CnnmnSchnpps
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Posts posted by CnnmnSchnpps
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Just passed my Technician class test today.. Was just 1 question short of passing the General as well (without actually studying for that one)... zannen! Combination of the book "Plain-English Study Guide for the FCC Amateur Radio Technician Class License" and an iPhone app with sample questions made passing the test a breeze.. Maybe 5 hours total study over the course of a month. Now just gotta do the paperwork to apply for a JPN station license.
Anyway, any backcountry folks on here who also have the ham radio ticket? Have you found it useful and what sort of gear are you running? I'm mostly looking for communicating within the group (gotta convince the other guys I ride with to get a license.. hah) - but also as a backup to potentially call out for help in an emergency.
Thinking of getting a Yaesu FT-60R or a Kenwood TH-F6A
Cheers
-D
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Anyone have solid info?
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An avalanche airbag may or may not have helped, also. If you ride solo a lot it's definitely something worth thinking about.
Of course if you ride solo there are a million other hazards that are more likely to get you before an avvy.. Things that wouldn't be a huge issue with a group but potentially life threatening if you're caught out alone
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OT but you can actually take the boat license in English! It's very easy, a lot easier than getting a car license - I guess to accommodate all the fishermen?
I have it but never used it.. Anyone got a boat? Haha
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When exactly are you going? This season or next year? If this season, it's worth checking the avalanche us forum on this site for a few recent reports. Pretty sketchy out there at the moment
After a good dump Yamabiko area is pretty epic. The stuff under the top lift is fair game but do be aware of gullies where you might get stuck.
Anything outside of the resort boundaries is backcountry. Gear, friends, and knowledge required. There are some pretty big lines in Noz which are totally unforgiving. Even assuming you make smart terrain choices yourself, it only takes one park rat to trigger something from above to ruin you day.
Having said that, there is some really good terrain out there and there are guide to take you. The ski school runs tours (in Japanese) too - at least they did 2 yrs ago
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Hmm I am guilty of getting air off those barriers earlier this season - but wouldn't have touched that face with conditions being what they were last weekend.
Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure there was a big slab came off Naeba this Sunday. The big gully skiers right under the top of #2 Gondola. I only saw it from the bus on the way home, so no details, but it looked like a pretty massive crown fracture - maybe 70 meters... SE aspect baking in the sun all morning after a big dump and lost of wind Saturday. Lots of tracks leading into it too
Also cornices breaking off at th slightest touch from 1-2 meters away
Be careful out there folks, it's a pretty nasty cycle at the moment
Usual disclaimer - 3 years BC experience and first time AST1 course last year. My opinion means about as much as the philosophic ramblings of your pet snail.
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For what it's worth here is what we saw today at Tenjindaira. Did not see the avy go, but saw the tracks later
NE aspect around 1400m - storm snow/wind slab let go on top of rain/sun/melt (??) crust. 40-50 cm crown and 30-40m wide (zigzag fracture along tree "perforations"). Apparently skier triggered (tracks leading into the crown fracture/out of runout). Ran for a good 100m down the slope. A ski cut into small remaining hang fire at the top produced shooting cracks 10-15 m long. Slab density medium, would expect it to consolidate more with sun exposure and potentially increased risk in the next few days.
Disclaimer - I have only 3 years BC experience and did AST1 for the 1st time last year. Hope this is useful to someone as a datapoint only
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Also consider the hotel at the base of Tangram. A quick pair lift up into the ungroomed tree run in Madarao. Stayed there a few times, was decent
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Will be up in Myoko - staying in Akakura Onsen and mostly riding Akakan I guess
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+1 for needing a guide in Hakkoda. Even if you know the terrain and are confident in BC, most of the good lines spit you out onto a road and you need a car pickup.
It's well worth it though, even though you do hike a bit it's mostly traversing with very little climbing unless you really want to and get lucky with conditions. If you get it good, hands down one of the best places in Japan to ride powder, probably better than Niseko in my book. However good conditions for accessing the big lines are pretty rare. You could easily be there for a week and it keeps puking 50cm+ every day - then again, I doubt you'd complain about that either...
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Hey so that sequence at the beginning of this is my winter where he gets stuck on blue ice - they never show how he got out of there. Any ideas?
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Cool thanks guys! I got the boots from Victoria originally so I'll try to take it in to them and see what they say
Cheers
D
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Does anyone know a good place for custom (snowboard) boot fitting in Tokyo?
Weird shaped foot is killing me recently with a really painful hot spot on the back of my heel.
Any tips welcome!
Cheers
D
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FWIW
- I always wear a helmet
- It has saved my mellon a number of times and has the scars to prove it - mostly while doing inadvertent cartwheels in tight trees. I'm happy the scars are on my helmet and not on my head
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I shouldn't have even been snowboarding. I should've just went home.”
Then get off the f'in slopes! Jeez..
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Huh?........not likely. Beer, mud bucket curry, and a niku-man is probably more accurate.
Suit yourself, but I bring thee SCIENCE!!
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Oh yeah 1 comment I omitted in the original reply:
... oh and stop being a pussy! DOMS feels good.
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for the nutrition side, I would say after a day of skiing a high carb+protein based meal.
This.
FWIW. I'm planning to apply what works for me for climbing to my snowboarding this season. The single best thing you can do (besides being more fit in the first place), is to consume a big hit of simple carbs and protein (4:1 ratio) in the first 30 minutes after exercising. I normally carry protein powder in the shaker cup and grab a 500ml of fruit juice at a konbini to mix. We'll see how that works out on the slopes. The 30 minute point is key. By the time you get off the slopes and back to the hotel it's not going to help as much. Probably easiest to pack a cliff bar and chow down on the walk home, with plenty of water.
Re: stretching, keep in mind you should warm up a little with some light activity before you start to stretch, or risk injuring yourself more than the stretch will help. Walking up that f'in hill to the gondola from Noz town center works a treat. Oh and vitamin I (ibuprofen) and other NSAIDs will also increase your risk for connective tissue injury. Stretching afterwards is good, as well as a lighter warm down lap if you can manage, instead of charging hard til the last lift.
Apart from that, yeah beer an onsen. Minus the beer if you can. It does make a difference. This is easier if you remind yourself that the only beer available at your typical slope is yellow piss water.
Cheers
-D
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Don't necessarily need a car if the peak gates are open. Drop off the back onto route 58 then hike up Iwao. It is quite a steep climb from that side.. I've ridden it back down to rte 58 (great steep run) and friends have done it on the goshiki side as well
To get back to Niseko, you can hike past goshiki onsen (leaving the road on your right) and over the shoulder to drop back into Annupuri
All BC disclaimers apply. You die it's on you, and watch the avvy forecast.
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I'm with rider69 on this one. More information doesn't mean better information. There's no shortcut to good BC knowledge, and an Internet forum isn't the place to get it
That being said, I think a thread telling people where absolutely not to go would be useful. Explore the rest safely as you would in a BC setting. Maybe the word side country is the culprit here.
In that spirit, I have this to contribute from personal experience. If you hike to the top of Mae-Yama from Akakan, don't drop off skiers left. It was a massive ordeal to get out miles away at Tsubame onsen, complete with sketchy snow bridges over a pretty big river. Never again
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Do the waterproofing products affect breathability at all? Like does it end up totally sealed up?
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90cm of snow forecast for this week/end.. Dayumn!
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Last year at least they were saying it would go up in march or April.. Forget exactly. Who wants to go up here once the powder's gone?
I may check out the one at Kashimayari in the spring though. Nice sunny day, and 500 yen to learn backflips without breaking your neck. Sounds good to me!
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Everyone is gonna say Hokkaido, so... As one of your stops, you could do worse than spend some time in Hakkoda. Hakkoda Sanso hotel has some common rooms with about 8 ppl on bunk beds - good option to hook up with others for touring. You do need a guide for Hakkoda. But Hakkoda on a good day > Niseko on a good day, at least in my book. Those good days though are quite rare - in terms of weather window to access the big terrain. Normally it'll just be puking snow every day.
Other options to consider, in no particular order
== On Hokkaido:
Niseko (plenty of ski bum accoms)
Asahidake
Kurodake
Teine
==On Honshu:
Nozawa Onsen
Kagura
Hakuba
Myoko (Akakura Onsen)
Happy reading!
D
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don't they do that every season at this time? Until they can move shit down the hill?
Ah you may be right. Here's to hoping
Lunch looks good.
One of the downsides of having a wide display is that even with new photos, seemore and his tache is still up there!
The beer was free! Got a drink ticket together with my daypass.
Big avalanche at Tateyama
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Very sad to hear
This thread should be in the main forum