surfarthur

Its funny, at Rusutsu, there are lots of signs saying not to go off piste, a few ropes here and there (but not many), but the only time I remember seeing ski patrol was on West Mt, zooming about on snowmobiles. Never once saw them on Isola or East Mts. At Furano, if you have fat skis, or a powder snowboard, they will literally follow you onto the lifts, particularly if you are: a) a westerner, in your 20's, c)in a group of 3 or more. I personally never got followed by them, but got talking to a group of people on the cable car, telling us about how ski patrol were following them onto

Here are two: http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/15068-tr-fuji-failure-4-20-08/page__hl__fuji__fromsearch__1 http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/15128-fuji-finished-5-1-2008/page__hl__fuji__fromsearch__1

I am sure I have seen a trip report on here from some people who did the very same thing, will see if I can find it.

You win a darwin award, for doing your part for the evolution of the human race, by removing yourself from it, in a really stupid way.

Someone write the daily mail

That might do the trick Mamabear

it was in response to this Perhaps you misunderstood my meaning. - rather than thinking that rudeness and and treating international visitors was the Australian way, I was merely expressing that I felt people behaved that way because they were naive and insulated, rather than Australian. It happens in lots of other places too. I was not having a dig at you personally. And I am not really offended when people get ticked with my countrymen - I get that way often enough myself! Just thought it was a bit sweeping to suggest that the Australian way of life is ignorant, rude and racist - be

I know what you mean GG, it is quite hard to believe that people think like that. I guess there won't be that many more weeks of competitions left now, so this issue will go away for a while at least.

I am quite sure it is only a small minority of Australians, but it is definitely not only in Japan where they behave so appallingly. The why part, I am not sure, but they certainly do not do much for the image of Australia around the world. On a slightly different note, the standard of service in Australia is certainly much lower than it is in Japan. I find it quite interesting that when I travel to Japan, how amazingly accommodating the Japanese people are, considering that I only know about 10 words of Japanese, but Japanese and Asian tourists in general get treated so poorly over h

Yes, not sure about an 8 person chair. The 6 person chairs are bad enough, if one person goes down, everyone topples like dominoes. I have seen some interesting pile ups when the lifties haven't been quick enough to stop the lift and 2 more chairs unload when there are 4 people down blocking everyones path at the top of the lift. Amusing to watch, not so fun to be a part of!

The sad thing is Chris, that clearly these people do share the same interest, which is snow sports in Japan. Rather than attempt to become part of the community, they just want something for nothing. I was kind of hoping that this was just some sort of joke, maybe an albeit misguided icebreaker as a new member of the forums, but sadly it would appear that this is not the case.

Yeah that would be the entire international ski school team? at least it was while I was there. Takes the staff a while to sort out the 5 oclock rush though, one guy serving, and the bakery staff standing there and watching

nice one Mick! Yeah sounds like you are having a great time up there at the moment Kokodoko, hope you are making the most of the excellent pow.

I agree with you completely Mamabear, but I guess that demand for this type of equipment is a little bit smaller than the equipment rental side of things. Could be a good niche business idea in places that are well known for the back country though.

I feel the same way too... already thinking about 2013...

Shhhh!!!! On a more serious note, how awesome is the heavenly view / ridge area? Some awesome terrain around there, had a great time playing around there. Which reminds me, I need to finish my trip report and finish uploading photos. Will get onto that as soon as I can. Hope you have an awesome time up there Seemore, get some faceshots for me

Brilliant

I know that feeling!

Thats a shame. I am sure you will have a great time riding anyway, but sux that you can't do the avi course. I do find it strange that there isn't more interest in these courses, I suppose it is at least in part because people on shorter holidays don't want to "waste" time they could be skiing or riding on a course.

I am sure that the real burger is less than half the height

Don't feel too bad, that always seems to happen to me too I sometimes wonder if I am a snow jinx

I have to say, I am not sure what to think of Furano. I mean, I wasn't naughty and ducking ropes, so maybe that would have changed things, but from what I have been told, most of the treed areas the trees are probably too tight for me, so maybe that would change the way I feel about the place. Its not that I didn't enjoy it, I just feel a little underwhelmed by it all. The town is nice though There were no issues with coverage though, but there was some gravel in the groomers at the very bottom of the Kitanomine zone, but was able to stop before this and walk the last 20 metres to t

I think you are onto something there... whats your thinking? narow and longer for the glaciers, shorter, wider, more setback and some taper for the trees?

Do all McD's commericials in Japan feature the song "Footloose"?

Thats a good attitude to take from it ippy, I love seeing peoples tracks heading out of the resort boundaries, would love to do some b/c sometime, but just really try to stay aware that I know only what I have read, have never done any training, no practical experience or the appropriate safety equipment, and that keeps me from temptation of crossing that boundary rope. Would love to do an extended trip, including getting the probe, beacon and shovel, doing an avvy course, and taking some guided back country tours. I think that would be the most dangerous point though, a little bit of experi