Ajax

What frustrates me about boarders is they can get into the trees within a week of starting to board and being inexperienced then proceed to traverse across the fall line usually in big groups just totally ruining a whole hillside. Wish they would stay on the piste till they can take on the fall line.

Glasses under goggles are fine. I have OTG goggles and normal ones also, just make sure your glasses fit ok under the goggles. Make sure your glasses are not transition lenses cause they will fog inside the goggles.

Well done. Very good report.

Be warned, Aus will never quite feel the same again, 7 days will go way to fast and if it dumps while you are there you will definitely be booking in for next year. Have fun.

Maybe a tip for Johan when I saw his pictures. I used to tell my kids to get the posture of a big bear, leaning forward into their boots with arms out front and away from the body, don't look like a chipmunk with arms tucked in beside the body and lower arms bent out at 90 degrees which causes upper body rotation and a shuffling type turn. If they can keep that posture, face down the hill and put the weight on the downhill ski, the ski will start to carve on edge through the turn.

Last rocker enjoy it while you can. You probably don't realise it now but once that baby comes along your screwed.

OK got the ' winter stoke' going now. Oops sorry wrong thread.

Very nice pics. Looking forward to seeing more tomorrow. Good luck.

Ok got the stoke going with the first snowfalls. Going to be a long 3 months till I get there. Beautiful photo Go Native of Yotei really looking forward to seeing Yotei in all it's glory for the first time.

Have spent 13 weeks skiing Nozawa so have got to know the village, the mountain and it's sweet spots pretty well but off to Niseko this season for a change for a month. Hope I won't be disappointed .

BCA Backcountry essentials package is being shipped to me now from Evo US for $345 au landed in Aus, contains bca tracker dts ,shovel and probe, very good price I thought. There are better beacons out there but you will also pay a lot more and this beacon is very popular with good reviews. Some times the more you pay = more options = more complicated and in stressfully situations you want to keep it simple, not sure if this applies to beacons. This is a 2 antennae beacon whilst the 3 antennae beacons are better at refining signals in multiple burials. My eyesight is also not very good Seemore

Snodude you don't have to be too worried about any action on climate change happening in the US any time soon. http://mobile.rawstory.com/therawstory/#!/entry/belief-in-biblical-endtimes-stifling-climate-change-action-in-us,51817ff4da27f5d9d0b879ba

The end of season snowfall totals at the end of the daily resort reports for each resort shows that Nozawa had 8 metres aprox and Kagura nearly 16 metres , so twice as much. Nozawa is quite close to the ocean as it can clearly be seen from there on a clear day but looking at google maps Kagura appears to be further east so would expect it to have not as much snow. I thought Nozawa was pretty amazing for snowfalls so if Kagura has truly twice as much snow I will have definitely have to go there. Any ideas if this correct and if so why so.

Thanks guys leaning towards the train now. Will make up my mind in kyoto ,only a week till I will be there now.

If you think it is a lens problem with moisture between the inner and outer lenses, you can buy replacement lenses from Prolens in the USA for a fraction of the price of buying new goggles.

Have heard the Wideview Shinano is really nice trip but have a day to kill travelling so thought I might save a few yen, throw the bags on the bus and go straight through to Nagano. I haven't travelled through that area of Japan and I would think it would be a very scenic trip and I enjoy wandering around the food stops, but only if there is a day time bus.

Yes Nagano City.

Looking into catching a daytime bus from kyoto to nagano but can't find any details on English websites. Anyone know if this possible or would someone do a search for me on the Japanese websites. Much appreciated. Cheers.

Never worn a helmet but probably would if they weren't so bloody awkward to pack in the kit. Don't fancy wearing it onto the plane. My one and only rule to skiing is "don't fall" , too hard to get back up.

Boy and Bear in Nozawa looked and sounded great.

I agree nozawa. Good range of accommodation to suit all budgets. Nice village to wander around particularly the cooking onsen area with shops , shrines ,some really old traditional homes, and a very good coffee shop there. Heaps of onsens public and private and plenty of restaurants to explore. The mountain is worth it also. My opinion way better than hakuba or Myoko.

Young people aren't watching ski movies with skiers riding the piste ,it's all off piste in the powder that is what is influencing them to duck ropes. Resorts like nozawa which I think has an abundance of slack country could be safely opened up by a more progressive management to cater for the increasing popularity of off piste riding. Probably more work for ski patrol but at least they will have a job and have more control over what is happening in the slack country. Agree with Ippy more information as to why a particular area is closed would save ski patrol a lot of problems. Some are

Interesting Digriz . Made me think about my boots which have done quite a few ks now. I have been fortunate that all the boots I have owned have never caused me problems so I have never needed boot fitting or customized foot pads. Checking my boots I think an upgrade of the footpads would be a good idea. Has anyone had a good experiences with footpads and could recommend a particular type.

Hi Vito 43 what JMA are saying if it is going to be a 40% chance of being warmer they are not as confident as if they said a 70% chance and they would be extremely confident if 100%. By the looks of their 3month prediction there is a 40% chance of slightly warmer temps and average snowfall but 40%chance of below average temps and about average snowfall to the 16th December Sounds like an average winter on Honshu which sounds pretty good to me. GN would be able to explain it better.

Yes up at Yamabiko. Fantastic day in the trees. Over to you Brit-gob.