ghostofwar

Does that mean they'll be uncomfortable on me if I buy a pair here? I'm looking at the Oakley Wisdoms. Anybody have a pair of Japanese goggles? Can you tell the difference?

Oakleys here all have a sticker on the box that says "Japan Fit" on it. Another brand (Dragon?) has a label that says "Asian Fit." What does this mean? My first (admittedly stupid) thought was that the goggles are made to accommodate Asian people's slanted eyes, but that's completely ridiculous... isn't it? Anyone know what this is about?

Yeah I know what you mean, the Japanese seem to ride very conservatively. It almost looks to me a lot of times like they're not even having fun.

Anybody know any good ones? Googlevideo has full-length versions of pretty much every skate video I've looked for, but i can't find even one damn snowboard video. I'm pretty bored at work this week, so if anybody has any links I'd appreciate it.

This is not really related to your survey at all, but the idea of being "local" made me think of it... do you guys suppose the Japanese can spot us gaijin under all that snow gear? I mean, with a scarf up around my mouth, hat down over my head, and goggles around my eyes, do I still pop out as a foreigner, or am a little less distinguishable? Though I guess anybody who ducks the ropes would be nailed as a gaijin no matter what they're wearing...

The season pass for my local resort is 5000 yen more expensive this year than last. The reason given is that it's costing the resort more to run the lifts due to rising oil prices. (No idea yet as to whether or not the regular day passes or hourly passes will see a price hike.) Anyone else see or hear of similar situations at other resorts? Also on a similar note, wouldn't it be relatively simple and cost effective to outfit the lifts to run on some kind of alternative energy? Seeing as they are stationary and their operation seems very simple (relative to other oil-consuming machi

Oh yeah and just to clarify I'm talking about tobacco here...

I put this in the snow forum because I always see Japanese dudes smoking in the lodges and on the lifts, even sometimes chilling out on top of a peak with a butt between their lips. Seems crazy to me, and possibly even dangerous at extreme elevations. Just curious how many here smoke at all, and of those that do if you go without while at the resort or if you're hardcore like the japanese and need your nic fix while you ride the lift.

When did this happen? i thought the world's largest (concrete) park was in Shanghai, as of a year or so ago. Soubriquet, I'm down "south" in Yonezawa...

Stupid looking jacket, but the website claims it will make me ride better...

Nothing wrong with Yamagata, just a curious place to put the country's largest skate park, since it's kind of out of the way. Until they built it if you'd asked me where the biggest skate park in Japan was, I'd have guessed Tokyo or somewhere in Kansai. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have the park in Sagae--about an hour from my house.

Yeah the Sagae park is the biggest in Japan from what I heard... wonder why they put it in Yamagata?

The UnInc and I think a few other boards have it. Anybody ridden one, and what did you think? I'm not considering buying one or anything, just curious. Personally, having each binding attached by only two screws seems unsafe as hell. But I'm interested to hear how it felt, if anyone's ridden the 2x thing.

I haven't been snowboarding that long, but just to look at boards from the early nineties (eighties!), it's obvious that the designs and structure of the things have improved over the years. How do you think boards of ten or even twenty years ago compare to the boards of today? Do you think that even a lower-end board of today would be of a better quality (i.e., give a better ride) than what was considered top-of-the-line fifteen years ago?

What are some "classic" snowboarding videos I can track down and watch to try to beat this heat? By classic I don't necessarily mean old, just really great ones that stand out.

Cool man, thanks.

That website is all about longboarding... not really of any interest to me, but thanks. And that's a no on the T-board, whatever the hell that is, but good luck trying to get rid of it.

Anybody know if there is a skateboard equivalent to Snow Japan out there on the net somewhere? You know, like with a directory of skate spots/parks or whatever? An English-based forum like there is here would be cool, too.