belle
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Posts posted by belle
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Nagoid
Is the Pope Catholic? Is a zebra striped?
Snow withdrawl is akin to niccotine withdrawl. Life is almost unbearably miserable without it. And matters are not helped when I hear that NZed and Oz have had a good start to the season already - is that right Raury? Go on, make us all feel very jealous...
but when all is said and done, it makes that first day out at the beginning of the season just that much more sweet....and I, for one, can't wait.
belle
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England, but I rather fancy Senegal for an outsider's chance....and entertainment value.
shame about Ireland though
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clearly you have an elephant memory mr11. i thought we may have done it all before but knew that you would know if we had! must have been asleep, or better still, riding when we did that one...
suwa? shiranai yo. if you have the time would you mind please emailing me the directions or something rather than bore everyone to death with this topic (again!!)
put away your snow trou' eh? hard thing to do no matter how kewl they are. mine are still on the floor next to the bed so every morning i am reminded when i get up that i am not going riding... sad torture huh?
actually, i seem to be going through a need a new jacket phase. everytime i buy a new kewl jacket, i feel the urge to get a different one... last count is 3 and it ain't over yet... perhaps it is being in japan too long syndrome, you know, the need to feel kewl in new gear everytime i step outside. oh, and perfectly made up because you can't go boarding of the 'make' ain't right... but that's a girl thang, right?
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longing for those days of riding the snow, I pulled my board out of storage just the other day just to remind myself of how good life is in winter.
"you have neglected me" cried my board (well, it would have done if it could). "you have shoved me away without a care until next season, and then who'll be crying for not having SERVICED me properly"
anyone aware of a reasonable place in Tokyo to get gouges filled and edges done without paying an absolute fortune? in canada or oz i would expect to pay about $40 for the privilege....
if we have done this before, i am sure ocean will tell me to shut up and find the right thread...but that's okay! my board needs the help more than me....any thoughts appreciated
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Rach - I had a couple of lessons at a resort near Nozawa when I was first starting out boarding - all in Japanese with some really funky and obviously talented J-guys.
The main problems I had with the lessons were:
-we spent the first 40 minutes of a 2 hr lesson stretching and warming up
-we spent the next 40 mins learning how to skate on the flat (which when you are boarding is a pain in the butt and is a good technique to now, but the instructors would have been better to tell us that, as beginners, we should just take off the board and walk)
- for the rest of the lesson we walked up a slight slope and then practised standing up on the board.
The reason I was frustrated was that the lessons didn't start until 10-30am, which meant that I had already spent about 2 hours doing all these things on my own and had pretty much figured it all out for myself. So it was a complete waste of time, essentially. Although the bonus was getting to wear a brightly coloured bib so that they knew we were part of their class!
Having said all that, the Japanese language side of things was very manageable, and these guys went out of their way to ensure that I understood.
I gave up at lesson 2, spent the rest of the season with other riders copying them and basically teaching myself, and after 2 seasons boarding here in Japan, I went to Canada and rode with a private instructor for 3 days. I got so much more out of that than I would have ever done pursuing lessons here in Nihon.
To pickp where Scouser left off, yeah, I don't care about being technically correct and would rather enjoy myself. But, as a result of the instruction, my technique improved markedly and I was really able to notice a huge difference in my carving and riding ability, to the point where I am a far better rider now than I would have been but for the lessons.
It has to be said Rach, that ojouzu friends is the key. They really push you and make you learn. And they cost a lot less than lessons!!
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i am enjoying this thread, keep it coming boys...
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danz - my sincere apologies, i should not have excluded half the board with such a careless comment, but actually, it is nice to ride with your own kind (skiers always get huffy with me when it takes so long to do up bindings) - was merely being considerate to you skiers out there!!
raury - where in au did you work last season? i was at perisher for a while.. and although you don't see a huge amount of boarding bettys down there as yet, things are getting better. long way from adelaide, no?
ocean11 - you are the biggest fan of nozawa and i am yet to understand why... although i must confess to having an awesome time under the lifts in the gully to the left of the last remaining "skiers only" run last time i was up there....lots of very more than half decent blokes in there, unfortunately they were my friends with whom i was riding, and well, they are also hitched or otherwise with unhygenic socks or both!!
so ocean, one day we will meet, alas you fall into the hitched albeit charming category yourself, i believe...
oh, did you ever read that book 'the firm'? that's my secret (kidding). but i'll make sure i'll have wads of cash in my pockets just to keep you impressed...
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to start a new topic because, as Ocean11 pointed out, i have been rather quiet for a while (have already started summer hibernation until i can get down south, or worse, wait until december for the j-snow t return)...
anyways, getting a bit sick of reading about your snowbunny stories boys cos' this ain't metropolis, but the hard hitting question i pose, is, what does a girl gotta do to meet some half decent huys who are good boarders? (and before you say anything kuma, i love ya work babe, but your socks ruined what could have been so good between us!!)
i have met a few guys out and about in the last few seasons, but funnily enough, they were with their snowbunnies... so i went to canada for 10 days and was overwhelmed by opportunity and selection (and had a very nice time, thank you for asking)... then i came back here and the reality is grimu.
perhaps the lack of apres ski (read alcohol) has someting to do with it... or, no doubt it is the fact that a gaijin girl who can hold her own scares you all off (nice one)... but i would be interested to canvas the views of the males in this forum... do guys even notice attractive girls, be they j or foreign? or is it the sport only man?
i hand it over to the floor..
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Klaus, my learned friend - I stand corrected on a few points.
I am not from Sydney so I am the first to admit that my geographical knowledge of the roads and driving times is imprecise. I was based in Canberra whereupon it is only a 2.2hr drive to Perisher or Threadbo. That said, if you leave early morning from Sydney it takes a hell of a lot longer, so yes, leaving at night is quicker. But as most people tend to drive at bloody stupid speeds killing the kangaroos and the wombats on the roads at night, a slower speed around 90kmph is not unreasonable even if it results in a longer drive.
In the 4 seasons that I spent at Perisher with trips to Threadbo, the September snow was the best. It may well have been otherwise in your times there, that's the way it goes eh? And I would most certainly agree that when Threadbo is top to bottom, it is absolutely awesome.
No need to get narky now, mate.
Belle
ps - 1979 VW golf if you must know.
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I spent 4 seasons at Perisher Blue Cow, a resort about 7 hours drive west of Sydney. When there is good snow, it is just beaut. More often than not though, the season is not crash hot and snowmaking abounds. Patrol are pretty relaxed, so long as you don't go out of bounds, they take a she'll be right attitude.
Threadbo which is quite nearby to Perisher rates highly too, but tends to be better later in the season (September-ish). Best thing to do if money is an issue is to stay in Jindabyne (Jindy to the locals) and commute up to the slopes - not very far and there is more of a night life in town. If money is not an issue, stay at the Novotel Lake Crackenback - lovely cabin accomodation with open fire places and easy snow access.
A lot of people swear by Mt Hotham and Mt Buller (in Victoria, closer to Melbourne). I haven't been there myself, so no comment.
Try and avoid school holidays in September, otherwise there are a million schoolkiddies just dying to get in your way and who have attitude galore when they take you out and it is their fault! Skiing is probably still more popular, but boarding is definitely on the increase.
I hear amazing things about NZ, am off there to check it out this season - love to hear comments on the South Island resorts.
Have fun!
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ocean11
nat, kuma and i will be up at nozza this weekend - email me if you reckon you might make it up eh?
ciao
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in australia, australians are known to pray to hughie, the god of snow for there to be forthcoming dumps of large amounts of snow. not sure where the origins of Hughie hailed from, perhaps some other aussies could shed some light on this. but hughie is the demigod of (australian) snow, and we love him very much.
we're not worthy.
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well, might see you there then 011... and just who is this OO chap anyways?
hughie - bring on the snow, man!
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i thought gala yuzawa was bloody awful and intend never, ever to go there again. huge queues, CRAP music (YMCA in japanese? i rest my case), overpriced food (much more so than anywhere else) and so little steep/long terrain it wasn't funny. that said, there are some great but short tree runs off to the right side of the terrain park, which are fun on a good powder day.
to be honest, i was bored silly after about 3 hours as I had done every run several times over and was sick of dodging the beginners (boarders and skiers) who took up the slopes at every turn (a lot of the slopes are fairly narrow, especially the ones to the base). If you have time and the extra yen it takes to go further afield, I would give gala the widest berth possible.
here endeth my rant.
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hey o-11 (almost called you obi-1 - oops!)
are you heading up to nozza this weekend? i am going up for the first time this season, would be good to hook up eh? just got back from awesome 8 days riding in canada, can't get enuf of this white stuff.
belle
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Rach - that is the best on the board yet! Ocean11 you are a lucky man to receive such adulation. I take my beanie off to you both.
well, only while i am on the plane anyways - am off to find me some pow in canada for 10 days.... then straight back on with the beanie for some awesome riding...no doubt eh?
yawall take care now (practising my canadianspeak - go figure)
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the brotherhood of man, or whatever that be... (unquote)
good to see the girrls getting into the equivalent thread - what a sorry state of affairs here all you chaps.
come on!?
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mogski - i see my poetry has caught on - very fine indeed.
nat - very welcome!
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mogski, nat is an awesome g-rider, thank you very much, have the photos to prove it!
belle here from oz - boardin' sisters everywhere unite......
you see a lot of j-girls boardin but not so many f-girls...will be looking out for you all this weekend.
ocean11, my love - see you have been copping some flack on the other posts.... well, as much as we love you and all, this is not one i would have thought to have seen you on.
but we love ya anyways....
go girrls
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May I eat my own words.
Riding under the most awesome lift line I have ever taken at Shin Akakura, through the trees (hit a few by mistake, but you get that) and this guy over head on the chair starts screaming at me.... of course it was in japanese, and me conveniently no speaka japanese (!) so i just kept going.
Not to be ignored, the ski patrol chased me, caught up with me when i stacked and said "no no no" (not the most articulate in my language, but I got the drift). I sorta spoke a few words of Japanese and then he just smiled and said "Tanoshi katta?"
"Hai" said I, before I meekly rode out from the powder and back onto the run.
A lesson well learned (until next weekend).
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Actually, musings aside, I do have a serious question to ask fellow boarders.
I get some serious heel lift in my boots which I assume is not normal. I am between a rock and a hard place because:
(a) my boots fit perfectly everywhere else (they are Northwave if that has any bearings on prospective advisors, and I use Burton bindings)
(
if i do the inner laces up tight, I get cramp and then my feet fall asleep from the ball of my feet to my toes. Numb. I am no medical genius here, but my toes are telling me this can't be good. But, no heel lift and great board control for the first hour, agony thereafter..© I loosen the inner laces and the feeling goes away, but the heel lift comes back and this = loss of control on the board.
I have tried all sorts of combinations - thinner/thicker socks, looser boots tighter bindings, looser inner laces/tighter outers etc., but I have not found a happy medium as yet. Is an inner sole the way to go forward? Any one else experience the same problems, and if so, any advice?
Okay, I am leaving work now and will shut up for the night but any [helpful] thoughts would be most appreciated.
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Having pondered the absence of chocolate vending machines, the solitude of the chair lifts and the incongruous, mystical enigma that is Ocean11, I turn my thoughts to the ski patrol. Lack of.
NOT, however, that I am complaining in my present state of perfect health and happiness (with a touch of adrenalin thown in for good meaure). Having had the good fortune to ski for a good while in Lake Louise, it was par for the course to all to regularly encounter ski schools and patrol out and about. Perhaps more so on the sunny days (not to accuse them of being fair weathered bods at all). Perhaps more so ski schools than patrols, but still, dressed in their bright red suits it was kinda hard miss them wherever you went. And on the unfortunate occasions that one breaks one's ankle at Sunshine, ski patrol are there before you can say "F*&(#K my ankle is really hurting right about now". And that is a good thing (except they were Kiwis, both of whom were called Bob and spoke with atrocious accents - there, is my Australian upbringing showing thru now? [Apologies to fellow Mexicans, no insults intended].
I have often wondered about the response of ski patrols here in Japan, because contrary to all these powder hounds being chased by patrol (Kuma and Nat to name but a few), I have actually only seen one patrol. I would like to think that is because I am now (a) a boarder and (
shit hot, but the reality is sadly different in respect of ( at least. I like to think I am now going places I never used to go (the only way is down, the faster the better), where no ski patrol has dares go. Alas, sadly not the case I fear.Has anyone actually ever seen these men of mystery? Had first hand encounters with them to prove their existence? The "Idiot's Guide to spotting a Japanese Ski Patrol" is the book within me dying to be written.
I can sense it.
[Edited because my first post was cut off when I submitted it, not because I am a revisionist!]
[This message has been edited by belle (edited 30 January 2002).]
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not to mention with far, far too much time on your hands
go do some real work!
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Ocean - obviously you and I keep our snickers bars in different places
Have a good weekend everyone.
to the point here, where are the boardin' blokes?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Rach - I'm honoured that your 200th post was on my thread! legend. And what a fitting thread too.
You boys have to do more to get yourselves noticed out there. I am hoping this season to really improve in the terrain park/half pipe...anyone interested in meeting up with me and showing me how its done, say in about 6 months from now?!! My few encounters with the half pipe were as follows:
1st - when I accidentally dropped into it and didn't know it was a half pipe - utter disaster (in Lake Louise Canada)
2nd - when I got some serious air, landed on the wrong edge and landed on my butt so hard that I could not sit for 2 weeks (also, Lake Louise Canada - the 11 hour flight home was simply the most painful thing in living memory. The mere thought still brings tears to the eyes!)
3rd - very mediocre turns and edging - do you need to be good riding regular and goofy to be any good in the pipe? (Arai - bloody good resort BTW)
Anyways - all this is off the topic, good to see so many of you guys out there, and don't drop off the Board just yet.
As for you, Mr Ocean 11, I'm amending my profile: too may snide comments, not to mention yakuza references! I am as honest, ethical and moral as they come (and I invite NO comments to that one!)
Finally, as for yakuza like tattoos - you might guess by conspicuous absence of contributions to that thread that I am sans tattoo at present. Besides, I would be kicked out of my gym for being 'gang like'. Can't have that now, can we?
Tata for now.
Belle
ps - Ocean11 - please, please post/email me details of your board care dude - very keen to get it off to be fixed this weekend...