mitchpee
-
Content Count
1341 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by mitchpee
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
Whether or not you agree with the politically sensitive issue of "global warming" is irrelevant to what I am about to say:
It really kills me to see how disrespectful and oblivious people are to the environment. I can't tell you how many times I have returned to some of my favorite wilderness spots and seen litter on the ground. Here in Salt Lake City we have some of the worst air quality in the US due to the winter time inversions and people driving more than necessary. It's all too often that people have massive cars which are completely unnecessary. In fact a lot of the time, it is simply for the image or "safety" of their massive, consumption obsessed family. This is a hard fact of living in a valley with a stagnant air period and hundreds of thousands of people. It's socially irresponsible to drive a massive pickup when air circulation is reduced. I don't believe it should be legislated, but that doesn't mean I won't go up to the person and advise them that they should become more educated on what they are doing. They usually get offended, because even though we have the easiest access to information in the history of man, we choose to use it less than ever before. If they have kids, I have no problem telling them what they are doing is contributing to the demise of their health. It's pretty hard to convince them when their kid already has type 2 diabetes at nine years old. <end America rant>
In the US and a lot of other developed countries, we simply consume far too much. We live well beyond our means and feel entitled to nothing less. It's extremely hard to break this process because it requires self-discipline and education. Two things that humans often get complacent with. This pattern only continues to grow. As we have more people, we get more entitlement. The more entitlement we have, the more we consume. The more we consume, the less the future has. It's an obvious cycle, but one that few want to take responsibility for. Hopefully, we can start to break this pattern and set an example of hard work that can be admired by future generations.
-
3
-
Getting wayyy too old and spending less time on the internet
-
Hey guys,
Long time no see! Well the winter has been super busy for me, but all is well.
My friend and I are planning a road trip from Hokkaido to Kyushu. If anyone has any reallllly cool spots that are a must to check out please let me know. This can include super secret local spots, good food places, favorites, cultural spots, etc. Anything you think would be cool to see. I've done a lot of the Kyoto-Tokyo-Osaka stuff but we have access to a car and plan on taking it anywhere and everywhere. We are definitely looking more for adventerous stuff so if you want to take us out cliff jumping or meet up for a beer and show us your local spot please let me know! I'd love to meet anyone I can and if it's convenient experience something cool in every part.
Thanks guys, and sorry about the disappearing act from this winter
-
The most important thing you say in there you say (discretely) after? Stretching helps the most for me. Onsen + stretching will be the best medicine for helping muscles heal. Beer just tastes good
-
Unfortunately, in the US society is based on survival of the fittest. We rarely have community support because we are too busy critiquing and comparing everyone all the time. When you take a step back and look at even the very basis of our society (schooling) you see we have many social problems at the entry level. We're taught to look after ourselves and not others by the media and other sources of our society communicating with each other (movies, music, etc).
Often times this alienates people. Hell, we ostracize individuals by insulting and picking out their flaws while trying to make our own seem less worse. While everyone struggles to maintain purpose and their own ego, the media gives a shining beacon to those who are troubled. If you do something loud enough, your own egotistical needs will be met, albeit negative or positive attention. Columbine, Oklahoma City Bombing, etc etc.
Until we as a society learn how to act more communally, we will continue to see these collateral tragedies occur while we are off chasing the American Dream.
-
Nice one Andy, can't wait to ride with ya man!
-
Aren't most places able (and likely) to such when it rains?!
This is true, but all of those places I listed simply don't get rain like Baker does. It's not surprising for people to see rain mid January at Baker.
MB, Breck is really good for park, however it doesn't get much snow at all. It's often times pretty cold and windy as well mid winter. It does get quite a bit of sun though which is nice. The biggest thing is there are places that have much better terrain and your chances of getting a good half a meter dump are ten fold better.
Jackson, Tahoe, Alta/Brighton/Snowbird/Powder mountain/, Taos are going to have more potential for fun.
Back in my heyday
Breck and Keystone were two of my favorite mountains simply because park is all they had. If you want lots of rails and big jumps go there. If you have to go to Colorado in the summit country area check out Vail or Copper. Copper has some good cat skiing that can be really fun if you time it right and Vail gets better snow than the rest (still not as good as Utah ). -
Breckenridge???? EWWWWWW
IF you want to come to the US, Jackson Hole, Alta, Brighton, Taos, or Tahoe. Maybe Baker but that place can suck when it rains!
-
Awesome work! As professional as it can be
-
5 inches or so here in Salt Lake City, which roughly translates to 3 feet in the mountains. Should be consolidated and ready to ski by Sunday or Monday.
-
I think it would be nice if "we the people" made the president step back to what he actually is as described by the constitution: a fairly weak entity of government that can veto stuff and act as commander-in-chief. All of this attention and display that the media glamorizes to no end has people believing that who we elect has a total reign on the future. I'm willing to bet there are several CEO's who have affected lives more than the president.
On a side note most of the people that are willing to offer you an opinion of who they are voting for and why cannot give you any senators, congressmen, etc that they are voting for. Funny enough the local government will have a much bigger impact on their lives, yet they are convinced that Obama is going to take their money or that Romney is going to set back women's rights.
Too many damn sheep in this country.
-
-
Yeah Stu, good stuff!
-
I've had many good days at Rusutsu and shared stories with people who have also had great snow there as well. The main thing you need to compare Furano to Rusutsu is the temperature. Rusutsu will often be warmer and thus the February/March/April carries more risk of bad snow compared to Furano.
Mitch I think he was thinking of going in December
Do you think the distance would warrant a significant temperature difference?
seemore
Ah missed that. Yes Furano will still be colder it's more inland and tends to get colder temps. There's a reason places in central Hokkaido shut down in January. It's too damn cold!
-
I've had many good days at Rusutsu and shared stories with people who have also had great snow there as well. The main thing you need to compare Furano to Rusutsu is the temperature. Rusutsu will often be warmer and thus the February/March/April carries more risk of bad snow compared to Furano.
-
I love challenging myself in new and uncomfortable situations. I have really learned to embrace the unknown/unfamiliar in recent years and have lived a much more fulfilling life because of it.
-
You're going to want something around 95-100+ I ride a 128 in Japan and it works for almost anything. Those deep, untracked days at Rusutsu will definitely require more than 76mm width skis. You will be thanking yourself when you are floating on cloud 9 in powder all day, trust me.
-
What the hell did I just watch?
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
I think to truly undersand the gravity of the situation you have to be familiar with American society. If you've spent a considerable amount of time in America, great! I'm sure you never saw a school shooting, bank robbery, or person gunned down in the street while you were here (which is not to say there is peacefulness and bliss amongst all Americans). What digriz is getting at is that a lot of people tend to generalize Americans based on perceptions fueled by media intermediaries. Most western medias are there for one reason, to profit. Guess what? They embellish stories and pick certain ones made to appeal to your emotions just like they do here in 'merica! That's one thing that is incredibly wrong in this country (the US), yet people are guilty of the same exact thing abroad.
There is a considerable amount of violence in this country, and probably more violent crimes than anywhere else in the western world. Look what's on the televisions, in the music, video games, etc. This isn't to say we need to ban these things, they are merely a reflection of what people see. They are art forms that reflect people's view on the society they live in. Eminem wouldn't rap about the things he does if he didn't see them throughout his life as an influence. We need to ask the question why is there so much violence between people?
Let's take a look at the Oklahoma city bombing. If you guys remember Timothy Mcveigh killed over 168 innocent people when he made a bomb and planted it outside a federal building. He did it merely to get a message across, because in the US if you say something with violence, everyone will hear it.
Columbine, 1999. Two students bring a highly intricate death plan into action at a school in Colorado. Why did they do it? Simply because they felt strong enough about revenge that they wanted to become infamous for something. They knew they would become martyrs in the media if they did something loud enough.
The list goes on and on...
Guns facilitate these actions, but the problem is a social one indeed. I think we need to concentrate on regulating guns that continuously are abused for violent crimes. We also need to ope na discussion on why we have so much violence. Is it because we prioritize money as the ultimate thing in life? Is it our racial tensions? Is it just an easy form of fixing a problem? Are we just mostly ignorant people being thwarted by bullshit all day?
These questions need to be asked. If you want to talk about American society you should contribute positively. Don't sit there and point the finger without offering an idea. It makes you look just as bad as the ignorant Americans you are condemning.
-
2
-
I'd much rather hear a story about how someone climbed K2 than Everest, but still cool!
-
Anyone taking any exotic trips? Getting out into nature? Share some summer adventures!
-
Well we went to the bridge for some good ole shenanigans. Turns out there were about 100 Japanese/Chinese tourists there. They were excited I could speak to them in Japanese and they proceed to yell kichigai every chance they could.
Jason and I do a two way jump. I'm in the yellow, he's in the red.
486 feet to the river
-
Like everyone has been saying Rusutsu is definitely great. I have had many amazing days there. The only problem is that Rusutsu generally (last year not the case) gets 70% (ballpark figure) of the snow the Niseko area gets. While it's still a lot by global standards, there is still a higher chance of getting deeper snow at Niseko. With that said, I have had many thigh-chest deep days and there is a whole lot less people at Rusutsu.
Furano is great in March, but it gets really cold in central Hokkaido throughout January/February. The visibility is not something you want to count on either and more than likely you will have a week of bad weather for every 1 bluebird day. Furano is empty though and has some incredible terrain with a good amount of snow.
Niseko is great. There's a reason it is popular. If you have backcountry knowledge/experience or hire a guide you can see a side of Niseko that has literally been some of the greatest skiing I have ever done anywhere. Good luck!
-
Does anyone know if you can get on the outside of the tower easily? Is there an observation deck that's not blockaded in by windows?
Time to think about goggles
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Smith has always been pretty good to me. The I/O goggles and any helmet they make is quite a reputable system. I've never had issues of fogging and use them for skydiving/BASE without any issues at those speeds.
Plus they look cool