sceats

just two words. 'personal choice' let the battle commence....

Was indeed reading between lines and certainly no hard feelings. Many thanks for all the advice.

i much prefer the rude approach! one knows where one is will take my gear and the wife to dig me out should 'me avalanche dowsing rod fail me.

You forgot to deconstruct my unhappy childhood. And surely you can’t fully pigeonhole me without mentioning my nationality? You have a fair point about jumping to conclusions; I mention a piece of what for me is new-fangled & modern equipment (was all with jumars in my day…) and you neatly profile my behaviour. It would be equally wrong for me to deduce that from 7k posts over 4 years you’ve too much time on your hands… Thanks for the kit advice – won’t have a chance to spend time in Tokyo on the route out may have to slum it in the massively overpriced dickheady London. Or u

I’m indeed listening, and am v thankful for the contribution. I certainly don’t want to be raped or hosed (!) and, as is wisely pointed out, I’ll have no clue where to go to get cheap gear, so all respondents have been most helpful. My contention wass, ironically, being recommended to stay off piste by your good self. Possibly someone who my ‘back ground and experiences (they) unfortunately know nothing about’ Many thanks all – will carry on my research & v much appreciate all the input.

To db le p – yeah – I’ve been on the Avalanche course, done the McNab backcountry week, had a bit of heli-boarding etc. and when referring to BC kit I mean probe, shovel, saw, survival blanket, matches, signalling device etc. (and rope, ice screws, harness, petzel gear if galacial…) just couldn’t be arsed to write it all. As for moment I step off piste, I’d respectfully disagree as to always needing BC kit. France yes, Austria mostly, Switzerland depends on canton, US rarely (possibly due to litigious nature of culture? Discuss…) – just wanted to know what Japan was like. Many thanks for the i

Thanks for bluntness; my question was whether in-bound non-groomed riding (as per alpine bowls in Whistler, most of Colorado etc) was plentiful, thereby negating need to venture out into BC (as in Whistler etc…) on a week-long jaunt, or whether the offpiste was ‘proper’, like the Alps, where you’d be fool to venture off marked runs without BC gear. Sorry if my flippancy offended your sobriety…

noted - many thanks!

Hello – am a newbie to this excellent forum although have been boarding a number of years and whilst on Terje, do like a bit of powder and backcountry action. I’m going to be coming out to Japan late Feb (which is flexible) and hoping to get 10days or so boarding in. Can any forum members help me with any of the below? 1 – is Niseko one of the best places for powder, resort and offpiste? 2 – when is it likely to be quietest in the resort yet have the good snow? (i.e. so I can avoid any school holidays, or likely thaws in late March!) 3 – how does the price of a board compare to th