ozsnowbum

I'll look into it, thanks! I snowboard. And the gopro needs a different kind of mount. No normal tripod screw hole. And you want to keep it in it's case. man its really not that hard. mountain bike handbar adapter $20 + backcountry pole which you would buy anyway if u do any backcountry riding. ive been using this same setup on my old gopro HD since 09.

just use any extendable ski pole + mountain bike handle adapter. probably dont even need the extendable pole if you ski, just clamp it onto your normal ski pole.

depends what you're doing. every company ive seen wont even allow you to do multiday tours if you're a snowshoer. thats because theyre so slow and inefficient in covering ground. if however you're only ever going to do short 1 or 2 hour hikes then id probably stick with shoes.

u could just rent them again if you're only going to use them this trip. theres a high chance you'll never want to use them again once you get into splitboarding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAEkyxl_YKY

join the crowds at cortina.

well the small one i saw was still pretty big. id say like a medium in whistler park. the course was designed for kids to be able to do it.

you start on really small ones. you could learn to do this in whistler like 3-4 years ago. you need to be able to ski a bit and since i cant i couldnt do it. i did skeleton instead.

did they change for this year? interesting.

i guess you're doing the ast with damian since hes the only guy that adds the extra .5 day for training. just ask him for bc spots. i like top of tsugaike for alpine stuff and norikura for trees

had a season pass at nozawa onsen last year. had to line up and get paper tickets, keep season pass they only scan it and give it back i chose to get singles daily and a bunch of times mostly stupidly busy weekends got my ticket and sold it off for 3000 yen. seemed standard practice from the place i was staying.

if 'better turns' is more important then anything else, dont be buying a season pass and locking yourself into one resort. when i did a month staying in goryu. i bought their 5 day use anytime pass and then just decided where was best on the day using coupons. i dont think you'll save much if you buy the happo season pass for example. its 67000 which is 14 days riding to break even. considering you should be visiting cortina, goryu/47, tsugaike, iwatake for like 5-10 days plus rest days, i think just buying a ticket each time is probably better for more flexibility. just my 2c

where are you staying is pretty important in deciding where to ski

Does anyone know how long they can hold your luggage at the airport? I want to travel around the south of japan for 3 weeks after im done snowboarding. so can I ship to airport, travel for 3 weeks then pick it up for my flight home.

i think gentems are super overrated. ive tried the big fish and impossible. hated them both. theyre like 2000 yen to rent in niseko. i have a charlie and theyre super solid. if you're that hard on cash that you have to sell your perfectly good charlie which is worth what $150? to get another board, theres something wrong.

anyone who can ski to an intermediate level can have fun in the backcountry. paying a guide is the best way to experience it and im sure the way most people get their first taste. heli, cat, ski touring companies all cater to every skill level i probably did 20 days of paid guiding of all the above plus avalanche course etc before i felt confident enough to know what i was doing. if you havent ever been on one, usually they start the day with very basic avalanche talk and go over beacon, probe, shovel use. i think being out there with a qualified guide is the best way to se

you dont need to tell me any of that. i already recommended the 4 day course in NZ. everyone else has already said what you've said. im simply saying if he's not gonna do the actual course, why not watch it online which for day 1 of ast1 is sitting in a classroom listening to a guy talk. 95% of the experience. day 2 is the only difference and you still gain tons of knowledge watching them dig the pits etc. its far better watching the whole ast1 course on youtube than not watching it at all. how is that wrong.

Good to know. Are ATMs in abundance? I figure that might be the case in Niseko but I don't know about the other places I will be staying. i think theres only 1 atm in niseko in the new supermarket. its generally difficult to get cash out anywhere in japan, easily the worst country ive experienced for it.

why dont you just watch it on youtube? you dont get a fancy certificate but you save yourself a few hundred dollars and get like 95% of the experience.

for me. I spent less snowboarding all over japan for 3 months than it would cost me to live normally in Sydney. It wouldnt even be close if I were to live like my friends. In expensive places like whistler its about on par. I guess that just shows how retarded Sydney is though.

lets hope that we get some good weather for our trips.

nice

when are you going to rishiri? ill be there jan 26-30

i did the 4 day avalanche course in NZ which covers ast1&2. i highly recommend it. you're actually out in the field all day everyday and then discuss things further at night in the hut. also you can actually find the ast1 course on youtube another video series which is really good is throttle decisions on vimeo. its geared towards sleds but all the information is the basically the same.

because you might get better snow and have a better time in a better place. theres only one way to find out. the journey is part of the fun.