damian

Cool. Can you recommend a good online topo map shop? I am having trouble finding one that seems reliable.

Quote: Originally posted by Toque: I think people ski Fuji just to say they did it. Not for the good ski. Fuji to me is like being in a dark bar. You see what you think is a hot model of a lady walk by across the room. She smiles at you. You go to talk and find... ...Fattwins dressed in drag and stick on eyelashes.

Quote: Originally posted by Toque: I love how we lump people from certain countries into categories. This dude. From the Pacific Northwest. Yah I'm sure he knows what he is talking about. They have a few big hills.. Different dude from Australia or the UK and automatically have to go on the defensive Bloody hell, so that's what I get for making an effort to be nice in response to a query that initially cracked me up. From now on, I am maintaining a constantly rude approach. It keeps Beanie happy.

We are outside every day, and touring. But I am not expecting much riding. Kootenay pass sounds fine with me. Will you pick me up in your car? Go on. Do you live far from there?

>was all with jumars in my day… Wow, ok. Yet another insertion of cool gear (and age) talk for engineering your personal image projection. Your childhood must have really fuggin sucked, taken off the tit too early I suspect. All of this simply because your fourth question stuck out to me as being quite odd, a disconcerting enquiry to base a risk decision upon: Quote: if planning some offpiste fun, is it pre-avalanched (as in US) or should I bring my shovel & beeps? Off piste in Japan is really safe, you can leave you 'beeps' and shovel at home and ride it by yours

This is fun, don't take it too seriously. The 'not listening' comment was specifically referring to the off-piste advice that I gave, which was my response to your initial misguided basis for risk judgements, subsequently confirmed by your name dropping of places, people and equipment. Basic fact: if I were even thinking about visiting a country to do a bit of off-piste, I would take the basic avalanche gear without a second thought, and that includes a riding partner. I certainly wouldn't ask about it on a forum for the purpose of projecting an image of myself. BTW, we do know y

Sceats, rather than listening you are resisting and throwing nouns and names around in front of an audience who's back ground and experiences you unfortunately know nothing about FYI - Niseko offers the most freedom for foreigners to access off-piste terrain in the easiest manner possible. You should go there. Best of luck.

"Tolerance" is in itself a word with very negative underpinnings. When used by Aussies (a certain type of Australian), Tolerance means: you are not like me and you will probably never be like me, we teased you at school but as we grew up we stopped. When you are not around we call you wogs and nips and laugh at you. We would prefer it if you built your imported non-white culture in your own suburban enclaves. But you are welcome to live here without us (whites Anglos) openly hating you in public. We are not like that, we for the most don't hate you, we just tolerate you. And we pat o

>my question was whether in-bound non-groomed riding... was plentiful Yes, very plentiful. But: - Off-piste in-bound resort skiing is totally banned in nearly every resort in Japan. It is the exact opposite to France. - It is almost never blasted/avalanche controlled. You can conservatively assume that there is none. - The second you step off-piste you are potentially in avalanche terrain and should always carry the appropriate equipment, irrespective of whether it is controlled and only 50m off the groomed run, in France, Whistler or Japan. - As for carrying your 'beeps'

Just pulling your leg. No need to be defensive. Can you please buy me $500,000 worth of hotrods so I can enjoy the risk free unlimited annual appreciated of 15% from a highly liquid real asset with no carry costs nor cyclical value correlation. Thanks.

gone

Well, that's better than nothing man. I'm looking forward to it. After 7 days of course and no proper skiing action I will be hanging for a good line.

I have seen a number of towns and cities in Germany over the last week and all have displayed the first natural, warm and tasteful Christmas decorations that I have seen in 34 years. I couldn't care either way about xmas, but I take my hat off to the Germans for their ability to generate true seasonal community atmosphere and use decorations that are what we all imagined when we were little kids. Quite unlike the Corporation of London's Christmas decorations, which a few years ago depicted cartoon characters from the latest Hollywood animated movie (I shit you not). Pity its almost

The cries for help are there, can no one close to him reach out? 1. Debt laden on lies to buy a hot rod. 2. Long distance plans to start a bar in a country you have never been to. 3. Expressions of OMG!! And excited hand clapping like a mince pie before a Kylie show (???!!!) Someone help this guy from his own self destruction.

Emergency blankets are useless. Really good kit, but not as small and compact even though it is vacuum packed. Its the size of a VCR cassette. http://www.blizzardprotectionsystems.com/acatalog/detail_bag.html AK - if you unpack it then you will never get it as vacuum compact again. By virtue of their design (multi-layer cell construction with air pockets) they don't stay all stuck together like fine layers of space blanket does. Rather they naturally expand. A Sam splint is a very adaptable splint can be used in all sorts of ways to immobilise injuries of bone, tendon, muscl

Regarding European terrain, snow etc: in early and mid winter, I would rather tour backcountry in Japan (Honshu), no question. In late winter and spring I wouldn't waste a day in Japan. Europe rules with uncountable couloirs and faces with up to1200m vertical drop at 45-55 degrees, many rideable well into June. In terms of resorts: (not my personal motivation) Japan has mostly crumby resorts with oppressive off-piste attitudes and atmosphere. I'd prefer Europe over doing short repetitive laps on Japanese groomers that resembled busy slow moving highways with snowboarders sitting in the

Yes it is. Very good terrain, big mountains, freedom to ride what ever you like. I was in Austria on the weekend snowboarding on a glacier. December is looking dire.

I couldn't make it to the end of the interview. That American guy's voice is likely the worst thing I have ever heard. He sounds just plain awful and why people voluntarily download that kind of stuff and inject it into their heads via iPod ear buds is beyond me. Andrew, you did well coping with his voice. After the first few moments I would have asked if he was for real and hung up before getting an answer.

Jesus! That a lot of stuff for winter. All you need is enough to stop the situation getting worse, and you can use spare clothing for a lot of things, like applying pressure to a bleeding wound, strapping etc I have: Triangle bandage, elastic bandage, Sam splint (vital), mixed pain killers, a couple of bandaids. That's it. I used to carry sports tape for sprain strapping and for blisters (bandaids are often useless), but now I just use duct tape for blisters, strapping, clothing and gear repair etc. And I don't use a big bag that pre-packaged first aid

He stayed in Lesbians

maaaaybe I am.

What if you remained that way for 6 months, not just a few days?

Imagine you had an accident that put you in a coma and when you wake up you don't remember the accident and: 1. you can't feel anything, not even the bed you are lying on. 2. you have a sense of motion from your ears 3. you are blind, everything is black 4. you can hear 5. you can't smell 6. you are perfectly intelligent and mentally normal. 7. you can't move a muscle besides involuntary actions like breathing, heart beat etc. 8. you are fed and toileted via tubes. 9. you can't speak. Do you think you would believe you were: a. alive, just really fugged up b. d

>I love skiing with extra wieght in the deep pow. I sink down and get even deeper pow oh joy! This is a skier proving once and for all that compared to surfing pow on a snowboard, skiing powder on skis sucks so bad that the only way get a little bit fun is to make it suck even more. It is truly perverted gimp logic: when all chances of healthy soaring-heart happiness are gone, revert to self destructive deprivation and humiliation. Riding pow is like sex more than we realise. Bottom line: if you are not snowboarding on pow, you are a perverted unhappy gimp.

gone