tripler

Originally Posted By: best skier in hakuba They built a shinkansen station in Hakuba overnight? Cool! The Shinkansen goes to Nagano Station, not Hakuba. ok trainspotter, whatever the fast one's called. Azumino express?

Originally Posted By: skidaisuki unless of course you have a JR Rail Pass, in which case obviously use the shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Nagano, then a one hour bus to Hakuba. also a few shinkansen direct from Shinjuku station (in Tokyo) to Hakuba - about 3.5 hours.

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy Matsumoto > Shinoumachi (just changing trains) Shinoumachi > Hakuba I think you mean Shinano-Omachi. But most trains from Matumoto to Hakuba are direct Quote: **this is assuming that Matsumoto Airport doesnt close down anytime soon** Yes, support Matsumoto airport! They wanted to drop the Sapporo route because no one uses it but the government said No. This is a key link to ski Hakuba AND Niseko on the same trip, just like OP and... (No trouble getting at window seat!

you could fly Sapporo to Matusmoto then get a train from Matsumoto to Hakuba. Fast train 1 hour, normal 1hr 45mins+/-. Don't know if there's a Matsumoto airport to station shuttle. Taxi would cost around 5000 yen. There is a normal bus (450 yen) but you might be waiting around for it. Regular train from Matsumoto is about 1000 yen, double for the fast one. The flight might cost around 20,000 yen but it depends a lot on how far ahead and which days you book it. All in all it should be quicker than going to Tokyo but no idea if it's cheaper.

Originally Posted By: bobby12 I dont know if you legally Have to Have it here like in UK. In the UK you have to insure it and that's separate from road tax and MOT. 3rd party's the cheapest, covering you for damage to other cars but not your own. So with just shaken if you cause an accident you've got to pay it out of your own pocket? Doesn't sound very good. I only want a car to do a few short day ski trips. Got to have 4wd, snow tires, cost 100,000-150,000 yen (and be able to fit a snowboard!). But it sounds like there'll be quite a lot of other expenses. Is new plates and change o

So if you buy a 2nd hand car with a year's shaken left on it, it's good to go? Or do you *have* to get the actual car body and road tax basic insurance you mentioned? How much would that be for a cheap K-car?

Does shaken include insurance? Are the any other upfront costs to running a car in Japan?

Originally Posted By: Skidmark runs that haven't been compacted by machine (not sure on the technical term for this) ungroomed

YOUki Reports

is the vertical drop at SK really only 400 odd meters? I was surprised to read that somewhere because the top lift goes higher than Hakuba, which has a vertical drop of 1100.

funny how guys so proud to be grown ups are happy to be treated like children.

at 47?

feel the same about safety bars on chair lifts. I never use the gay bar.

Originally Posted By: Mamabear I don't understand the reluctance to belt up - it does not have to be really tight and uncomfortable... Same as the reluctance to not duck the ropes. Too many rules and regulations.

I usually try to get away with not wearing one on take-off or landing. If the plane crashes you're probably going to die anyway.

thanks, Jynxx

didn't think it was worth starting a new thread for this... Does ãã‚…ã—ã‚ã„ mean steep slope?

Originally Posted By: SKI It is great to see where the hotels are as well, that was kind of lacking until now. Big improvement. I don't see any hotels. This is Hakuba http://www.snowjapan.com/e/japan-ski-town-maps/hakuba-village/hakuba-village.html Clicking on individual squares doesn't give me any hotels either. Am I in the wrong place?

How about having links to the relevant webcams on the Daily Weather Report pages? I'm pretty sure there are webcam links for quite a few resorts somewhere on the site but it would be nice to have all the weather stuff in one place.

I was looking at that one before but it only goes high-res on small parts of the map. You can't see how different areas join together.

Anyone got a hi-res piste map of Shiga Kogen?

it's funny how on Sun Alpina's website they recommend taking two bus connections from Shinano Omachi when a close-up on google maps reveals it's definitely walkable from Yamano station. I didn't realise it's a decent sized resort. Thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted By: bobby12 the sun alpina season ticket is very cheap and it is good if you are coming up from the south (matsumoto / omachi). you can walk there from the train station Which station is that?

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy Originally Posted By: tripler Originally Posted By: TJ OZ And for some fresh stuff does anyone ski that? yes, people start hiking that around now. Judging from reports you could get pow runs for prolly 800-1000 meters of vert. I'm tempted to pop up and try it when my gear arrives in the post. Do people hike from the bottom of the north face route or get the gondola? Any avalanche risk?

Originally Posted By: RobBright Do you mean photos of members or members photos like a strip show calendar? Photos of members' members would be a bit gay... (Thought I did ask my colleagues to do a 2008-09 team photo in their work wear and another in the same pose in the onsen wearing only their birthday suits but they're weren't up for it.) But on a serious note, it would be a challenge for the snappers out there to capture in a recognisable feature of each resort in the classic POW explosion shot, which are great but could be anywhere.