Dunga

I'm a 2 leaning towards wanting to be full time back country. I defineately prefer the backcountry when I have been on tours, but have had little to no time in the past to get backcountry by myself or with others.

Not filling a lift or gondola annoys the hell out of me. At Rusutsu, there were times where there were 1 person per 6 person gondola... I had to go to the happy singing tree to regain my sanity.

It's all good, pack up the bag and head to a nearby resort for the day and spend it in the trees! This place doesn't get the same wind problems as the big N. Just look for the singing tree...

Niseko, the Bali of the snow.

They were labeling the helmet ugly in the paper here, had a good chuckle. Kids, stay in school, don't be a fool, and wear helmets whilst falling.

Cortina is reporting 40cms...

The crash reel won best doco at the Melbourne international film festival last year. Really good doco albeit a sad one. Met a guy who filmed parts of the documentary in a gondola at annupuri. Noted he wasn't wearing a helmet...

At 14yrs of age, our school holds a camp where you hike/cross country ski around mt Stirling and camp in the snow. After that I did barely any skiing until I was 24 and working in Lyon where I was encouraged to try skiing for the weekend with French colleagues. Skied and sucked big time at it. Same thing happened when I was travelling for work to Salt Lake City. I really disliked skiing but could get by on blue runs, and get down blacks. Like Goz, it wasn't until I was 28 and decided to go "Skiing" with my new girlfriend that I gave snowboarding a shot. 3 days at Falls Creek and

America is in middle one of the worst seasons yet, Europe is the same. Canada is struggling compared to most years. All the pro riders from America are in Hokkaido to try and salvage some back country filming for the season. Hate to say this, but this is a shocker of a season for snow world wide. Unless feb delivers the goods...

Most of Europe is having a shocker too. Was way too warm early and now too dry. When there has been dumps, they have been av'ing.

We hit up rusutsu on Sunday as well. It was a day of learning how to ride powder through the trees for 3 of the crew on two planks... It was difficult with lost of slow turn falls in constant fresh lines, but by the end of the day I think we have found some fans of the kitsch that is Rusutsu.

Ran into John Jackson (from the start of the film, yellow and brown jacket) in the gondola over at anapuri yesterday, the burton guys are in Japan filming off pist due to a lack of snow at mamoth. Really nice guy.

Mina Mina is my pick for the best food in Niseko. Cheap and good food. Plus 400 yen for yebisu black pints!

Just for reference, the MasterCard issue was fixed yesterday and the 7 bank ATMs are now taking all MasterCards. Ps Niseko is awesome for large amounts of snow and learning how to ski/board. It doesn't hurt as much to fall over in soft snow ;-)

Nuking is probably the best way to describe it. Waist deep powder all over the mountain!

Nice photos yet again Mike. Is it common that when there are high winds at Niseko that it's not as bad at Rusutsu and with less people?

Watched the crash reel the other day, even the best riders have accidents and helmets help.

Mike, seems like there's still a fair bit of greenery showing through the snow? How's it all filling in off pist?

My favorite resort in hakuba is iwatake. Favorite run is on happo over on the ridge near skyline lift. Favorite eats were the soba noodle place and izakaya Hie. Favorite thing to do outside of skiing was a snow monkey trip, along with outdoor onsen and the bbgun bar and rastablaster for late night drinks. Niseko, I really like bang bang for food and the crab ramen over at hanazono.

I can't see how making ashphalt in winter would be good, it would mess with the way it sets and also be a pain to keep heated...?

I've had some friends who had their stuff taken by mistake which was returned 24hrs later. Generally I think it's mostly mistakenly taken at most ski resorts including ones here in oz.

The Qantas group lost $300m in the last half a year. Jetstar itself isn't losing money, it's the domestic and international arms of Qantas.

Yeah, I'm heading back for the 3rd year in a row, Japanese snow is mildly addictive.

I've been finding that most insurance companies cover you as long as your doing a guided tour. If you're not doing a guided tour they don't cover you! It's so annoying! I need some suggestions as to companies that cover backcountry.

Automatic lawn mowers?