Matt

Areet jon hows it going? 'sbeen ages I'd truly love to go for a hike Sunday but alas the wee blighters' parents are coming in for a parents day at work on Sunday. May come up on Monday though if its good enough. If I don't see you this weekend I'll see you and Davo et al after the new year. By the way Craigs coming to Hakuba from Jan 20th through till beginning of March.

Hi everyone Hiked up from Kurobishii to the top of happo today and had a grand day! There was about 20-30cm at Kurobishii and about 30-40cm above the olympic start gate. Came down under the lift .the top half was great - silky smooth soft powder and no rocks under the board. The second half was a wee bit sketchy with a few rocks and then the last blast down to Kurobishii car park was sweet - no rocks to worry about (its all grass) and nice snow. It was snowing pretty good when we left so we'll be back tommorrow. Keep you all posted。 Big Hi to , Paizuri, Gammanjiru, Craig, Davo, Phil,

Today was unbelievable!! almost too much powder... Only the top half of Goryu was open which didn`t stop us running the unbelievably sick run down to the bottom. it was over waist deep and you couldn't stop or you`d be swimming. Tomorrows going to be even better!

This week is just getting better and better in Hakuba! Yesterday was great with about 40cm of fresh really light powder. It snowed a bit more overnight and the sun came out for a wee while in the early morning. I thought that that would be it for the rest of the week but the snow god is smiling and it started dumping again round about lunchtime. The already deep powder was waist deep by the afternoon and soooo yummy and light- face shots galore. Its still dumping and the forecast is another 25cm tonight so I`ll let you know how Tommorrow is.

Today ruled!! Had an epic day at Goryu and 47. Bottomless powder, faceshots on every turn, and ....blue sky!

Hi everyone. Went up today (Thursday) and had a pretty wild day at 47. Theres thigh deep powder above the middle station and its still snowing so tomorrow should be even better. I`ll let you know if I can drag myself to an internet computer. Oh, and the other good news is that Goryus opening from Saturday

This coming season... 3*30 +15 +10 -4*3 = 103 days -10 or so days for laziness, shite snow, tired legs = 93 days

I went to one of the five-thirty opening days at Goryu. Unfortunately they only opened the bottom beginners gelende and my season ticket didn't cover it, but the lifty let me on anyway and i hiked up from the top of the beginners run and did a nice sunrise run through deep powder.

Wonder how much a nutcracker tow costs??? can't be that much!! Why don't all us skijapanguide.com forum members club together and erect one over some sick backcountry terrain . It could be the start of the perfect ski resort Ocean11 envisiged.

We drove down the west coast of the peninsula which is beautiful winding road the whole way with views of sea stacks, cliffs, and Mt Fuji across the bay. There are some really nice wee fishing villages along the way to stop off and have lunch or a swim. Stayed in a small place called Iwachi just south of matsuzaki. It has a really fine sand beach and a protected cove. After that we went down to Minami izu and camped on a beach near Yumigahama. Its a really beautiful area with a wide golden sand crescent beach backed by little lanes that wind through orange groves. It was busy over Obon but I w

I'm back from a week or so camping on the beach in Izu with my Girlfriend. Had a grand time but its back to work now. Did everyone have good holidays?

Any of the "Naked Gun" movies have to be in the running for funniest movie opening.

Well done Cheeseman. You've managed to write a non cheese-related post. Welcome to the wonderful fraternity of normality.

hey Sharon i don't know why you're defending NHK so vemently. UK is UK and Japan is Japan and the NHK guy is basically lieing to you to get you to sign up for something you don't want by not telling you that you don't need to sign up for it.

A bunch of NHK guys kept on coming round to my place last year. I just told them i didn't understand enough Japanese to watch TV so i only used it for watching videos. They persisted and showed me an English information pamphlet. I read it and in the tiny small print at the back there is a section that outlines that NHK's service does NOT require a compulsory payment but that once you start payment it becomes legally binding and you have to pay. The NHK guy saw me reading the small print section and chuckling to myself -He knew he'd lost straight away and from that moment on they haven't bothe

First thing for me too. I'll take blizzards too. keeps most folk off the hill replenishes the snow faster than you can ski it out and makes it nigh on impossible for the ski patrol to find you!

Haven't set foot in an aircon room for at least a month(unless you count 7-11s). One of the pluses of living in the mountains. I apologise for being such a smug git by the way

Snooker - Very therapeutic on a lazy Sunday after a big night out....ah the soft click of balls and the hushed crowds

Good snowboard bindings are more comfortable and less constrictive meaning warmer feet and less pain. They are also more responsive meaning better turns and generally last longer. Its worth it!

probably 70cm overnight at Hakuba

Its in Hakuba, Akibun, next to 47

Pachinko sounds a bit like fishing... When you go fishing you might catch a fish When you do Pachinko you might win some dough Both are a reason to do nothing

Baseball - Dull

Most other ski resorts outside Japan fully utilise every available acre of mountain side with cat tracks fanning out from the base station to collect skiers and boarders coming down from above. Why don't they build cat tracks leading around the bases of the Happo and goryu ridges from the bottom stations. This could open up three or four times the current area with no added lifts or costs apart from the cat track. At the moment you have to hike out at the bottom. Just a suggestion... [This message has been edited by Matt (edited 12 July 2002).]

two and a half years in Nagano ken - 2 months in Kiso Fukushima (ex girlfriends pad) - 1 year 1 month in Matsumoto (best place so far) - 4 months in Nagano city (bit boring) - 1 year in Matsukawa village (the sticks near Hakuba) moving in three weeks to Hakuba! Can't wait!