Higuma

I think it is like a lot of other things in life, insofar as if you do too much of it, it becomes mundane after a while... there are some exceptions of course.... Maybe - considering that you liked it originally - you need a change of venue or a change of Karaoke companions.... I find that because I get to Karaoke with different people all the time it always seems interesting and fun.... I sometimes have gotten the same thing with skiing.. the couple of seasons that I've managed over 50 or 60 days, I've been a little burnt out by season's end and my attitude to make the 2 hour d

When I first visited here last year.. I arranged an account with GOL.com (global online . com)... Certainly not an endorsement but it worked for me for the time I needed it... On the other hand why not just get a hotmail account and forward mail from home?? Most resort type hotels will offer Internet service for guests... How about it Talisker... any internet cafes in Niseko??

Firstly let me say, for the record, that I have no problems happily co-existing with other forms of snow sports on the mountain... I am, primarily, a skier although I have unsuccessfully dabbled in boarding and would like to try funskis... As an ex-motocrosser I know that you better not let me or any of my friends get on one of those sno-bike things because that would be a WAY big mistake... I would try telemark, but I don't think that my bad knee would cooperate at all... With all of this in mind, I admit that I have caught an edge many times - and subsequently crashed a few of tho

Well it seems it's now official.. Aussies and Canucks can rejoice - we have the Best Cities to live in... CNN - Best Cities in the World.. Glad to know I had the pleasure to experience it for 20 years....

30 somethings... Ha.. I would say that the "average" age was 30 or so... there was a large contingent of very attractive ladies in their late thirties / early 40's there... And yes, I was already a fan of Smap/Smap on Mondays.. the cooking portion - Bistro Smap - is quite good I think....

Fattwins... Sun Peaks.. that brings back some memories... I remember when that thing was a fledgling "Todd Mountain"... They have had a LOT of development there in the past couple of years with a great deal of money from either a Japanese or Taiwanese investor - as well as Nancy Greene pulling out of Whistler and making it her perminant home... I have 2 or three freinds that share a few condos there.. They swear by the place now.. As well they have some GREAT mountian bike trails in and around there and Kamloops.. Seems to me they hosted a 24hr MTB Race and a World Cup MTB

No real bad ski injuries but here's a list from various racing endevours over the years.. Top this list if you can...(although I've never done the coma thing) Ruptured ACL in Right knee, Medial Minicus cartilage removed at same time... Broken (non-union) Scafoid in Right wrist... 9 broken ribs on 6 occasions... broken greater tuberosity (ball) in Right shoulder... Compression fracture of T 5, 6, & 7 (thoratic vertibrae between shoulder blades)... Rotary dislocation of left shoulder... 4 busted teeth... couple of broken fingers... broken baby toe on left foot... ruptured bursa in left

Any of you surfers get a chance to take advantage of the Typhoon hitting us right now.. ALways thought that these storms created the best conditions.. Neh?? Geuss we're gonna get it tomorrow up North... How's it in Honshu then?? Stories anybody??

Talisker.. You here during the day, evening or overnight or going back to Niseko that night... My schedule a little tight on Saurday but I have a 2 hour window in the middle afternoon... and then again late on in the evening.. Let me know if it works this time around.. How about you Peaker?? Even a quick coffee to get aquainted the first time would be better than nothing...

Couldn't help myself....

Try this again...

Drew, From my experiences here in Japan on the slopes - not that much really - I would say that an average blue / intermediate run here was a little less of a challenge from the terrain standpoint - steeps, bumps etc.., - but where they make up for it is in the "generally" narrower runs... If you get in the steeps here there is no room for 30m GS turns like at Blackcomb etc.., But there is great challange with lots of SL type fast fall line skiing... That's why I purchased SL cut skis for the first time in my life... just no room for the kind of GS turns I'm used to here...

Dealt with ICI Sports in Tanuki Koji 4 chome... Suzuki-san knows his stuff and gave me some good discount.... Takahashi-san (mountaineering/telemark guy) is on the 4th floor this time of year and speaks very good english... certainly saved me from having to involve my wife too much... You might try dropping my name - might get you a discount, who knows - I'm sure I'm one of the few guys that dropped 20 man in there this season... BTW Talisker.. did you get my private msg yesterday.. Andrew says some mail etc.., didn't get through... if not let me know... Cheers,

Y P.. Take a look at the Atomic Sugar Daddies and Big Daddies if your into Powder big time.. Sugar Daddy Big Daddy Current retail is around 58,000 yen...

Hadn't seen this old thread before, but here's my .02 worth... "Opportunity breads Contempt" Keep leave you stuff laying around in plain site, inside a car, on the board rack and not locked up and we will "Cultivate" a society that learns to steal to survive... It is no longer the 16th century where a man's word is his value to society... Modern laws are toothless and protect most criminals FIRST and victims SECOND... Vigilantism gets you in jail not the bad guys so... Hide you stuff, lock it up or "When all else fails - - Lower your Expectations"....

Powder... at least where I come from.. refers to snow that is created in conditions of low humidity so that the snow is large flakes and very fluffy, dry and hard to compact or stick together- hence "POWDER"... Also this kinda snow tends to build up in large volumes and get quite deep and fluffy - just like all the awesome Powder shots you see in the magazines... Elephant Snot... is the exact same snow but made in high humidity conditions which makes it very wet and very compactable... kinda like slushy powder??? Hope that helps....

I am slowly realizing that there may be more of us shy Northerers out there on the Forum than I originally may have thought... Could any of you that are in the Sapporo Area please respond so that we might entertain the idea of a pre-season gathering in Sapporo... I would think that it might be easier to organize here than others are planning on doing in Tokyo - as most places here are accesable within a hour or two, even if you live way up north.... Please respond with your location and willingness to attend... My thought would be to have an informal get together sometine

SB_F, You have mail... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I thought the following would be of interest to the Board... If anyone has different info than I recieved please post it... I'm sure the original poster would be very interested... The following is a excerpt from my mail to SB_F... " It seems that - unlike Digital Still Cameras - Digital Video Cameras available in Japan are usually for Domestic Use Only and therefore do not have Multilanguage capability... i.e." Japanese camera menus only - with the exception of 1 model from Panasonic I think the salesmen said... His c

It was very strange to see the reaction on other Japanese friends faces.. they had that exact reaction " You went to see SMAP?"... They seemed incredilous that a man would go.. let alone a gaijin guy... But almost anybody Japanese I have spoke to has been jealous... My wife says that Smap has been around since some of the members were like 15 yrs old.... and now the oldest is 30 so... between 10 and 15 years or so.. That's some pretty amazing staying power for "boy band" pop stars...

I'm with you Danz.. On Friday I picked up the gear that I have been stashing at ICI Sports in Sapporo for the last month and a half... MAJOR bleeding from my wallet... But I also decided on Atomic.. Beta Race 9.16 170cm w/ Race 412 bindings (last years skis btw) Plus I purchased Technica Icon Boots with Hot Form 3 liners... SWEEEEEEEET fit when coupled with Conformable beds... Then add to that new Phenix suit, gogs, poles, gloves etc., Probably the nicest gear I've ever purchased - mainly because I did it all at once... The first time I've ever bought so much at once... Past

I have to admit that only one of them sings well - the married guy from the TV dramas - then Shingo sings OK but the rest are so-so at best... What I can say is that they are quite amazing entertainers... I went thinking that these guys were a bunch of spoiled playboy Pratts but I was impressed that they appeared to be quite sincere, fun loving and MAN they worked there butts off for 3 1/2 hours.. that in itself was real impressive.. I'll bet they burnt off about 5,000 calories each... As far as other blokes.. I was up front and so my feild of vision was backward only... but there wa

Last night was another first here in Japan for me.. An amazing cultural experience... My wife dragged me off to the "SMAP" concert at the Sapporo Dome with her friends.... Oh my god.. Words escape how exactly to describle this interesting piece of Japanese Culture.. Cultural Phenomenon #1 - We were all surprized to find out our tickets were stage right 3rd row - right in front of a moving stage that comes out about 10 times for a band member to get within 1/2 meter of the audience and about 2 meters from our seats. Apparently - in the Sapporo Dome at least - all tickets are

Conditions at the time are such a deciding factor.. but likely Furano... Niseko would be fine, but it will likely be full of people trying out new gear etc.., just like Boxing day - day after xmas - back home in Canada.. Doesn't seem to matter when I go to Furano, there never appears to be a crowd and "nobody" has ever asked us to slow down.... Perhaps they just can't keep/catch up??

In British Columbis - on the coast as least ~ Whistler/Blackcomb, Mt Baker, North Shore Mountains - We commonly refer to it as " ELEPHANT SNOT " This is the same kinda powder that is almost impossible to ski in because as soon as it hits your goggles / glasses / outerwear it turns to slush... if it makes it to the ground it stays because the snow temp is much colder than the ambiant temp... Flakes are sometimes 2cm round until they hit the ground anyways.. It's hellish to see thru at speed and the light is also always very flat on those days.. Days like this - and there can

Deebee, All good advice.. but here's something else.. You appear pre-disposed to skiing but I think that you can't overlook your skills on waves being a definite asset to be used towards boarding... Six years ago I broke my wrist in MotoX late in the season and ended up with a cast on it till spring... So I tried boarding because I couldn't find a good way to hold a pole... For me, it never really took... just couldn't get the hang of it or feel real comfortable with BOTH feet nailed to a board... Thought I had an inner ear problem for a while Because of your comments about the