CnnmnSchnpps

Snowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnow. Who wants to stare at stupid pink flowers when you could be riding powder? Dumpdumpdumpdumpdumpdump! ( ) Fingers crossed for this weekend.

That would be awesome! Looks like a bit of snow forecast for Sunday night too Was trying to PM you my contact info but can't find how to do it.. No PMs here anymore?

Don't take this the wrong way, but I hate you!

Anyone in the Asahidake area on the 26th would like to ride together? I'm doing the blackdiamond daisetsuzan traverse trip and sticking around for a day afterwards to explore a bit. Would be great to not be running around the BC by myself Cheers -D

Kagura was epic on Tuesday. Huge dump and able to enjoy it to the fullest by staying up on the mountain. First lift with the entire mountain to myself and the 2 other guys that stayed overnight at 和田小屋. Waist deep in places. Craazy

Sweet! If that forecast holds, I'll have to do a quick daytrip out there on Monday (after 4 days in Hakuba! )

Not fun in the normal sense, but I do enjoy the challenge of tackling moguls on a snowboard. Great training for edge control and fast edge to edge transitions. Of course I only ever partake if the mogul course happens to be the only way down the mountain

Was just exploring the terrain maps around Hakuba in Gmaps and came across this crazy crater looking thingie.. Is this real or just some weird bug in the map data? Seems to plunge from 1600m down to 300 or even lower.. Cheers -D

Beauty! Awesome lines...

Err.. Bump? A couple random questions.. - Gear - would couteaux (ski crampons) work at all or is it better to just use boot crampons+ax? - What's the Japanese name for the form you fill out with the police before heading out and what's involved in that? Cheers! -D

^ Good summary! Naeba is great for spending a more relaxing weekend on the slopes with the gf / less-"hardcore" friends. The black ungroomed runs on the front face are nice when they are open and fresh. The top to bottom run is OK but does get old quickly, lacking variety. If you want lots of cruisy terrain there are better options out there IMHO - I'm thinking Jkokusai.. Kagura is much better in my mind for serious powder hounding. On a good day it is just insane. So many tree run options, you could spend a week there and barely scratch the surface (esp if you don't mind hiking a bit)

Different strokes I guess.. Definitely hear you on Kagura's gondola run back to Mitsumata but I don't mind doing it once on the way down after spending the day in the trees up top. Noz and Akakura also have some of the best and easiest access slackcountry I've seen in Japan (I would argue that the terrain is even better than e.g. Niseko, although the snow is obviously not quite as good). I do have to check out Naeba on a weekday though.. Always been there on weekends when it's just crawling with people trying to kill me

Hmm dunno I've been there 3-4 times but I just get the impression the on piste riding is pretty limited. There's a couple good runs but they get pretty crowded (especially that one directly below the left-side gondola where the entire resort's traffic gets funneled).. The black slopes were closed when I was there this year due to avvy risk. If you know any good spots, please educate me!

Apparently, the lifties stopped people from getting on the last few chairs, luckily. The 41 people stuck on the chairs up higher were evac'ed by heli. Lots of wet snow slides recently due to abnormally high temps. "The lift won't be open before next season"

Honestly I'd skip Naeba if I were you, just too tiny to be really fun. The other 3 are golden though.. Had a nice day in Akakura on Saturday. Just a bit of snow overnight, but everything below the top lift was like riding a slushie.. Hiked up to Mae-Yama at 1935m though, and it was a totally different story, lots of untouched fluffy snow... Dropping off the wrong side and barely making it out to Tsubame Onsen before nightfall was a little less fun Riding til July, -D

A couple of my friends have the countour and they have a really tough time with snow getting stuck on the lens. There is a little plastic ridge on the front around the whole lens, which catches powder very easily.. The gopro housing in contrast is convex and snow slides off it much easier. I'm not a big fan of POV footage, although I used to use the helmet mount for the gopro alot. The best option is the strap mount that threads through your helmet. It does not shake at all, but holds on much more securely when getting whaked by branches, lifts, etc.. Wouldn't trust the adhesive mounts muc

Can anyone recommend good books / magazines for Japan BC route info? I saw some book at ICI sports but no idea if it was any good. What do people use to plan new outings? Just by word of mouth or are there good resources? Cheers! -D

Looks like someone jizzed in their pants at the end there. Nice!

I am very keen! Also have a couple of friends who want to do it this year. Been reading japanese blogs from people who have done it and it seems that most people aim for the end of April/beginning of May timeframe. Looks like crampons should be sufficient to get up there but the ride down will be pretty variable = pretty much frozen on top, good in the middle and slush at the bottom. Does anyone know of any guides that will take people up there? Would really want a pro to assess the weather hazard and snow stability Cheers -D

Splitty! Looks like a pretty epic day, jealous.

Many styles are available from several manufacturers, but afaik only one is sold in Japan - BCA. I have the float 36 In my mind, it's relatively cheap insurance considering how effective they are. Although keep in mind that terrain in Japan is different from, say, the Alps and you probably have a much greater chance of hitting trees etc on the way down - the airbag won't help much - if at all - there. Cheers -D

Noz!

Thanks for the heads-up, will be heading up there next week. Having a proper weak layer will at least make digging snow pits for avy training more interesting.. BTW, Is there any published avy report from around that area similar to the niseko.nadare.info? Cheers. -D

Curious was this on the direct course maybe 1/3 or the way down? It has a nasty sharp right turn that is very easy to miss. Ran into it last year riding in poor viz when I look around and suddenly realize all the poles are gone.. Hiked about 50m back up to get back on the trail.

Well.. It's more of a legal thing due to each country's different rules for compressed air cylinders. I wonder if you could get a US cylinder tested locally to get the proper compliance stamps - maybe dyna8800 can chime in again? If anything, I think BCA deserves some serious credit for being the only manufacturer who already has refill stations in Japan :-) The price inflation is a different issue.. We all know how much more beacons cost in Japan vs the States, but at least in this case you actually get some value added for the extra dough (namely, they go through the cylinder certifi