rider69

Stupid snow here after the goryu pub crawl. Tomorrow maybe too deep!

Omachii is full on dumping snow! Stupid English teacher meeting! Happone opens today!

Snow on my roof in azumino near the 143 says snow not much but snow!

snowing in Matsumoto!

I think the lifts open at 8am. The real new years line ups don't get real bad until 9am though. Too many people parking and buying tickets. Stay up top to avoid the lines.

Avoid the gondola from 9 to 12 and half 1 to 3.

All the forecasts are pointing to a massive storm about to come in. The Matsumoto mad rush to change tires is in full effect. Might we be seeing a 2005 type of December ending for snow?

It will be fine, dont spary the camera if you do bush it off before the snow melts in.

I don't think there is a Mt. Happo is there? Maybe the first section of the climb up is Mt. Happo. The true peak though is Karamatsu Dake if I'm not mistaken.

Did you ski there? Are there any action shots?

Kansai to Toyoshina is　￥7600 or there abouts one way. The Free roads were a pipe dream really. Let us hope though that the roads are better priced. Also improving the ETC so that everyone can use it would be nice. This would allow for a reduction of staff at the tool booths and speed up the flow.

action pics?

Ultralight skis will not help the swinging effect, neither will a light 169 snowboard! The pack frame is what keeps the boards in place. Light gear helps more on a climb if you don't have to sling it over your back.

The idea behind a camera backpack is simple Can you get to your camera easily? Stuffing a camera block into a pack, having to take it out, put it back in, is really a waste of money. You want a pack that you can get into by just putting the bag down. What makes the F-stop bags so good is, they open from the back panel. It gives you fast access and allows the cameraman to store the camera in a top loading way as well. Say you don't like the shot, you have to move you can quickly, then stash the camera in the top and move. The volume is important. Any large bag can be collapsed into

Your posts sure sounded like Japan would fail without the Europeans.

Mont Bell sells Back country insurance for Japan. Back country includes pretty much anything in the outdoors. Includes the helicopter if needed.

Depends on what you put a value on. Backpackers or likewise places give you a chance to meet people or get some of the low down on the resort. Most minsuku or ryokans usually don't have that interaction happening. Then there is always sleeping in your van! Nozawa is a great car camping resort.

It is 100 dollars more because it does more. It can also carry 25% more than the dakine.

F-stop does way more than the dakine. Just compare the specs. http://www.fstopgear.com/en/tilopa

Search F-stop bags they are some of the best.

Europe an important market for Japan? I think the potential Chinese market has way more importance than the European market. I sure cant afford to ski in Europe at 300 bucks a a day. Id rather ski at the NA resorts back home anyways. Way better conditions then Europe.

The rocker boards allow you to butter and transition better. This is a board for a kid maybe what 18? Of course he is going to ride park.

As a snowboarder, there is nothing worse than switching your board to head to the park. The fish isn't going to do anything in the park. That means bringing 2 boards to the mountain or heading home to change the board. The fish does one thing well only.

Many of the new park boards are rockered. This makes it easier to butter the board. The Fish is is total overkill and useless outside of the powder. K2 have a couple of killer rocker all mountain boards. Rockers are crap on ice but then again ice is a snowboarders nightmare.

Any light snowboard or ski will get bucked in bad conditions. If you are just on piste there is no need to go super light with any gear.