IM

My experience is that the digital units always find the victem (in simulation) the fastest. We often divide analog and digital teams separate for training since digitals always out perform analogs by factor of 5 to 1 - there is no comparison. So if you want find your buried friend that much faster, get a digital beacon.

Domestic news: Nikkei, Asahi International: WSJ, Boston Globe Others : NPR on web JT, IHT and DY are not even close.

I think the best way to start is to join a school sessions so that you can rent equipment before you decide to buy them. The only thing in common with alpine skiing in terms of equipment is the skis/poles. Boots/bindings are different. If you are a good alpine skier (can parallel on a fairly steep trails) you can master the basics in a couple of days of instructions. You can probably start with the following pages. There are many schools around Japan. Telemark Association of Japan: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~tt3k-ktd/taj-main/taj-main.html Telemarktips and instructions (

I don't know the pipe kids, but pow borders that I know are: Tamai Taro, Takaku Tomoki, Sheesa to name a few. I am sure there are many around.

There are two types of tranceivers (beacons), so called digital and analog. (This is not right forum to discuss the details - other sites will go very deep into the topic). But. analog tends to be chaper Peips Opti for about 2,2000. Autovox F1 Focus/Survival on snow (SOS) ~ 2,9000. Digital ones like BCA Tracker and Autovox M1/M2 run about 3,5000. If you have acontact in US, you can get cheaper. Beacon itself won't do you any good, though. you also need a shovel and a probe AND the training to go along with it.

Good park/half pipe. Rest is way below standards - crowded, mondane terrain, junky snow. May be a good place to hang out during a week, but never on weekends.

Access to good resorts, the small town wins, but for year around social/job access to good ski/board shops, Tokyo/Yokohama still wins.

Niseko Kagura Wild Cat N.H. Killington Vmt (too many biz trips to back East) Togakushi

barok, The international 457 Khz is also the standard in Japan, unless you have a really old one(227 khz? I don't remember). The popular brands used here are: BCA, Autovox, SOS, Pieps, and Red So what you get in US will work in Japan. Of course you need to know how to use it. If you are looking into buying a walkie talkie, the frequencies are different.

If you factor in things like access, and terrain, here are my recommendations: Arai: Modeled after Whistler. If you stay at any of the hotels (The Club being most expensive) the atomospher is posh. Very good choice of restaurants. Trails are also interesting. You can pay extra to hop on a gondola 45min. early to eat all the pows before anyone else. Shuttle bus pick up at Nagano station. NASPA: Hotel is pretty good (New Otani) and access from Tokyo is 1hr on train, 10 min on the shuttle bus from Yuzawa. Skiers only resort but trails are few and do suck the big one! This place

A food for thought. Shiga: a multiple resort area Happo, Zao: One single resort. Connected ones are: Kagura, Mitumata, Tashiro, now with Naeba. Niseko, Hirafu, Higashiyama, Annupuli I am not sure if connected ones are valid as it takes a good part of a day to get to the other side with connectors and gondolas.

Freddo, Many of my friends who rides TT now are all switching to DPT as it is much more forgiving in hard pack. I ride Burton Cascade 163 and it is also great in both pow and hard pack. I will ask some Gentem riders on Slasher and post it in this forum.

Time to go is about now till mid-June, but the snow will melt away farely fast this year. But if you like the powder, go at the end of November when they close down the alpine route. This is typically marks the beginning of the season for many skiers and borders. It is lika a morning rush hour in Tokyo with people dressed in ski/board outfit. Even you do not have a car you can still approach from Ohmachi station using all pub. transportations.

Daisetsu/Asahi: it can be very windy and the ropeway frequently stops, but the pow run is more than awsome - better than Niseko in my opinion. Rusutsu: I don't care for the resort, but back country is quite good. Sapporo Kokusai: Handy place if you live in Sapporo area.

If you tele, they would come to you. Guranteed.

Access to Iwanai in winter could be long. you either have to go around the Niseko range around west (Rankoshi) or North (Kotohira). From Kuchan, it would take about 1-1.5 hrs. I typically do not go there, unless pows are gone from all the places around Niseko including Chise, Moiwa, Weiss. BTW have you heard of Asahigaoka? It is in Kuchan, 2 lifts and 2 Nordic jump ramps.

Kagura still had snow. You can ski till the base of Gondola. Still snow on the top and in the back country, as you know they are open till the 12th. From now on, the choices are getting limited. Mt Fuji is still good condition. Tateyama, OK condition. I wonder what's Gassan is like now, anyone knows?

I did go there during the first half of GW. And managed to ski on the North side from the peak, spent a night at Chise skied Chise and Iwao. The resort did close on 4/29. The place was like a ghost town except a few rafting operations. But did go to many onsens and got the whole places just for ouselves, too.

I spend just about the same amount of money on either ski or SB. Of courese there are 160,000 en Gentem Stick to 30,000 including everything and on the ski side, 120,000 Volant TI to 30,000 with everything, too. I think it all depends on what kind of equipment you want to spend your money on.

Tele was the original way to walk around on the snow - as depicted in the oldest petrigriph of skiers in a cave of Telemark region of Norway. "Natual" probably has as many definition as there are people. As a telemarker, alpine skier, snowborder, my feelings is that all are natual, but each has its own subtle differences. But as far as mobility goes, tele really wins and board loses miserably, alpine in somewhere in between. I'd really recommend that you to experience all before you reach your own conclusions.

Sugget to give them a call! Unless you suspect they will lie to you.

If you are driving, Kanetsu portion is 167km from Nerima to Yuzawa. Locations of ORBIS are at 59.5 km, 89.5 km and just before Kanetsu tunnel. Have a good trip. I plan to hike up to top of Kagura this weekend. Cheers.

I like to think it as a stroll in woods, where you use set of skies instead of shoes. You don't need to run, just walk around. Find animal tracks, look for birds, sign of Spring, etc.. I think it is called "nature ski" here. If you'd like to put some exercise to it, then use groomed tracks or try snow shoe running.

I thought Iwaki San quit operating the cat this season?

Like Warren Miller said; Once you ride "that" chair lift, your life is messed up forever.