SerreChe

1) one leg still attached is prolly not great either, may even increase the risk of your lower leg windmilling around your knee joint. The idea is to pull on both handles, but releasing one only could be trouble. 2) I am not sure tbh. That is why in general people would prefer one handle to release both bindings at the same time instead of 2 handles. 3) The airbag should keep you on top, even if your board/skis are still attached. It is supposed to be one of the most effective system to keep you alive in an avy. 4)That is a very good point. I always wondered the same. Hard choice. If you

Originally Posted By: Hotaka Scott good way to spend Christmas! thanks for sharing. Also wondering what the mts were in the 7th picture? Scott, Background (which is the one you are most likely interested in I suppose) is Makihatayama.

MB thks. There are no breaks that I know of for boarders. People tend to use a leash on-piste to avoid their board flying downhill outta control, but ppl tend to not use those in the BC as they do not want to be tethered to their board. That is the only system I know of.

@ Jynxx, thanks. Not been posting much lately, but always happy to share when something interesting comes along. Being sick at home means I have more time to participate in the forum, :-). @ MitchPee, yes that's exactly it, for BC riding, and means people will not break legs or have their knees bend the wrong way around. It means if an avy is coming down on you you are supposed to be able to pull on the cords and release from the board. I am not sure how good or practical it is, we will find out more once people start testing them out. It seems some people are (rightly) questioning the fa

For those interested, Voile will be putting on the market some releasable bindings from January 2010. Rip cord is attached to each binding.

you may find out on the rad-air site, not sure. You'll need all the floatation you can get as Hakkoda is pretty flat on the final run-outs(as you know since you've been there already).

Looks like Papabear chose the wrong place to get his lap dances...

I live next to one of the most popular pubs in Tokyo to watch sporting events (in Roppongi). Lots of people spilling out in the street to have a drink with their mates. All in good spirit. On the other hand, the next day the amount of rubbish and filth left in the street was staggering. Looked like a few garbage trucks had dumped their contents on the street. Not a good showing, very unfortunate.

Telehugh, no worries man, your questions were interesting & got me thinking. I think next pit I will go the bottom & stick the thermometer in the ground just for the hell of it, just to check ! My guru refused to be called one as he is humble, but he's got Level 1, got international experience, is very dedicated and takes snow samples everyday around Hakuba and is always very happy to share info with people going into the BC. He is a real asset to the BC community. If you can get the funding for that study, let me know, ahah, I wanna join. Take it easy.

Hugh, I have asked one of the resident Gurus (he asked me to put a disclaimer on that title :-) )in Haks who confirmed that his observations there as well as his experience in Europe in more continental climates confirm the fact the thicker the pack, the less likely you are to get steep TG & resulting DH. Even within Japan, his data confirm the relation between snow-pack thickness & TG and the likelyhood to get DH.

I would say that any surface hoar that does not get wiped out by either the sun and/or wind and gets buried under new layers of snow is a serious source of concern when going off-piste. On the other hand I do not know if there is an optimal crystal size per se. Buried surface hoar is tricky as it can be very localized. If you dig a pit in a wind-swept slope you might find a weak layer. You send start riding a shaded wind-protected gulley and may trigger a slide. I would think that the shape of the crystals in the new layer and their inter-locking properties with the hoar crystals would be a bi

Hugh, fair (excellent actually) questions. I think the less steep temp gradient in thicker snowpack is what I would consider to be 'generaly accepted principle'. On the other hand to be perfectly honest I have never really compared data sets to actually be able to confirm/deny this. Some of the guys in Hakuba who dig pits often and have a wide data-set may be able to answer this question. Even then, I think very often people do not dig to the ground and do a full temp analysis. The types of layers within the pack should also impact how steep that gradient is, as the steepness is not

Originally Posted By: GordonFreeman Munter works on angle of slop though. Are you saying because the snowpack is bonded better, then angle for an avalanche needs to be less or greater (I know there's lots of factors). Is there more moisture in the air in mountains next to marine environments? I would tend to think so.

"Munter is a statistical method which summarizes general wisdom about avalanche accidents but ignores detailed local conditions". Local knowledge is very important. Also, there is no avalanche bulletin scale in Japan like there is in France for example just in case you are trying to work out your reduction factors. So by paying attention to the usual risk factors without necessarily sticking them into an equation then you are kind of doing the same, it is just you will not end with a number at the end of it. As per my obs last season I thought E-NE were the most unstable throughout the season,

pas de glaciers au Japon. Hakuba a le meilleur terrain, surtout le hors-piste.

The naked bold man with the tatoos and the girly string makes for a nice addition...

I'll set a precedent and wish you a happy bday CB.

oh and unfortunately very few resorts have a relaxed OOB attitude. Most will let you use them as gateway to good side/back-country. Others are nazis, you'll find out pretty quickly from the locals. Hope you have shovel & probe too

Hakuba. not sure about cheap place these days as becoming ever more popular. Good luck finding. There are a lot of accomodations listed on this site. Give it a go.

incredible stuff, I am speechless. A few of these guys will be dead within the next few years though.

Yes GN it is more dirty. "For bacteria, the scrotum is a nice place to live: it's warm, it's protected from the elements, and it contains plenty of tissue to feed upon. Infections in the scrotum tend to grow so quickly, the infected person often doesn't know it until it's too late to reverse the damage to the testicles, and the male is forced to live as a eunuch." taken from http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Scrotal_Infection warning, contains a graphic picture. Please wash after a slash and the world will be a slightly better place.

My never shake hands with list has just grown by a few names.

Their anticipation = 20k + globally which matches your number, but this hotel itself had x% of cancellations for themselves, not of the 20k + expected visitors. So yes, this is gonna be a tough year for many people. Operators, people who used to be able to afford holidays & can't anymore, etc... I hope it turns out ok for everybody, but I have some doubts to say the least. The most inflated markets are the ones that suffer the most once things revert to more 'reasonable' levels and as we know, well Niseko was just outta of there price-wise. Still OZs who invested in Niseko, even

aka the best of both worlds. nice.