yamabushi

One of the most impressive displays of skill I have seen was a skier, with the heels unlocked, coming down the mogul field in hakkoda at full speed and without even using the poles (not on the moguls themselves but on the chopped to hell area next to it). He didn't even look like he was straining himself, just in a hurry to get back to the gondola.

Speaking of douchebag skiers, yesterday I had the chance to show a fine group of five skiers some fine powder in Hakkoda. They were a fun group to hang out with (Chris, if you see this, send me a note). Every pot smoking snowboarded should get a douche bag skier asigned to them to help break trail

Only a douche bag snob skier would use the world scoundrel

For slack country, Hakkoda. Grab the shinkansen, take the bus, and you'll be there. Sansou is 6,000 a night. If you make it send me a PM and I'll met you up to show you around. I'm always looking for an excuse to go

Kids nowadays... But if you think that's weird, check this out:

WTF? That's it, I'm not going tomorow... I was just looking at the stuff up here in the north. No idea you guys got pounded that hard down there. Your temperatures don't look good

It happens every year sometime in January, the time when Hakkoda reigns supreme; 420cm snow base with the distant second being Niseko at 335cm. Sure, Niseko will stay colder for longer and thus will win ground, but right here right now, nothing on Japan can touch this mountain. But that's not the magic. The magic is that, after a solid week of storms, we are about to have probably the only blue bird day for the entire month of January. The storm shaped the mountain like a raging sea, with frozen cresting waves crashing against the snow monsters. The wind at the top? A barely noticeable 5m

Duck starts at +3/-3 and can get crazy from there. My duck is +21/-15. Your front used to be +18 so I would start with +18 on the front. For the back start mellow at say -6. Duck is not only the angles, chances are you will need to widen your stance to aleviate the stress on the knee. Also, nothing removes strain better than canted binding beds.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really liking this board and I'm certainly not getting rid of it. The Fish can't compete on mixed crud and speed, but this one certainly can't float as well. Here in Hakkoda is a lot of stop and go. On the fish you stop, you end up with the tail down, the nose up, and ready to go. On the summit you are more sunk, making trail breaking a real pain in the oshiri. You can do it, but you are certainly fighting the board more. Every board is a compromise. I used to rock as 172cm board; great flotation but taking it into the trees was rather suicidal. The Fish can swim th

No I don't want to cut it but It has a setback of 4 inches and it is already as far back as it will go. A small notch will effectively give it more setback (which if too much I can always move the bindings further up) and hopefully balance the board for the kinds of conditions I ride in. Pros: more setback, better tail sink, overall better powder flotation. Cons: bye warranty, won't pop off the tail as well. What shouldn't change: Handling, stiffness, speed. Right now this is the best all-mountain board I have ever tried. If somebody tries this board before they get on a Fish they wi

Today the snow was outstanding. It was cold, deep, and the visibility about 30 feet. A perfect hakkoda day I'll do a full review later but for now: The good thing about this board: there is a heck of a lot less vibration on chopped crud. I could certainly go a lot faster. It also carves a lot better than the fish. On the fish you basically ride that surfy feeling that makes us happy, on this one, even on deep powder you felt like you were carving. It also turns like a much smaller board, the average of the vario sidecut radius being similar to that of the 156 fish. The bad: The fi

The thing about the fish is that it excells on tight tree runs, which is 90% of Hakkoda. Outside of tree runs it's like driving a slow car; you shift through the gears like a bat out of hell but when you look at the spedometer you are only doing 60km/h. If you get a chance to try a longer board the added stability, stiffness, and more centered stance makes it feel slower, when in reality you are leaving your buddies behind. We'll see tomorrow...

For the first half of this season the 4 wheel drive on my Suzuki Jimny wasn't working. Going to Hakkoda was like playing a video game with stages; if I didn't make it to the next save stage, I have to go back to the last flat spot before I could attempt to fish tail my way up the moutain. After the second time I got stuck on the bloody parking lot I took the time to have it fixed. Keep a shovel and a bag of sand on the trunk. The extra weight helps and you can use the sand when you get stuck. Your next car should have 4x4

If you have it mounted on your helmet or chest, that's part of the problem. Mount it on a pole. It acts as a counterweight that keeps things steady, not to mention that you can do the 'getting pulled by the pole' videos.

Last year my beloved 156 Burton fish delaminated on me. The whole nose of the P-tex came off, thank God not out on the back country. I got a used fish from a guy that barely weights 150 pounds and that didn't put much mileage on it at all. Early this season before I even had a chance to use it much the damn thing also started delaminating! At least I got that one for cheap. The fish is an outstanding board for deep powder, but it is too damn slow. Sure, if you put it next to a non powder board it will run circles around it. However, if you try to reach escape velocity (and God forbid you a

If it aint broke, don't fix it. To me, the litmus test for worn boots is the inability to properly lock your foot in. If you tighten your boots and you can still lift your heel, you need new boots. You can also cheat and put heel inserts. I currently have 3 heel inserts on each boot on my Burton Rulers (to be replaced next July when they go on sale). I take it you only do grommed slopes. If so, it really doesn't matter as long as you are happy. if you were into the back country stuff, having old and loose boots would be _painfully_ obviows.

What about going up with your back country gear? Will they be all 'Hell no you are not!'? The more I look at the topo maps the more it seems too straight forward to require a guide. I'm spending two days there, we'll play on our own on day one and see how it goes from there (pointers welcome). And the more I look at Tokachidake the more obvious it becomes that a guide is an outstanding investment I'm gonna call the onsen, I'm sure they have local guides right there.

Damn you guys have been busy on this post I don't mind paying for one reason and one reason only; I have a limited amount of time and I don't want to squander it by getting lost. Not that there is anything wrong getting lost. if you ask me that's half of the fun of the back country (where if you are prepared _and_ have the physical condition to make it all the way back to the top if need be, it is nothing but an inconvenience). Still, I have hakkoda to wade around in the snow twice a week; I don't need to squander my time at Niseko doing that. However, if some gentle soul would be so

Why? I'm sorry for the loss to the family and all but this is an intrinsic part of life. You live, you die. Nothing gives more meaning to being alive than death. On the U.S., on average a person dies in a car accident every 15 minutes. While most cases are plied up around this time of the year, on average the common flu also claims about one person every 15 minutes. I rather die out on them hills.

Ok, I'm looking at Black Diamond tours and they have a Niseko off piste and a Niseko back bowl tours. If anybody here has done them, could you chime in with your opinion?

Mashike and Racey look to be a bit off my path. That's a shame, I really like the small off-the-beaten-path spots. As it is I'll be doing a lot of finishing by 4pm so I can drive several hours to crash at the next spot for an early start the next day. I haven't done Niseko so I have to throw it in, if nothing else for the been-there-done-that. I also lets me alternate back country with resort/slack country for some much needed easy days. Right now I think I'll skip Asahidake altogether unless the chance for a blue-bird day is high and I get to climb to the top. I probably have enough e

Ok, so I'm researching some back country fun and I'm looking at Tokachidake onsen, which sits at the end of road 191, west from the peak of tokachidake, north from the peak of furanodake. On the topo maps it looks like you walk out of the ryokan and simply start marching up hill. Has anybody been on this area? Does anybody knows guides that hit this neck of the woods? I have the topo maps and I'm cocky as hell, but I certainly rather pay a guide than waste my one day there digging myself out of a ravine.

Ok, so far I'm running with this: Day 0 - Overnight ferry from Hachinohe to Tomakomai Day 1 - Tomamu Day 2 - Furano Day 3 - Either Furano again, if it is as awesome as they say, or Asahidake Day 4 - Kamui, then a long ass drive to Niseko (3 1/2 hours) Day 5 - Niseko Day 6 - Niseko Day 7 - Rusutsu, then ferry to Hachinohe Day 8 - Drive to Hakkoda. I would not be going home if I didn't do Hakkoda So, I'll bring all my gear but so far it looks like I'll be mostly doing slack country. Can anybody suggest an outfit or guide to do some real back country on any of those places, speciall

This may sound stupid but for me, wearing a helmet raises the risk. For whatever f*up reason I end up compensating for the new preceived level of safety... There is such a thing as knowing how to crash. Most folks that freak out end up getting more banged up than they should had.

There is one thing I can tell you for sure; it is too early to tell. There is always the posibility that it will stay cold well into March, but it is unlikely. My educated guess is that conditions in Niseko will stay fresh for a bit longer than in Hakuba. If it was me, I would research both and wait until the last moment to decide which one to go to.