snosurf

haha ok then. Getting way too tech on me there spuddy! I really don't know shit about the backcountry or avalanches...so it's good to learn. Yeh I know i'm complacent, ignorarnt, unprepared perhaps even a little arrogant. But I lived to tell my tale.... I suppose you could call it calculated risk. 1 point though - The patrol opened the peak so one would assume that the snow-pack was reasonably safe... the only caution was in regards to a cornice - about 500m-1km to the side, which i was well clear of. But i'm not trying to argue with anything you just said.

sorry that first quote was Oyuki Kigan, not me ...my bad.

Oyuki Kigan- You're kidding right? Quote: Snosurf: as for speed, i have to go against Snosurf`s recommendation. If you just started jumping, you shouldn`t be trying any big park jumps that require a lot of speed to clear a long, flat area. Stay within your abilities I explicitly said that you have to work progressively: Quote: If you hit a park kicker too slow, chances are that you'll land on the flats and hurt your joints on impact at some point. When in doubt, go faster. That said, baby steps gg....have you ever seen a kid learn to run before he/she had learnt to w

Hey well at least i'm still alive... well maybe if I was the last person on earth then you'd be better off with me than riding alone! Plus, I am pretty cool.

One word: speed. If you're going too slow, you're going to make things really tough for yourself. To me, speed is the most important factor to getting air. You want to practice riding really fast before you hit park kickers, because when you take off you're going quick and when you land you're going even quicker! Be comfortable with that, it will help you a lot. If you hit a park kicker too slow, chances are that you'll land on the flats and hurt your joints on impact at some point. When in doubt, go faster. That said, baby steps gg....have you ever seen a kid learn to run

Well there's nothing sexier than pretty girls in the snow.... Well, maybe pretty girls on the beach in a bikini waxing my board and rubbing sunscreen into my back. But i'm just opening up a big can of worms now. Ahh the snow bunny - so often a rare species in today's patriarchal dominated ski communities (better than 10-20 years ago I imagine). I'd prefer a late start to the season, it hurts too much otherwise (cos I won't be there to enjoy it all!)

Spud and Toque - You both raise some good points...The fact that I had no safety gear does indicate that i probably was in some danger, had anything gone wrong. I suppose what I meant was that in hindsight, there probably wasn't anything that could've gone wrong seeing as it was a simple peak-hike run that I had done several times already in the 2 weeks before. At the time i didn't know it, but the run i'd done was completely safe. Perhaps the worst thing to come out of it was i rode about 250m of untracked waist deep powder like a grandma when i could've been making some nice turn

I was just curious as to whether any of you guys have become lost in the clouds or a blizzard during a day skiing/boarding? I have. It happened to me last year when I was hiking Hirafu Peak alone. It had just opened up after being closed due to strong wind, low vis and heavy snowfall. I'd say visibility right at the top was no more than a few metres. I was riding alone (again!) and had no water or avalanche gear (not even a whistle). After I dropped in I instantly became disoriented and tricked my mind into thinking I had in fact dropped down the wrong side of the ridge. Since I coul

Wednesday night is looking interesting in Hakuba...Could see the first decent dump for the season, if i'm not mistaken. Hakuba 47 snow-forecast

nice work...on my way to checka-check it out now

ebc - you are hot

Toque - that's understandable... Plan on riding Happo and Goryu/47 for the majority of the 3 weeks so hopefully i'll be able to get into a few during my time there. There really is nothing like sliding up to the edge of a drop and experiencing that moment where the ground suddenly drops away and you find yourself falling, falling into oblivion...

Will be there all february FT, searching out drops like the one you posted above which resort generally has the most drops?

Wish I was there.... But then again, scored some fun wedgey waves yesterday, so can't complain Now, off to the pub to bask in the sun

- Cat Stevens' 70's 80's songs - All Pearl Jam albums, particularly the earlier ones. - Dire Straits - Pink Floyd - Britney Spear earlier stuff (The oops I did it again era)...joking.

Quote: most of the drops in japan are nothing compared to what you can hit in canada. Very true.... I love dropping cliffs/rocks and was a bit disappointed with what Hokkaido had to offer in that area. But I suppose that's what happens when it snows 10m - 15 meter drops become 4-5 metre drops. I think that sometimes the smaller cliffs can be fun if you want to try spins/new grabs etc Here is the biggest drop I could find in Niseko

That sounds insane mate! I'm a natural-footer but good waves are good waves... bring on the lefts. How powerful are the waves compared to say Indo and Australia? I've surfed some pretty heavy lefts up in the NW, but wasn't too condfident when it got solid above 6-8ft... I think I need a bigger board and a bigger set of balls haha. Sounds like a good route from the south to north - I have some contacts in Ecuador so it would be a perfect itinerary to end up there eventually. Definitely will need to learn some more spanish, right now i know next to nothing. Chicama sounds a

Sweet....sounds great. Except for the cold-ass water. I like the idea that you can stay in Santiago somewhere cheap for around AU$10/night then get up to a mountain reasonably fast (to any of 3 mountains) with a bus company for AU~$15 and if you do this during the week, chances are that you'll have the place to yourself! Wouldn't mind looking into a midweek season pass if it's an option....? Then I could just go surfing at some of those long lefts (thanks mantas) on the weekends and when the conditions are lacking - Would be a bloody good 3 months I think. Throw in a few hot gi

Ah yeh thanks for clarifying that spud... i get confused. Still 10m is solid. I don't think i've ever seen anyone do a true 10m drop. Maybe on a video....maybe... However i think i do tend to undersize things due to years of looking at 4m wave faces and calling them 4-6ft....

Quote: 2 to 3 meter gaps in the trees are huge ill drop 30 plus if i can see a hole in there. I'll re-iterate : that's just ridiculous! I suppose it depends on snow and gradient conditions as well...bringing us back to the essence of this thread! 360' I suck in the deep, I can handle the steep, little bo peep.

Bushpig - Have been trying to get some mates to come along but the fools have other ideas! That's alright but, travelling on your own has more pros than cons. Plus I do know a lot of perth crew who are hitting (lower) SA next year, so won't be alone for that part. db le spu - Yeh plenty of time for that mate, it's my chance to travel and I've got to snatch it...been studying tourism for 3 years, wasting my life...this is my honours course: honours in tourism. Perry - (i)How much is your average season pass for argentina/chile? (ii) Are the montains crowded? (iii) Are the

I'm heading to south america in July next year, kicking off a long journey... I want to do a season in Argentina, Surf the Andean coast, Surf Brazil with my brazilian friend, then head up to mexico and central america to surf there with my freind. After that, i'm going up to Utah to spend the season at a resort there, then over to Europe for the summer where i want to travel eastern europe then surf france and morrocco again. At the end of the summer I want to go boarding in Austria until i run out of money and fly back to oz. Of course, there will be other things besides surfing and boa

Quote: there was a bright flash of light. Yeh pretty crazy, I thought i'd found god. But I think the medical term is concussion. I didn't go to the doctor... Only side affects i feel is slightly strained neck muscles (from my reaction trying to avoid the hitting of the head) and scrape-burns on my elbows (again, another failed attempt to avoid the cracking of the head). But I suppose i could be in a pretty bad state if not for those evasive actions... Going off on a bit of a tangent here, sorry.

Yeh I should get a helmet. Ironically, I hit my head on the concrete skatepark surface 2 days ago. There was no-one around. It made a hollow clonking noise and there was a bright flash of light. Immediately, afterwards the point which I hit swelled up to the size of a golf ball and I was bleeding a lot. The worst thing was, it was the most unco-ordinated fall over. I've never done anything so dumb. Just completely over-balanced backwards after a bomb-drop into a 4ft quarter pipe. It could've been much worse... Yeh everyone should stick to their limits for sure....whatever you

Sometimes less is more...that's my saying of the month. Yes steeper landings are easier on the knees (and the tongue, it seems). But landing on a steep slope has one major consequence - you absolutely take-off. This can be a problem when there is a plethora of trees spaced only a few metres apart down the line. I don't care what anyone says, riding trees is all about maintaining control - control of your speed and direction. It can also be about making critical lines. Each to their own. Personally, I don't require crazy-steep tree lines. I don't wear a helmet. I don't want to die ye