Kansaiash

Get Him to the Greek is good for a laugh.

Hi Frank, I want to organise a couple of weekend trips up to Nagano this season and was wondering if you have any good recommendations for places to stay or resorts to hit up. I am thinking of going to Nozawa and Hakuba (on separate weekends). Do you recommend one place over the other? I will most likely take a bus/hotel/lift package tour as they seem to be the most affordable options. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Ash

I guess it depends what you want. I recently got some Burton wear from CCS in the US. They dont have a great range but they do have some stuff and relatively cheap too.

Ok ok. I will take that back. It is fresh, crisp, light tasting beer.

I rate this too. Been getting it everywhere down in Kyoto recently. Tastes a bit like a heineken in my opinion

Cheers guys. Heaps of great info there. Ill let you know how I go. Hopefully I can get some good footage at Niseko in early Jan. Regarding the HD 2 - It looks amazing. The promo video is something else. I love the super slow motion around the middle of the film.

Thanks for your answer. I didnt realise the wider angle was less distracting and was going to use either 960 or 1080. I will try out the multiple options you suggested. Memory space hasnt been an issue so far. Also do you guys use the anti fog inserts? I have had some issues with the case fogging up at altitude and when in the water.

I purchased a GoPro Hero HD over the summer for some climbing I did and have a few questions for people who use them in the snow. Where do you mount your GoPro? and What video resolution do you use? Thanks

I just got a Burton Poacher Jacket from the US. The specs arent as good as the other jackets mentioned but it was cheap at 100US+shipping. Good value in my opinion especially considering the strong yen/weak dollar at the moment.

Just to clarify one thing you do need to do is visit both carrier's shops. First you have to get the MNP from your current company then go to the new company. Getting the MNP took about 30 minutes and setting up the new contract about 1.5hrs including the 1hr wait.

Did this on the weekend. It costs 2100yen and It took about 1 hour for the new company to switch the number and start up the new contract. About 30 minutes into the wait I lost reception on my old phone.

True not the best comparison. Compared with my mates iphone 4 running iOS5 last night and web browsing was similar (I am disappoint) but apps like maps were noticably faster on the galaxy.

I was tempted to upgrade from my 3G to the 4S but decided to go to docomo and got a galaxy s2 instead. So far its hard to get use to but much faster than my old 3G running iOS5.

Not sure of anything near Kyoto. The resorts that were hear (in Kyoto) closed down about 10-20 years ago. There are a few close places in Shiga prefecture. They take about 1hr to get there by bus or train but they are quite small and the English support I assume would be limited. You might be lucky enough to get an instructor that can speak English but its not at all guaranteed. I think you would have more luck with English at the bigger resorts such as Dynaland in Gifu or Ski Jam in Fukui. Otherwise head to Nagano or further north.

White Pia is in Gifu and Ski Jam is in Fukui. When I went to White Pia it was my 2nd day of boarding and I spent most of the day on my backside so I dont have so many great memories of the place. One of the reasons why I went there was because they have morning skiing so the lifts start around 5am which worked out nicely considering the overnight bus arrived at 4:30. I think I have some photos and Ill try and get them uploaded for you. Ski Jam was a completely different experience. The resort is much bigger and we had some fresh snow when we arrived. I would recommend ski jam over wh

Last season was my first. Went to 4 resorts. Hakodateyama (Shiga Prefecture) White Pia (Gifu) Skijam Katsuyama Niseko

Jan 3 in Niseko unless we get some crazy snow down in Kyoto and I can get a day trip in between Christmas and new years

hmm i might need some gear. any directions to those places. I have one day for shopping.. I found this thread about snow town and Kyocera Dome is accessable from a few different stations so would depend where you are coming from http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/19615-snow-town-kyocera-osaka-dome-buy-gear-in-kansai/ Spotaka is in Dotonburi near Namba and really close to the big Glico guy. Let me know if you need more specific details.

Is there any love for Gifu? I'm in Kyoto so most of these places are a bit too far for a day trip. I'm hoping to get up to Nagano and Niigata for a couple of weekend trips this season but can you recommend anywhere in Gifu?

Have you tried Sportaka in Osaka? They have some gear. Otherwise wait for Snow Town at Kyocera Dome to start again.