dyna8800

Thanks, andylaurel! I was actually in Minakami Kogen that day. SJForums, I hear your pain...and you would probably have to establish criteria on which to publish and which not to. For example, Snow Splash was also held the same weekend...but should you promote that commercial venture? Definitely the Norn one should have gone up, especially seeing as how they donated so many lift tickets for the Giveaway.

There was also "rice cake pounding" (omochitsuki), free, and "making Japanese soba" (300 yen). Wish that we had more advanced notification of this, might have been fun to go! These is exactly the kind of info that could easily be relayed to Snow Japan and posted as a public service announcement...

I saw the cap toe strap being sold at the counter of one of the Victoria shops (L-Breath).

Originally Posted By: Metabo Oyaji Dyna, two and a half hours from Minakami to Akagi Kogen SA??? Was there some kind of accident, or just weekend traffic? Yeup, no idea why...just lots of cars. It seems that Japanese drivers are not experienced driving fast in congested conditions, one hits the brakes and then a tailback develops for tens of kilometers.

Ishiuchi Maruyama...huge jumps. Alts Bandai also has a great park, and advertises itself as the boarders mountain....but also lots of flats.

So, the real question is...what is the average time it takes you from Gunma to Tokyo and back? (My answer: 2 hours from Nerima to Minakami in good conditions, average 2.5 to 3, coming back, the sky is the limit.)

About 5 pm, coming onto the Kan-Etsu from Minakami, bam, solid for 2 hours, all stop and go. Got to Akagi Kohgen for dinner about 7:30, then another 4 hours to Nerima IC. Makes ya rethink that "my car" transpo!

I took a look at those K2 Cinch bindings, they look lightning fast! The last trip to Niseko, besides doing laps on the natural halfpipe in Higashiyama (OK, so now it's called Niseko Village), the only runs that stood out were those in Mizuno no Sawa. Quality over quantity...so it probably not is so much of how many hours, but how many good runs you have in a day.

Another question might be "how much vert." but that would mean that you had a method to keep track of vertical and/or distance. It also depends on how long the lifts are operating. Some resorts open at 7, 8, or 8:30 am and close at 4, 4:30, 5, or stay open for night skiing. With a "large" mountain like Happo-one, I can cover almost every run in a full day, usually doing laps on the runs that I find interesting or enjoyable. Somewhere like Shiga Kogen, you would need 3-4 days to reach the other areas that can only be accessed by bus, etc. I am not always on the first chair, but a

Originally Posted By: SJForums Details are on the Canyons page on SJ, link in the first post dyna. Thanks SJForums, I did not see that as I went straight to their website directly. Cheers,

Probably the Examiner is from Snow Trainers. They offer an 8 week course in Niseko. For the Instructor Academy, last I heard they could not get sanctioned for the Canadian course, so they offer the NZ course. Club Med has an annual listing for CSIA Level 2 ski instructors to work in Sahoro. Mina2, can you ping me with the details of the Canyons course, i.e. price, etc.? Thanks,

Mina2, I did the Level 1 CSIA (Canadian) course in Whistler a few years ago. You need to be an upper intermediate skier who can ski parallel. Probably the Level 3 Instructor from Canyons is the course conductor for the program. For getting a job at Japanese ski resorts, you need to have a professional level certification such as from PSIA, CSIA, NZSIA, etc. At most other ski resorts in Canada and the States, usually they hire people and then put them through their own internal programs, and they get certified by the end of the season. The course is really fulfilling.

Yes, Go Native, Agreed, perhaps a more accurate statement is that there are more people venturing off piste in Niseko as compared to the other locations. So stuff in Niseko gets tracked out more quickly. Wish that I had more time to explore the L Gate off Annupuri, it was only open once while I was there but I was heading back to catch a bus...

Wish that I had stayed in Niseko Village so that I could have gone those other days that the top lifts were not open, as could not get over from Annupuri. Hope to hear some more reports from other SJers. Cheers,

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy Yeah, theres a lot more powder at Niseko than at Rusutsu Grin... According to my mates who live there, all the good stuff is tracked out quickly in Niseko, and they have their secret stashes in Rutsusu or Kiroro. Probably planning to visit Rutsusu next season.

Creek Boy, Since I was doing consecutive interpretation, I usually went last. Wish that I had brought a camera the first day, as the weather conditions were better in the morning and I was in the lead group rather than at the end. It is probably more difficult to see how much powder there is when looking down the hill, save for the time I watched the woman skier with powder going over her head. Snorkel time! Here is another photo, hard to see, but about knee to thigh deep on this run. Motomura-san in the pow...

If the tracks under the gondola were near tower 19/29, then those are from the skiers/snowboarders on the program. The first time, I skied the line under the gondola and to skier's left, almost to the nets. The other times, we skied off the knoll towards skier's right and the powder was even deeper. Face shots galore. There are a couple patrollers who are comfortable speaking English while the rest can speak a little English, they are a bit shy. The program is only slated to run until mid February. Each time you must present your card and get a numbered bib which is returne

I hear ya, Black Mountain... After having gone to Niseko each year about the last 10 years or so, I really needed this experience to see new areas, it made the whole trip worthwhile. With my snowboarding sister visiting from the States, my suggestion to go to Rutsusu was vetoed, as she first learned how to snowboard in Niseko 6 years ago and wanted to return to ride the pow. When is the next trip planned for?

I would be much more worried about moisture ingress, as there is a LOT of condensation when taking the cell phone out of an inner (warm) pocket. Specifically, the iPhone warranty does not cover any water damage, and it has the internal sensor to detect water/humidity.

Thanks SJForums for all your assistance. Much appreciated. Might want to put that info about how to put the photos in the Forums in the FAQ, as that was the first place that I looked for help.

Whew!!! I think I finally got the URLs and everything right... Enjoy,

OK, SJForums, I uploaded to my Gallery on the SJ site...now how to link? I do not see the URL for the JPG... Also, perhaps this would be a good topic for the FAQ as it was not on there. Thank you!

Oh no! They displayed fine just a minute ago. I will upload them SJ...

Thanks, guys, for some reason the photos do not display properly when linked to the correct URL with the JPG, so I copied them onto another server with direct links. They should be appearing inline now. Thanks for all the help!

Dang, that did not work out, anyone know how to fix that last post so that the pics display?