gogalago
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Posts posted by gogalago
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I'll throw in my 5yen for "More"... or a few thousand yen actually. Somehow seemed to capture the fun of riding, and though there were plenty of rails and big jumps, it managed not to degenerate into the clink,clank,clunk,spin,spin,spin thing that far too many movies these days seem to be stuck on. Enscramble takes a second, but I have to admit that I haven't sat down and watched it end to end yet... More managed to spend more time on the actual ground and the epic cruises through powder just made me want to get out there, instead of just seeing a bunch of people flying through the air, knowing I'll never do that, and not sure I'm interested either...
Shot for the heads up on "That"... but NO big mountains???
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Started wearing a helmet last season after a tree swished by a little too close. Problem is I can't take it off... er, what I mean is that I can no longer ride without it. Even on those days when I'm just planning on mucking about waiting for the lady to catch up on-course. As I'm about to leave it in the car I suddenly think how stupid I would feel if I were to finally hit my head for the first time without it and the beanie gets left instead.
The other fun thing with my helmet (Giro 9) is that it whistles when I hit a certain speed... when it stops whistling again, I know I am probably going too fast, so it protects me even before I do the collision thing.
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afraid I can't suggest anything, but am also desperate for a movie about riding as opposed to flying through the air spinning... yeah, rails are even less enthralling... so far this seasons collection is only as far as "sandbox" - seems riding on rocks and handplants are "in" this year... not bad, but hardly a must buy video.
Anyways thanks for the youtube samplers so far...
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In terms of resorts you're probably down to seeing what is still open - guess it'll be a choice of 47/goryu or happo... if they manage to last that long.
The snow will suck. You may even find yourself having to catch lifts to get down due to lack of coverage - you can definitely count on the resorts not being fully open; a lot of them are already partially closing with the rain - check the Hakuba Now! page for details.
Prices depend on where you stay - packages might be a bit pricier than now, but probably less than peak, but you also might find the odd "deal". Backpackers will be the same.
Advice? don't wait til golden week!
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Had a wicked wicked wicked friday at cortina - 40cm fresh at the end of march was wild. 47 had been closed on friday due to wind, so it was waiting for pillaging on Saturday (and the season-end party fri night kept most in bed too - leaving fresh tracks for our hangover-braving crew). Waking up on Sunday to the sound of rain meant I didn't get up til afternoon, but others reported some wet fun. The weekend brought the averages back up, and I'll rate it a fine season overall...
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You are labouring under one major misconception, that might change your plans considerably: You will NOT get a room in a house with fellow travellers; there is no rush to get a room before they are all taken, because there simply aren't any to begin with - that concept just doesn't exist here. Backpackers are your best option, and if you are willing to shovel a bit of snow, you might get it for free... Bear in mind that the 2004/2005 season only started on christmas day, so you are not going to enjoy lurking about in Hakuba for potentially 2 months - nightlife is subminimal at peak and there's nothing going on til the season starts, so unless you are really into hiking you are likely to end up pretty bored.
Unlike NZ the resorts are literally in the village - there are hotels down the side of the bottom runs, so the shuttle bus isn't an hours ride like methven/queenstown, and as the buses are free you don't need an extra season ticket for that... on season passes though I am surprised at mudguts' advice - I think you will be wanting a 47/goryu pass... if you ski you might go with happo instead... while the other resorts all have their good points (and you should definiitely visit all during your stay) you will regret having a pass elsewhere...
Another big issue you will have to research is what kind of visa are you intending to come on? Not sure if the UK has a working holiday visa (don't think it does), but otherwise you are going to be limited to 90 days tourist visa, so doing the season is going to be a hassle, especially if you want to start it in october - aim for mid to late december, and enjoy your private room and the blue bar in methven until then!
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Yeah, try both...
BUT
Amongst the few people that I know I can think of about 8 that used to ski and then tried snowboarding and haven't touched ski's since - they all use the word "fun". I don't know anyone and have never heard of anyone that has gone the other way... although there are a few people around that do like the option of doing both.
One thing that I wonder about is how old you can be and still maintain on a board... not trying to say you can't ride after 50, but it seems to come with large risks, while 60 year old skiing seems reasonable.... dunno, with skis you can fairly easily spend the whole day standing, but on a board there seems to be some mandatory ass-time everyday, major wipe-outs aside... what I'm trying to say is maybe get up to speed on a board while you can and save the skiis for your ..er.. retirement. My only regret with snowboarding is that I started so late!
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Have witnessed final sweeps at Akakura, Nozawa and 47... for a while I made a a habit to catch the lift just before shut-down and lurk around at the the top for a while until the place cleared out... then bomb down with no obstructors... at noz and 47 have actually been approached by patrol to check if everythings ok... (and kind of a hint to get myself down)...
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Have also eyed them for a bit and have asked around a lot before trying them. One or two people swear by them but the major criticism I have heard is the weight, which is an issue you will have to decide for yourself, especially if you're intent on doing "tricks"... looking around you see very few "experts" using them though, and most people I've spoken to enjoyed trying them out, but then move back to straps... Definitely faster to get into, but once you get more than a few days every season you'll find that strap-in time is actually pretty negligible anyway. If you decide to try them though, you would probably do well to wait a week or two and get them at an end-of season sale. The higher end models have less of the weight issues and you may pick them up for more normal prices then.
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Think I went the opposite way to you... for years have been riding quite duck footed - about the same as yours... and for years have been trying to get rid of the slight slide on my frontside turns, all along thinking it was just poor technique. A few weeks ago after the rains it was horribly icey up at Hakuba and combined with blunted edges, was getting a bit dangerous. Figuring I wasn't gonna get much else out of the day I decided to fiddle with the bindings and moved my front angle back slighty to more like 20,-10 and was amazed that after years of yelling at myself to stop kicking out my back leg on turns, it was actually too much front angle that was pulling things around... amazed what a difference 6 degrees can make.
Otherwise generally don't change bindings too much - or maybe I should try - but do move them back without changing angles if I'm riding powder... I find having my weight far back pretty unstable on groomers, and tend to ride switch a lot too, so generally only do it when I know I'm gonna be OB most of the day - not quite comfortable dodging the trees switch just yet...
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tanuki = racoon dog!
but thats like saying sashimi = raw fish.... reckon its better to stick with tanuki in english too... come to think of it I haven't seen any for the last few months - do they hibernate?
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Thought there was a bit of the yellow Gobi snow in January actually - was on the Hakuba now! report around the 6th, if I remember right...
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Hachi/hachikita IS a much better deal, but if I remember right there is no good public transport from osaka. Hence the horrors of nightbussing for a one day trip, and because its close the one I caught just parked on the side of the road for 3 hours to kill time - just somewhere in the dark, not even at a "intaachenji".
Had a good day at Biwako once a few years back I must confess... Quickly over it though and only went back a few times to teach people because of the easy access from osaka - adequate for first-timers.
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very cool indosm!
What bugs me though is the INFANTS being carried by skiers (obviously boarders know better hehe). Accidents happen regardless of how much care is taken and the thought of being involved in a collision with one of these idiots terrifies me... I never want to be in a situation with an injured kid, whether the fault is mine or a parents. And also hate to think what would happen if they were to fall and lose their grip.... at least strap them on.
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Growing up in South Africa did not lend itself much to playing in snow - I'd only seen the stuff about 3 times before arriving in Japan. Went to pay a visit to a friend who lives in Tahoe(california) and thought at age 28 I was too old to get into such malarky - thought I would just give it a whirl down the side of his driveway or something and reminisce about skateboarding. Luckily he had different ideas and two weeks later I had ditched half my luggage and was getting back on the plane with a very oblong bag...
sum total of my first lesson:
Me: "so like what am I supposed to do when I get to the top of this lift thing????"
J: "don't eat the yellow snow!"
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I'll be heading up there this weekend for the 22nd and 23rd time this season if thats anything to go by... and I only freeride! Its park has a pretty good rep though, but that also means it can get crowded on weekends... as FT says definitely worth checking out a few other mountains while you're there too... unless you're travel agent has some kinda deal, you can't get a 7 day pass anyway, so you may as well look around seeing as you'll be buying a few tickets anyway.
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would put in my 2yen for tsugaike too... big enough to keep it fairly quiet - was surprised to find iwatake really packed when i went a couple of weeks back, and it doesn't have the width of tsugaike that is handy when you're learning. Avoid the top part of the rinkan course (the green run that winds down the mountain)... so flat that even experienced riders end up walking, so will be extra frustrating when you're still learning.
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What I wish they'd do in summer (more with the resort equipment than the road clearing kit) is to apply the machines to their original purpose and grade off some of those flat areas that seem to plague every resort in japan...
back on topic though, a friend of mine exports used construction equipment from japan, and for the first time this year has been inundated with orders from inside the country for large pushy machines...
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Dunno if anyone else noticed that Hakuba 47 seemed like it was starting up a double black diamond club (go to a lecture and get an armband that allows you to go through the trees legit)... they even built a gate at the top of the dog-leg.
Then that guy died and they seem to have gone extra militant on the fencing - dbd club posters are gone along with the gate, and when I left on monday they were walling in route 1 with luminous orange fencing. Seemed to be trying to be making it jump-proof at 2 meters tall and a post every meter. Looked really ugly too and was really disapointing after they seemed to be loosening up.
That is what I don't want patrol to do! All it teaches is disrespect for all fences... there ARE dangerous places that SHOULD be fenced off, but when they carry on like this there's no way to know if you are actually endagering yourself and others, or if they're just being uptight. Would rather I could go to the patrol and get some decent info on where might be dodgy on a given day than have to skulk about like a criminal for riding between a few static objects....
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also heard that, so seems its true...
The story I heard was that it was on 47, but not on piste exactly - no major rope jumping or being out-of-bounds... something about a helmetless collision with a pole.
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I've had the wickedest snow in japan by FAR...
New Zealand was quite a different experience, destroying the base on rocks and strange to have the expectation that you will hike to marked trails... but really didn't enjoy dealing with t-bars and "poggles" to take you (halfway) up the mountain though. Also (compared to japan) having the mountain an hours expensive bus-trip from whichever town was a bit of a pain and made getting first tracks have nothing to do with how early you could shake yourself out of bed... but after saying all that, there was a nice vibe and I do intend to go back again one day too - I think I may have improved my riding the most while I was there - with no restrictions on where you go, you end up in places that you didn't intend and push your limits a bit...
Tahoe was where I first learnt so will always have a few special memories... definitely some more challenging terrain than what I've seen in Japan so far, and also nice to be able to go up to a patroller and ask about BC conditions and even get the offer of a guided tour.
Japan wins out on snow-conditions and lack of lift lines (depending i guess on where you ride) and probably because I've ridden here more than anywhere else. Have some reservations on california though, as I've never been there to catch a particularly large dump.
but then again, I know nothing about a vast majority of the places there are to ride in this wide old world...
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Bugger....
its turning into too good a start! Seems a lot of trips are being cancelled simply because of roads being closed... Was supposed to be meeting up with friends from Osaka, but now their bus company wants to cancel, while I can still drive through from here... sucks!
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suppose thats true - was horrified on the way back from new zealand last year to have my board and gear included in my weight for the first time ever - ended up throwing away all my clothes in a big pissed off display...
...anyway guess I'm of to niseko then to open a shop and score large-scale oz dollars.
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19937yen for 5 DAYS?????????????????????
Can't help but think of that as a waste of cash - you could get a cheap board for that and keep it for the rest of you life.
Hakuba fighting?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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Can confirm that there were a few bashers about on new years and a couple of days before... variety of nationalities though.
Alcohol and frustration with the lack of snow I guess... oh, and two of the three I know about involved staking claims on women. Fun (?)