coldcat

I feel like far too many people think they can carve when they actually can't. Some of them are great in the park but they can't carve properly. Carving is harder than it seems, and it requires a lot of practice,technique and self-criticism. My tip is if you see anything but a fine line behind you on the snow you are not carving (unless you are riding on really deep pow). What are your tips?

A j-girl learning to snowboard lost control and tackled me from the side... Now I have a gouge about 3milimetres deep and 7cm long. Let's see what they can do for me with p-tex at the snowboarding shop in Okayama. I'm so depressed ...

It took 2 or 3 runs to get to more less the same level as last season. From 3rd run on I was doing tricks that I didn't do last season.

Go Native: Many, amongst them these : http://weathernews.jp/ski/cgi/search_result.fcgi?id=31605 http://outdoor.yahoo.co.jp/snow/view/go0006/ Really it got to 2 degrees? Of course, you know better cos you are there, but what I could see on the internet is that it didn't get above 0.

I wonder where the guy from "Niseko now" gets his weather forecasts, all the forecasts I've seen give snow for the resorts and the temperature doesn't go above -1, even at village level. If he is looking at the yahoo forecast for the village of Niseko, I wonder if he knows that any forecast for more than 2 days is the same as sapporo.

Shopping online will save you some money in some cases, last year helmets online were several thousand yen cheaper than in the shops near where I live. They usually have the measurements in the website you are buying from. As ocean said there is a risk in buying something without trying it first, however, it did work quite well for me. In my experience if you do enough research you have a lot of chances of getting something right for you. I wouldn't bother with buying boots online though, but the helmet fit doesn't need to be as exact as your boots. AK77, to wear helmet is a matter of per

I agree with most people on this post. I would even say that a helmet is definitely the best investment you can do. We are talking about your safety here. And even if you just do groomers not wearing helmet can mean your death (rocks on the side of the run, hitting hard snow/ice, hitting somebody else or being hit by somebody else, ...). Look for a helmet in rakuten, last year they were quite cheap, measure your head diameter and make sure it fits the size of the helmet, and then order it if you like it. I don't know about this year, but last year rakuten had really good deals on helmets.

tsondaboy, without any experience I think you system is actually quite dangerous. If you are ever involved in a car accident (God forbid) with your snowboards hanging from the inside of the roof, it's big consequences man.

A new one will cost you around 20,000 yen and you can carry 4 or 6 boards depending on the model. I haven't tried the magnet ones but I think you can only carry 1 board. I wouldn't bother with those. If you can't find anything used and in good condition maybe you should just spend 20,000 yen at autobacs. I got mine there.

Most new models are very good snow tires.

Niseko now this morning said tomorrow temperatures may rise above freezing level, I actually doubt it, and Yahoo Weather seems to agree. Anyway, what is clear is that there seems to be a little warming trend for next week, although I don't think it will have too much of an effect on the current snow.

Thursday, I disagree, the worst thing that could happen is having Western pop on the slopes... Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, ... I am not a big fan of J-pop (or C-pop for that matter) but in my opinion pop in the West sucks even more.

"I choice J-pop"

I'm not a big fan of J-Pop, in fact, I think I can safely say that for the most part I utterly detest it, however, for some strange reason when I am on the slopes I am quite happy with it. I wouldn't change it. There's something about "nighta" riding in Japan to ayumi hamazaki (or any other J-pop singer/group) while it's snowing that just seems plain right to me.

Hi everyone. I've thinking of going to Argentina with my wife next Summer for about a month, I thought about "Las Lenas". I was wondering if anybody who has already been to Argentina for boarding or skiing has any pieces of advice. (flights, money, accommodation, passes, ... or anything).

There's already quite a lot of snow on the top.

I like mizuho. I've never been to hyogo but i've heard is good too. Daisen is quite alright for me since I'm really close. Much closer than Mizuho or hyogo. I think daisen is fun, not really steep or anything but it's not as bad as Ger says. That's my opinion anyway.

Thank you!

I was actually asking about inbound runs, not back-country runs.

　it was too good to be true. aagh. I wonder where in Japan is the steepest slope. Anyone knows?

Sorry. Not Uenohara. Nakano-hara. http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/resortdetail.php?resid=667

In the resort page of SnowJapan for daisen uenohara (in Tottori) says that the maximun slope gradient in there is 45 degrees. Anybody who has been there and can confirm it? I went there several times last year cos it's near where I live, but I don't remember anything that steep.

Thanks. I was yesterday at his house, I didn't measure the angle but it seemed to be quite ample. Maybe about 45 degrees or even 50.

I gave my old snowboard to a friend of mine who is just starting snowboarding. I figured that even if it's not in great condition he can make good use of it since he is just starting. I guess he is just happy to get it for free but I'm concerned cos he has rather large feet (30cm) and the boots do stick out of the board. He is learning now so I don't think it's a good idea to buy a new board, but I was wondering what bad effects can have those boots sticking out of the board? You guys think we should be concerned about it or it won't make that much of a difference for a beginner?

by the way, I completely agree with Matt that they "totally underestimate the amount of snow". It's crazy they give you 1cm when others give 10 or 20cm. If they give over 10cm it means heavy snow.