Tax I meant it'll be more expensive than similar items from other manufacturers purely because its a Sony.
Just like the Apple tax. You can buy a similar specced PC to an Apple for a lot less. Its a fairly recent term....obviously not popular enough to use in general conversation yet
Board bag - what to get?!?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
The high roller from DaKine seems to be the only bag that is exactly what I'm after...the onl;y problem is I was trying to stay under $300 lol. The low roller would be ok but can I fit my jacket etc in with the board? I guess I cans tuff what ever I want to in it really...