Thundercat

shhhh... it'll be our little secret!

Man, a gondola would be so sweet! Higher lifts on each of the resorts would also be a good idea. I love Myoko and spend a load of time there each winter. Akakan and Akakura Onsen need to sort out their differences...

Nice goggles! Get a pair of High Intensity Yellow (over cast/ cloudy conditions) and either Fire Iridium (bright/blue bird conditions) or Black Iridium and you'll be set for whatever conditions you'll encounter on the hill. I've also used blue iridium in the past but they are all purpose lens as well. If you are thinking of picking up a few different lens get ones that are for specific conditions! The Oakley Japan website actually has a good chart to compare lens (I haven't been able to find anything similar on the English version websites)

I was on course for a record number of times on the hill this year... until March happened... anyway, got out just under 30 times, hopefully more next year!

I've been going there for a few years now and noticed a steady decline in the quality of food you can buy on the hill. This year was the worst of all as I noticed about a 10%~30% increase in prices. There are almost zero options for healthy eats once you're up on the hill. Has anyone noticed anything similar or am I just getting picky in my old age?

Akakura kanko has one. Although I didnt use it this year. Don't they remind of you meat hooks? My friends and I have been referring to them as such for a while now... I suggest everyone do the same!

So true TB.

Since you liked the link so much here is another http://www.hokkaido-bt.go.jp/niseko.htm

HS, I was going to point out the same thing. Unfortunately, for those who speak no Japanese this program is not realistic Anyway, there are inbounds legal tree runs although I saw a pretty scary slide on one of them last season (when we had proper snow!) so we have to be careful no matter how safe we think it is or how good we think we are...

VeryNice, Check out this link http://www.hokkaido-bt.go.jp/eng.htm

VeryNice, 2 way radios are forbidden as they f-up the digital television broadcasts here. If you are caught using them there is a hefty fine. I've seen people using them at different resorts but it's kind of selfish as people who live in the area pay good money to receive digi-tv and I've seen first hand how badly they interfere with the signal. It also interferes with emergency radio communications. Here is a link http://www.hokkaido-bt.go.jp/eng.htm

I use Interglobal Insurance. I'm not part of the national health insurance scheme here and this travel insurance seems the most comprehensive. I think I'm registered in the International School Teachers Silver plan. If you are enrolled in the national health care plan you don't need any extra insurance.

amen to that snowhuntress!

Sure do now!!

C'mon guys... arguing about predicting the weather? Making a long term forecast is like trying to read a crystal ball, sometimes you're 'spot on' and sometimes you're a dancing frog... Stick your head outside and have a look!

Originally Posted By: window-cleaner Almost pleased personally that the snow has generally been not good (though obviously sorry for those who went with bad timing snow wise) Any day on the hill is a good day. If you knew where to look this year things weren't bad at all. Was on the hill about 25 times this year with about 20 days of pow...

Apparently the official search has been called off today (according to some newpapers) Hopefully the family will be able to get some closure soon.

Half day tickets are pretty common. Most places I have been offer a half day. Other than the really big resorts, I never see multi hours tickets.

Hmmm... I guess the reason I'm not being won over is that there are really only 2 reasons not to onsell or give away your tickets. One is that it's illegal as per your agreement with the company when buying their ticket. And the other reason it that it hurts the resorts business. If you follow the 'it's illegal so you shouldn't do it' line of reasoning than I have to say 'hypocrite'. Everyone speeds, crosses the street where there is no crosswalk or whatever from time to time. Further, the terms of agreement are pretty vague at resorts as you almost never see anything in writing and s

Originally Posted By: gurgle You will be waiting around longer and seeing more lifts closed if the resorts are receiving less revenue, because they will have even less people working at them than they do now, let alone haivng to pay the power bills. Maybe we should start a charity for these poor struggling ski resorts... I have a really really hard time believing that someone would simply throw their ticket in the trash instead of handing it off to someone who could make some good use of it. As has been pointed out before, resorts never offer refunds under any conditions, even when

For all of those who disagree with 'on-selling' the ticket, what do you think about just freely giving the ticket away?

lol! Would it be better to just toss the unused hours in the garbage?

Originally Posted By: gurgle Does anyone have any idea if unused tickets can be refunded at any of the resorts ? Not one resort I have ever been would refund a ticket, even if the resort closes the lifts because of weather, etc. As for the bad cultural image... well, I learned that little trick from a Japanese friend, we just don't blend in as well as they do!

Originally Posted By: keba It's the same as ripping a copy of a friend's purchased CD. I've done both, and sleep well at night. Not quite mate. I think a better comparison would be buying the CD (for a discount) from your friend once they've listened to it a few times!

My friends and I used to buy full-day electronic tickets from people who were returning them for their deposits around lunch time. It's amazing how many people buy full day tickets and then only ski until lunch. We used to hang around the deposit return machines which are located next to the ticket sales window. This was always done in full view of the staff who never even made an attempt to stop us. We only ever paid the deposit of 1000Y each time. It was years ago so of course things could have changed. That's just my experience. Now that I can actually afford the full price I alw