spook

i've only been there once, so i can't comment with any authority, but here i go anyway. niseko pow connection have a bar set up in the back of a truck next to their chalet. its pretty small, but fun in a novelty way - its mostly full of their guests and friends the snowave chalet has a lot of aussies hanging out there, but i only went in there once, so i don't really know there's a place called bar rumba - the door is the front of a fridge (i think its a coke fridge), its pretty small but fun mostly we just went somewhere for dinner when we went out, there's lots of little

I'm thinking about some new snowboard boots this season - would you say they are more expensive in tokyo or sapporo, or it doesn't make a difference?

i think i'd have to agree with SBFreak. $5k isn't that excessive for a month- obviously if you speak japanese well and know where to stay etc it can be done cheaper, but considering the options available to someone from oz, it seems alright if you compare prices for a month in the US, canada or europe, japan seems quite cheap i reckon

i always stick to heaps of water before bed and heaps of grease in the morning. the other day someone gave me a new one - there's an ingredient in vitamin C tablets called calcium ascorbate (or maybe sodium ascorbate). apparently this is very good for you, but taking heaps of vitamin C doesn't do you much good, because of the other ingredients. supposedly you can buy calcium/sodium ascorbate at health food shops, and you just mix a teaspoon or so in to your water before bed and in the morning. hey presto! you're cured but i don't know if this is true or not

or you could just combine the markets for cigars and j's - and smoke delicous blunts

i don't think its the norm to smoke dope, i just thought that pretty much everyone tried it at some stage

i'm more intrigued by who said "no"

it's hard to try and keep perspective when looking at untracked pow. i did venture into fish a little, riding conservatively, trying to stick to the ridge and trees, rather than out into the bowl. If something slides, it can go from good to so very bad in a matter of moments, and it would be very foolish to be riding out of bounds if you are totally unprepared - both knowledge and equipment wise. Have you done that run off the back of the peak in Niseko Hirafu into the other resorts - a big open bowl that funnels into a gully? It looks awesome, and people drop it without avy gear, but for

fattwins, i never went into fish bowl because i have next to no backcountry knowledge - other than a few basic courses - and don't have beacons, poles etc. basically, i have no idea, but i'm keen as to learn but standing at the edge of the resort at fernie, staring into fish, and watching peple drop lines from the top... tantalising i heard a rumour (it could be totally baseless) that they want to expand fernie in the not too distant future and maybe include the back bowls behind the peak.

oh, i just reread fattwins and your last post db - if thats you that's a really sweet line and a nice shot

he's not an awesome rider as far as tricks or BIIIIG mountains are concerned- he just likes to scream through trees and powder, but like me, is absolutely useless in the park and pipe. he's just got a light blue jacket and red pants, and the shot looks familiar but yeah, the rocks don't look like anything we rode there

db, where did you find those pics on the web? the second one looks like it could be a mate of mine in fernie in BC. as he dropped into a big bowl. some guy took some snaps and later told us he put them on the web somewhere. it's highly unlikely that this is one of them, and the rocks in the background don't look quite right, but everything else in the photo is eerily familiar

i read somewhere that once you've been struck by lightniing, you have a greater chance of being struck again than someone who has never been hit by lightning. weird, maybe it has something to do with being more conductive after the intial hit

there's a surf documentary type film just out called "the far shore". its about the real-life travels of two american surfers in the 70's. they went everywhere from the pacific to angola. i haven't seen it, but its supposed to be awesome - it's more about their travels and lifestyle than a hardcore surfing movie. details at www.surfermag.com

alfreg, i booked a 3 week trip with niseko poweder connection in jan/feb last season. i found them to be pretty cheap and very helpful i'd recomend them, they're pretty nice guys. i haven't used snowave before, so i can't comment about them and last year when i was booking my trip , i always got a response to my emails within 24 hours - i thought that was pretty good

maybe we can also have moustaches for the month of mo-vember

what about zoolander?

gonna be there from dec to the end of march woohoo! i'm hoping to do 100 days this season i've got a season ticket as part of my job, but i think its just for hirafu - anybody know if there is some way of upgrading it to an all mountain pass?

badmigs, a fellow pedant! the thing that drives me bonkers is "your" instead of "you're"

finished an english degree, and i'm now 4 weeks away from finishing law. oh jesus i can hardly wait. 6 years of uni is a long time

i had problems with my o-frames - there was a crack in the glue that seals the double lenses, and moisture got between the lenses, thus rendering my goggles unseless i was pretty happy when they just warranty them in the shop and give you some new lenses i hear ya about the customer treatment. a friend of mine in marketing says that if you have a good experience, you'll tell 2 people about it. if you have a bad one, you'll tell 9, or something like that

freak, that's strange about yer spys, a mate of my absolutely loves his (scoops), has no probs at all. its strange that for every person who has great things to say about certain goggles, someone else has had a terrible time with them

while everyone's on the topic of skating, anyone seen danny way on the cover of the new transworld skate? he's going off on this absolutely monstrous quaterpipe there's also a sequence in the mag of him doing a 720 over a 60ft gap. on a skateboard! that is mad it's in the new DC video, if anyone can find a link to the teaser i'm sure it would be interesting viewing

My girl needs some new goggles... does anyone have any recomendations for/against certain brands? I've used oakleys (o-frame) and bolles. i like them both. oakleys have awesome vision, but fog a little when hiking. bolles never fog but the peripheral vision is not as good I've had scott highly recomended - apparently all they make is goggles, so they've got it sussed

I'm getting some new goggles... does anyone have any recomendations for/against certain brands? I've used oakleys (o-frame) and bolles. i like them both. oakleys have awesome vision, but fog a little when hiking. bolles never fog but the peripheral vision is not as good