HelperElfMissy

Soubriquet, Bizarrely enough we ran into the family we bought our current house from in Niseko...LOL!!! Sandgropper central huh? Thursday, yeah - we are flying from and to Tokyo as a family - not only cheaper, a darn site easier to organize. We tried to book on the Cassiopea Tokyo to Sapporo (talk about impossible to do from outside the country!). But 'His Injuredness is a train trip fanatic, so it will be more for the train expereince than the physical relocation... go figure - me? it would be the plane!! And I am sure he will be giving the Onsens a work out - we didn't do them

First touched snow in Niseko in April 07 Had 2 snowboard lessons and managed to do not much more than a falling leaf, but was bitten by the snow-bug. Thredbo in July for a week - lessons - ouch ICE! But finally mastered linking turns and managed to do that with the odd fall down the intermediate runs (love High Noon). Bought a K2 girly board, girly bindings and some comfortable as sin Van's Boa's. Thredbo again in August for 5 days - no lessons this time - but worked on weaknesses, bought a helmet and added some speed. Back to Niseko this January - and SO excited!! I

That is an interesting thought....It never occured to me to hire a car and drive ourselves - primarily due to lack of snow driving experience - I mean driving in Niseko in January is hardly the same as driving at Thredbo is it? At least you can SEE the road 99.9% of the time... But it is certainly worth considering ..."InvalidBear" would be thrilled! Just not so sure I can drag the bear cubs away from the slopes...??LOL His Injuredness was contemplating jumping on a train from Sapporo to Tokyo and perhaps even further on and leaving us to it for a week....but I am not sure how

I looked at the ass-armour and wondered if it was any good for those of us not inclined to be playing in the parks ... but then realized that MY ass did not need to be seen to be any bigger than it already is!! LOL I am however taking gel knee pads this time round as my knee's go black every trip. I tend to get up toe edge (old chubby guts struggles with the heel - although I am determined to master it this trip), and I have a blood clotting disorder - so bruises are plentiful!! Every protection possible I say. Hubby swears by the gloves with built in wrist guards too! Coz ur

Movendi, I am an old duck with 4 kids - never saw snow before April 07 and I picked up snowboarding OK - with your background on ski's as a kid and your young age - you will be trying to tackle the tree's before long!! But get those lessons and wear a helmet! Sometimes just a small adjustment from an instructor will take you from rabble to rythym, and the helmet is gonna give you a bit extra psychological confidence as well as provide real protection for your grey matter. Hope Hakuba is great fun!

We are a family of 6 heading back to Niseko this Jan. Hubby and 2 x teen boys were there in Jan 07 for a few days, with all of us (me and the 2 primary age boys makes 6)taking a 10 day trip in early April 07. Loved it so much we booked for 16 full on snow days (plus travel either side and a week in Tokyo) for us and 2 other families. That's great. But Hubby is now OUT - an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction a couple of weeks ago rules him out for not only THIS coming northern winter but also southern winter 08!!!! Just flaming lucky that this newbie boarder made 2 trips to Thr

We have had this happen to us before as well, but in Aus! Card security is a little lax everywhere, but I was truly stunned that the Seikomart in Niseko processed credit cards without having to sign for anything, or having to enter a PIN!! While it meant a quick transaction it did leave me wondering what would happen if my Credit Card got 'lost'...