firedog23

NO, apparently I suck at that right now. I will figure it out. I was never into skateboards so I am learning slowly.

JD, If you go to www.carveboard.com it gives a pretty good show on what you can do with it. Yeah the roads in Japan are smaller but if you can find someplace to use it then I would suggest it. I don't have much of a problem living in Northern Japan. Like anything else you gotta get used to it but it does not take much.

I picked up a Carveboard and the few times I have used it have been fun. You use the same muscles for turning. The feeling is pretty close to that of a snowboard when you are making your turns. Yeah you are on concrete but the carveboard is not made for speed so once you get it down, going fast is not much of an issue, especially if you have to bail.

Hakkoda for me. About 25 times and maybe a few to some other places.

Kind of funny that it was Chirac doing some protesting. Isn't that what he is trying to calm down right now in his country is protesters and now he is one. It seems that it is not my country (US) that needs to build a wall to fight illegal immigration (which is shortsighted in planning) but it is France so that nothing gets in.

Dentist, the most lonely job in Japan.

Have not really gone much in the past month but I just watched First Descent and got my second wind.

I went there once and had a good time. The conditions made it what it was that day. Lots of snow coming down and not many people due to it being a mid week trip. The 2 downhill courses make it fun and they have numerous trails to the sides and probably the best terrain park in the area.

If you are going to hit up Appi for a weekend then you need to go to Hachimantai Forest. It is just around the corner and doesn't have all the glamor/people. It does however have all the Off Piste terrain everyone wants to hit. They only groom about 20% of the official runs and it is dirt cheap for the day, about 2,500 yen. It doesn't have great food or accomadations but they are not far off. The runs are not long so you have to get off the trail and do your own thing. The patrol/staff have gotten a little more vocal since the deaths last year but I guess that would be expected.

Just watched Good night, good luck and it is pretty good. It sheds a little light on the communism scare of the 50's in the US. Go figure, us in the States being led to be paranoid about something. Also watched A History of Violence. Not to bad.

I picked it up from the website and it cost me $350.00 For a quick update I have not hit any hills yet but the few of us that have messed around with it (including a pretty good surfer) we are all ready to hit the hills. A few other people are going to get one. The turns that you can make on it are not just for the commercials. This thing has a great feel to it or at least as close as you can get to snowboarding on a road.

I read a few years back that some financially backed boarders were trying to buy property in the Taos area and make it for both boarders and skiers and put it in the face of the smug @#%$! who think they are the only ones on the earth who should be allowed on Mts.

And some environmentalists would like us to all live in the forest fending for ourselves. Let me be the first to invite them to do so and try not to be eaten by lions, tigers and bears, oh my. Maybe they could put together 4 years of work on how things are becoming extinct. Until then when people do work like this it might just be to get people thinking and to get involved.

My reason to board in the summer just came in. It is a Carveboard. It was designed by surfers and boarders and the little bit in my driveway I just did has got me STOKED!!!! I am not a skateboarder but this thing is going to rip. If you want to see a demo go to www.carveboard.com

I would be looking for the backcountry route. I am not looking for the magazine shot backcountry but places where a little bit of hiking gets you away from the groomed trails.

Now that I know I am moving to England, I am curious where do people go boarding at? I know Europe is fairly easy to get around but I just want to know where the Brits on here go to?

Farrelly brothers did Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, Kingpin to name a few of their movies.

I would not change a thing. I know that I never want to ski again because I have done it. Each has it's challenging parts but boarding just has a more natural feel to it.

As an American I wish we would make the change. Imperial system was made in a time long ago and when you look at it, it really makes you think "what were they thinking back then" when you can do it based on tens (km)....

I was riding Drake Matrix and had minimal problems with them and the got the job done. This year I found some Burton P1's on sale and had been looking at them anyways. First day out it was awesome. I did not really know how much of a difference good bindings would make. The comfort factor was great and they are so much more responsive. it is going to take alot to go wrong to steer me away from buying them again when the time comes.

It might of been easier to say who you have not seen.

Granted there is only one mountain range to base it on but you have to throw Aomori into the mix just for the simple fact Hakkoda is there.

New Jack Johnson. It is the sound track to the movie Curious George. Still has a nice laid back feel to it even if he is going to get accused of going commercial. Who cares, he writes simple music that is easy to listen to and makes life a little better, for me anyways.....

Almost everyday of the 20 or so at Hakkoda have been my favorite. Only one was terrible and that was during the ice fest of mid-Janurary. So many places to go and so few lines have been cut. You might cross a few but it has been great otherwise.

1 run of the mill boarding jacket and a light thermal shirt.