Simon
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Posts posted by Simon
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In Japan -20° at Hirafu.
Overall... don't know exactly, but this saturday morning it was -36° at the top of Mt. Fort (3300mt). You could feel your lungs exploding.
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Cal, what's wrong with that? Just curious.Quote:Originally posted by cal:
Another reason why it isn't my kind of place. -
Ah, german cursing. I know it well, unfortunately.Quote:Originally posted by db:
People in the lift line and on the lift could see me and my board, skiers on the lift were saying things in German to me. It sounded like abuse (but German always does
Five or six years ago I went on a daytrip to Switzerland with my (now ex)girlfriend. We went with a skiclub, which means waking up at 5am and suffer a 2+ hours trip on a lousy bus. I hated that. But what I hated more was the conditions of the slopes that day: it was april, so it was super-icy, with rocks here and there. Terrible. Matter of fact, we were the only ones there. After a couple of hours I was really depressed and I wanted to go home. But we had to wait for all the people of the skiclub. So I began thinking alternative ways to have fun and... er, my girlfriend didn't like the idea of "having fun" in the gondola (I thought it was a great idea
), so we found a closed piste (it was all ice and grass, no snow), went there and headed towards a bunch of trees to... have some privacy. When it was time to go to the bus, we climbed back, but when I was on the top of the closed piste I slipped and felt. And felt. And felt. Faster and faster. After some seconds of slipping at the speed of light I thought "I'm in deep shit. If I hit a rock or my board hits me, I'm done". But after some rebounds on the ice, I stopped and said "geez, that was scary. thank god I'm safe". Then I realized that my left shoulder was basically in the middle of my chest. I tried to put my board on to reach the bottom of the slopes, but I had too much pain. I tried putting my shoulder on his original position (hey, they always do that at Hollywood)... no way. So my girlfriend went to call the ski patrol.
When they arrived I thought "great, finally some help". Not a chance. They didn't even ask how I was feeling and started cursing in german because I was off-piste. "You cannot snowboard here, the piste is closed, it's dangerous, you're an idiot...". After 2 minutes of that, I exploded: "I wasn't snowboarding, mfers. I didn't even have my board on. I was walking after..." then I stopped and looked at my girlfriend and she became completely red. A moment of silence and then all the patrollers started laughing hard. Even when they were taking me down with the toboggan (sp?), I remember they were laughing... and laughing... and laughing... -
And here is the italian chap.
badmig,
I guess you've already lived here, so maybe I'm saying something you already know, but anyway...
The best skiing areas in Italy are Valle d'Aosta and Trentino (where the Dolomiti are). Valle d'Aosta is very similar to the French Alps and Valais (Switzerland), while Trentino... is quite unique. The vistas are beautiful and in the last
two years they got more snow than Valle d'Aosta. Valle d'Aosta is within easy reach from Milan (biggest international airport in Northern Italy), while going to Trentino from Milan can be a pain in the ass: some resorts are really far from here (4+ hours by car).
As a result, I think people in Valle d'Aosta got accustomed to all the people coming in from Milan and Turin, and they are more open towards
tourists, while in Trentino... well, they can be real assholes. Overall, Trentino is a bit more expensive than Valle d'Aosta.
IMO best places to ski/snowboard in Valle d'Aosta are La Thuile, Pila, Champoluc and Cervinia. Pila and Champoluc are dead at night, but they are cheaper than the others. La Thuile is ok (nothing special at night). Cervinia has some nice restaurants and pubs, but it's more expensive and the village sucks: most of the houses have been build during the '70 boom and the architecture... well, it's horrible to look at. Cervinia's ski fields are linked to Zermatt (Switzerland): If I had to choose between Cervinia and Zermatt, I would definitely go to Zermatt. The place is 10
times better than Cervinia.
In Trentino best places IMO are Canazei and Madonna di Campiglio. They are more expensive than their counterparts in Valle d'Aosta(especially Madonna di Campiglio), but they offer everything: ski and apres-ski. You can find tons of info on these places on the web.
Other names of good resorts on the Alps:
- Cortina d'Ampezzo (Veneto): probably the most famous resorts in Italy. Posh. I would skip it. Way too expensive.
- Madesimo (Lombardia): the Lombardia's version of Cortina. It's not bad, but it's quite far from Milan and if there is a lot of snow, sometimes they close the road and you're stuck there.
- Sauze d'Oulx (Piemonte): definitely underrated. Good skiing and good nightlife.
- Verbier: yeah, I know it's in Switzerland, but it's within easy reach from Milan. Great skiing and a lot of partying (ok, I'm biased... this is my "home resort" and I have a season pass, so...)
I know this is a very generic overview, but I don't wanna bore people talking about non-japanese resorts. If you wanna more detailed infos, help with booking or whatever, just let me know. No prob.
Two last things:
- rent an apartment. Hotels are way overpriced on the Alps.
- book for february. Sometimes march is already too late (and you don't wanna ride on artifical snow). Right now conditions are insane: snow, snow and more snow. Definitely the best days of the season, so far.
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Yep, true.Quote:Originally posted by Fattwins:
If it comes down to pure proven speed, speed sking is the fastest none motorized sport. There are guys who do it on boards but not as fast yet......
Just for info (and because I'm stuck in the office with nothing better to do), the current speed ski world record is 248.105 km/h.
On a snowboard it's 201.907 km/h.
Not bad.
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jared,
I don't think freeskiing is dying. As a matter of fact, it's pretty big in Europe right now.
IMO watching these skiers/boarders in video don't give the idea of the steepness of the slopes they are riding.
As mogski said, these are 50+ degrees slopes. Vertical stuff. Seeing them from the top is a totally different thing...
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Yep, fab tune. "We live in Philly" is pretty good as well.Quote:Originally posted by NoFakie:
For some deep hiphop in a Blue Note-stylee, check out "Charmed Life" by Jazzy Jeff.
Totally agree with enderzero's list: Dilated Peoples, The Roots, Common, anything by the Hieroglyphics crew... excellent stuff.
Cinematic Orchestra is good too. Seen them at the Liquid Room in september. Cool vibe. -
Agree. 70° is almost a wall, impossible to ski or ride (at least for us). I remember reading the best ones in extreme skiing hit slopes with 55/60°, even 65° (they called these "non existing slopes" because they are basically cliffs).Quote:Originally posted by jared:
70 degrees is almost the same triangle stood up on the small side - im afraid I have my doubts about snow sticking to a slope that steep.
As for snow sticking to a slope... it really depends on the climate of the area. In Alaska you can find good snow on slopes with 55°. But in Japan (as in Europe), I think that 45° slopes are the maximum you can ski: more than that and you only have some centimeters of snow (impossible to ride). -
Markie,
smaller restaurants & shops don't take Euro.
Nearly all of them accept credit cards though (if you don't want to change money).
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Ocean,Quote:Originally posted by Ocean11:
That sounds like a good sort of environment to be sliding in. I'll have to go there some day.
before booking your ticket, consider two things.
1) Resorts on the Alps are having a huge boom in these years. This means thousands of people on the mountains and a huge crowd on the slopes. And I'm not talking about "some people here and there". I'm talking about a GALA-10-years-ago-on-worst-days" type of crowd.
The (not so) funny thing is that resorts are doing their best to avoid queues at lifts and are buying vast amounts of ultra hi-tech gondolas and faster-than-light chairlifts (I wish some of this stuff reach japanese resorts...). Thus, you'll never wait more than five minutes to take a lift, but you have literally hordes of skiers/riders on the slopes. It's not a coincidence that the worst incidents this year are not caused by avalanches, but by people crashing against other people on the slopes.
Well, you can still ride off piste...
2)...at least you could IF it snowed. I'm not an expert on the subject and I don't konw if it's because of global heating, El Nino, bad luck or what. But the fact is that the lack of snow is getting serious. I remember that 15 years ago you could ski at a lot of resorts at the beginning of december. 10 years ago it was Christmas. Now serious dumps never arrive before the end of january. So... thousands of people+artificial snow... you can imagine the results.
As for my nationality, I'm writing from the only country in Europe where they don't teach english in schools (well, at least they didn't when I was a kid ): Italy.
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There is a lot of preventive work done by the people who work at the resorts in Switzerland. If you can ride off piste, you can be sure there is almost no risk of avalanche (well, let's say that the risk is very low). After a huge dump, the steepest slopes are ALWAYS closed and I'm not talking about a rope with a "closed" sign on it: the lifts are not working and you cannot reach the top until patrollers have checked all the mountain.Quote:Originally posted by db:
I am yet to really see one here in switzerland, but I doubt that they give a hard time as I am also yet to see a beginner, or even an intermediate rider, so I suspect that most people ride well within their skill level.
IMO with this preventive work, there is little need to pester people who are riding off piste.
As for Barok's incident... I can't see it happen here for a simple reason: I'm 100% sure that, seeing patrol guys beating a rider, people would jump in and help the rider, even if they don't know him. And I believe that patrol guys don't wanna fight 20-30 people at the same time.
Sorry for my poor english, people.
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Very easy to find in big cities (at least IMO).
Been offered drugs several times in clubs in Tokyo and Osaka. And I wasn't looking for them.
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What about SnowJapan stickers? Nothing too big: a lil' sticker that you can put on your helmet or your board.
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Nulla,Quote:2) Is there anywhere in Niseko/Kutchan where in case of emergency I could use an Australian visa card to withdraw cash?
As far as I remember, there are no ATM machines in Kutchan and Niseko. I'm sure there is a bank in Kutchan, though: you'd better bring some AU$ with you, just in case, and change it there. -
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Yeah, especially on this board. I mean, we see billions of threads with subjects like "any suggestion for a 5stars hotel in Hokkaido?" or "any idea for a nouvelle cuisine restaurant in the Nagano area?". C'mon. I see people discussing how expensive skiing/boarding really is, trying to find the cheapest spots to eat/sleep decently, searching for ideas to heat up the van for sleeping in...Quote:I think you will find lots of people (NOT ME, I MAY ADD) that will gladly pay that much money for a night of luxury.
Fukdane wanted to know if anybody has been to St Anton. Cool. I've been there several times and accomodation there is expensive. One of the most expensive resorts in Europe, definitely. I'm sure a lot of people would like to know if the place they are going to is expensive or not.
Just different from you, apparently.
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Hmmm. Veeeery difficult. The last train you can catch on the 29th is the 6pm from Shinjuku (8.51pm at Matsumoto, then take the Oito line and arrive in Hakuba around 11pm). And if your flight lands at 4.35pm, getting to Shinjuku before 6pm is nearly impossible.
If you're really determined to do it... well, you can head to Matsumoto. You should arrive there around 10.30pm. Sleep in Matsumoto and on the 30th take the 7.11am train to Hakuba (you will be wide awake anyway because of the jet-lag). You will be in Hakuba around 9am. Drop your stuff at the hotel, go snowboarding (both the 30th and the 31st) and leave on the 1st.
Don't know if all this makes sense (probably not
), but I hope it can help somehow.Where do you have to meet your mate on the 1st, exactly?
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I beg your pardon, Sir.
If you'd ever go to St Anton, may I suggest booking a suite at the hotel Hospiz. At 583 euro (73.000 yen) per night, I'm sure you can "stay in style" there...
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Fukdane,
St. Anton is an excellent resort and late february is probably the best time to go there.
I think the place has only a couple of flaws:
1) accomodation is ****** expensive, especially if you are staying in the center of the village.
2) most of the courses are for expert skiers/boarders only. Well, not expert, but... let's say that the average level is medium/high. If you're travelling with beginners, this can be a problem.
Other than that, you can't go wrong with St. Anton. The snow rocks and the after-ski is good (there are several nice pubs around, usually crowded with english tourists... St Anton is incredibly popular with people from UK and Germany).
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I have a pair of F60 bindings: they are more than two years old (100+ days of riding), but still in perfect conditions. Very solid. I would recommend them, definitely.
The only problem you could have is with the highbacks: they are VERY high and it took me a while to get accustomed to them.
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Andrew, one thing more.
The only good reason to travel by train from Tokyo to Sapporo is already having a Japan Rail Pass. For example, you're travelling for work from Tokyo to Osaka (and back) and your company pays for transportation. A single trip on the Shinkansen is 13.750 yen, If I remember right. More than 27.000 yen for the whole trip.
For that price, you can buy a pass (7 days: 28.300 yen, 14 days: 45.100 yen), do the 3 hours trip from Tokyo to Shin Osaka (and back) and with the same pass travel "for free" wherever you want.
Other than that, the trip is a pain in the ass (I've done that a couple of times). Like Ocean said, it's more than 11 hours. The shinkansen stops in Morioka. There, you have to take the Morioka-Hakodate train, where reserved seats are usually booked way in advance (and you're travelling with a backpack and a board/skis bag). Then it's Hakodate-Sapporo... Not very funny.
And anyway, when you arrive in Sapporo it's usually too late to go to any resort and you have to wait for the next day.
If you don't wanna fork out the cash for the plane tickets and you're in Japan for work, it's ok. Other than that, skip it.
End of rant.
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Terje is the MJ of snowboarding.
Boarding is just natural for him.
I would rate among the best Shaun Palmer. Almost 20 years of kickin' ass in the pipe, boarder-x, downhill, on skis, mountain bike... whatever.
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Yeah, it was news for me as well...
A friend of mine told me they've started in '99. But Santa Cruz boards use Volkl cores (I think they always did, actually) and Sims used them as well in the past.
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I've seen a couple of Volkl boards on the slopes last week-end, so I decided to take a closer look at them in one of the bigger board shops we have here. Well, they don't carry Volkl snowboards. Another shop: same thing. Third shop: nothing, nada...
Has anyone ever tried them?
The Sopranos
in General off-topic discussions
Posted
Excellent stuff.