ygrene

I read somewhere that the average skier in the US gets 5 days a season and the average snowboarder gets closer to 6. Looking at the poll, its easy to see most SJers blow those figures out of the water!

Its always good to see Ski resorts trying to offset their energy consumption. When you think about it, ski resorts use and produce a massive amount of energy and emissions (Snow guns, lifts, heated lodges, not to mention the infrastructure involved in supplying to remote areas). It would nice to see more Japanese resorts following this lead.

Now that the 13-14 season is winding up, I'm curious to hear how many days people got in this winter.

I went and checked out that One Make place, they will do a stone grind and structure for 3000 yen. After a bit of poking around, I've realised that tuning the the base edge is normally not done because the grind normally does it at 90 degrees. The owner of the Switch shop a little further down was nice and honest, he said do the edges yourself and use us for the stone grind because we have the machine for it so that's what I'm planning on doing. Thanks for the help everybody.

Thanks for the info guys. I've watched a few videos now and I'm confident about the doing the side edges but doing the base edge scares the crap out of me. Any tips for the doing the base edge? I'm still thinking about taking it into a shop. I'm guessing its going to be in safer hands with someone who does it day in and day out. I haven't been to Hakuba in over ten years but I there were a few shops around the place. I remember staying at Snowbeds and finding a shop close to there. Of course, there will be places right next to the hill but I'm pretty sure they're going to be prici

Was it the Fuso boardshop Peetan? And the board is a 2004 Burton T6. Still rides awesome.

Yeh, I thought it was a bit extravagant myself but apparently they sand down the base too to remove scratches but I don't really need that at all, just need to get the edges done as the board I'm currently riding is 10 years old. I'm going to have a look into doing it myself. Thanks guys.

I was wondering if somebody can help me out. I'm looking for a place that will tune the edges of my board. I had a wander in Ochanomizu today and there were a few places that will do a tune for 6000 to 9000 yen. Are there places that SJers have used before and recommend? I would do it myself, but I'm scared I will mess it up and take too much off.

Normally the join is the top or bottom of the board, interesting that it is in the middle where it will have contact with the snow.

Insane. I wished they showed some of his gopro footage. How steep would you that is?

Like a lot of people, I first got into snowboarding because of the Nagano Olympics. I moved up to Nagano soon after the Olympics finished and I've been snowboarding since. With the Sochi Olympics winding up, I've gotten all nostalgic and dug up my gear from the period. 99 Burton FL Project with 98 Burton CFX bindings. I have my current setup next to it for comparison - 08 Burton Custom with 12 Burton Genesis bindings. The shape of it is not that different to modern boards. Although you can't see it clearly in the photo, it has a lot more camber than the custon. I remember seeing t

Thanks SJ!

That was Horgmo, a Norwegian guy, who broke his collar bone on the Slope style. A shame really because he was one of the favs to win it. You can watch his movie for free on youtube:

I'd love one too. Mail headed out your way SJ.

I would have to agree with all of the above and say that Craigslist Tokyo is your best bet, otherwise you could try Yahoo Auctions or Rakuten, which also handles second sales.

Personally I've had good experiences with hybrid leather and fabric gloves. Currently I'm using Analog Diligent gloves which have leather palms, fingers and finger tips and water proof fabric elsewhere. Like Rockhand's gloves, these came with a sachet of liquid wax which helps to seal the seams nicely. I have long bony fingers so I can get away with using women specific gloves so I've saved money by using these in the past. I used a pair of Burton Tactics women's gloves for 5 seasons (same deal leather inside, fabric outside) and although they did soak through every now again (mostly while rid

It was the 98 winter Olympics that did it for me. I moved to Nagano about 1 week after the closing ceremony and picked up snowboarding the next season.

I was just there last Monday. Definitely worth the 500 yen.

Definitely worth a trip. I picked up a new 10k/10k rated Special Blend jacket to replace my 13 yr old jacket today for 4000 yen. I noticed a 2004 Burton Custom X 160 for 7000 yen (with serial number so not a parallel import or factory second) while I was there. Judging from the factory wax still on the bottom of the board (it goes white over time) and the complete lack of scratches, I doubt its ever been ridden. I'm a skinny guy so 160cm is far too much board for me so I didn't pick it up but I reckon it might be a nice addition for one of the snow japan forum crew. Thanks! Does that Ha

Definitely worth a trip. I picked up a new 10k/10k rated Special Blend jacket to replace my 13 yr old jacket today for 4000 yen. I noticed a 2004 Burton Custom X 160 for 7000 yen (with serial number so not a parallel import or factory second) while I was there. Judging from the factory wax still on the bottom of the board (it goes white over time) and the complete lack of scratches, I doubt its ever been ridden. I'm a skinny guy so 160cm is far too much board for me so I didn't pick it up but I reckon it might be a nice addition for one of the snow japan forum crew.

Your mileage may vary but from my own experience of coming back to Japan after 5 years and reclaiming my snowboard gear, I've found that the plastic straps on my 98/99 bindings had gone completely brittle with one ankle strap snapping in half and the other frozen into the position it was left in making it completely unusable. I was going to give them away but I'm afraid that they're going to fail at some critical point on the hill. My other set of bindings fromm 2002-03 which I thought were fine turned out not to be while I was using them at a resort about 2 weeks ago. One of the toe straps po

I can confirm that the Hardoff in Akihabara doesn't sell ski gear but rather audiophile stuff like high end speakers, amps and turntables which is great if you're interested in that kind of thing. If you're staying in Nippori, the closest Hardoff that does carry ski/board gear is the one in Minami-Funabashi, about 30 minutes away from Tokyo station on the Keiyo line. Personally I've bought my current board there and can say that they have a large range of 2nd hand/deadstock boards, bindings, bags, goggles and outerwear. If you're prepared to dig through, you can find some deadstock from se

Hi, I was wondering if anybody can help me out. I'm looking to replace my current toe straps with cap straps. I have had a look all through Kanda. Basically every shop had them but they were all the same price, 6000 yen! Does anybody know of a cheaper way to obtain these? Actually I only need the toecap part as I can recycle my current tongue, strap, screws and ratchet so if there's any place that just sells that part, I would be interested in that too. Any help, most appreciated.