rider69

Ouch

For reference here is my line choice.

the web cams at various resorts would say that there wasnt bad snowfall in the higher areas of honshu

Sorry I don't know that board, I just met those guys at the false peak. I was pushing to get to the line because the weather was so warm. The beer was an issue. I got to Lawsons, bought lunch and wanted a beer for when I was going to load the mama chari for the ride home. I was considering my water problems and the heat at the time. So I decided it was better to buy more water and a cheap happoshu beer. I suffered but when I got home I had a Kirin gold in the bath!

After buying my lunch at lawsons that was the only beer I could afford. I wouldve liked a Kirin Gold really.

The time is ripe to bag those chutes you like to ski in Japan. With more high mountain passes opening up every weekend you can get out there and get some pretty good lines. Great weather let me ski off the top of Karamatsu into a nice chute just lookers left off the peak. Looking at the entrance Karamatsu and Kairazu chutes so many choices. The beast that is Tsurugi dake My run down with a dog leg lookers right A sweaty camera and a happoshu loving life

I lived in Gunma numata. I have been to most places except kagura. I stand by sierra cement.

We have to remember the news is are telling people how bad it is in Tokyo. As a person on vacation I would expect no lights and line ups for bottled water.

The snow walls do not indicate snowfall. Snow walls are generally man made, depending on how the snow removal has to be done in an area. nozawa onsen has big snow walls mainly because it has nowhere to put the snow. Hakuba has wide open areas to throw the snow into. Also the drier the snow the easy it is on the snow machine. A machine throwing low dense water snow can really throw the snow far. The snow that falls in Yuzawa is more like Sierra cement. Not exactly nice looking snow for sliding. Hakuba tends to get good early season snowfalls when compared to other res

A bit harsh Griller considering the situation and context of the report. Life certainly isn;t back to the normal, not the normal that was post March 11th. It is not as bad as it may seem either. A Trip to Niseko then to Kyoto isnt really going into the effected areas now is it. You cant get into the Fukushima areas that have been effected by the power plant problems. The other areas effected by the Tsunami are not your average tourist hot spots either. I have some friends in the earthquake zone and although life is not back to normal, they are not dieing of hunger. You can directly

Sunday was a nice day

Yuzawa gets a much wetter snow than hakuba which means less air and a much more solid snowpack. Happo faces east and gets baked for hours so the lower slopes just go away. Also they stop worrying about the lower slopes. The North faces of happo at the same elevations as 47 are holding over 1 meter of snow. You will be able to ski aspects of Happo until may even june. 47 faces pure north and will hold snow for a long time. Iwatake has no snowmaking but the north slopes are holding snow. It doesnt matter cause it is closed.

Mid week honshu snow people at higher resort elevations if you are interested. Check the forecasts

happone usagidaira where knees go to die!

most of the major resorts seem to be seeing the season through. This weekend at Happo the line up in the morning for the gondola was out onto the street. It was nice to see but sad to be in.

The next day I counted well over 20 avalanches in the Hakuba back country. The 2 big quakes had a significant impact on the Northern Alps. At the time the snow-pack was quite dangerous as well though. It was not the time to be in many back country areas really.

Most vending machines have a motion sensor these days. Depending on the time and area the sensor can be adjusted. The power issue is settling down though. The main problem will come in the summer if the power plant cant bring 5 and 6 online.

The twins are almost 3. The boy in center and girl to the right are twins. The girl on the left is 4 going on 5. Actually there were some fresh bear tracks around the area. They got a bit nervous after this picture, well actually papa was more nervous than them. Pretty good sized paw prints, maybe 7 cms in diameter. We turned back and went and played on an old train. Still a nice hour walk and warm.

That doesn't just apply to skiing and snowboarding of course. The economy really needs the rest of us all to get on with life as normal, while doing what we can to save electricity of course. Such a true comment!

I pay 50000yen a month for child care for 3 kids in nursery school. This price will go down when my young kids go into the next grade.

nice right line spine. Then a walk with the kids. we turned back early because of the bear tracks.

Sunday look nice and sunny

I beat the doom and gloom for 5 days straight. Now Im sitting at my desk doing almost nothing again. Oh well you cant win them all. For my last day I took my wife on a mini tour which included an natural onsen at the end. My Lady hasnt been in the BC since giving birth. Some nice corn snow Ah smiles Nothing beats for free. We even got the twins out for a slide and the their first gondola

Tateyama is opening really soon I think in ten days.

April is sure giving some great lines.