zwelgen

but at the same time, I went to Hokkaido at the beginning of March and had pow but nothing spesh, got back to Nagano and had waist deep snow dumped on my doorstep. Its just the luck of the draw mate, say your prayers!

I guess another consideration for Hakuba is that there is more of a "scene", more foreiners (if you want to speak English to people) and it has a few night spots. Nozawa doesnt really have that to the same extent but if youve got a group of mates youll be so tired from ripping the pow youll be in bed early so you can get first tracks and do it again and again the next day. I guess what Im trying to say is although Nozawa has a cool Japanese atmosphere there are good chances that you wont really see any other foreigners - if thats important (not important to me but didnt want to falsely r

Quote: Originally posted by alferg: whats "P" zwelgen? dunno but after seeing the dude Im never going to try it! Pure methamphetamine or summat? Its supposed to be the big boogieman here at the moment.

Oh thanks db and barok, ya know how to make a gal feel appreicated. shucks I agree with what everyone has said. Id def consider the Nagano-Niigata triangle. You could plan a route, get the train or bus to Nagano and bus out to "do" the Hakuba valley for a while. Lots of places and lots to ride. I have to give Cortina the thumbs up but it is tough to get here if you dont have a ride. Happo on a good day is good, its huge, its got reasonably good lifts. 47/goryu is also worth a day or so, if just to fall in the creek Bus back to Nagano City and bus to Nozawa, def worth a few

personally I hate the drive up to Shiga Kogen. The road is icy as hell, one lane winding and lots of Tokyo posers there. I think you can have better times in other places BUT good if you arent driving good if beginning or end of season (its very high up) good if you are a Tokyo ****er

Yes guilty, McDs in my last year at High School. I seemed to earn shit loads of money though? Dont know how that happened. Umm worst thing? Stealing food, giving food for free to mates and giving them lots of change, deep frying non-edible stuff, serving old as stuff to drunk people, shagging the guy who made the rosters and sleeping in the stores cupboard on late night or early morning shifts. I met some cool people though and like Ilivetoski said it was a good incentive to study a bit harder when I saw the full timers and their sad sad lives. I used to keep my work gear in a cupbo

bagmigs with the heavy talk! Im a big fan of the old saying, something like give a man a fish he can eat, teach him to fish and he can feed his whole fam etc. give a hand up not a hand out now if we could just do this in an environmentally sustaiable, culturally sensitive, non-discriminatory way...

Following on from another thread... I was talking to a friend the other day who is interested in giving skiing a go and she asked me "so what are skiers like?" I had a good think about the skiers I know and the best I could come up with is "cheap". Meaning the people I know will sleep in their cars, borrow their mates stuff, look hard for the best deals and (where I am in NZ) drive 4 hrs each way for a days riding. When you think about it skiing is one of the more expensive sports as not only is the gear costy but the day passes arent cheap either. So what do you think folks? H

Id just go to the closest resort and find a wide groomed slope thats not too flat. Every resort has them so find the cheapest one and go for it. Also check out pricing systems as sometimes they have a deal for just the bottom slopes etc so you can save a bit of cash as if youre a dead beginner youre probably not skiing the whole mtn on your first few days. good luck

Thats cool Blair, Im looking forward to the next lot of answers if thats the case. It is interesting to see what is the reasoning of top dogs at Japanese resorts.

Dont you think that keeping beginners out of the pipe is a bit elitist? Im sure thats not what youre getting at Nofakie but whats wrong with people learning new stuff on the mtn. I suck big time at the pipe but on a day with not much else on offer it makes a nice change. Charging a fee for something I suck at isnt very nice I think, esp as you have to do plenty of runs on a pipe to get any improvement. Just me 5cents

I was at a party on Sat night and was chatting to a dude. Turns out I used to go to school with him and OMG what a change. He looked about 35 (hes 25) had teeth falling out, wrinkled face, hair falling out and not a pretty sight - weirdest thing is he used to be a babyface and look much younger than he was. He was telling me about how he was addicted to P and had basically screwed himself. So folks dont do P!

I was at Turoa on Wednesday - first day out back in NZ and damn that was one freaky thing to see. They had been blasting all morning higher up as about half a metre of heavy pow had fallen and they were looking at opening up a t-bar at the top. I think they just never thought it would be so big and that it would keep going. Reports say that the bottom layer of hard ice and old snow came away too thats why it got so big and fast. . I was on the lift when the avalanche happened and I didnt see it sliding but what was left behiend was enough! We had been putzing around in a gully all day, ki

Thanks for the feedback guys. Lots to think about. Am off to Colorado in Nov for the season so mostly riding whatever I can get there. I went skiing on Wednesday (yep at Turoa where the avalanche was - crazy!) and had rentals. I was soooo glad they werent mine because of the amount of rocks I skied over Id have to be doing some repair work and Id almost rather pay out 20 bucks and not have to worry. Right lots more to think about. So what do people think of 1080s? That was second on my list (esp as the new season ones are a sexy electric blue!) Im about 168cm tall 60kg

ok last (maybe) of the zwelgen ski questions been looking/researching and have just about narrowed it down. Just wondering what people on the board reckon about K2 skis, am looking at the K2 T:nine X domo

I agree whole heartedly with Enderzero I lived an easy 30 mins drive from Arai but I went there only once. The terrain is great but I just felt like a kid in an expensive restaurant ie uncomfortable and unwelcome. The ticket was expensive and when we got there on a hot sunny day looking forward to a half pipe session we were told it would cost extra - something ridiculous like 500 yen a pop . I dont see why I should pay to use the pipe when I dont have to anywhere else and it isnt even serviced by a lift, and if Im riding the pipe then Im not extending the lift lines anywhere else at t

Lots of beginner skiers waste their thumb when they are holding their pole grips wrong. If you put your hand under your strap you can sprain it easy as when you fall. Gotta clamp down over it. hard to explain but easy if you have a go. I think a common strain is also to the cashflow. Need money but want to ski, catch 22 really

my mum wanted one of those pretty canisters that you put tea in. has washi round the outside etc. cheap light and mum likes it. We are all a happy family.

Nah Im back IN NZ now. Hotel mum and dad oh yeah. The report is that its freezing and the mtns are closed due to a big storm so might head up early next week. Snowing but lots of wind though so hopefully wont take the snow off. When I flew in across the mtns I was salivating seeing all the snow covered peaks. I tell ya folks, its beautiful! And munching some seriously good food. You forget what youre missing folks!

flag the tube and get yourself a 700 yen sled. those things are the bomb and they go preety fast so make sure youve got a good run out at the bottom. My first year I had a good laugh sledding off my neighbours roof. Sleds boys and gals SLEDS

Togari sucks. spend your money on somewhere else. And just my humble 2c but skiing in Nagano around Christmas kicks ass. I spent the last 3 Christmases at Nozawa and I got massive dumps of bottomless powder and even better no punters there to get it. It was me mine MY, this last christmas I had to wait until boxing day but I reckon if you book it then the powder will come.

Jared that is just disgusting. Does that guy actually think he looks good? Id rather wear jeans and duct tape

I am starting phase II of my plan to conquer the world and in the forseable future that doesnt involve Japan - well at least until Im broke and ready to sell a kidney for some decent powder.

I too have done some clap testing and have come to the following conclusions. I usually clap with the lump where my fingers join my hand making contact with the other hand just below the same lump. The bump where my little fingers come out of my hand touches each other. I went to the toilets at work and examined the other clapping styles mentioned by other people and I think that the "Alpha Male" clap isnt for me. It just looks stupid. The fingers spread clap just looks naff for me but probably not so bad on a cutie J-girl and my style of clapping, lets call it the "pinkie touch" fo

outta here on Friday for good. Ive got my last day at work today and the house is packed, getting the 6:12 train out of Iiyama and my journey begins! Im spending a month in Mongolia on the way home and its going to be F*CKEN AWESOME. So sayonara Japan dudes, thanks for the good times.