quattro

Try the Lodge Wood Peckers in Annupuri Tel (0136) 58-2479 This antother good cheap place to stay. I dont think there is a web site.

I've been using Marmot Ultimate Ski Gloves for about 8 seasons. Just picked up a new pair. They are extreamly warm and durable. The only downside is the price.$$$ There a mix of gor-tex xcr, leather and prima loft (synthic down)

so far so good.

http://www.wazasworld.com/eigo_wazas/index.html

powdatele Did you ever make it to Rishiri Island last winter? I remember you asking about it.

Ttips is a great forum lots of good info. It's a shame that there are people who would destroy all the posts. So much stuff was lost. Mitch and Gwen did alot of work getting it back on line as fast as they did. I hope they take the measures to protect this site. I would hate to see it get hacked also. This has to be the best place for getting info about skiing Japan.

well i will say we have a good base up here. Was at Sapporo koksaui earlier today and the snow was excellent. There was a lot of packed powder their. Have not been to Niskeo yet so I really cant comment on it. If you do not think your up for Niskeo there is plenty of smaller slopes around.

Well been trying to tele since last season. Basicly I'm all screwed up some tele turns and some parllel turns. I just need to breakdown and take some lessons. Will figure it out one way or another. Convert from alpine. picked up some tele boards at the end of last season. Will probally retire the alpines.

Sounds like a bunch of rich Yuppies with nothing better to do with there money. It's defiantly a pay to thrill me type thing. I hope these idiots who get a half hour of training don’t just start jumping into the BC by themselves with the attitude. The fatality statistics could start going up. I know I would not pay that much for a day in the BC. I’d rather just hike and as the say earn my turns

Try Asahidake not a lot of runs but some good skiing. There is lots of off piste possibilities. Its located about an hour east of Asahikawa. http://www.asahidakeropeway.com/ located off rt1160 out Asahikawa.

If you do go with a shell jacket like arc'teryx. Try going to shugakuso (spelling) in Sapporo. Located just off the kita juni jo subway station I think the address is 4 N 13 N.

Try either Yong peong Aka (Dragon Valley) or Muju. These are the largest two resorts in Korea. They have held a few world cup races at Yong Peong, salom and GS. The snow is mostly machine made. The skiing is ok. Yeong peong is located on the east coast. Muju is located between Tejon and Tegu roughly.

I managed to get a day at Sapporo Kokusai this weekend first time in Japan. They had a few trails open up top and one that was a little to dirty for my likings down to the bottom. Did not see any snow cannons so I will assume it was natural. All in all it was good to get some skis on and make a few turns.

Guess I've skied in Europe one to many years. For the most part skiing is viewed as ski at your own risk. Very rarely are sections closed off and off piste is the norm at most places. So my thought not being able to ski under lifts is a little skewed I guess. Please bare with my ignorance about skiing here.

Ok so matbe i'm missing something. But when is skiing under a lift a bad thing. In most places in the world trails run right next to lifts. I've never had the chance to ski here yet. But is something diffrent about lifts over here.

Thanks Im in need for a set of skins for my Jaks

Fattwins I was curious what width skins are you using on your Jaks? I was looking at some BD Clip Fix in a 110 or 120.

I took the plunge and bought a Patagonia Dimension jacket soft shell about a month ago. Still have not had a chance to use it yet, but my initial thoughts of it are pretty positive.

Well I was joking. However it does take an amount of the white stuff for us to be able to enjoy our sport. There are also things that I find enjoyable about skiing in bad weather. Do I want to ski in a white out all the time no! Things that are enjoyable include: Less people Freshies No lift lines Freshies And there is something about batting down the hatches and being in your own self contained world Oh and did I say freshies

This is a winter sport.

I'll second miteyaks recommendations on the Arc'teryx or Marmot. Both Brands are excellent and you will get many years of service out it. Don’t let the price deter you from thinking about it.

One thing to consider and it’s a good reason to tune your own skis. Most shops do not hand tune your skis. They are usually placed on what equates to a large belt sander which grinds down a good bit of your base and edges. Do this one too many times and needless to say you will be in the market for some new boards. When they hot wax a layer of wax is rolled onto your ski. It is not ironed in and will usually come off after a few runs. Generally I try to stay away from having shops touch my skis for tuning and do it myself

Toque Black Diamond sells diffrent size skin tip loops. This may allow you to put your old skins on your larger skis. http://www.bdel.com/gear/backcountry/tip_loops.php

If she is busy getting the royal treatment you may not have any time to ski. Good luck anyway.

Try contacting Shugakuso. They have stores in both Sapporo and Ashikawa. Not sure how far they are from you. There web site is http://www.shugakuso.co.jp There Sapporo store has a wide range of jackets from North Face, Marmot and Arc Teryx. I'm sure any of these type of mountainering jackets would fit what you may want. Sorry i cant help you on the second question.