spired
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Posts posted by spired
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oh yeah, the big drawback to utah is the liquor laws. if you're ok with beer and wine and ending early then you'll enjoy ski towns like park city but otherwise, you'll dislike the nightlife.
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danz right on the mark. Jackson Hole's quite extreme but a bit inconsistent because of weather though. It can be great or not so great.
My favorite all time...Alta in Utah. But it's skiiers only. It's got its fans and detractors. It has very slow lifts (intentionally so that it never gets too crowded and so that the snow never get too cruddy) and has cheap lift tickets compared with the rest of utah/colorado.
If you're a boarder, you can try Snowbird in Utah which is just next to Alta on the same mountain but I've never actually skiied it (since I always go to Alta if I have the chance).
Generally, Utah snow's my favorite but I haven't done any skiing in Colorado.
As far as Tahoe goes, the views of the lake are great but the snow is not as good--it's more wet than the rockies. Kirkwood's great, as is squaw valley. Heavenly's close to casinos but a poorly designed resort with subpar terrain.
Other places that I've heard are great but that I haven't tried yet include Sun Valley Idaho (as the name states, great sunny powder) and Taos New Mexico (supposed to be amazing and quite different).
Also, if you're going to spend time in seattle, I'd check out Mt. Baker. It's a little old-school as far as the facilities go but the snow and the mountain are quite amazing. (and quite scary if you're not experienced) It's probably the best powder in the northwest (1. mt baker 2. blackcomb 3. mt hood 4. crystal mtn). if you like steeps, try alpental near seattle...probably my fave for convenient skiing close to a city.
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I used to live in Seattle and made my usual pilgrimiges up to Whistler. My take on it:
-Traditional opening of the season is Thanksgiving (American or canadian, American is ~nov 23rd, canadian is a bit earlier I think)
-Snow usually doesn't get good until xmas though. But it really varies year to year.
-Weather is tricky. There are basically 3 parts to each of whistler/blackcomb. It have can 3 different weather patterns (meaning it might be horrible at top but great in the middle and sunny at the bottom). Rain is also common.
-Snow is kinda wet. If you want dry flakey powder, go to the rockies.
-Mountains are really big. I think that's the big attraction. A slow-moderate cruising run from the top of blackcomb down to the base is about 30 minutes.
-Great little town/clubs/bars. (if you're young or young at heart ask a local about the beagle) Tons of nightlife. Great long island ice teas at the base of blackcomb.
Overall, it's fun but not my fave due to the snow/weather.
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saw it when on a business trip outside japan..very pretty movie (i.e. eye candy) but a pretty lousy story/dialog.
yoda rocks though.
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theoretically yes...but you still have to buy them on the web. it's http://www.fifatickets.com
but you perennially get errors trying to access the thing
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on a slightly different topic, when I was in the US I was a clif bar addict for most outdoor activities.
here in japan, there aren't really good 'bars' and the only ones out there are the horribly overpriced diet ones.
do you guys know of any good powerbar-like snacks available here that are generally portable, semi-nutritious and can be eaten with one hand? (for use on a bike or rollerblades)
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Ya know the real reason they're so eager is that they think that people from cameroon are distantly related to whales.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Cameroons.
(hey, imagine if you were jewish and dislexic...macaroons becomes...)
I really miss skiing.
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anyone planning on skiing down mt. fuji this year? I was thinking about getting some tokyoites together for it.
or maybe just climbing it and then pushing down some people to see how well they slide to the bottom.
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shorter skis are definately easier...but you can ski moguls with anything (although those over 200 cm are supposed to be for the slalom courses).
personally, i use 185cm's which can be challenging but the skis are lighter than most which takes some of the effort out of it.
on shortskis/skiboards (mine are 99cm) it's easy but a very different experience since you're not bouncing around with the same rhythm
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(this place is too non-confontrational...damn it)
or maybe the question should be, "do _competent_ boarders like moguls?"
from a technical standpoint, I don't see why a snowboard should be at that much of a disadvantage from a skiier except for the poles. A good mogul skiier never splits their skis, always carves their turns, and just uses the different angles of each bump for a balance and speed control. The biggest difference I see is that you don't have poles to help you make decisive turns. But the same goes for skiboards/shortskis--just shift your weight and make the turn in midair.
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SLC is a great place to ski...Tons of resorts, huge mountains, dry powdery snow. The towns could use a bit more booze but they're better than what i've seen in japan.
If you're looking for posh conditions where people help you carry your skis and good (albeit expensive) restaurants on the mountain go for Deer Valley, Park City or the Canyons.
For amazing deep snow go to alta (for skiiers only) or snowbird.
There are like 10 more resorts out there I'm not mentioning--all within an hour or so of a drive.
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if you've got limited time, I'd stick with the US. Canada's got some wonderful stuff (esp Big White), but they're all really far apart (at least B.C.).
Then again, canada's cheaper with the currency (at least relative to the dollar).
In Utah/Colorado you can hit a huge variety of big mountains within a reasonable driving distance. Tahoe's got that going for it as well but the snow isn't anywhere as dry.
All time fav=Alta. No snowboarders allowed though you might like Snowbird out there. Another way to find hidden powder is to sign up for an advanced class--these are usually a blast because the instructor takes you to some insane hidden part of the mountain, then shows you a couple tricks to ride it faster.
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pats went.
(pats=new england patriots. an unruly band of musket brandishing gentlemen)
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Any recommendations on places to get skis waxed/edged on the west side of tokyo (keio-sen, west of shinjuku)?
Or are there any shops that can take your gear, tune it up then send it up to the slope you're heading up to?
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With all the posts about ducking the ropes and hitting the great powder, I've got to ask the stupid question.
Do they clip lift tix here aggressively if you ski out of bounds? Specifically, i'm heading out to Niseko-Hirafu but would be interested in how it is generally.
(and if not, do people here know what they're doing when it comes to avalanche control??)
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So what are the better resorts for a day trip from Tokyo? And getting there without a car?
i just moved out here from seattle where i was used to driving an hour or two after work to ski 3 days a week...i guess those days are over but i'd like to try to get in a day or two a week.
Washington Winter Dilema...
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
I'd go Snoqualmie. It's not huge but there are 4 areas to it (Alpental, Central, West and Hyak). Alpy was my favorite for years. The lower/upper international runs are better than most anything I've seen on Kanto. The best part was that you could watch the weather and just drive up the same day (40 mins) and get an incredible day/evening.
And if you're a boarder, you're going to want to go to Mt. Baker for your full days anyway. Stevens gets too crowded and can be lousy when the roads get overcrowded (they used to turn people back...which really can ruin your day).
For more opinions, check out snowboardseattle.com