wattiewatson

Originally Posted By: iiyamadude Myoko is a great place. But top 10 in the world? I agree. I wouldnt call it world class because: - Its hard to access beginners runs. Some of them you have to up the gondola then traverse/ride some steeper terrain to get to. - The place is in decline. Its a bit like Madarao, its heyday is in the past. - The Myoko resorts arn't well linked with shuttles. - The season is short. Lifts only go half way up the mountain. - Gets noticably less snow than Nozawa, Shiga, Arai. (Don't know why, i've looked at maps to try figure it out.) - There is really

Originally Posted By: Kintaro I'd go to Hard Off or some other used shop and buy an iron, some wax, a brush and scraper and keep your board waxed. It's not hard to do and in my opinion your board performance will be better....and keep the rails sharp. Aloha! +1

Have you been to a green tea ceremony? then maybe soapland?

yep i think your right about the size limits. Some places you specifically have to ask for the Yamano-bin service (if your using black cat / kuro neko / yamano). The yamano bin service is the oversize version of takkyubin and will take skiis, bikes etc at similar reasonable price. I think this is what people have been using when they refer to takkyubin. You wont have any trouble at the airport, it only comes up if you are in the back of beyond and the guy behind the counter is an idiot and you specifically ask for takkyubin. Then he'll say imposible without thinking of offering yo

the highway busses are fine and thats how i usually got home. But if your a big unit, they arnt the most comfortable. I would take the shink (bullet train). Its fun but you might get stuck at Nagano station. there are plenty of hotels around it so it wont be a problem. Otherwise get the airport guides to ring Chuo taxi's for you. Its a door to door supershuttle deal. You usually have to book them in advance but chances are someone has already done it and you can just jump in with them. Buying boots in Japan above size 29 (UK9.5/US10) can be a bit of an issue. some shop

Its a one street village. There isnt any secret places. Last season there was a small club, didnt open every weekend (the place is sleepy). Had a DJ spinning sometimes. Cant remember exactly where it was but it was on the way out of town, maybe 300 metres from the one traffic light in town. It was a little below street level, looked like a hole in the wall but it had a good vibe.

Yep, i rode there for two seasons. Lived 10k's away in Iiyama. The employees there work pretty hard but i liked the area a lot. Can get a bit isolated at times, certainly not the night life of Hakuba. Its a ghost town out of season - dont know why its still got plenty to offer. If you like exploring you wont get tired of it - both on and of mtn. I found new trails at the end of year two, and cool spots in the village, and i know i missed plenty. It changed tons in the two years i was there, and apparently even more so if you look a couple year before that time. I got the

Originally Posted By: StubbZee Thanks for replying =) I had a look on this website and it would cost a fortune to stay in any of these places from Dec-Mar. (The hostel isn't much cheaper than some of the BnB's) dont worry bro, maybe come back in summer. i hear prices come down

Originally Posted By: neversummer In all seriousness, I was being totally honest as I haven't seen a real need for them here. There is never much ice.... When i got to japan i thought the same thing. I had come from Vermont where they had studded tyres. When i saw that the japanese version was studless, i thought it was a con. So i drove my first season in northern Nagano (iiyama) without snow tyres. I got around ok and the tyres i was using would never pass a MOT check (WOF or mechanical check). God bless Japan and its two yearly shakken. Then after winter, when i could se

I heard there was an 80,000 pass which gives you shiga, nozawa and some of Hakuba. Cant help you with how to get it as im not there. Nozawa's pass used to be available all season long for Y55,000. Both are great deals if you plan to ride a decent amount. Suginohara, which isnt too far away, has prety reasonable half day passes as well

Originally Posted By: RobBright ww - have to disagree with you there - think the toll roads in Japan are awesome.....Although it cost 6k one way, hearing that price has dropped on weekends to 1k, thats a bargain for those roads Dont disagree that they are good but but dude, 6,000 yen one way is pretty steep for a toll. Pretty sure there are some kickbacks going on in there. I would usually take the toll roads for a journey over 2 hours. Less than 2 hours i would go local. I went on them long distance, Nagano to Shikouku, we had 6 people in the van and still felt it in the wallet.

im not saying it wouldnt save you a ton of money compared to current prices. But its still Y1,000. i think one of the most overpriced things about japan are the roads

I have never felt disadvantaged because of the weight of my boots. Mamabear, you might find that the lighter boots are actually stiffer than regular boots. Cant see them sacrificing performance on a top end product. Im happy with my regular boots. Ive got low end burtons and rosignals at the moment. both are fine, as were the salomons that i had before that. mind you, im not the best rider out there

I have never felt disadvantaged because of the weight of my boots. Mamabear, you might find that the lighter boots are actually stiffer than regular boots. Cant see them sacrificing performance on a top end product. Im happy with my regular boots. Ive got low end burtons and rosignals at the moment. both are fine, as were the salomons that i had before that. mind you, im not the best rider out there

I thought that as well. I think the reason is that in any sport, companies make new gear because their is a segment of the market that has last seasons gear, and will buy new gear, not that they need new gear. Go talk to a golf pro about how many lessons he does to people who have bought multiple sets of golf clubs off them. Matt

Should we lug our gear or hire (we intend to tour Japan for 3 weeks afterwards)? Your an intermediate rider, going on a snowboard holiday and want to rent gear? Dont really understand that, especially for the boots. Also, I reckon you have your holiday upside down. Id ride for 3 weeks, take in a couple of resorts and have 7-10 non-snow days. You could ride Hokkaido, Nagano and see all of Honshu that you want in that time. You could even see either of Shikokou or Kyushu and not be rushed. Plenty will disagree with me but i dont think Japan justifies a 3 week non-snow holida

Shink makes it pretty easy. Id got to Nozawa by public transport. Then pick up the car to go to Hakuba if i really needed it. There is a rental place in Iiyama, one block south of the hospital on the main road, you cant miss it. You wont need the car at all in the village. This should also be cheaper. Matt

I agree that on the whole burton gloves are shitty quality. Dont know why this is given that some of their other gear is nice. However i like the pair i have. I have had to do some repairs on gloves. A friend put me onto a product called shoe goo. Its a re-rubberiser. It sort of looks like tar. Doesnt look pretty but works well at repairing tears and stops all leaks. I have done all the finger tips of my gloves because i find a lot of the tears come from getting them caught in snowboard bindings. Havent had any problems since. Matt

i have a pair of burton gloves i like. the thing i like about them is that they are super long. The come up well above the wrist. It stops the pow getting up there and making your hands cold. I think these are them. Mine are quiet old but still do the job http://www.altrec.com/burton/mens-gore-glove Matt

I would say that you could live for Y150,000 per month anywhere but the mega cities. Rent is cheap and will be around 60,000. Food is around 60,000 and 30,000 for travel, season passes, small purchases. Add 50,000 for gear in the first month if you dont have it. You should be able to find a cleaning job pretty easy. Also hitting up a place that doesnt offer english services might get you a cheap bed in the basement of a place. My mate did this but hes pretty hardy

hey, at least he has bindings? For other readers interested in a good second hand store near some good mountains: There was a place outside of Nagano city on R18 as you head north. About 2-3km past Nagano city Higashi wada Post Office. A big black building with Nandemoii written on it. It had pachinko, porn, and a very good snow section. Super cheap second hand store. My mate got a high end 2005 Burton for 3,000. They usually had board and bindings package for around 7,000. They also have pants that go for around 3,000 and gloves and goggles for around the same

Originally Posted By: Indo Mattie, Sounds like you are more into younger aged binge drinking establishments! I really like Japanese bars. A few mates have em and they are a good place to sit down, catch up with mates and hammer through that bottle keep. I've made some life long friends from some of these places. Go find a good bar, frequent it and you'll get looked after. By 'Bottle Keep' do you mean the type of bar that you can only buy a spirits by the bottle. Then, when your finished you can keep your bottle behind the bar for the next time you come in? If so, although i

Quote: What we often do round here is get convini beers and place or arses down somewhere in the sun with a nice view of sexy ladies walking past, whether thats the park, the beach, or even the train station!! Yep I agree. I buy my brews from the bottle shop. The one impact i have had in my town is that the bottle shop now stocks two rows of Corona in the chiller. When i came i had to buy 5 cold ones and 7 warm ones. Now i can get the full dozen cold. Still pisses me off that my lime costs $1 a pop though. The last thing that i find weird about Japanese bars is the

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy are there still places that have service charges? I havent had one of those in prolly 6,7,8 years as far as I can remember...guess that is still going on in the inaka, MM? By service charge i mean a charge for that stick of celery or small portion of slop they give you with your first beer. In Nagano, i haven't found one place that doesnt charge for that. None of them tell you that it costs money but the usual price is Y350. Its a rip off in my opinion. Matt

I can't get into drinking at Beer gardens, or even drinking out in Japan. Y600 for shit beer and that shit service surcharge all adds up to big bill for just shit. In my area, i cant find any cheap nights. When i lived in America, damm hell, every bar had some special going on at least once a week. Here, i have all the time in the world to drink mid week but not the same bank roll. I drink out maybe once a month. Im just not prepared to pay Y600 a beer when i can go to thailand once a year for a month and drink great beer for $1. However I have found a nomi-houdai directly