ausi ski bum
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Posts posted by ausi ski bum
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The biggest problem with Furano is the shuttle bus is rubbish, if you intend skiing there rent your own vehicle and you will love it, with the car you can also take day trips to Tomamu, Sahoro and that other one starting with an A.
Niseko certainly is a great resort but personally I prefer Rusutsu, again however if you have wheels you are close enough to drive over to Rusutsu from Niseko as well as trips to a few smaller places like Moiawa etc.
For Boarders I really like the terrain park built at Tomamu and I have to say Tomamu tends to attract more Boarders than any other place I skied in Japan.
I won't ski Japan again for three years after 4 trips in six years but if I did I think I would spend time at Rusutsu, Tomamu, Sahoro and day trips to others.
Oh driving around Hokkaido you come across these really small places with a single lift and a few runs, they can be excellent fun for a few hour stop over.
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Aussie lift prices have always been high compared to elsewhere but offering skiing in Australia is also far more expensive, we have to rely on snowmaking to a much higher degree than else where and wages paid on mountain are higher than most other countries.
Australians often forget to compare the average wage to the cost of a lift ticket, yes we pay more than the US and Japan but we also on average earn more so it becomes relevant.
I ski more in Japan than I do Australia and I own two apartments in Falls Creek, this is more a choice based on the quality of skiing in Japan vs Australia but I still enjoy a great day on mountain in Australia when I get the chance.
If peeople were honnest re the cost of skiing OS vs at home then they would have to admit that the economics don't stack up if you live within 4 hours drive of an Australian resort, where they do stack up is if you live in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia where the cost of getting to an Aussie field is similar to getting to a Japanese one.
At the end of the day Skiing has always been and always will be an expensive sport. But then again how many other activities require the infrastructure of skiing.
If your going to waste a lot of money, it might as well be skiing.
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I am in Tomamu at the moment and I love the resort, having done many of the smaller resorts this trip I have had an amazing holiday.
I do have to wonder however why are so many of the advertised attractions not available even though there is plenty of snow on the ground, for example I have been to three resorts that advertised hot air balooning, non are running this, I have been to two that advertised dog sledding, both finished for the season, I am also disapointed that the full day snow mobile trip I planned at Tomamu has also closed for the season.
I arrived on 22 Feb so its not like the season is over. Again, advertising features of a resort then you need to be up front about availability. Maybe advertise the periods these features and activities are available. I know coming to Tomamu had a lot to do with the advertised activities as was Sahoro and both let me down.
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I would love to learn Japanese but in my home town 360km from Sydney there just is no teachers, I advertised widely happy to travel up to 150km to a lesson but to no avail, I know the polite words please, thank you and Sorry etc, I never have a problem when talking to Japanese no matter how little English they know as they are so polite we eventually get their.
I wanted to do a couple of snow groomer activities one was driving one and was told they only take Japanese (fair enought I can see the danger here) and the other was a ride up the top of the resort on the back of a groomer and I was told I would not understand the safety instructions. Neither really worried me I was mearly pointing out it may have been a reason someone selected a resort.
Another example is Abashiri where there was no drift ice when we arrived, their web site did advise this on the Japanese pages but not the English, again for me this was no Issue as I had hired a car so we just left early and went to Lake Akan which was brilliant.
I am not being critical as I have had a wonderful holiday its just an observation from someone that has now been here four times and a total of 11 weeks of little things that make newbies in particular struggle a little.
Oh and as for Australia, they are very poor at this except for many areas in Queensland which have done very well, I notice Sydney is getting better as well having Japanese and Mandrin versions of brochures.
A funny one I saw here at Sahoro the other day, the menu in the Japanese resteraunt had Japanese and English, unfortunatly for every item on the mmenu the English words said exactly the same thing, I appreciated that they tried at least.
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To me the long term viability of many Japanese resorts will require increasing the Over Seas tourists from Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia mainly.
Some have done this very well but others are missing the mark with some simple errors that make visiting a little difficult.
For example the food on mountain in many places is excellent but the vending machines for the meal tickets are only in Japanese. If there was a single english and mandrin menu to assist this would be so much easier.
Advertising on the internet attractions in English then telling you on arrival that only Japanese speakers can go, several of the attractions in Sahoro fit this category.
Having English sub text on the trail maps, many do this well, others not so much.
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Light showers of snow in a mostly fine day, the hill is very firm with many ice cobes on the surface making for tough riding for the lesser skilled. A little crowded this morning heading back out soon.
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Fairly warm in Sahoro today 0C - 4C but no rain to damage the hill after some nice early snow yesterday. Would be nice to see some more snow.
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I am doing that right now, I am visiting the major resorts of Furano, Tomamu and Sahoro, done Rusutsu and Niseko already. I am also visiting Sounyko and Abashiri and finding lots of smaller stops along the way. Hire a car and go exploring for three weeks.
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10C here in Furano today, the mountain was like skiing on Elephant Snot
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Very warm in Furano today 10C, we went out skiing for a while but gave up at lunch time when the surface was like glue, might do some night skiing tonight if it firms up. The streets are like rivers.
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To JAPAN Wooo Hoo, been 2 years since the last trip, did USA last winter and I am looking forward to my 3 1/2 week trip. Looking at my first stops cam (Furano) snowing nicely tonight.
I will spend half this trip doing non skiing activitie as well around Hokkaido. I have a nice Rav 4 so driving will be easy and I can get to the little places most miss out on.
So Off to Sydney tomorrow and then Japan on Sunday heading to Hokkaido via Osaka.
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Originally Posted By: Go NativeIt's not a ski resort but I tell you what I really want to go see is the pack ice up in the Sea of Okhotsk from Abashiri or around near Shiritoko. I've never seen the ocean covered in ice and would really like to. Think I might have to take a couple of days off next week and head up...
I am heading there from 1 to 4 March to check out the sea ice, I am heading up the coast a bit to see the lasar light show as well and a few more things in that area.
I am going from Furano and stopping at Sounkyo for the three nights before that as well. -
Furano
Kurodake
Sahoro
Tomamu
And I get to try them all starting next week for three weeks Yahooo.
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My son was 17 when we first went to Japan and he almost died when mid stream a little old lady mopped around his feet, I suggested she didn't actually work there.
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I arrive on 21 Feb in Japan and 22 Feb in Furano, I am over Niseko, been there done that twice now and I want to spend time at the other great resorts this year.
Actually I am getting to the stage in life where the snow holiday is not all about skiing
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Whiteliner/Goodsport stop on the way to Niseko, but not on the way back, they run an excellent service and to answer the question above, yes book the seat on line then pay on the day. Why would you travel all the way from Australia and not have the bus ticket covered. They do get very busy at times and how would you feel sitting there wondering what to do next.
Whiteline drop off at the Welcome Centre in Hirafu, when you get close to Hirafu, phone your lodge and they will come get you.
When I travel I have every single step booked and covered, by leaving anything to chance or someone else will always generally will be the things that go wrong.
You should see my trip file for this years trip.
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Definatly looks like rain on the Furano streaming cams, looking at the edge of the road, quite a bit as well.
http://furano.miemasu.net:85/ImageViewer?Direction=Direct&
BTW I love this cam, I intend standing on the corner and phoning home giving a wave to family members when I visit in Feb
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I would invest a few thousand AU into it at that price, I suspect it could easily be back to 30yen plus fairly fast.
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The easiest way to have millions in the bank would be to invest billions into JAL.
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My Knowledge of Niseko and the Ground Services companies would suggest that there is a real chance the company is not Japanese owned, next time just hire a vehicle yourself and keep it for the week, you can even arrange for the hire vehicles from the Black Diamond lodge to meet the white liner bus so you can move around during your holiday.
Chitose is always a risk in winter but it is extremely well managed considering the conditions.
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With JAL losing 25% off the value of its shares in a few days and considering Becoming Bankrupt, How safe are my Feb March JAL Tickets ?
If I was a JAL Customer with One World points, I would be using them now, I lost 250,000 Star Alliance points in the collapse of Ansett some years ago.
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Asking for tinned ham at a shop called Mahumid Mustifa's in Singapore, I was very politely told sorry sir we don't sell tinned pig products but we do have corned beef.
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Wendy's here is an ice cream shop
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Looks like Furano has had some nice snow over the past 24 hours, looking forward to seeing skiers on their streaming cam
Free Softbank Credit
in General off-topic discussions
Posted
I bought two 3000 yen soft bank recharge cardsin Japan recently but then found it was over 360 days since I used my phones so I could not recharge them.
So if you have a Softbank phone and can use the credits the numbers are
5329 4933 7457 879
and
6491 0837 2746 326
First in best dressed, someone may as well use them
Hope they work for someone.
ASB