nippontiger
-
Content Count
559 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by nippontiger
-
-
Just bought yet another higaeri ski ticket for tomorrow.
Usually, this is a really good deal, but I've done it quite a few times this year now, and every single time, all of the discounted tickets have been sold out meaning I have to pay an extra 1000 yen to go on one of the other trains, or buy an unreserved seat ticket.
Even when I went on a weekday late March and there was hardly anybody on the trains or at the resorts, they said all the discounted tickets had sold out, and even now its April, still sold out.
Not only that, but it seems that the usual 1000 yen or so discount they apply from end of March no longer applies for tickets to Kagura, so I've ended up having to pay 10800 yen each from Omiya, which if I remember correctly is the same as it was in peak season.
It seems to me that JR are getting a bit greedy with these tickets this season with the lack of spring discount as well as what seems to be an extremely limited number of discounted tickets available.
Did anybody actually manage to buy any discounted tickets this year, I wonder?
-
-
Was at Kagura today and it was great! Some nice powder, and a weekday so was making fresh tracks all day! Spotted a girl getting on a lift on her own with fat skis, so I joined her and we did a run together in the side country. Was just saying to my friend I hope I meet her again, as she was a good skier and up for going into the powder and I turned around and there she was asking for my mail address!
Nice day on the slopes!!
-
Well, I just got my ticket for another trip to Kagura tomorrow! By some stroke of good fortune, it turns out both my boss and supervisor are away this week so I decided to take a day off! Also, looks like its started snowing there!
-
I just do single day trips there from where I live in Tsukuba - it takes about 3 hours to get there from where I live, but its quicker going from Tokyo. Typical trip would involve getting on the train at 7am, arriving at the ski area around 10, skiing until the end at around 4.30, then an onsen and taking the train home at around 7pm to get back for 10 ish. Often I go with a friend who lives in Saitama and we go from Kumagaya having stayed there the previous night, which makes the journey there about half the time.
Hoping to get up there again this Sunday, depending on the weather....!
-
I think I've done 4 or 5 day trips to Kagura, so it is pretty much my favourite - mainly due to the fact that there are a fair few nice runs among the trees which are easy for us to find and which the ski patrol don't mind you accessing. I've also managed a day trip to Kawaba, which is pretty good but the powder isnt as good as Kagura, and also to Kandatsu. I actually live closer to the resorts in Tochigi and Fukushima, but as I dont have a car, it is more convenient to do the shinkansen Higaeri trips to the Yuzawa area. Hoping to get up to Kagura a couple more times before the seasons out, possibly as early as this weekend....!!
-
Skis are perhaps a little short for a powder ski at 167 cm (my height is around 170), but I think its mainly the GoPro wide-angle lens that makes them look short on the vid.
-
So here's my new skiing vid - The White Room.
I actually filmed this last month, but I havent had much time to edit the footage until now.
Really nice day we had there with lots of deep powder. This was actually on the February holiday weekend so must have been one of Kagura's busier days of the season, but you wouldn't think it from this video!
Hope you like it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4A0Kax57PY&feature=youtu.be
Should also be here pretty soon....
-
Wow! Wish I could've had that day off work! I wonder if we might get another powder day or two before the seasons out.....?
-
Looks like my Hakuba trip is finally on! Just got a brand new pair of Smith I/O goggles and a couple of Hakuba Alpen Resort lift tickets courtesy of Snow Japan which Im looking forward to making good use of. Hopefully the snow Gods will be on our side this weekend....!
-
I read that strengthening muscles in the leg can help to protect the knees. I always try to do a fair bit of leg work at the gym including deep squats, some leg extensions, leg curls and some work on the calf muscles. I guess my legs are pretty strong for a guy my size.
Im not sure how much of a protective effect this has - perhaps its just wishful thinking.....
-
It could well be...! I've got a hotel provisionally booked in Hakuba and ready to go....! Fingers crossed!
-
And the cold air predicted for the end of next week has disappeared in the Unisys latest update....
Thats still Mystic Meg territory so a lot could change between now and then.....
-
The unisys weather charts seem to hint at some colder air at the end of next week - but that far off, you are starting to get into "Mystic Meg" territory.....
-
Looks like we've decided not to bother - doesnt look like its going to snow much. Keeping my fingers crossed for next weekend and if we get some snow Ill probably head up to Hakuba. I will go to the gym instead and do some heavy squats and deadlifts in an attempt to strengthen my spine.....
-
As well as using the headstrap to mount the GoPro on the front of your helmet, you can also buy a front mount accessory:
http://gopro.com/camera-mounts/helmet-front-mount/
Also this allows you to turn the camera around and film yourself from your helmet - this is pretty good actually - you will find when editing your clips that it is best to have a variety of different view points. If you just have helmet footage, its gonna get pretty boring pretty quickly and it is difficult to make smooth edits without using a load of transitions. You might want to helmet mount most of the time for convenience, but if you do a couple of runs with a pole mount and say a helmet mount filming yourself, you'll be able to edit a much more interesting video. POV helmet mount usually works best if you are filming a friend in front of you.
-
I saw somebody on youtube bodged a couple of bolts through one of the gopro helmet mounts and through the helmet to really make sure it didnt come off. Im not sure what this does to the integrity of the helmet though....!
-
I'm keeping a close eye on the forecast for this Friday as I'm considering a day trip to Kagura on Saturday. Looks like a low pressure area is moving across Japan and moving into some colder air could bring some snowfall on Friday night to higher resorts in Nagano and Niigata. Doesn't seem like the kind of pattern that would bring the lightest powder, but looking at the long-range forecasts it might be best to take whatever there is from now.
-
You dont have to mount the gopro on the top of the helmet, you can also mount it more to the front so its not sticking above your helmet. I actually use the head strap to helmet mount as Im not sure I trust the 3M sticky mounts in the event of a big fall - the strap comes with the Outdoor edition. Done like this it actually fits quite close to the front of the helmet so it shouldnt get knocked off by a branch, and even if it does, the goggle strap holder on the back of your helmet will hold it on (assuming your helmet has the goggle strap holder - some dont). If you are skiing, you might also want to consider chest mounting, which can give nice results - I dont think this is an option with the Contour ROAM. Snowboarders seem to get best results mounting on the end of a pole which I think would be OK with either camera.
I dont know that much about the contour roam, but I think I read the picture quality is not as good and afaik, it doesnt come with the waterproof, protective box that the GoPro does so its only waterproof to 1 metre. Also with the GoPro 2, you can film 60FPS at 720p which is great if you want to slow down the action. The other thing is that in Japan, I think accessories - mounts, spare batteries, etc - are more readily available and the WiFi backpack is coming out soon which will allow you to control the camera and see what its doing from a strap on your wrist, as well as stream the video to a mobile device such as an iphone and so on.
Im not sure the difference in price, but if thats not a major consideration, I'd go with the GoPro2.
-
Got a bit of snow here in Tsukuba today, but it didnt really amount to much - a couple of cms. Seems to have turned back to rain now.
-
Yeah, certainly looked that way from the pics! Im gonna wait until thursday before making a decision for this weekend - looks like there could be some precipitation on Friday and Sunday into Monday and that might fall as snow higher up.
-
Nothing promising at all on the latest unisys charts - perhaps a 1 day cold blast middle of next week and then back to very spring-like greens and yellows. Im starting to think my March powder dream trip isnt going to happen this year.
-
Looks really good out there today!
-
For sure Ill be back out, with or without powder, but it would sure be nice to have a couple more good snowfalls before the spring really sets in...!
:evilgrin:
JR Higaeri Deals
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
For the discount, you have to use certain trains, but every time, all of the discount tickets are sold out, no matter which train you choose. I went a couple of weeks ago on a weekday and as usual, all the discount tickets were gone, even though the station and the trains were all pretty much empty. It's now April, most people are thinking about cherry blossoms and spring, not skiing and I'm sure the numbers are well below peak season even on a weekend, but still, no discount tickets. Just seems a bit cynical to me....