[Reasons why we RIDE in japan]

Regular powder days, almost guaranteed when coming here in the peak season on a holiday

[A couple takkyubin questions...]

Generally you the advice we have been given by Takkyubin when sending gear for our client is if you want it delivered to an airport you need to send it 2 days before the flight, anywhere else is overnight.

 

In your case you would need to send it on the 17th to get to Haneda on the 19th. Hope this helps.

[What you love/hate about your snowboard boots!]

I'm another Salomon converter. When I was looking for my last pair of boots tried multiple brands then i put some Salomon Dialogues on my feet and never looked back.

Theyve served me very well for almost 40 riding days now as an all mountain boot.

 

Positives

Theyre the perfect fit for my foot, I can easily wear them for a whole day with no issues, or loosening the boots at any stage. Theyre just like comfortable shoes. I get no heel lift, theyre reasonably light, the mid/soft flex makes hiking quite comfortable.

They dont pack out much so you can pretty much get the right size meaning youre comofortable from day one.

Im a fan of the speed lacing system they use. You can easily adjust pressure in the lower and upper zones. Apparently its a slightly slower lace system to use but for the adjustability and minimal things that can go wrong its not an issue at all. The laces stay tight pretty much for the whole day, i rarely find my self readjusting my laces during the day due to them getting looser.

 

Negatives

Tread could be a bit better when hiking,

There could be a little pocket for the lace holder but its a very minor thing

 

For my next boot, I might my look at something a little stiffer maybe the F20 or F22 but it will be dependant on the fit and what my next board will be. I guess Salomons are greats boots for me but everyones feet are different so trying the boots on is the only real advice I can provide.

[When is Winter coming...?]

Snowing heavily in Hakuba village atm, about 10cm in the village in the last 3hrs, its meant to get heavier overnight. Looking like Xmas Day Powder Day.

 

Merry Xmas All.

[When is Winter coming...?]

Got to Hakuba on Wed, town looked snow free except some white stuff on the peaks. Overnight we got 20cm in town and 30-40cm at the top of Happo One, conditions were very good for the 2 lifts that were open. Looks like this is the beginning of the season now. Expecting more snow tonight, with peaks of sunshine tomorrow. Not expecting the whole mountain to be opened until the next storm cycle next week.

[Buying my first board?]

Wow this has turned into a bit of a sh!t fight kinda funny.

 

Totally agree with Ippy, board size is predominately determined by your weight.

 

Here is a couple of good write ups on choosing the right board and different camber profiles

 

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boards/889-faq-s-equipment-guides-please-read.html

 

Camber types

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/boards/37496-rocker-camber-everything-between.html

 

 

My advice would be:

 

Board size - 155 -158 size wise especially if your going to put some weight on in the future. This should provide you with a versatile board for most conditions.

Size 10.5 boot you dont need a wide board. A little bit of toe overhang is not a bad thing eg 10mm toe and heal. You can always adjusted the overhang based on your stance angles.

Camber - I moved to the Never Summer Rocker-Camber Profile. This provides the advantages of rocker while still allowing good carving and charging on groomers by providing normal camber past the bindings. Libtech and Nitro boards have similar systems.

 

Personally i wouldnt buy a pure rocker board, it would be a bit too washy for me, mind you im not a park rat.

 

As people mentioned, comfortable boots are most important in the whole setup, no one can recommend you boots, you have to try them on.

Single BOA setups can be limiting to some people as you cant set different lacing pressure to different zones, which can create problems for some peopls. Dual BOA setup is better.

Otherwise speed laces allow you to set different lacing pressures to different areas.

Traditional laces allow all the pressure fine tunning you like, just take the longest to put on.

 

FYI

Im 188 cm, 84 kg I ride a 161 Never Summer SL, I was recommended to go down to 158, I went with the 161 to get be slightly more stable at higher speeds when crusing groomers. This board handles all terrain very well and is quite mobile for its size especially in the trees.

[2011/12 Who, When, Where? - A Definitive J-List]

Ill be spending the whole season in Hakuba from 15 December

[3 resort season pass?]

So im going to be working this upcoming in Hakuba, looking at getting the Happo One early bird season pass as that will the resort ill ride the most

 

Does that mean with I could also use it at Nozawa Onsen and Shiga Kogen?

I take it there is no other season pass linking at least Iwatake and Happo?

 

 

The JTB pass comes out closer to winter it is 50000 yen though not 39000 yen. There were rumors last season that Tsugaike might be off the pass this season. That would lower the value of the pass to people living in Hakuba. Tsugaike offers a cheap pass early season for 30000yen.

 

JTB Season Pass sales started on October 7, 2011. Pass includes 26 resorts, including some big names such as:

 

Gala Yuzawa

Akakura Onsen (Kumado area)

Tangram Ski Circus

Tsugaike

Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field (previously known as Hakuba Iwatake Ski-jo)

Hakuba Cortina

Hakuba Sanosaka

Hakuba Norikura Onsen

Ryuoo Ski Park

X-JAM Takaifuji

 

Pass price is JPY 49,800. They also have a book of 15 tickets for JPY 35,000 which can be used at most resorts except for Tsugaike, Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field, and Ryuoo Ski Park. The lift tickets can only be redeemed by the purchaser, but can get multiple tickets at the same resort for the same day.

 

Do you have web link to this season pass?

[Current Snowboard gear prices in Japan?]

Originally Posted By: iiyamadude

Originally Posted By: ippy

Also remember as well though that come the time people are gearing up in japan it will be off season for you guys. I dont know your market, but you get 2012 earlier than us, so that should mean discounted 2012 gear in aus versus full price (or marginally discounted) here.

Interesting that.
Generally what time of year do manufacturers release first batches of "new" gear, considering that it's on season somewhere in the world.

Southern Hemisphere now gets the new season gear first, in time for it's snow season.

That is 2012 gear started being stocked in shops in Australia from May this year depending on which delivery schedules of the manufacturers.

It used to be that we wouldnt get 2012 gear until it was released in the northen hemishpere.

Sales in shops are a bit random, the biggest savings are not neccesairly for the end of the Australian season. There is also sales for the start and end of the northen hemisphere season as a lot of people travel north to the snow. So the shops actually get business more or less all year round.

So our purchase is pretty much sorted.
Buy boots in Aus. If they provide a good overal deal/discount for a whole boot/binding/board package get it here. If not buy the board and binding online, already got stores and sellers lined up. The saving might not necessarily be big but you can definitely get better gear for the same price

Thanks for the help guys

[Current Snowboard gear prices in Japan?]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like its more practical to get gear for my girlfriend beforehand.

[11/12 Japan ski/snowboard plans]

Looking at spending the season in Hakuba, should be nice break from real life

[Current Snowboard gear prices in Japan?]

Hi

 

Ive been to Japan on three previous occasions for the snow, love the place hence me and my girlfriend are coming up to spend the upcoming season there.

 

From my previous visits Ive always found the snowboard gear to be quite expensive if anything on par with the local prices in Australia especially in Hakuba itself with limited range. Ive spent a short time looking at snow gear in Tokyo in the snow shop area near Akihabara (forget the exact name of the district) and from memory it was cheaper than at mountains but nothing super cheap (when compared to say electronic goods), at least the range was extensive.

 

Were looking at beg-mid level gear for my girlfriend (board, binding and boots) – from major brands eg Ride, K2, Nitro, GNU etc

 

Using a combination of local stores and online we can get the gear before coming for 60,000 – 75 000 Yen (Based on current exchange rates). We know what we want, sizing for my girlfriend in Japan shouldn’t be a problem.

 

So my question is should we wait and buy the gear in Tokyo, Osaka or Nagano or get it before coming? Are we likely to save any money based on the above figures?

 

I assume stock levels for females especially in early/mid December should be still good. We will have only 1 day max to buy the gear in Japan, before heading into the mountains.

 

If the saving levels are minimal I'd much prefer to buy beforehand to not worry about it once we get Japan.

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

PS I have searched the site, no threads really answered my question, especially relating to current prices.