yamabushi

Good info, thanks a lot. Tomamu was quite a bit of fun. At first I thought that if you registered and got the yellow vest, that there was one side of the mountain where they allowed off piste,. I was wrong; the entire mountain is open for skiing, you are supposed to have the vest but a good number didn't. As I'm going off the main gondola there is a drop off to the left. I went to read the sign expecting to see the usual 'off limits' message, all it said is that you needed to be registered blah-blah-blah. I promptly strapped and took a jumping start off the drop And to really be off

Damn that's funny! Maybe at lunch time I should pull out the powder board and BC pack just to walk around and see how much attention I can draw currently on the ferry from hachinohe to tomakomai. I should be at tomamu by 9:30 tomorrow

This is Japan. If the bars are there you should use them because they went to the effort of putting them there for you. If they are not, act like even the concept of a safety bar doesn't exist.

Dude, I just took that one out of my list because of my buddy He's not much into the hike up

Hey, confirmation The other places I'm going to are slackcountry-friendly; Kamui and Niseko. If the sun comes up I'll trade a Furano day for Asahidake. I wanna poser picture of me by the smoke vents

Don't worry, the trees luuuuv me Has somebody gone that way? (bar the unforeseen avalanche and sink hole) It looks like a straight line down the valley. This is the deal: early in the day I'm in shape for just about anything, but I don't want to risk my day pass from the word 'Go'. Late in the day I may not care about the pass, but I certainly don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no pack and the night creeping in... Right now I think I'll try to duck the ropes early on near the top of the lift and just go down. It would be a shorter run but I'll be able to see wh

I'm getting ready to leave tonight for Hokkaido. Right now I'm looking at the topo maps for fun things to do. On furano, what about that valley to the inmediate south of the resort? It looks like if you go up the hill on the last lift to the left, go past the next hill, and into the south valley of the next one, that you could drop 800 meters and back into the real world (Idealy before hitting that channel of water at the bottom). Do they mind if you leave the resort from the top? Would it look suspicious if you go up with your full BC gear strapped on? Here's a pic of the area

The best way for a skier to learn powder is to break trail for snowboarders on flat ground. Every time I have seen it done it has worked marvelously

What do you want your snowshoes for? Mine are strictly for self rescue on the Hakkoda mountains. As such they are short, 25-inches. Completely unsuitable for proper snow shoeing on these conditions, small enough that I actually carry them with me, and beats the hell out of walking without them. On Asahikawa-type of super fine powder they would probably be meaningless. Are you planning on doing any kind of semi-technical climbs where you ought to use crampons but will go with snowshoes instead? If so you may want something with a bit more bite on the claws. My all time favorite are

Funny thing is, I only get in trouble when I'm with somebody else. By myself I'll mellow my way down the mountain all over the place (never the direct nor the forest). When I'm with others I get reckless and start getting hurt. As a matter of fact yesterday I was going a bit more ballsy that I should had and went flying off a cornice in Y-sawa. Long story short, it dropped straight down into a flat hard spot. My buddy say it was every bit a 20 feet drop and it certainly felt that way. I knocked the wind out of my lungs for the first time in ages. I haven't done that since I was a kid... M

This is Hakkoda. We got extra lucky this year, we saw the sun twice in January. Chances are we will not see it again until March When visibility is about 10 feet only the hardcore venture out (and the newbies that take about 3 hours to finish a run to never come back again). When the sun comes out everybody heads for the mountain. If on a weekend the lines can get bad.

Just came back from Hakkoda. Two days ago we had a warm day with very strong winds. Today is -15c and snowing. There is about a foot of fluffy powder on top of very hard snow. Not a big deal today, maybe not this weekend unless we get blasted, but if a lot of weight get put on top of the 430cm we got right now, there are parts where it will come tumbling down. Watch out particularly for slopes facing the north-west side where the wind polished the hard snow. Funny enough the big ass volcano bowl should be fine; the elevation is too high to have been affected by the temperature drop and it

Hakkoda, the happiest place on earth.

That only works if the place you go to has groomers

For whatever reason I get stuck in that same stupid hole once a year. The fastest out is uphill with a slight leaning to the left. You come up around the back of the chair lifts. If you want to snowboard out you have to do straight up until you hit the trail for kansuisawa.

At Niseko, is it ok to go up the gondola/lift with your full BC gear?

Thanks man, We are both skiers...he's a telemarker. He does do A LOT of back country stuff. The one time we skied together left me thinking he might have issues in deeper powder just because of the old gear he was using but I'm not sure. Me....pretty much zero back country experience because I hate hiking but I love deep powder and can ski it.... Sorry to jump in on your thread like that.. How long are you staying? To get to the really good stuff you may need to hike up the ridge. I would recommend two back country trips and the rest of the time on the slack country aroun

Carbon fiber is stronger in some respects, but it cracks. I have seen plenty of busted carbon first hand to know. Plastic may not be as strong but if you hit it with a hammer (or a tree stump, rock, or another snowboard, which I have been known to do), you know is not going to crack.

It depends. Up here in the north, around April we get an Indian summer (that's what we call them back home). It gets warm and it looks like the cold is over, but a month later it starts getting cold again. If you hit it before the warm spell you'll get powder, if you hit it well into it, I'l be on corn snow, and inbetween you may find ice. What kind of snowboarding/skiing are you guys into? If you like to do as many runs as you can, things get fairly chewed up on the front of the mountain (the terrain accessible right off the gondola). If you head off into the yonder things get f'ing aweso

Better than the 'show off' thread From time to time I have seen a few of the Burton Stellar at hakkoda. I guess if you possess a powder board in Japan, you will eventually find your way to Hakkoda

I'll be driving a loaded yellow-plate Jimny. We can probably strap you to the roof rack

My ooooollllllldddddddd.... Burton Cartel bindings are falling apart. I made the mistake of trying by budy's stiff Burton Diodes, damn they work nice. They cured some of the pain I get from riding my oooooolllllllldddddd... Burton Rulers. Not going with the Diodes (I don't trust carbon fiber backs on the back country, certainly not the way I ride). Right now this is what I'm lusting for: Behold, Ride 'El Hefe'... These are supposed to be retardadly stiff, with canted beds to ease my ducked-to-hell oversize stance. What else non-Burton-EST-crap is out there that I should consi

Could I talk any of the locals here to come along and show me the ropes? I'll be happy to reciprocate with Hakkoda. Before that I'll be at Furano, Tomamu, either Asahidake or Tokachidake (if the weather clears I'm heading for the Asahidake fumaroles), Kamui, and after Niseko, Rusutsu. I'll be a week-long snowboard/drive/sleep/repeat trip

Take a trip to Hakkoda and we can talk about shipping your stuff.

Dude, you are down the road from Chokai. I love that mountain! Are you doing it in the spring when they open the road? How about Gazan? If you plan on being anywhere near Misawa in Aomori I can let you use USPS mail. It would be the same as shipping from California (where the forwarding address goes to) so if your final destination is near there it would be cheaper than if it has to go to say Florida.