booske

Gassan and the alpine way are a must go for me this year. I can't wait to get up there. When do they decide when to open up? Toque: is this photo from a trip that you did or a snaffle from the web somewhere? If yours, then did you just book with one of the green-rinse brigade tours?

Heading up to Madonna Di Campiglio in the Dolomites for a week. I've been told it's a big place but it gets pretty busy. Hopefully get some good snow there before I come over to Nagano-land.

I've been checking out the webpages on hachimantai recently - it looks really nice. Off course is fine just like Hakkoda and with the current passcard system the lift passes are quite cheap. I think I might head up there later this season to check it out. Snow won't be so good at the end of the month I expect, but it still should be fun. English: http://www.boardtheworld.com/templates/btw/page/page_standard.php?secID=168&TravelTripReportsID=19 Japanese: http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~hachikan/ http://outdoor.yahoo.co.jp/snow/view/gn0080/ http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~tom-boy/s

Literal translation of white trash is 下層白人 (care of good old ALC... http://snipurl.com/cvnl). Not really what you're after here. Edokko (江戸っ子) just means you're a native of Tokyo (Edo ko, child of Edo). (http://snipurl.com/cvnq) There is often no good translation of English slang into Japanese. At least, I've never had any friends who have managed to supply me with decent slang which I could match up to English slang.

Yeah, but... If you think about your surroundings and don't panic the place is fine. It's not a huge place (assuming you're on the front slopes, off the back and you're on your own). However even in good weather if you explore too much you will find yourself hiking in out of the way places. I tried to skirt way right of the main ridge at one stage and found myself struggling to not fall into the next valley. I knew where I was the whole time, I just wished that that wasn't where I was... :-)

I had a bit of fun at a half-pipe in Niigata. Can't remember which resort it was. They had the main half-pipe out on the main hill, it was well-made, big and always packed with good riders. Didn't feel like riding there. Next to the hotel though was a nice dinky little pipe for the beginners. It's own lift right next to it, and everyone riding it were even worse than me. The edges were soft and it was quite easy to ride. You don't feel so bad when everyone is taking dives in the bottom of the pipe. Best place to learn.

I went to Hakkoda in mid-March a few years ago. By that stage the last of the snow falls was pretty much finished and the snow was getting a bit thick and sticky. It may be better this year with the good snow falls around though. We had the weather turn ugly on one day, which although the cable car kept running was really foul at the very top. Very strong winds, 4m visibility. The good thing was that not far below the top of the mountain it got calmer and so easy to deal with. I didn't find the place hard to keep my bearings once I'd taken it easy for the first day, but if you just g

I've been checking out Hachimantai. It got a good review on boardtheworld.com. http://snipurl.com/cs27 The Japanese sites also give it some good press for the sanctioned off-piste. http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~hachikan/ (official site) http://snipurl.com/cs56 The passcards make it ridiculously cheap. http://www.my-passcard.com/Sshop/D66/PD1526/ It's even got a YH on the slope. Anyone know what the snow conditions would be like there in early March? I've got 6 weeks to burn and was intending on heading straight to Hokkaido, but am now thinking of taking it a bi

Out of all of the backpackers and cheap hostels up at Niseko http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/index.html#hokkaido , anyone have any recommendations? I'm heading up to Hokkaido for 6 weeks of boarding and touring starting next month. Figured I'd start the tour at Niseko and want to find a good place to stay.

I went looking at ski helmets the other day with the intent of buying one. However every helmet that I tried on moved over my head too easily leaving me uneasy about their safety. The helmets that I tried on were Nine.9 and a Salomon. I found that with little force to the front of the helmet, I could make it slide backwards over my head such that it was sitting on the back of my neck and choking me with the strap. The helmets were the correct size for me - the other sizes were too small. It seems that in an accident it would be possible for the helmet to move and either choke or be taken