SKI

My recommendations are: 1st Okushiga/Yakebitaiyama 2nd Yokoteyama/Kumanoyu

Love that vending machine one.

You should peterson - it is a great area. And very photogenic as you can see.

Are they traditional Russian snow-peeps?

Seems I put a few extra words in there, but surely you can understand the point. (Even if you don't agree).

Quote: If there is a cliff then you have every right to try and drop it. But not at Arai. And I am pretty sure that Arai would be very happy for people to use their freedom and try to 'drop cliffs' anywhere else other than their within their resort.

The reason why the news has been full of road-closed, houses-collapsing, avalanche on road or on piste, army called out, people cut off type stories is because those things are actually happening.

intro -- that would depend on what you mean by "improved"....

It is fun, definitely worth a visit - and of course you have the resort to play at as well during the daytime. Sadly I didn't go this year but have been a few times.

Quote: The gondola was shut down for much of the day, apparently due to strong winds but we just suspected that management didn't want to pay for the gondola bills on a day with not enough customers number9, I am almost certainly think that is not the case. It was very windy up top on Saturday. In the case of Ryuo them not running the ropeway cuts off the best part of the resort and a sizeable chunk. Many people will not have gone there because of that. They will be very much wanting for that to be operating on a weekend.

When I go back just for a few weeks esp at the beginning I find myself talking slow and almost childlike. Soon snap out of it though.

If I am not mistaken, actually no.... that road is not in a flat area, embankments on either side. That is still a lot of snow though!

That 3rd pic - is it the main slope on the left as you look at the mountain from the hotel?

Nice photos muikabochi. Where is it going to rise to by the end of February I wonder!

No flames from here powda tele, very good post. Quote: Have you not thought beyond your own perspective? The answer to the above is most certainly "No" in many cases.

Fair enough!

If they clearly tell you before you enter - and you know what you are getting - I have no problem (of course I would like to pay less, who wouldn't?) I'm pretty confident that bet next to no resorts (and probably no resorts) reduce their prices if a run or two or more can't open.

So please tell me -- why is that BS?

How about these for starters: - they don't like skiing when they will be frozen in blizzard conditions; - they don't enjoy skiing when they can't see more than 1 meter in front of themselves; - they don't enjoy skiing when they feel it might be dangerous. Feel free to change skiing to snowboarding in those. I'm not one of the above of course, just I can understand why some people might not be keen just now.

Tell us more! Any pics? Get a journal going! (He says, not having his own - this year I will be starting in Jan).

They only get overwhelmed on rare occasions. I'm always amazed myself when I see how well they often cope in the blizzards. I think the other week was just a bit too much when things went down.

Some people do like to ski down there though

Oh yes, and with all the snow we have even in December we should be skiing at resorts until August

Late Feb should be no problems whatsoever, great conditions. March when spring raises its head. Check out the archives of the Now pages on this site (links at the top), you can see how things were going in previous years.

Those are some scary stories Bushpig. Where did you get them from?