Ocean11

lineski, does that mean once the word gets out we'll all be on little skis? What d'you reckon? Actually, I wouldn't mind trying them myself. Hey, there's an idea - wouldn't it be good if resorts had some sort of kit trial thing, preferably for free. If someplace offered me the chance to try funskis for a morning for the price of a lift ticket, I'd make the effort to go to that resort even if everything else were crap. I'd probably take my board and make it a day thing anyway.

There are some places, Ontake for e.g., where you can put snowshoes in a rucksack and climb up the mountain behind the resort then board back down. But you're on your own if you f**k up. Also, be aware that mobile phone batteries don't work too well in the cold - you may have to massage them to get any life out of them, and it may even get too cold for that. For real backcountry rather than just doing a little rope ducking, you need to make and register plans with people you trust. (Never done it meself, but it's just common sense...) [This message has been edited by Ocean11 (edited

You can pick up snowboarding with a bit of guidance from a friend really quickly. I had a first sesh of about 2 hr at a really small local place, then a coupla weeks to recover from the bum-ache and the pain in my arms from cranking myself off the deck every 2 min. After the break I went for a daytrip to a bigger resort and was riding happily although not well for the whole day. On my next coupla trips I picked up turns and was on my way. I really really don't think you could do that with skiing, although let some skier have their say. Oh, and if you're going to get the kit, might as

Try taking MY ticket off me

I stayed home, but I hear that it was taking 4 hr to get out of Hakuba, and Happo had record crowds. The snow can'tve been that good either as it was rather warm. Next weekend is looking rainy and unexciting too. Have to get me that mountainboard I've been thinking about all these years.

Weather looks positively dreadful next week. Just as my head cold is clearing up too... SJG people, can you arrange for it to be a bit colder please? Thank you.

http://www.boardtactics.com/f/ I bought a board from this place last year and they were pretty good. Back then they were http://www.snowtraders.com/ They also have a selection of big boots that they'll ship overseas. Trouble is, boots being what they are, unless you can try 'em on first...

And while I'm ranting, I note that many of the TV ads for the resorts show people shussshing through the powder in places unrecognizable as standard groomed runs. Now THAT'S fraudulent advertising.

I can't really answer that with much authority but I do have something to say about it. The 'policy' seems to be that you shouldn't do it, you're warned not to do it, and if you do insist on being a bad person and doing it, then whatever happens to you is amply deserved. When you disappear, a coalition of the ski patrol, the police and whatever mates you have mounts a rescue operation that starts, oh, about 24 hrs after you were last seen. On Nagano local television the other day, they reported on a Japanese couple who went off piste at one of the Hakuba resorts and spent the night s

Visitor numbers to resorts is drastically down this year, and the numbers weren't very high last year. Good for the visitors, bad for the resorts.

As of last year, Echo Valley in the Tateshina area were charging to use the carpark on weekends and holidays, and if you're a snowboarder, you have to go through the routine where some git on skis watches you for about a minute and then issues you with a snowboarder's license which costs you 1,000 yen. Doesn't matter how good or bad you are, you still have to do it, and funnily enough, you always pass! (And some people still wonder why I go on about introducing snowboarder only resorts...)

ivo, I have my doubts about that theory. First off, most of the gaijins I know are big, fat, hairy people with enormous feet. Their kit comes from far off barbarian lands where everybody is like that. As they are generally also immoderate people, they spend as much time as possible boarding and their kit reflects this too. You will actually find rips in their binding straps, and deep gouges in their board base. On the other hand, Japanese people tend to be smaller and invest more heavily in actual kit than in boarding. This was confirmed for me the other day when I barged onto a qua

Board the DMZ!

Oh, and BTW, there is a rental shop in Nozawa that has maybe one pair of a large size 30, but unless you're going boarding there, the info is not much use I guess.

TLR, if that shop exists, I have yet to find it. Size 29 is the biggest actual boot I have seen in this country. I'm told that some large size new model Burton boots will be available for order at the end of Feb, so if you can wait that long, call Burton Japan to find your nearest dealer and get onto them in mid-Feb. I was interested in Vans but their service in Japan doesn't exist whereas Burton's does (and their boots are actually very well made) so that's where my money's going in Feb, if I have any left by then.

danz, haha, 'tooshay'. 'I say, pass the caviar Danzig'.

The story of the unfortunate lady sounds like something with a nugget of truth behind it, embellished over the years. Depending on the speed achieved by this backwards girl, the injuries might have been quite serious. Snow enema anybody? I'm referring of course to these young men who like to wear their trousers halfway down their arse, even when snowboarding. Usually the top of the trousers is covered with some horrible baggy upper garment so one is left to imagine how the waistband might be maintained in that impractical position. But last time I went boarding, I saw some lower

Martin, you'll just have to change where you work... Or you could try accessing it through http://www.subdimension.com/nettools/anonymizit/index.shtml but if your sysadmin is on the ball, the address might draw unwelcome attention.

Yo, I hate to complain (really), but what's with all these 'Please tell me nice skijo' and 'What's cheap place' and 'Do you like snow' kind of topics? I'd like to point out the SJG have provided a great deal of information in a variety of accessible formats on this site that answer most of this kind of question. So can we keep this BBS to the more interesting and specific kind of topic like 'Pointers for jumping off the chairlift midhill' and 'Problems associated with snowboarding with your trousers worn fashionably low'? - that sort of thing. Thank you for your cooperation.

Ok then mogski. Now I'm assuming, without any good grounds whatsoever that it's some chick that you've struck up your incompatible relationship, so my suggestions will reflect that. "Hey Babe, how about layin' some trax this weekend?" "Say Darlin', fancy some snow rompin' on Saturday?" "Sexy, what say we burn up the slopes at the end of the week?" "Yo bitch, come Saturday, will you be ready for some of the Other bump and grind?" or lastly, "Sweetheart, how about I watch you do your spastic thing this Sunday?" I lied about the lastly thing... "Cuddles, le

Oh christ yes! I remember now! The one time I went to AK47 they had that tape in the slot. I f**kin' hate that 'built this city' song!! It really sticks inside your head don't it? And (getting all musical analytical here), it isn't even rock and roll! And Sting, well, I always think of him as the singing Eng Lit teacher - puts the pretentious geek in perspective quite nicely I find.

'a little suberi', or to translate directly, some 'slipping' or some 'sliding'. I enjoy it during the olympics when the announcers say 'sutekina suberi wo misete kuremashita' or 'he was kind enough to show us some magnificent slipping'.

I know a local place (Suwa) that'll do it quickly for 3,000 yen which seems like pretty good cost performance. I tried it a few times myself and it was a hassle, that took over an hour, although it seemed to work well enough.

Does anyone with kids take them along? I hear that Kita Shiga lets kids ride free on the lifts up till junior high. Otherwise, the cost would be prohibitive. (Don't the management worry about the declining attendance and like, wonder what they might do about it? Take yer nippers along and get 'em started wouldja? That'll costya, hurhur.) Anybody regularly go boarding with a little kid? I'd like to start my 4 year old off soon...

Check out danz's 'I forgot to mention' thread... and get a lock.