Mick Rich

& that's why I love this site!! Thanks David, I'm sure I'll survive and if the worst comes to the worst, I'll eat my cheese ;-)

Having stupidly not checked how much money I had on me before having a few too many post-Granview celebratory beers last night and then taking a taxi to Echigo-Yuzawa station this morning, I'm now on the (thankfully free) shuttle bus to Maiko with the grand total of 617Yen in my wallet! Hopefully they take Visa at the ticket booth and the lockers are cheap ;-)

Cheesy pics from both Myoko and the big G will be posted soon! Stay tuned cheese fans ;-)

Thanks for posting that u-tan!! Sounds like you were lucky!! It was interesting that the 2nd incident happened at a place you know well, a valuable reminder to us all to be careful out there!

What's tha name of that place Peetan? & I'm intrigued, what's the 10 year old board?

6 hours!!!! Tubby will be jealous that he couldn't have shared that journey with you ;-) Glad you made it back ok though and thanks again for driving me up. Top day! Edit: There's a lot of new snow on the cars in the car park here this morning :-)

Should've gone to Granview ;-) Hopefully Maiko's going to get a good topping up tonight, as that's my planned port of call tomorrow! If nothing else it should be quieter than today!

I'm now safely holed up in Yuzawa Kenkouland whilst onehunga is once again braving the Devil's Highway back to Yokohama. We had a great day out on the slopes. I kid you not when I say that the big G far exceeded all my expectations! The sunshine and knee-deep powder no doubt helped but I really enjoyed it! I'll post a full review and photos when I get back on Tues/Weds. & yes, we also visited THE telephone box on route to Kagura ;-) It's been a BIG day!!!

Well I did see onehunga's nipples!!! Have just pulled into the Mitsumata car park for some Kagura action!!

You doubters, you!! Am just hiking back along the road to the 'base' after a bit of BC action!!

Update from the big G: it's bottomless!!!

Do it Muika!! We'll be there in 5 mins!!!!

Now now ippy, you know full well that all good things come to those who wait!! That's why you're twiddling your thumbs in China and I'm standing in a McDonald's car park in Kawasaki!!!

Cool! Let's Granview!!!!!!!!

Nice one!! See you in the morning

I'm sure Tubby would've been up for it if he hadn't moved to Sapporo!! Forgot to mention that Nicole BMW is right nextdoor to a large McDonalds (they're either side of a junction), which is easy to pull into, drive-thru, etc, so that would be the ideal place to meet! & it's only 5 mins walk away from my place, even with a snowboard bag!

Of course! onehunga, I live near Nicole BMW (a BMW dealership), whose details are:- 〒216-0003,神奈川県, 川崎市, 宮前区, 有馬3-2-1 - Tel:044-870-8500. [the kanji reads Kanagawa-ken, Kawasaki-shi, Miyamae-ku, Arima 3-2-1]

What could possibly be bigger than Mt G?!?!??? Stand-by with the navi!

Sorry, I meant to say Paradise Alley!

Was sorting out all my kit post-Myoko, pre-Yuzawa!! Option 3 sounds flippin' good onehunga!! Where are you going tomorrow? & where's Totsuka? I'm on the outskirts of Kawasaki, but just as near Tokyo near route 246/on the Denentoshi Line! Edit 1: If that's Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, we're 32km/30 mins apart according to the SJ Route Finder!! Edit 2: Of course it goes without saying that I'd pay towards petrol, etc.

Visiting 2 resorts beginning with G in 1 trip would be like crossing the proton streams in Ghostbusters - not advisable!!!

I've been thinking about getting some Superfeet insoles for a while as I know the standard ones you get with snowboard boots aren't up to much and I've got fairly high arches. Finally tried some (borrowed ones) yesterday - the Green ones, for high arches - and whilst they felt perfect for my left foot, they were causing pain in my right, so I swapped that one back over mid-morning. This may have been due to the ankle support I only wear on my right foot (to protect an old ligament injury) or the fact that my right foot is bigger than my left. In any case I ought to get my feet measured on one

Started today and pleased to see Japan has already got gold and bronze in the men's downhill chair-skiing/sitting!! Amazing skills!

So with a forecast of another decent amount of snowfall on Sunday night, I'm planning a short trip to Paradise Alley, aka the resorts in and around Yuzawa. Factors to consider are the forecast high winds and the ever-present financial constraints, though this may be the last chance I have to get some powder action this season so I'm kind of flexible on the latter! With the above in mind, this is my current train of thought:- Option 1 - A 3-day trip to Granview, Maiko and Kagura/Naeba This would mean travelling up by train tomorrow morning (non-shink to save money), allowing me to

Thanks a lot David - much appreciated :-) Right, time to formulate a plan of attack - Operation Granview is on!!! Edit: Plan(s) now formulated - see http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/23840-a-2-or-3-day-niigata-trip-to-g-or-not-to-g/