RayInJapan

no no no no no

I've never been to Amami but all in all, I'd say that surfing in Okinawa sucks. I spent 8 years there before coming up here. I will go back there after I'm done having fun up here - Okinawa is a great ocean paradise. But back to the surfing: Good map Plucky, makes it easy for me to talk about it. Prevailing winds during the winter/spring months are from the north, and are southern during the summer/fall months. That will give you an idea where waves are likely to develop. There are NO long rides in Okinawa. 5-10 seconds tops. Most of the island is surrounded by a shallow barrier reef s

Check this out... I was on the phone tonight with a friend of mine who is down in Okinawa. He went to Rusutsu last month for a week, and on his last day there, he and his wife are walking out of a resturant - out the doors of the resturant mind you - and he gets plowed into by a Korean tourist lady on skis. Busts both of his top front teeth out. After 3 hours of discussion between him, the korean lady who profusely apologized at first, then eventually had the balls to say maybe it wasn't her that hit him - it might have been one of the other two girls she hit first! Rusutsu staf

Licensing doesn't sound all that bad, after all, skiing and snowboarding are high risk activities too. I have a car drivers license, a boat captains license (needed for my jet skis), and a motorcycle license that I could only get after attending a motorcycle safety course. I have a diving certification card too(PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer), not actually a license although the industry standard is you have to have one to fill tanks, rent gear and/or go on dive charters. Unlike other high risk activities though, I think you only should have to prove you know the "rules" before headin

We got about 40cm over the weekend, but it was 10 deg c today, and looking like it will be 13 tomorrow. It would be nice if this storm dumps more snow - I'd like to get in a few more days before the season is over - I've only gone out 16 times this year. Pathetic compared to last years total.

Woke up this morning to a good 25cm of new snow...for the first time this season. Misawa averages about 300cm per season, so far this year we have only about 40% of that, most of which has come in 2-3cm spurts. We got more yesterday/last night than the whole month of Feb combined. Pretty sad. The mountains have been OK, but just OK. This has come too little too late for me. Going with a bus load of folks from work tomorrow, and that will most likely be my last time unless this winter weather decides to hang around. Otherwise, I'll spend my "warm" weekends in March getting read

well - it worked last night so I guess the host isn't very good. turns out the host is blocked at work so I can't see the pics from there. so i guess everything is ok...

Thanks for the explanation Bobby, Orange - I got the 2 disc collectors edition for each movie. I haven't looked at the second disc of either one yet though - waiting for the 3rd one to come out then I'll look at all the stuff on the extra discs.

I think its working now - here is a pic of one of the peaks of Iwaki-san from the slopes of Ajigasawa Ski Resort:

Testing a new online photo service - if you see a pic of Momo and I at Appi last year with Mt Iwate in the background - it works...

I will be the first to admit that most of the time, I'm trying to be on the edge of being out of control. Being totally 100 percent within my limits is boring. Its that fear of getting hurt that gets the adrenaline flowing. Did I mention I crashed into a tree this weekend and almost broke my left arm? Took a few runs before I ducked back into the trees again, but by the end of the day, I was all into the trees and not coming out. But when there are a lot of folks on the slopes, or the slopes are narrow, I do adjust my speed accordingly - already had 1 too many close calls that were pr

Forgive my ignorance here FT - where does it say that I have to look uphill before changing my line? It says that upon entering a course, look uphill. I will say that looking up hill might help avoid collisions, but its still the responsibility of the person uphill to adjust accordingly - even stop if need be. Been there, done that with folks below me who have turned in my direction but the rules still say they have the right of way. There are no "if's". Its a straight and simple rule. The bottom line is, that unless we are willing to build our own private ski resort, we have to shar

I remember when the 1st installment finished - I was upset that I had to wait a whole year to see the next one. Then after the second one, I was feeling like "what the hell just happened here? Isn't there more to it than this?"...very anti climactic but not leaving me dying to see the next episode. We saw the last installment last week, like it a lot but left feeling like it dragged on a little at the end - didn't quite understand the need for everything after Aragon said "you bow to no one"... Since then however, even though I know its nearly 3 1/2 hours long, I want to see it aga

Toque - saw you posted a reply while I was typing up mine so take some of it with respect to your first post. I know I can edit, but that would change some of the meaning...

Actually Toque, I'm pretty sure the statement "Avoid people ahead of you - they have have the right of way" does in fact mean that you do have the right of way to go all over the slope expecting faster people to go around you. There aren't any "lanes" on the slope. The rule is simple: "He who heads down first has the right of way until safely passed by someone else, who then has the right of way." BTW - Its hard enough to watch out for the folks below you without having to rubber neck your head around to see if the coast is clear before making every turn. No - the rule is simple - and

I don't know much about the movie, but I surmise Jewish people are upset because another movie has been created that retells the story in the bible where THE JEWS kill Jesus. I'm not a religious person so the point of the movie however it comes out doesn't really matter to me. It does intrigue me though that more Christians as a whole, don't give that a second thought - that is, they don't care WHO killed Jesus, and instead focus on the fact he CHOSE to die, so it doesn't really matter who killed him... BTW - I too want to see the movie but don't want to see it in Japanese subtitles eit

All of that "Nader cost us the election" stuff from the demos is just crap! Just more stuff for them to whine about. Although Nader got a percentage of votes during the last election, there is no proof that his votes would have gone to demos instead. Maybe Bush would have got them all. I think its good he joins the race. Personnaly, I don't want Bush back, but nor do I want Kerry so Nader sounds like a good choice to me. BTW - I will probably NOT vote if the race is only between Bush and Kerry so again - the Demos saying Nader is going to cost them votes is bullshit. Just my h

I get a goggle tan sometimes in the winter but not this year yet cause it hasn't been sunny much but during the summer, I get a "permanent" racoon (tanuki) tan from my Oakley sunglasses cause I'm at the beach every weekend jet skiing.

FT - I didn't think about this until last night but, are those the "No Matter Board" guys you rode with? Their show comes on every sat night up here at 1235am...I usually only get to watch it when I'm not boarding on a sunday...

That damn jelly fish sure was getting a tan! I've been working nights and sleeping during the day for the last week, which has pretty much ruined any chance of snowboarding this weekend - but the days have been clear and warm - supposed to get even warmer tomorrow - if thats the case, I won't sulk, I'm taking the Harley out for a ride.

I think I saw a Jellyfish on my way to work tonight...

Video! I want to see the video!

Kambei, Last year, until the spring on one of my PSI levers broke, I didn't have any problems on groomed surfaces - I could step in pretty easy and loved them UNLESS, I was in deep powder situations that you encounter on ungroomed slopes. Pushing down on the binding trying to step in simply resulted in the board pushing down into the snow. Sometimes it was so difficult, folks with straps were well on their way before I was ready. My wife, who has flows was always quicker in the powder. As stated by others, I also had problems taking them off if I wasn't standing on them - situations l

I have a barely used pair of 2003 Burton Ion HD boots, and a brand new pair of 2004 PSIs used only twice sitting on the floor in my house. After they are clicked in (I stress AFTER cause they aren't that easy to step into), they are very good IF I am on groomed slopes OR I'm in the snow park OR I'm having a good time in deep powder but havent fallen down or gotten stuck either of which would require me to take them off. They are a pain in the arse to step into in deeper powder...and I fell into a tree well at Hakkoda last year (using 2003 PSIs) and being a 42 year ol

The video looks interesting but I gotta ask: You dig the snow pit for one run down a slope? First you gotta snow shoe up there, then dig a snow pit, then decide if its safe? What if its not? How do you get back down? Either way, sure seems like a lot of work for one run down the mountain... I guess the part that interests me would be a section that tells me what slope angle/terrain is likely to avi, then go somewhere else. How many folks here actually carry shovels, saws etc and then dig snow pits before their runs?