donniemurdo
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Posts posted by donniemurdo
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Al,
bit off-topic but do you recommend any forums for scottish (/UK) snowboarding? i'm getting into it over here and want to keep going when i get back to scotland some time this year.
have a good time in japan. the snow (and food etc etc) is amazing here!
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Giving this a bump in case there's others in the same boat!
Apart from weekend 8th-9th March I'm free to go any weekend and maybe during week if I can get holiday. I'm also planning on taking a long break from work in late March or early April so might head to Hokkaido or somewhere up North still with plenty snow.
cheers
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I'm a beginner boarder and looking for folk to board with
I plan on getting at least 3 or 4 weekends and maybe a few midweek trips to the snow this season so if you are a beginner/intermediate (or advanced but I won't be able to keep up!) snowboarder in the Tokyo area and want to head out together then please send me a message - or reply here if you like.
I went to Nozawaonsen and I really liked it there and would be looking to go somewhere similar (not too busy, reasonable distance, lots of options for beginners).
Cheers
Donnie
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Thanks for the advice.
I'll see what's available bib wise and if the selection is duff then I'll go for snowboard trousers. How's the stuff from Mont Bell? Does anyone wear that? Their trousers are probably too tight.
I like the idea of the face mask to direct my breath downwards. I'll look for one of those.
I'd like to read some gear reviews etc online before I hit the shops. Can anyone point me in the direction of good online clothing/eqt reviews? Just tell me the name of the site and I'll google it.
Which brands are sold at a reasonable price in Japan? e.g. I found a .jp site with Sessions stuff and it was way more expensive than UK.
Also, anyone in Tokyo feeling kind enough to take a beginner gear shopping (probably this Sunday)?
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I'm a beginner (a whole 2 days boarding) and I'd like to try and get some basic gear.
I live in Tokyo so I can get to Jimbocho/Ogawamachi pretty easily if this is where the best prices are. I want to try stuff on before I buy - maybe I could try in the shop and order online if its cheaper.
I borrowed a pair of Burton Ronin cargo pants when I went boarding and they seemed pretty good. The problem is that I already have a jacket and it's a short North Face one so snow was getting into the gap and leaving me a bit damp. To keep costs down I'm thinking of getting bib/salopette style pants so that I can keep using my NF jacket. But I can't find any snowboard specific bib pants - are these available? In Japan? I found Mountain Equipment, Arcteryx and Mountain Hardwear bibbed pants online but they seem to be for climbing/skiing so I'm a bit concerned that the cut will be too restrictive and won't be so good for boarding. Also the bibs are pretty expensive so there might be not a lot of difference in price if I buy snowboard specific entry level jacket and trousers. Any opinions?
I'm also looking to get gloves and from my online searches it seems the DaKine and Burton ones look good. I think the 'low profile' type would suit me better - can you wear thin gloves underneath these for extra warmth?
Goggles would be good too but I wear glasses so I'd need to be sure they aren't going to steam up! The ones I hired (cheap crap I think - Folio?) at Nozawa steamed up right away and were useless for me. Any recommendations on a reasonably priced pair that will fit over glasses and be suitable for a range of conditions?
I'm going to try (!) and set a budget of
pants/salopettes - 20,000 to 30,000
gloves - 5,000 to 10,000
goggles - 5,000 to 10,000
Does that sound doable?
I'm not bothered about it being the latest stuff.
Cheers
Donnie
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Originally Posted By: SJ#1The normal lessons that they offer are 4000 yen for the day (3000 yen for half a day), but you might drop on lucky and get an instructor who can talk some English and be willing to do so.
This is what I did. I got very lucky and my instructor (Itaru?) spoke excellent English and got me a flying start.
My lesson was on Fri so it was pretty quiet and there were only 3 of us in the group. The other 2 were a Hawaiian/Japanese mother and her 10 year old daughter so the lesson was pretty much entirely in English. Also, they only did a half-day so the afternoon turned into a private lesson and we went up the gondola and by the end of the day I was carving down the beginner runs Great stuff.
The snow conditions were excellent (though the weather wasn't so great) and I'd recommend Nozawa for beginners. It's also a nice village and the onsen are pretty cool/hot!
Thanks for updating the lessons page for Nozawa SJ1. -
Originally Posted By: wattiewatsonI dont think Nozawa has insurance included in the ticket price or as an option. However i dont buy day passes so im not sure.
matt
My girlfriend asked at the lift pass booth and was told that insurance wasn't included at nozawa and wasn't available as an extra.
Originally Posted By: IndoI just paid 1,500 for the bells and whistles insurance for 6 days Hokkers trip with AIU for winter sports.
That's a good tip, thanks!
Luckily it turns out my secondment insurance does include winter sports
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Fair point about updating the site. I wanted to see if others agreed with my point of view before raising it as a problem but I've emailed the SJ site editor.
Donnie
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Based on the page http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/nozawa-ski-school.html I booked a 2-day trip to Nozawa Onsen. A workmate went at new year and got ski lessons in English (from a Japanese instructor) as part of the public group lesson for 4,000 Yen per day. I emailed nozawa ski school and this was part of the reply:
"While we have general Snowboarding lessons, they're most likely taught
by non-English speaking instructors. For English lessons, the lessons
will be done in private lessons and they cost \20,000 for a full day"
Are they trying to get me to stump up a lot of money for a private (which would be a group of one so all costs bourne by me!) lesson? Is the instructor likely to have little English and be frustrated if a non-Japanese speaker joins the public lessons group? I told them the day I am going to want lessons so I'd expect they would know which instructor was going to take the public group lesson so could give me a definitive answer.
I found a different lessons provider which is a more reasonable 11,000 per day but still not as cheap as the 4,000 that my friend paid!
It's a bit frustrating but I should have checked with nozawa skischool before booking the trip.
I think the nozawa-ski-school.html page should be changed to say they will only guarantee an English lesson if a private lesson is booked.
Donnie
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Thanks for the responses.
I've asked my employer to check if winter sports are included in my insurance - probably not.
I bought insurance from the Japanese tour company. It was pretty cheap at 2,500 Yen.
I'll also get insurance with my lift pass if it's possible. I'll confirm here when I get back.
Donnie
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Hi folks,
First post so be gentle please! I searched the forum for an answer to this but couldn't find any.
I'm going to Nozawa Onsen on 24th Jan for 3 days for my first time snowboarding and I'm a bit concerned about insurance.
What do foreigners who are living in Japan and go snowboarding/skiing do for medical/emergency insurance?
I'm here in Japan as an intra-company transferee on a 1 year working visa. I have general medical insurance provided by my employer in UK but it doesn't cover any winter sports. I don't have any Japanese health insurance.
My friend recently went to Nozawa and claims that he got insurance with his lift pass. Can someone confirm if this is true? Do I need to pay any extra on top of the base lift pass cost? What should I ask for when I get the lift pass to make sure I get insurance included?
Ideally I'd like to get insurance with the lift pass (if I can!) but otherwise I'll need to get separate trip insurance. Are there any providers (AIU etc) that you'd recommend?
I'm looking forward to my first trip up into the Japanese mountains
Cheers,
Donnie
Parker in March?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Aye you're probably right! I used to ski maybe twice a year in my teens (over 10 years ago) and the conditions were crap compared to what I saw at Nozawa. I remember school trips to Cairngorm having to go to the Lecht cos there was sod all snow and on one trip there was no snow anywhere so we had to go to some rank amusement centre in Aviemore instead