Besniwod

I'm planning to order about 30 meters 550 paracord and weave it into a belt that can be quickly pulled apart for use as a rope. I plan to use a Slatt's rescue stitch for the weave. My ski trousers already stay up with the velcro tightening straps on the inside of the waistband so I wouldn't have to worry about falling trousers in an emergency situation (that is one of the stranger sentences I have written). That way it won't take up any space or weight in my pack and it takes the place of an item I already wear anyway. One drawback would be that it would take longer to pull apart the belt

That's where I saw big cracks when I was there. I am repeating myself but the gates were open the day I saw them. Just going or not going out of bounds based on whether the gates are open or not is not enough. We need to educate ourselves on the hazards out there. A lot of hazards are still there when the gates are open.

So others dont make the same mistakes???? Don't go out of the gates when you're not supposed to. Simple. Well, the Finnish person apparently went through an open gate. I think it would be useful if we knew some more details: were they alone, what was the cause of death (trauma, asphyxiation, exposure)? Was there a rescue attempt while they were still alive? If so, what went wrong? Knowing these things can help people avoid making the same mistakes and prepare for dealing with the same situation if it occurs again.

the avi report is constantly talking about people ducking ropes. so it sounds like they went out a closed gate or ducked the ropes into the gated area. as far as i saw, the gates were closed all of yesterday. with the huge wind and drifts i reckon it would have been pretty lousy conditions anyway. I didn't think they did much with cracks. most of the time they arent marked or fenced (nor do I think ski patrol are responsible to), with so many unprepared / reckless skiers it might have happened anyway. They don’t have to have been ducking ropes to fall into cracks. I was up i

Sorry if I didn't reply before you put your order in already. Here is a study that put various shovels to the test and found that most performed rather poorly: http://www.avalanche...ovel+review.pdf The Voile shovels and the G3 AviTECH D-Grip did best. If you get the Voile Telepro, be sure to get the T6 tempered aluminium version (orange colour) as it is stronger. The yellow version is a bit cheaper but is also weaker. Another thing to consider is that the Voile Telepro can be difficult to pack because of its length. The handle can be broken down into 3 pieces to make it sho

I would recommend attaching a short length of very thin pre-stretched rope to the camera. You should be able to find some in a sports shop with the climbing ropes. Super cheap too. Just feed it through the little gap where metal bar hinge for the back door is, next to the mounting holes.. Tie a slip knot on each end, fasten one to the camera and the other to your helmet strap, pole or whatever else you mount it to. If the mount fails, it will remain attached. No more lost go pros. Make sure the rope is on tight and isn't loose and flapping about when its on your helmet in the trees.

If his story about his friend dying and affecting his judgement is true, you can't really fault him for being irrational. If that was not the real reason he went out of bounds, on the other hand, it would be pretty low of him to use the death of a friend as an excuse. All else aside, he did well to survive without serious injury and seems to have been rather resourceful; using his urine as a heat source was a good idea.

Hehe, you are probably right about the rice. I agree that you don't really need to heat mold if the boots fit well already. Ski in them and see how they feel. You can always mold them later. You can also isolate where you heat mold if there is a particular area where you want a better fit. For example, you could use a smaller amount of rice and put it only in the heel if that were a problem area. Happy skiing!

I second what Mambear said. Also, do you have any avalanche education? This is more valuable than the equipment as the equipment is only useful if you know how to use it. You need to be familiar enough with using your equipment to be able to use them under the extreme stress of a rescue situation as well. In addition, the safety equipment is only there as a last resort as avalanche rescues are not very successful. You need the avalanche awareness to keep yourself out of the situation in the first place. There are a couple of English language Avalanche Skills Training courses offe

Haha, I didn’t realise mentioning the reduction of alcohol intake would be tantamount to stealing a beer filled sippy cup from a toddler with shaky hands outstretched. I especially like how the controversial part was about drinking less, not bathing in the blood of the innocent. One must have one's standards I suppose. Thanks for the laugh guys. I have always rather relished being a heathen, thanks for that too.

Intuition provides more detailed directions on the process: https://intuitionliners.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/IntuitionHomeFit.pdf From what I have read, the rice sock method is inferior to heating using a convection oven but if you don't need to make big changes to the fit of the liner it should be sufficient. Also, it is more idiot proof. You can't easily mess it up like you can with an oven (i.e. melting it into a paperweight).

I always found dousing myself in the blood of the innocent worked rather well. Other than that, I try to do dynamic stretches (keeping the limbs moving and not holding a stretch in a fixed position as this will have a negative impact on your performance) before the days skiing and static stretching (stretches where you hold a stationary position) at the end of it. As much as I like beer, alcohol will slow your recovery period so it is best not to drink after exercising. Even though I don't really follow the last point too avidly, you will have a better time on the following day if you

Unless you want to take them to a shop to get the liners heat fitted, you can do it at home with some rice in a sock. Just heat the rice sock in a microwave and then place in your boots. You will want to make some sort of toe cap out of old socks so that you have some toe room when you mold the liners. Also, don't buckle the boot too tightly when you mold them as it will result in a looser fit. You can also stand with your toes slightly elevated on a block of wood or something of your own improvisation to get your heel into the back of the boot while they mold for about 10 minutes. G

Ippy, thanks for answering and sorry for going off-topic. I guess my mistake was comparing the prices with those in the States. I just compared some of the Japan prices with the prices of imported boards in the UK and they are about the same. Plus, it's much more appealing believing there is a conspiracy against customers to pay higher prices. The strange thing is that when goods from the EU are exported to the States they don’t get much more expensive or are actually cheaper. The same is true of some Japanese goods that are exported to the EU or the States. I suppose part of

I think it is important to point out that a fair few ski resorts in Japan don't seem to do any avi control or provide an avalanche forecast. If the resort doesn’t do any bombing then ducking ropes when the avi risk is high (such as an amazing powder day after a massive dump) you are endangering yourself and others. Even worse though is that you won't know when the avi risk is high because there is no avi forecast let alone any info provided at the resort. I agree that resorts should educate people coming to ski their resort and let them make informed decisions about what their acceptable le

Thanks. Yeah, it is unfortunately a rather expensive lesson. Especially in Japan where the importers seem to just double the price of foreign ski hardware. You might want to check a boot shop for the model that fits best and then order the boots from abroad. Even with shipping, it will be cheaper. One drawback, however, is that you don't have a shop to mold the liners. But you can just take them to a shop and they will charge you to get them molded. Still cheaper overall. I think the only reason you would want to buy boots in Japan would be if they are from a decent boot fi

How do they justify doubling the price here? I got a snowboard at the end of last season for half price at a local shop and that was the same as getting it full price in the States. Ho hum. Pdoull, maybe see if you can find last season's Slackcountry on sale in Japan. You might be able to find one in Tokyo or online. You might also want to look at the Salomon Sick Stick from last season as they have only changed the graphics for the new season.

I'm hoping to make it up to Hakkoda at least once this season. Only about an 8 hour drive. Ouch. Well, 6 hours if I take the toll roads.

I have read online that Fuso ski boot shop in Tokyo is decent for boot fitting but haven't been there myself. I am hoping to go to an English speaking boot fitter in Niseko this winter. I have similar foot sizes (about 25.5 and 26) and would recommend dropping a shell size to 25.5. My current boots are 26 Mondo and are too big. I am currently messing around with shims, foam padding and ankle braces over the liner to try and get them to fit tighter. It’s not very fun. I get a much better fit from the 25.5 Mondo boots I have been trying on recently. They definitely would have felt t

Hi, seems like it's my first post. I had a great start to the season on the weekend. Only got a few runs in on Saturday though as the lifts kept closing due to the wind. But the snow just kept on dumping and the wind was out of breath by Sunday. Took out my new powder skis and am looking forward to putting them to good use this season. Got about a 80cm of snow over the last few days at my local in Yamagata. Should be good next weekend.