Slippery Jim

Good on you, MB. Here's hoping there's something to karma.

Sunrise, due to my clumsiness we this year had to replace a couple of the bath wall panels. Apart from the materials cost, I was pleasantly surprised that the labor cost was fairly low -- two workers, most of a full day, and they had to completely remove the tub, replace the wall panels, then put it all back together again. Just FYI on possible costs.

Good eats, and the breads are outstanding!

I don't think he's talking about some mom & pop place. You can rent excellent skis in Niseko for a reasonable price, Hakuba also. Many other place have yet to catch on to the business model, but I'd be surprised if they don't within the next few seasons.

A good at-mountain shop with a variety of high-end demo gear where you can swap out a couple of times in a day -- good deal for trying out a few models to see if they're what you want. Typical low/mid-range gear where it would be a PITA to swap, not worth it IMHO.

Hertz is free, Muika. (For the wash anyway)

Yes! (to all the above)

Hertz washes my cars (or sometimes Avis)

Sierra floods me with `deal' emails almost every day

So, when do we get to the really spicy stuff?

To get back to the OP, yes if you're adept at traversing you can get from the top of the Annupuri Jumbo lift all the way over past the top of the hooded triple and access Miharashi/Hanazono. Why you would want to do that is an entirely different question, to which I've no answer.

Not exactly giving away any big secrets there, Mike.

You mean pastry'd it in, of course.

This whole topic now needs a spoiler alert

Traffic out of Sapporo in the morning can be . . . tiresome.

Goryu (but didn't we do this a few months back?)

Book Now! Dude, that's soooooo late. I booked months ago

Yeah, still very prime powder season. I will be skipping a good part of the Chinese New Year/Sapporo Snow Festival crush, though, so it's not all bad. And JMA is still forecasting probable colder/snowier than ``normal'' for Dec-Feb so I choose to believe there will still be some good powder days here when I get back in mid-Feb.

Four days each in St Anton & Davos in early February, Muika. Very excited, this is a trip that's been on-again/off-again for five or six years since a good ski-pal moved to Zurich. Early Feb wasn't my first choice for timing, but it's what my friend can do. Probably on my own in St Anton, then with pal en famile in Davos. My goal is to ski every lift from St Anton to Schroken/Warth, and have a beer in every bar in the village I certainly hope so, Mr W. Did a lot of research and have talked extensively with some Europe-based skiers about conditions (seems to be expect anything from

Nordica Hell & Back. I wanted something versatile for my trip to Europe this season, to handle everything from hardpack to a decent dump. My powder skis don't double as high-speed groomer cruisers, and the Nordicas will open the door to switching out my current all-mountain skis for more of a specialty carving model. (Hi, my name is Slippery Jim and I'm a gear addict!)

Much appreciated, Team SJ

Pulled the trigger on a new pair of skis today

If you've never driven in winter, suggest you take the train. Hakuba in winter is NOT a green run!

If you want to hit Niseko, rebook a place to stay there. The bus trip from Sapporo is 2+ hours one-way. See the Places to Stay menu up top.

At the top of this page you'll see a line of drop-down menus; third from left is titled Places to Stay...