Thundercat
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Posts posted by Thundercat
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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)
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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!
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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?
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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!
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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...
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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
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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.
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amen to that snowhuntress!
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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!
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Originally Posted By: window-cleanerAlmost 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.
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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.
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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 simply making the purchase is hardly a formal agreement when one party is not formally informed of the terms of that agreement.
If you follow the 'bad for business' line of reasoning than I tend to agree, to some extent. But realistically, all business is hurt by onselling and giving away products. Should we ban all recycle shops, second hand stores or used charity organizations because they negatively effect a companies bottom line? No, of course not. Onselling an unused portion of you ticket will only hurt a ski resort's business if they haven't already factored that type of activity into their business model. It would be very shortsighted to not have a means of discouraging that type of behavior, whether it be through offering coupons or better options for hourly passes, points for lifts or other incentives for customers to buy directly from the resorts.
The resort I've been going to for years has been offering discount coupons that can be redeemed for lunch tickets or discounts on future purchases of lift tickets and I would say that they have completely taken away any excuse for their customers to buy 'onsold' tickets.
In my opinion, the only resorts that are truely hurt by the very few people who 'onsell' or give away their lift tickets are the resorts who are not offering a satisfactory product to their customers.
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Originally Posted By: gurgleYou 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 they close the lifts for the day. Earlier this year I lost 3 days from a 5 day pass at Grand Hirafu because they lifts were closed. (not a single lift was running for 2 of the days while only the Holiday lifts were running on the third.) I really have to wonder who is ripping off whom in cases like this! -
For all of those who disagree with 'on-selling' the ticket, what do you think about just freely giving the ticket away?
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lol! Would it be better to just toss the unused hours in the garbage?
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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!
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Originally Posted By: kebaIt'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 always pay it. I understand that it costs a lot for these resorts to operate so I don't mind paying.
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LOL, don't worry Kumapix, I'm always taking it easy. I think it's safe to say that we both agree that it's possible to send board bags that are over 160cms domestically. You should read my post more clearly man. I said that I think the measurements are only guidelines and not rules, so no, I don't think that takkyubin will just 'bend the rules each time' as you say. That was the point I was making.
I think it's probably better to actually talk to someone who works for one of the takkyubin companies instead of just checking their website (like I already went over the issue that the website says they'll only take 160cms max. domestically when we've all had experiences to the contrary so isn't it just as likely that international is the same?). If it saves a few $ it hardly seems like a waste of time... and if it doesn't work out at least you know one way or the other!
Suginohara & Myoko
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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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...