SantaCruz

The new Warren Miller movie, "Wintervention". is in town next month so I'll probably catch that. They're def not as good as they used to be. I think I saw the one 2 years ago and it was so so. But it's still a fun unofficial start to the season. And the swag you get with it pays out well. Around here we get a 2 for 1 Whistler ticket

Awesome Mitch! Good stuff

Originally Posted By: thursday No! I want a mega post like that one above. La Nina means the same here in the Pacific Northwest. Looking forward to a good season around Seattle and up in Whistler

It's looking less likely that I'll make it to Japan this year. Money is a bit tighter than usual this year. And I heard the other day that the Yen is at a 15 year high against the dollar! Makes me sad =(

The trees there are so different compared to what I'm used to here around Seattle, very cool. Niseko as well for that matter. Is there a big diff in the flora at the resorts between Hokkaido and Honshu?

Yep, I stayed at Pension Kanon last year. There's a central area where they serve breakfast in the morning (included in the price). They've got a TV with satellite and you can hang out there. But I never really saw anyone in there after breakfast, seemed like most people just kept to their rooms. I was there solo so was kinda bummed about that. Plenty of bars around if you want to hang out, just louder of course. All in all I liked the place though, I'd book again.

Ahh I forgot that blue is beginner. So only the blacks are the same then.

Pete, that's a super solid season. I may make it out to Niseko in Feb again this year. If I do I'll ping you and Mitch. I hung out with him last year when I was in Salt Lake.

I believe SierraSnowboard also ships internationally.

Originally Posted By: call me beefcake Are the course colours same in Japan as other countries? Japan is different from the US. The intermediate courses in Japan are red and in the States they're blue. Canada is the same as the US. I've never ridden in Europe so I'm not sure how it is there.

Originally Posted By: thursday Portland, Oregon. Portland is on a river, but not on the ocean. So depending on what you mean by a port. But def some good food and beer going on there

Btw MB, the surface lift you were looking for. It's right around 10 I think? I went on it once with some Aussies I befriended while there. We took it head over to the waterfall area. There's also one I saw that was in either Niseko Village or Annupuri, but I'm not remembering which one it was. To bad they don't label them on the online map. I don't remember if they're on the physical trail map?

Nice!

Thanks for the heads up TJ. That's confusing that they gave the new on the old name, but oh wells

Stevens Pass. Snoqulamie is the worst of the 3 local mountains. But it's also the closest at only an hour away, so it's hard to beat it for convenience. I've done a season pass there the last 2 years but I've out grown it now. Steven's Pass is bigger and has better snow but is about 2 hours from Seattle. It's a great deal though, so I just gotta get my butt there on weekends now Crystal is generally better snow than Steven's and always much more terrain, but it's maybe another 30 mins more travel time. It's close to Mt. Rainer. How much are passes in UT? Any updates on yo

There's that economics degree coming into play Mitch!

Looks like I'm picking up a season pass at one of the Seattle local mountains for $399. Not bad

Hasn't there been a SkyLiner service for a while? I'm sure I'm missing something here. Does this new one have fewer stops between Narita and Ueno?

RB, it would similar to the phone company refusing to let you call certain numbers, the post office not delivery mail to certain address, etc. They've never been in the business of filtering content or communications and they should never be.

Originally Posted By: Black Mountain check out kanon lodge in niseko... pretty sure its listed on this site. I can recommend Kanon as well. I tried to book at the hostel, but it was full so I ended up staying at the pension. Morio, the owner, is great and super chill. The hostel would be a good and inexpensive setup. Book early though, I got the impression that it fills up quick.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.html Synopsis: La Niña conditions are expected to strengthen and last through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2010-11.

Correlation does not imply causality. I think a key point here is that while it's natural to expect that one's experiences is representative of general trends, it's not always true. The only way I can think of to determine the long terms affect of pot would be to do a scientific experiment, get some epidemiologists involved, etc.

Originally Posted By: MrSingh I've been using the Rider's Choice BTX 162 for the past 2 seasons. Works great in powder, but it's also a great all round board. Singh, yeah it's a solid board I dig it. It was a bitch finding one that length. I'm glad I found one though, def a solid investment.

Interesting. I have a Rider's Choice BTX 162 Wide . At the time I don't think they had Dark Series C2. And actually 162 was the longest I could find. The Rider's Choice held up well in Niseko, so I'm sure this one would handle the pow well.

Awesome video. Where was it filmed?