IM
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Posts posted by IM
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You know, skiing/boarding is not very popular amongs "regular" people outside of Japan in Asia. It would be interesting to find out if one can slide on one of the mountains in Taiwan. But, I heard many parts of those hills are classified as military areas. I remember my friends having to get a permit to climb one of the peaks there.
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There are only a couple of good resorts in AZ. Mt.Lemmon in Tucson is OK, but too small.
Snowbowl in Flagstaff is pretty good mid size resort, but gets really crowded with folks from Phoenix. Sunrise in White Mountains (NE AZ) is also a decent size resort, but access is bad (5 hrs from Phoenix in winter). What I used to do is work on weekends when possible and drive up to Snowbowl on weekdays, and do a couple of trips to Colorado or NM(Taos).
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I think what comes down to is how late the roads remain open. I have a feeling the roards are closed at the first sign of snow.
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Teleskier,
Those snow patches(banks) seem to stay pretty much the same pattern every year. Look at my photo in the picture gallary from last year. How soon they disapper probably depends on the spring weather pattern. I skied the same snow banks same time last year, but only to 7th station. I think this has more to do with amount of snow left in any particular valley or terrain features and not very much to do with an aspect.
BTW, I went with a party of 11. I would feel more comfortable with max. of 5 to 6.
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You can heli ski at Mauna Kea in the island of Hawaii, if you are so inclined.
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Fuji san this time of the year, a fair number of people do climb. We even met a family, Dad, Mom, two young kids. Fujinomiya side is the easiest. Summer trails almost to the top right by the snow bank. You can not get lost. some people climb alone others in groups. If you get 2-3 people, and fair weather is all you need.
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Hey, Snoboyaro,
There are descent ski hills in Arizona. At southern end of the Colarado plateau, couple of places two hours from Phoenix. White Mountains, and small, but even in Tucson.
IM the Zoni
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For any kicker, I bring a sack of freezing agent like the ones they use on a slalom course.
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One weak spot of Freeride is that heel locking is done by a piece of plastic like its cousin Diamir. I have seen it happen. I would suggest to bring some kind of repair kit (bail wire, tie strap, etc..)along.
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Trekkers are bit on the heavy side for me, too. And you do not want to try to adjust them in the field either. It took me close to an hour trying to adjust for my friend at a lodge. My recommendation is to have Fritchi Freeride as ILS indicated. They are much beefier than its early cousin Fritchi Diamir, and will take a lot of abuse of the back country.
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ANA has some deals on your birthday month, I think. Does www.ana.co.jp English page has some info?
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O11,
It was out of the cloud deck at 4th station on Fujinomiya side, I could not see other sides, but it stayed like that all day. We could see Izu hanntou(portion of)while climbing. I can't imagine Yoshida side has different cloud deck height.
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Went to Fuji from Fujinomiya trail last Sunday. It was mostly clear from 5th station up and contrary to many reports, we skied down to the 5th station parking lot, although there were some traverse with skis on back involved. Much better than the last year, the same time (snow only till 7th station). Had two drop outs, but rest made it to the top. I sigheted about 5 other parites hiking up that day. I will see if I can do a write up in the next few days.
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O11,
Last year, we skied down the two main snow banks (see first photo in Gallary by IM) along the hiking path so we were able to site the Summer time shacks along the way. But when snow is abound like this Spring, I'd recommend at least map/compass. If possible a GPS. You will eventually come out to a road, but hike back may be very long. And I will write a forum sometime.
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O11,
I typically tele. But soft board boots are indeed not suited to hike, unless crampons are attached. It is just a matter of weight if you want to hike w/ regular hiking boots+crampons and boots on your board. Also you will not sink in a Spring snow, so shoes are not necessary unless you want to use the teeth on them. I personally never seen shoes used on Spring Fuji san.
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My typical plan is:
- what time do you start and finish?
start 5:00~5:30 AM (head lamp)
Finish 1:30~2:30
- how far/long do you actually walk?
To the top, weather permitting ~ 6-7 hrs
- where do you park?
5th sation parking lot
- do you need to sleep near there?
up to you
Also
- what boots do you take (ie 2 types of boots)?
Up to you, but you will be walking mostly on snow.
- do you wear skiwear and helmet?
Ski wear, helmet optional
- snowshoes or skins?
none crampons
- how much water do you need?
Last year I took 2.5L
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That is called Gentem Cafe. Since I know the person who runs the place, pls describe.
BTW, they are moving to a new location next season, near Niseko Jam.
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Does Ippon Sugi behind Yuzawa Station count?
Chisenupuri, and Moiwa (now La Ponte) are pretty small, too.
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Have fun at Shiga, hope the weather stays OK. For me, I will shoot for Youtei.
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Yahoo auction to get rid of them.
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Snapper,
I have actually two pairs of "Wa Kannjiki". One set bought at mtn. shop made of aluminum frame ~8000 jpy, and other bought at DIY shop in Yuzawa made out of some kind of ratan wood for 2000 jpy. Alum pair is typically used by mountaineering folks and wooden pair for doing chors around house in snow areas. I personally like the wooden pair, although those are not designed for a serious or long hike, but excellent for a short hike of 10-15 min. They are very light, but you do sink, depending on your weight, substantially more than snow shoes. If the hike is short, I'd use then instead of skinning up the skis.
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I heard that a lot of people do hike up there. I will have to do some checking and may be I will post it here.
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Kambei,
Yes, I think it was from lack of oxgen. Avalung is designed to take in air from front of the vest and expel to the back, but after a while, the air may have gotten mixed up within snow and reintroduced the expelled air to the breathing port.
As far as getting a breathing space in front of your face, that is people recommend in the event of an avalanched. But, I don't know how much of a hand moving is possible in the moving snow esp. if you have pole strapped to your wrists. Personally, I do not want to try it out.
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Not directly related to skiing or riding. I got really good at reading the weather map to a point where I can pretty much predict precips.
Star Trek aparto - just $2m!!
in General off-topic discussions
Posted
Aye, mighty fine 7 of 9, is she?
But all I need is a holo-deck.