keba

Only slightly...

Not all that long ago, the predominant theme in these threads was that global warming was the biggest threat to ski resorts, who would have thought that it would be greedy corporate execs and overzealous mortgage lenders that would seal their fate?

Looks like there's one less ski destination on our hit list... Yellowstone Club files for Chapter 11 protection. Anyone know any (former) members?

Originally Posted By: nuejam 'Foreigners' overrun with misconceptions of the orient invade Niseko looking for a past that was never there -- meanwhile Nozawa tourists ignore the hypermaterialistic present of Japanese cultural arbiters, young people modeling the latest snowboard gear and snow wear, and see instead the fictitious reality half of their own making half a marketing campaign directed towards urbanized youth fed off of soda-pop dreams of nostalgia. That's called juxtaposition, and is kind of cute in it's own way. Originally Posted By: nuejam Next time I visit Australia I'll

And you won't be disappointed by Zermatt, unless you are going there to buy a watch - they're way too pricey - or if you are a boarder, as there are a lot of traverses. Just try and ignore the McDonalds on the main street...

I'm glad to find at least one person here who gets what I'm talking about. At first I though you were taking the piss.

Originally Posted By: Mr Wiggles If I were to take my family skiing in Europe, I'd go to Zermatt, because it looks really nice and all "Swiss". That's just me though. If by "all "Swiss"" you mean the train gets you to the terminal exactly on time, then you're dead right.

Originally Posted By: Mamabear Snow resorts are snow resorts...some have better service and infrastructure than others, but why you would expect the SKI resort to be different to a western resort is beyond me. Well for one, I thought Nozawa Onsen was very different to any resort town I'd ever stayed at before, and I thought Niseko was just like Whistler. Sure, I don't expect the lift system to be exotic or culturally unique, any more than the highways or airports. But I think you should distinguish the towns which have grown around the ski resort, from towns that were there before, whic

Originally Posted By: Go Native I agree with RD on this. You never see people complaining about lack of culture from any other ski areas around the world. At least I haven't. Yeah, but other ski resorts - at least the ones I've skied in - are in western countries, and I really don't expect Western Europe to be much different from America/Canada or Australia, except for regional cuisine/wine/cheeses, and language of course. I just expect Japanese ski areas to have a perceptibly different vibe, and I'd expect the same in China, Korea, or any other non-western country. I suppose I shouldn't

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll let me calrify this a litte - places like nozawa, which was a spa town before it was a ski town have a little something extra, as does hakuba and probably a others but they're the exception. And guess what, RD, when we were last in Hakuba, that's exactly what we did. We took a day to go back to Nozawa Onsen to show off our little boy to our old hosts from a couple of years back, and soak up some of the village atmosphere. No skiing. Get that? We went to Nozawa Onsen and didn't ski. We also visited the snow monkeys another day and drove to Nagano, visited t

You'd be arrested on suspicion in a balaclava, and don't think a ice hockey keeper's mask would be any better...

There you go, didn't realise that at all GN. I just assumed it was all part of the old feudal system that existed on the other islands. It did seem odd to me tht Sapporo should be laid out like it is. Quick google search leads me to discover the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, who would probably take offence to your comments, much as an Aboriginal Australian would about the same being said of Australia. But now we're way off thread...

Neoprene face mask more practical and effective...

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll The family angle for Niseko is a recent innovation. In 2005 there wasn't anything around In 2005 I was single and had no children, and I went to Niseko because that's where my friends were going, and we stayed in a pension run by a very nice Japanese couple. Prior to that, we had spent two weeks in Nozawa Onsen, and it just seemed very different. It is probably obvious by now that I just have a chip on my shoulder about development in tourist areas everywhere, not just Niseko. Take a nice place to visit, and then develop the hell out of it until it beco

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Out of interest just because it is Friday and I'm bored - what evidence do you have of greedy developers in Niseko exploiting unimaginative Aussies? The ads in Aussie ski mags looking for buyers for their properties is the only evidence I have of that from my end. Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Oh those greedy developers! Knocking down this junk and building something that looks like it belongs in the 21st cent. If we are going to have a discussion about architectural trends or building standards in the resorts then we'll go way off-thread. But

The latter.

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll two distinct groups of people That's an oversimplification. For my own part, I've never booked a package deal with an agent/tour company and never plan to. I book my own accomodation direct with the lodge owner, when possible, and hire a car or use public transportation. I try to look for resorts, and accomodation within those resorts, which is in keeping with the local custom, and I don't like to hang out with other travelling Aussies (my own travel companions excluded) after dark, if I go out at all. I have skied in other resorts in Japan, this season gi

Hadn't thought of that, maybe that's the real reason for 'layering'...

That's always the worst injury to take. I normally move to a different part of the mountain after an incident like that...

Originally Posted By: stemik and ive been pratising falling of chairs......i fell off a chairlift last season... Maybe that's the problem... you should be practicing not falling off chairs

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Keba if the 2005 level of development was too much I have to wonder why you went at all. Perhaps I exagerrated. What I didn't like was the way it is being bought up by Aussie developers, marketing to Aussie investors. That will inevitably ruin any of the intrinsic "Japaneseness" of the resort. I realise withourt foreign investment nothing would be happening at all, like in Hakuba (flame-proof suit on ), but unlike GoNative, a big part of the reason I travel to Japan is to try and experience some of the local culture, not just the snow.

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll I’m sure others would say it has already happened… I'm one of those, and I've only ever skied there once, in Feb '05. There was too much development then for my tastes. But I live on the Gold Coast, like snowhunter, and have seen what that sort of developmnet can do to the ambience of a holiday destination of any kind. Good for the local economy, sure, but for me, that's not really what it's all about. You can lose the character of the place, the reason it became popular in the first place. Of course, if you limit development too much in the face of ov

Yes but like the places snowhunter mentions, there is a saturation point. How many skiers will the mountain (not the hotels, etc.) accomodate? 1000, 10000, 100000 skiers/riders? When the runs get too crowded, and the perfect powder gets tracked out too quickly, people will be looking for the next snow destination.

Originally Posted By: snowhunter don't want to have use 10 modesty towels Show-off.

Bet you can't wait to get on that magic carpet... they're a wild ride!