jamesybob

In that case yes, but away from beginner lifts it doesn`t happen so much. Also there is usually only one person at the top so they can`t do as much, but with 2 or more at the bottom crowd control is much easier.

I don`t know for Japan but I worked as a liftie at Vail and Breckenridge and the lifts all had a normal top operating speed that they ran at most of the time. They were slowed if the wind was strong and there was a danger of the chairs hitting the lift towers and derailling. Also the beginner lifts were ran slower to make it easier for people to get on and off. Some places still use the old style fixed grip chairs which don`t speed up or slow down at the top and bottom and these have to run much slower than the detachable, high speed chairs so people can get on and off safely. As

cheers cb I`ll try him. Any recommendations for places to get goggles round Kobe??

Message to Dizzy mainly, but if anyone else can help that would be cool. What is the name of the Snowboard shop in Takarazuka that you mentioned was good, and do you have a web address / map / link etc. at all?? I am going goggle hunting this weekend.

On Sunday at Hakuba my goggles died on me, fogging between the lenses and I can vouch for not seeing making it hard to ride the pow. Faceshots with no goggles doesn`t work for sure. I think I am a convert to the backup goggles plan as of this weekend.

Good to see the picture, cheers Kumapix. Agreed dad, as they said we were careful about it, but still not the best plan..

The Holy Norahs - Kiss my As* On the work computer... Like Dead Kennedys / Black Flag but with a Scottish accent.

Good to meet so many of you guys at Hakuba up till Monday. And nice to have a big crew to ride around with, especially thanks to coach for all the tips. Looking forward to getting some new goggles and being able to see next time. Dizzy`s tree grab / rodeo was pretty sweet, there may even be pictures of it to come??

I am not saying I hit the park at Niseko more than one day, but the day I went the kickers were perfectly groomed and had really nice transitions and good sized ramps. Snow was fairly hard and it was no problem to clear the tabletops.

Niseko had a pretty good park last year, on the far right part looking up the hill and decent size pipe too. Kickers were medium size, plus some rails and it was in really good condition the non pow day we took a few runs through it. There was also a lame but fun few hits on the Annupuri side as well. Can`t remember how many jumps and rails there were though, I am pretty sure Hakuba47 has more stuff in it`s park, so maybe check the Niseko website and see if it tells you anymore.

British Sea Power - Open Season. It`s good and getting better, but I still think The Decline of British Sea Power is better. And Mogwai. They were really good at Namba hatch 2 weeks ago.

Yeah, it was on Tuesday it says. Looks like they got plenty snow already there.

I`ll be heading up from Osaka area as well and be keen to join in carpool. Any plans yet on that front? Hoping for 50+ days as long as employment doesn`t get in the way after end of January.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=BEE28307-679D-4DD8-8840-EE90BFF68DCF&f=06/64&fg=copy Saw this earlier. Nice little reminder...

I have no idea about that either, but I do like the British grades for climbing using your own protection and not bolts. It gives a technical difficulty grade and a seriousness / scariness grade which is definitely helpful when there are no bolts to use. Climbing is good though. Clears the mind of the usual nonsense pretty well.