Besniwod

I wouldn't bother with snow shoes. An inefficient way to travel in the BC. I used them when I did my AST course and wasn't impressed (I can't remember what brand they were but they were decent quality, might have been MSR). I also found that they got in the way when trying to get a probe/shovel out of my pack as I had to de-attach the snowshoes to access the avi rescue equipment pocket. This will depend on your pack but I noticed other participants having the same problem. This wastes valuable time and having to faff with your pack would be much harder when you are under the pressure of a

The qualifications vary a bit depending on which country they trained in. I would recommend searching online and looking at a few guiding company websites to get an idea of what qualifications they should have. I would like to give you a link as an example but Dave would prefer me not to give a link to a guiding company, sorry. They should have as a minimum something like a CAA Avalanche Operations Level 1 certificate (level 2 would be better) and some sort of first aid training such as Wilderness First Responder training. It is also important how much experience they have guiding peopl

No worries man. I don't know if I will be around at the beginning of Jan yet but I am sure we can work something out closer to the time when I know what my plans are. If the desiccant is anhydrous calcium sulphate (gypsum) it is non-toxic but you won't be eating the stuff anyway, unless you get the snow sickness and start believing that you can only eat things that are white. I will check what is in the one I bought from the hundred yen shop and let you know. We could go on some tours through simple terrain when you are in Yamagata if you like.

Doesn't look like anybody has mentioned it but you can stay at roadside stations (道の駅 michi no eki) all over the country. You can search online to find out where they are and what amenities they have. They should always have toilets and some have baths, shops and restaurants. It is quite popular for Japanese people to stay overnight in their cars/campers at these roadside stations. On national holiday weekends the car parks get pretty full. I would recommend staying at these places so that you have toilets nearby and don't have to worry about parking illegally. Some convenience store car

Glad to hear you won't be heading out there on your own. You can take the AST level 1 course in Hakuba and Niseko. I don't know if there is anywhere else that offers courses in English. Be careful with guides in Japan. Many of them don't have proper qualifications to be considered guides like in the States/Canada/Europe. Always ask what qualifications they have. I would also recommend buying gear in the States before you come. It will be so much cheaper.

Did you climb those mountains in winter? Do you have any experience of travelling safely through avalanche terrain? Do you have any avalanche training? As gozaimas mentioned, you should get warm clothing in case you need to spend a night outside in an emergency. I would recommend a synthetic puff jacket (down loses its insulation properties when it gets wet). You can also get emergency blankets or bivvys made from a thin reflective sheet. They don’t work very well unless you are already warm, however, as they only reflect body heat. They don’t insulate. You shouldn’t go into the

Thank you for finally answering my question. You are fumbling here though. All the comments about future data are irrelevant babble as we obviously can’t know the future. We can, however, predict what will happen based on current trends and climate models. As you have said, three years is not enough to show a trend. Why are you so fixated on basing everything on the last three years? Why not look at the last thirty? You know that you can’t make an accurate prediction based on just three years. Also, by current data I mean the last 100 years or so as opposed to data from “hundreds

Holy sweaty polar bears Batman, these tights don't fit! I'm sorry Batman but I am going to give it one more go, ill fitting tights or no. Sidekick antics aside, you have once again failed to address my questions. You don’t seem to follow what I am saying so let me lay it out for you again, even though I am repeating myself. 1. You are making two separate claims. First, the climate has cooled and warmed in the past and the effects of these natural cycles will continue. Second, the climate is currently cooling. Do you understand that these are two separate claims? 2. Cycles in

There is still snow on the mountains and people are still skiing them so it is not the end of the 12/13 snow season yet.

Or you know that you can't offer a convincing evidence based counterargument so you are not going to even try. Basically, GN shot down your argument and you can't pick up the pieces. If you disagree, prove us wrong and write a rebuttal addressing the points in GN's post. Also, you haven't replied to my post at the top of the page. So everyone can take that as an admission that there is no cooling trend. It's okay everyone, snowdude is no longer claiming that the Earth's climate is cooling. Essentially, snowdudes argument makes two claims. First, the climate has cycled naturally in

Hey snowdude, how about you practice what you preach and try to read and understand GN's post. Your first two questions were already answered in his post: Also, I am waiting for a response to my question. How can data from the last three years both ‘show nothing’ and support your claim that the Earth is in a state of cooling? Or should we take your silence on the matter as an admission that the last three years do not in fact show a cooling trend?

Oh dear, it looks like I gave him another toy block. Hmm. You may base the fact that the climate cycles on thousands of years of data but you are claiming something separate to that. You are stating that the climate is currently cooling. You contradict yourself by first saying that 3 years of data 'would of course show nothing' and then go on to say that some parts of the Earth being colder in the 'past three years' backs up your 'point that the earth is in a state of cooling.' How can data from the past three years both mean nothing and back up your argument? I do find i

Go Native, you have to remember that when you give snowdude information your are giving a toddler some toy blocks that he is trying to fit into some shaped holes. Unfortunately, he seems to only have one shaped hole to fit all of your blocks into and none of them fit. Rather than finding a new hole, he will always proudly keep on bashing at the hole until enough parts of the block have broken off for it to fit. Don't take his hole away from him, he loves mindlessly bashing things into it. Snowdude, if there needs to be 10 years of cooling for 'record purposes' (i.e. to show a trend

There is an article about three confirmed climber deaths in Nagano today: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/07/national/three-climbers-die-in-mountaineering-accidents/#.UYhlN6KBkSE One man's body was discovered near an avalanche from April 27th on Mount. Shirouma. Another person thought to have been caught in the same avalanche is yet to be found. The avalanche was on the Saturday before last. There was a fair bit of fresh snow that weekend but it is not clear if the climbers triggered the avi or if it was natural. After doing a bit of reading online, it seems like a woma

Well, it sounds like you don't want to do any actual touring (long hikes) so I don't think you need a guide. That would also be quite a large group to be going into the backcountry with. There is plenty of good inbounds skiing with lots of fresh powder in the smaller resorts in Hokkaido. It will mostly be tree skiing so you should be happy. There aren't that many big open spaces at Japanese resorts (the top of Niseko being one exception). Travelling around Japan is quite easy. It can be a bit complicated and daunting at first but there are often people around who are more than wi

Are you looking for a guide to take you out of bounds or just show you the inbounds areas? Where are you thinking of going in Hokkaido? How many people are in your group? You should be aware that there are a lot people selling there services as "guides" here in Japan who don't have the necessary qualifications to have that title. It is not like in North America where that kind of stuff gets cracked down on quickly. Be sure to check that they have the necessary guiding and avi training and qualifications. If you are just staying inbounds I don't think you really need a guide.

You don't need lasers, just a good boot fitter. Just type in "Brisbane boot fitters" in a search engine. Other people will have asked the same question so I am sure you can find an answer. My feet are different sizes too (about 5mm or half a size) but that shouldn't cause discomfort. The soreness and numbness is from poorly fitting rental boots that would still hurt even if your feet were the same size. Also, there are no half sizes in ski boots. The shell and the liner are the same for whole and half sizes. The only difference is the thickness of the insole inside the liner. The

Familiarity is a double edged sword. It can help us get through terrain more safely but the perception of safety in familiar terrain also leads to you taking higher risks. Familiarity is one of the reasons people can make bad decisions in avalanche terrain and trigger avalanches. This isn't necessarily targeted at you but people need to realise that they are more likely to take stupid risks if they are in familiar terrain and should take that into account when making decisions.

Had thought about it, but waste of time talking to GN, he is just a F*+?ing global warming alarmist who thinks putting up some shitty data here in the forum will prove it's warming when actually it isn't!! He obviously doesn't live in the real world, because if he did he would know that many people in Europe, Asia have died AGAIN this winter due to EXTREME cold and TOO much snow and this trend has been getting worse over the past few years and it will continue to get worse, while all these money grabbing warming alarmists governments try to prepare everyone for a non existent warming! It has

I was looking for more practical information on how to rope someone out of a hole so yes this is a great help. Thank you very much. I would also have to practice setting up anchors and a pulley system to attach to the harness and haul the victim out. I think to be at all effective some training would be necessary. I imagine it would also be very difficult to get safely down to a victim to attach a harness. For now, it seems the most effective rescue from a tree well (my most immediate concern) would be to start digging from downhill and clear the victim’s airway as fast as possible.

Thanks for the information. I am curious about how to retrieve an unconscious person from a crack or other hole. Would you just dig from downhill like in an avalanche rescue or rope them out (I suppose this depends on how deep the hole is)? How would you attach the victim to a rope if they are deep in a hole? If you could find out how the skier was rescued I would be very grateful and I am sure others would like to know. How did the patrol find him? Do you know if he was wearing a beacon? He was really lucky to be alive after 30 minutes. I often worry about losing a frien

Hate to be the one to break it to you but the RECCO reflector offers you ZERO protection. It's the greatest smoke & mirrors act in the clothing industry. But that's just my opinion. RECCO reflectors are only good for rescue teams finding your body, not companion rescue. I think only ski areas/rescue squads carry the detecting units as they are heavy and expensive. The success of RECCO therefore depends on how quickly the rescue squad can get to the area the victim(s) are buried. There have been live rescues using RECCO in Europe but there have only been body retrievals in

Jackson1996, I would like to ask you some questions if you don't mind: Do you know how the skier you mentioned fell in the crack? Was he skiing alone? Did somebody see him fall? How long was he in the crack for? How was he removed from the crack (you said he was unconscious so I am assuming he was unable to assist with the rescue)?

Now that is the kind of information we can learn from. A )the possibility of a full face helmet not only offering protection from injury to the face, but also offering a little extra breathing space in the case of immersion. B )that he was an experienced local and STILL fell into a crack INBOUNDS. I have also heard that full face helmets can fill up with snow and stop the wearer from being able to breathe. I read that one person could only breathe after removing the whole helmet after a fall in the snow. I imagine this could also happen in an avalanche. The only difference being th

Yeah, rope strength was one of my concerns. What rope strength do you think would be appropriate Gary? What length of rope will you carry Pete?