sock_monkey

do not put risers with AT bindings. they give you more height than you want as is.

pfft, that was my first post of the day. quit bellyaching, melonhead.

thanks spud, it's normally 3-4 hours, but we had to take it slow. we got to the top at about 2pm and had a 2 hr downhill to the train station.

at $278 they better have gore-tex, or they should at least buy you dinner first.

yeah, i tried to tell them that last year. don't know offhand, i'll check the topo when i get home. it's near Fukushima, we could see Zao from the top which is about 100km away

here's Sunday (Owayama route): early start a couple of hours in frozen tunas and iced trees looking up at the peak the view at lunchtime onigiri, my favourite sketchy traverse downhill from here

yeah, i know. they're old school and more mountaneering/touring types than skiers. the name comes from when we were in Zao last year, top of the mountain looked like a fish locker.

went up to Fukushima with the frozen tuna crew on the March 4-5 weekend for a couple of day tours we had great weather on both days, Saturday was a mellow 400 meter climb, and Sunday was a long 1000m climb (6 hours, due to frequent stops, ice crusts, scary cornices, some detours and a newbie). all in all a great way to start my thirties. here are some of the nicer pictures: before lunch on Saturday frozen tunas sun comes out mid afternoon, beats the city, eh. 3 o'clock shadow crop this! rotemburo was buried! (luckily thet

it makes a big difference in glide even if the snow isn't sticking that much. when i first tried it i realized that what i thought was normal was bad and bad was horrendous.

glob stopper rocks, essential on nice sunny days.

i've got the snow curse, everytime i'm up it's bluebird. and as soon as i stay home it dumps. 1 out of 10 for pow. i'll warn everyone now. i'm planning on going up this weekend and stay til tuesday.

i'm at 10 with a very late start. i'm hoping to still make 30+.

i've hung out with punks in the past, the punk ethos is or was non-violence. acting crazy and moshing is pretty much it.

there's always grass skiing too: http://grass-ski.alpesprovence.net/presentation.htm

haven't tried either. dyna8800, you could say the harb is just a rigid, ski boot version of the classic roller skate i think i'd prefer a longer base for stability and flex. ideally you could combine both, double wheeled for edge transition and long flexing base. now where's my napkin

these seem better to me, they flex. http://www.streetski.com/

Thanks guys, All i want for my b-day is fresh pow, so start the snow dance for Sunday.

the pivot arms on the new ones have about 4 times the cross section and aren't hollow. the plate rails are also solid instead of hollow. if they do have problems the warranty is 2yrs. and i have some spare parts from the old ones in a jam. though i'll try to warranty them if i can

haha, do it toque. i have to get up at 4:45 to get the first shink up to Fukushima. good day tomorrow, 4 hour climb with full pack, 2 hr descent and 2hr flats to the ryokan. i hope the view's nice! btw the new bindings are shweeeet! they feel so much more solid than the old ones, even in touring mode there's almost zero lateral give. can't wait to put 'em on the snow. plus, they only weigh a couple of ounces more so it shouldn't be much of a difference on the climb. and i really effed the old ones, i didn't notice the broken pivot arms because they were on the other binding.

i've tasted 95% alcohol, basically my lips and tongue went numb and i had to keep it in my mouth til enough saliva diluted it so i could swallow. nothing more than a dangerous novelty. i'll stick with 75% rum.

yup, but of course if all you drink is coffee and soda you might have other health issues to think about small addition, if you drink caffeinated drinks often you're body develops a tolerance and becomes less and less affected by the diuretic effect.

actually to my dismay the tent has been replaced by a minshuku between a pair of mountains you've never heard of. oh well, less stuff to carry on the climb btw takkyubin called, i think the skis are in tokyo. guy hung up before i could say anything

good grief

and the last couple. Avy debris on the path around the hole. Toque almost looking up the valley Mellow trail to the car

and more... Matt and Fattwins Wider shot Chris slogging along Janus in front of the route we didn't take Some of our tracks Fattwins below the hole, "If you fall, you die!"