Slippery Jim

Sad news, Dave & Andrew, but wish the best for you. Thanks for a lot of fun and entertainment over the years and apologies for not contributing more myself. And regards and best to all the forums characters out there. If you see a scruffy old fart with short white hair in a Tokyo bar (especially the Naka Meg Taproom) some evening, or an inept skier with an orange or yellow (not sure which it'll be this season) jacket and bright blue pants, and probably a red mountain hardware cap, yell ``SJ''

10k is waterproof, but 10k ``breathability'' is pretty low. just as important is the DWR (durable water-resistant) coating on the outer fabric. You can be dry on the inside, but if the outer fabric is soaking up water you're not going to be very comfortable. There's a couple of terrific essays on outerwear you can find at the blistergear review site, which will tell you more than you really want to know. the 201is the more useful, the 101 is very techie about the relative performance of various waterproof membranes like Gore-tex, eVent, etc.

+1

$180 for 5 star accommodation in the middle of Tokyo would indeed be a bargain! And Metropolitan Marunouchi would certainly be a convenient place to stay, and if you're a member of one of their clubs you could get a twin room for about that price. But 5*? JR's Metropolitan chain? Fuhgeddabbodit!

Hotel Villa Fontaine chain has inns in Jimbocho & Otemachi (actually the Jimbocho side of Otemachi) both in the ski/outdoor/sports shopping district, plenty of neat little eating venues. think you can book through either the hotels dot c or booking dot c websites. Places are clean, inexpensive businessman-type lodging. Couple of places in the Central chain around Kanda station (again, near the ski shopping) including New Central, same booking options or search in the Kanda district on google maps. SunRoute is always a decent choice, several choices from that chain in Tokyo. All depends on

Rusutsu/Teine Dec 1&2 Niseko Jan 5-8 & 12-16 Nothing decided after that, but looking to do a Nagano road trip in late Jan or early Feb, and likely several trips to Niseko/Rusutsu/Furano

Good to see!

Excellent choice! Enjoy, and let us know how it goes.

I've got a family/friends visit to NY next month won't be doing any heavy duty shopping.

Does look a bit like it.

Your turn for some good times coming, Snowhuntress. Ride it out and things will get better.

:thumbsup: great stuff!!

Mt Rush Less

Well done, as always, Muika. BTW, those rock outcroppings on the way to Nakanojo look even better in winter when topped with snow. Sort of Kappa-esque.

Everybody cut, everybody cut cut, everybody cut footloose!

I'm giving some thought to gearing up and taking a shot at back country, not because of any ``earn your turns'' nonsense but due to the overcrowding at Hokkaido resorts that's making it more and more difficult to get the goods.

Most Japanese resorts offer ``kaisu-ken'' usually 10 to 12 rides that can be used over any visits during the season.

Damn, looking like a good start, Mag7. :thumbsup:

Takasu fans may want to check out Groupon for an offer of lift pass / drink / onsen for Y2,100 weekdays

I noticed this trend well before Abe and his nomics came around. I'm just saying that this is a type of inflation that hasn't been accounted for. fourshore!

Put'em on the Yamanote with a couple of cases of Kirin and instruction to keep riding until the beer's all gone

Black Mt, that's been going since well before Abenomics. Quantities (and qualities) heading downward while prices basically remained the same. Almost any packaged item you buy now contains less than it did 5 years ago, at the same price, and probably doesn't taste, work or last as good as before.

+1 on Hakuba given your reqs.