bcoasis

Stick with a ‘pack making’ company would be my advice. Da Kine is awesome value for money and a very functional pack, Osprey is also very popular and of good quality, the maker of the Denali guide pack (sorry I can’t think of their name) is generally considered the industry standard, but at their price it would have to be great. The Japanese distributor of Spyder has from this season started importing a pack, which is made in Canada, and they have the US military contract. Very light, tough, functional and not a bad price either. If you want a contact for that email me off the forum and I will

Well, it looks like a solid 20cm from early this morning until lunchtime and still going. Would love to be more specific but it appears I have offended the sensitivities of a couple of other members with how I get my info and how I choose to qualify it so as I have offered in another thread if you want Kagura/Tashiro/Naeba condition you are welcome to email me and I will oblige. Seems to be coming together; a ...... of .... rode Nakaone bc yesterday and said it was decent.

It's not the heaters that piss me off it's paying to fill the 1000ltr tanks I have. Anyway, I have a bunch of these things and stick mainly to Dainichi, Corona and Sunpot. The Corona make seems to be the most respected home use maker and their stuff is usually a little bit more expensive. There seems to be a lot of competetion with a bunch of minor makers or obscure brands for sale cheap but for a couple of thou it's probably worth paying the difference for the Corona make. Hope you can get your heater sorted and stay toasty.

I'm really not sure, it's a bit of a mix from what I can gather. I have been told but the names have gone right over my head but that is hardly surprising considering my tastes. Have a look on their web site or give them a call.

From memory, which in my case is rather impaired about 7 years ago we had really scratchy conditions right through New Year and into Jan & Feb but March absolutely puked. I had a couple of days at Hakkaisan in mid late March where there was so much snow it up to your chest. We can only live in hope.

Smash, who are the organiser and promoter of Fuji Rock Festival are holding a Benefit Concert for Niigata Earthquake relief. This will be the first ever true benefit concert in Japan; Smash, the Artists, Stage Crews, Venue, etc are all donating their time and resourses, the only thing being paid for is the electricity. There are 6 venues; Nagoya 7th Jan, Sapporo 10th Jan, Osaka 6th Jan, Tokyo (*2) 10th Jan and Yokohama 10th Jan. It's 4000 yen a ticket and they have made a badge for giving away which says, 'don't make aftershock!'. The link to Smash is http://www.smash-jpn.com/heal/index.

I am assuming you paid by Credit Card, if in fact that is the case get in touch with your Card company, give them all the info and request a charge back. If they give you static - push them as you are well within your rights at this point. That action may be enough to push this company into delivering on their obligation in which case problem solved. Good luck.

Before this tread descends irretrievably away from the discussion the poster was looking for lets just get back on the frequency. If it has annoyed some people the way I write then I apologise for that. This is a non-commercial forum and what I have written only either relates to how I got the information or qualifies it by saying who gave it to me, as I have not been up the mountain myself yet. It does not promote what I do or even give any information as to where I am except in this thread where someone has asked about Naeba specifically. I wonder if the same reaction would have occurred

Yes, yes - I will try try not to do that in the future. Sorry, sorry.

Naeba; I have a Jazz & Blues Bar with accomodation, Lawne an English chap has Snowdeck which is a Pizza/Cafe/Bar with DJ house music scene going, and there is the DJ Bar in the far end Prince car park which has events from time to time.

Nice to hear from you Montoya. Yamamoto has been telling me you have made a good keen start to the season - great, I wish I could say the same. There is a bus stop right outside my bar and the bus to go back to Yuzawa stops on the other side of the road. Very convenient. You can always catch a ride with Yamamoto - I'm sure he would not mind at all. As far as the backcountry goes I can't see it really being 'on' until after new year, but that could all change if this snow keeps up.

All open now, you can ride from the top quad to the Mitsumata ropeway. 10-15 of fresh powder this morning and I just got back from picking some customers up and it looks like another 10-15 for tomorrow as the snow has gotten a bit heavier in the last hour.

A customer just in my bar has been at Kagura today and said it's all open now. No more shuttle buses and about 10-15cm of new powder this morning. The link track to Tashiro requires a small walk but nothing major. The snow we have had has not really changed the situation at Naeba - wind has blown it across the face of the hill and little has really settled on the courses. Hope that helps.

Kokudo giving a discount - you've got to be joking. Anyway the Dark Side of the Force has more serious issues at hand like tax evasion allegations and running foul of Tokyo Stock Exchange regulations with Seibu Tetsudo. Stretching the truth seems to be part of their corporate culture - 2500 people; no, a couple of my customers who were there said there would not have been 300 people.

Testosterone is indeed a good word guzzlers-baps but I was thinking more of a phrase like 'straight jacket fits'; a good band by the way.

Excellent point on the dangerous riding policies and policing or lack there of Miteyak!!!

Why is it when someone makes a poll, which I interpreted as requiring a simple ‘yes I do’ or ‘no I don’t’ response – takes a shift sideways. Yes, Flattwins it is all a bit serious it seems. The neo conservative moral majority don’t seem to be limited to the US Government. Anyway, I appreciated your photo GG – I missed the other two unfortunately but being a Kiwi it was a taste of home. Baaa! I do ski under the lifts at times and I am the disgusting individual who popularized this practice around the Naeba area many years ago. That’s all from me I am going back to listen to ‘Momentry Lapse of

Cayote, my bag is a Macpac which is a New Zealand maker; awesome stuff but they don’t rate their bags. I forget what their actual theory is but basically they reckon the rating via temperature is misleading. Anyway mine is the second from the top of their range which I thought would do everything I wanted and it does. I guess it’s around -26C to -32C. Your bag at -18C will be fine but you will have to factor wind chill into when and where you go. If you wanted you can buy outer bags which will raise the temp of your bag, Macpac make them and I would imagine other makers have them as well. O

Nice one, you should have some fun! I have done a reasonable amount of camping around the Kagura bc. The coldest was -28C and that doesn't account for the windchill. It was so cold I couldn't put my hands out of my bag to have a cigarette and I am pretty committed to that habit. There are some great camping sites around Kireinoto (I am sure that's not the right spelling) which is the peak over from Kagura. Enjoy!

Just want to agree with what Fattwins has written and would like to add if you're going to buy then try to find something that will still ski ice and grommers. There are a couple of skis out there that rock all over. Shameless plug here - take a look at VectorGlide (omni or cordova) they are the only ski that's enthused me enough to leave my McHucksters at home and I've been lucky enough to try most of the new skiis most seasons. It's a shameless plug because the maker is a friend of mine but if the were a piece of shit I would have told him and stayed on my Volants. I've got a demo pair ly

Mr Wiggles, who is this freak of nature making the argument that two wrongs make a right?

double negative i think?

I am inclined to fully agree with your sentiments concerning National Parks Miteyak. However it’s all about a balance and although what some people do for recreation might not be yours or my ‘cup of tea’, so long as they are doing it with respect to other users and not impacting nature adversely then we have to tolerate. There is a group of snowmobilers who during spring ride in from Tsunan and over to Kagura into the backcountry where I ski. It’s not where I would ride mine because it has other users and tracks that go through the spring melt freeze cycle can be an interesting surprise when

Nice one Cornflake, I was starting to get empty yearning feelings in the absence of our affectionate banter. I must say I am pleased the cheese is has not yet found a stable foundation on your cracker. Selfish as it may be but I do so enjoy your insightful, balanced, informed (from practical experience of course), and thoroughly reasonable opinions. There may be other voices out there wondering why your ‘voice’ breaks through (you know what I mean; just like flatulence on a calm, silent, frosty morning) on subjects and activities you don’t participate in. But not I! I for one am utterly convin

Cornflake, great to have your learned opinion as always.