SirJibAlot

Gonjula....funny. -SJA

The Gala deal was 14,000. Doesn't sound like yours included the lift ticket or any extras. I usually hit the spa after a long day so it seemed like a decent deal to me (spa is usually 1,300). -SJA

Ok, drop me a mail. Looks like Sunday might be ugly with wetaher so we'll probably have to shoot for Monday. Hopefully we'll be on some fresh pow! -SJA

3d....no worries you should be able to reserve a seat without extra charge. I just bought that package a few days back for my trip to Gala yesterday. What you do is you go back to the machine and choose the 'reserve seating' button and then put in your ticket (you can do all this in english). Pick your seat and it will spit out a reserve seat ticket. You will still need the original ticket that the machine spit out (it will probably print some thing on the ticket in red) as that will get you in and out of the train stations - the extra ticket is just your seat assignme

Sweet pics! -SJA

Yea, they have it every year. Last year only one guy couldn't pass....it was pretty funny. -SJA

Quote: Originally posted by Motherhucker: Ah sorry about that. Don't forget to bring a fold up stadium chair if your gonna go jump in that line though. I'm hoping things will cool down after awhile so I can stop and grab some on the way to work in the morning I already have to wake up at 5:15 to get to work on time so not trying to get up any earlier just to get KK. Not that they're not worth it though. BTW, there's a Starbucks right next to the KK. No prob...i'm probably going to head down there this weekend for something else so i'll stop by and see how long the wait is. With a st

I enjoyed Coronet peak two seasons ago. Here are a couple of snaps - keep in mind, this was July 2005 which was a particularly bad year for snow in NZ. Even though it was a bad year, this place has massive snow making capabilities Sunset on the snow Nice shot of DoubleCone and the valley -SJA

I won! Awesome, thanks guys...i'm going to Nozawa!

I'm game to head up to Yuzawa on Sunday or Monday - anyone care to join? -SJA

You need to apply for the railpass in advance, travel agents can generally work it out for you. For the Bus to Hakuba at Nagano station, you can just buy tickets at the bus stop - no reservations needed. Check a map of Tokyo, Shinjuku is in central Tokyo. -SJA

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Not a peep out of the DJ surprisingly. Looks like they upgraded the sound system this year - it sounded better than I remember, but they still play J-pop. It wasn't overcrowded at all, especially in the morning. I found it to be good if you go the day before a workday (Sunday's, etc). -SJA

Ah man - why did you have to tell me that they have one here...now I have to go get me some.... I always love my trips to Australia - they have a Krsipy Kreame and a Starbucks in the Airport - the perfect combo... -SJA

After a good day bording, it was quite depressing to get off the Yamanote line at Meguro to see that the train in the opposite direction was stopped with a large crowd of spectators and some JR workers holding up a large tarp to hide a dead body. The windshield of the front of the train was shattered with blood stains, another suicide - death by Yamanote.... I'll never understand why Japanese salarymen throw themselves in front of trains like this. It makes you stop and think - and appreciate all the wonderful things we have to live for...I hope that guy didn't have a wife and kid

I always thought it was shuten - shinagawa (but maybe that's cause I always get off there.... -SJA

Motherhucker - Yea, I went solo , but good chance to work on my weak skillz. I've been avoiding switch for too long - eventually to progress you gotta do it. I think a lot of folks on the SJ forums prefer powder, but i don't mind the groomed stuff. Have fun, and throw up some pictures at the end of your day. Tsonda, yea - GALA. It wasn't bad at all - couldn't complain (except that my body is sore from head to toe). -SJA

Deciding whether to get the rail pass or not is a matter of math. It's not cheap, but if you are going to be on the shinkansen and JR a lot, then it might be worth it...just run some rough calculations. If you get the JR pass, I believe you can use it to catch the Azusa from Shinjuku to Hakuba directly. Otherwise the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano and bus transfer would work. The bus has space for luggage underneith the bus. Beware though that the Shinkansen/Azusa doesn't have space for bulky luggage. I've never had a probably buying lift passes with CC but not sure about ATM,

I decided to drag myself out of bed at 5am and head up to Yuzawa despite the lack of snow. Overall, the coverage was reasonable - not many bare spots at all, but towards the end of the day some parts got skiied off and ice started to show. They do need more snow. Here are some pics from the morning Early morning, avoid the crowds! Great view! Popcorn Shrimp anyone? The terrain park is fully functional (minus the half pipe). They have some nasty new jumps and rails - lots of potential consequences there so be safe. It started to snow around 2pm and

I was at Gala. I'll post more details in another thread with pics. I knew conditions were going to be less than ideal so I was focusing on improving my switch riding (as a result, i'm in total pain from eating sh$t numerous times). I'll post some pics in a minute. -SJA

I have one of those things and have only used it twice. I agree with the Fatwombat - they are uncomfortable, and it kept fogging up my goggles. Use a gater (neckwarmer) or get a good pow jacket that comes up high (That's what I got now). -SJA

It's really bizarre indeed. And some of the bus stops are a couple of minute walk from where you can buy tickets, meaning if you time it wrong - you will miss you intended bus and be waiting 30min in the cold for the next one. Lame. -SJA

It already started...it started snowing today while I was in Yuzawa at about 2pm. -SJA

Kewl...let me know if you are going and perhaps we can hook up. -SJA

I'm probably going again on Sun or Mon (holiday)...