Tachypsychia

So my wife and I finally got our specific placement for JET. It wasn't what we were hoping for in Aomori-ken as a more central location but we are still stoked! We'll be moving to むつ市 (Mutsu City) in August. I tried doing some research around for the local slopes, but I get zero information from google (Even images!) aside from the one review for it on Snow Japan (how about that?!) from 2002... Searched in japanese too but didnt get much either. Main website for the city also says zero except for operating hours and ticket prices. Even the forums here only mentions it once in a "Where is

Awesome, that's what I'd figured. I have a few boards lined up, just waiting to see which one drops in price a bit over the summer then I'll jump on it, or maybe several =-) I've talked with him and done some research into the qualifications necessary. He's actually a really awesome guy, has done a bunch of snow analysis and avalanche training, etc, but he's going back to the states in the fall, so he won't be out there to guide me. He did say he'd hit me up when he came back later in the winter to ride, but it'd be a buddy ride as opposed to a guided tour. I've got a few names he rec

6'2" and about 225lbs now. I have about 20lbs of volatile weight that I hope to loose on a Japanese diet though...

Gah. Wish I could test ride some, but I'll just have to go of everyone's reccomendations. There's a surf/snow shop nearby but off season , I doubt they'll have anything

Me likey da slash! and 300bucks is very reasonable.. I love the graphics on the 2013 edition. Has a ruler on the board to measure how deep the powder is! Of course it'd be easily covered up on Hakkoda. Man, decisions decisions....

I love how you write a wall of text for just about every response. Gives me a lot of options and stuff to research! I definitely want a powder specific board. Seems like that's mostly what's going to be near me as I'll be just 20-30 minutes from Hakkoda. I'm certainly not against going to other mountains as I'm sure I will from time to time, but logically it seems that the ungroomed powder is going to be my natural habitat, so I want to soar where the sky is right for me! I'll probably also get a park specific board, but that depends on the resorts and what they have available. Looks like

Looks like I might have to forgo a Fish and pursue a Barracuda instead! As heavy as I am it seems the better board for me and what I'm going to be doing. It'll have to be a 169cm for sure for my size. Anyone care to explain the process of getting a board over there a little more detailed? It looks like I need to either ship it before I go, or bring it with me, and I don't know if the airline will allow it/it's worth bringing at that point. Thanks for all the excellent advice so far guys.

Oops! Sorry about that David! Just finished a 12 hour shift.. Kinda tired... Anyway, the guide guy I'm looking at is an american rider that takes you on the Hakkoda and shows the sweet spots apparently. What certifications.licenses do you think are necessary?

Awesome awesome advice guys. Seems the overwhelming opinion is to buy and bring. I can't belive the market is that bad that you'd save not buying in country! I definitely need a board suited to powder, but I'll still bring the freestyle board over. Its some kind of forum board. Cant remember the name So there are brands that I *cant* get shipped to me in Japan?! Brand Import Restrictions sound ridiculous.... This one kind of hurts my head. So I need a longer board cause of my weight., I see sites like shipto.com that comes up when I google mail forwarding service. This what I nee

I don't want to shell out full price on a fish if I don't need to, but I'm a big guy with a big foot, so I need a 162cm wide I think. Any ideas on a good place to get a used board? I notice that this forum doesn't have a market place... Thanks for that ava class info. Sounds like a good refresher.

We climbed in April. No real nasty weather to speak of, but about two feet of soft pack snow from the season. Looks I definitely want to refresh my training. To be sure, I definitely don't want to do any boarding out there alone. It's also more fun out there with people who share the passion. I found a guy who lives out in Misawa that does guided tours on the cheap (used to work for Burton I think?) So I'm definitely going to hit him up this winter. I did a little more research into the boards. Without any other input, it seems like I want to get a Burton Fish. From what I can find

Awesome advice guys! Thanks for taking the time. I figured I'd get everything I needed here off season, but didn't think things would be more expensive in country. Good to know. It'll probably take a few months to build enough rapport with the townies to go out on the slopes. ippy, when you're talking about the avi course, you mean where they bury a beacon in the snow and you have to find it and use your poles to poke in right? I did one back in 2010, dont know if the training would be any different 3 years from then. We studied the pack, talked about how to walk on the ridge, caused a mi

Hello All! I'm moving to Aomori this August with my wife to live in Japan for a years under the JET program. While she pursues her passion as a language teacher, I'd like to do the same, one being snowboarding. I've lived in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina for several years during college and enjoyed the moderate snow seasons and decent ski mountains. While there were a few venues within a 30 mile radius, there wasn't much but park made snow, and groomed slopes. Each run maybe lasted 2-3 minutes tops even the few black diamonds we had and there was no off-piste or backcountry t