Hotaka Scott

Has a very strong sulpher odor mixed with the usual car exhaust. Burns the nose a bit.

Hakuba 47 has a program that gives you access to some legal tree runs. The link is in Japanese but, http://www.hakuba47.co.jp/2009winter_ja/chose/dbdkiyaku.php

Not a town but a tunnel - midway between Oyashirazu and Hakuba on route 148.

The parrot knew the husbands name, ergo the husband had been a customer at the brothel. Whatever humor value this had (if any), is now long gone.

It's frowned upon, as to be expected, but not uncommon. The more considerate folks will use their phone between train cars.

"We all have to remember, regardless if our friends die in the mountains or on the street or in the hospital or whatever, that being dead isn't necessarily bad." - interview with ski mountaineer Ptor Spricenieks from Feb/March '08 issue of Backcountry Magazine

Few years back I was doing quite a bit of flying with skiis and in most every case the airline tried to charge extra for the boot bag. Yet on their web page it clearly stated that skiis + boot bag = 1 piece of check in luggage. Started to carry a copy of their policy which made things a bit smoother since in most cases I don't think the airline staff is aware of their own policy, especially if your departure point isn't a ski town. Flying out of Jackson Hole was one of the few times there were no problems as everyone was checking in skiis and boards.

Just a bit of a dnurken afterthought, but 43 isn't old - it's apparently the new 33 (or something like that). Was out for a full day of skinning/skiing today with 3 other guys ranging in age from 50 to 67 and they were doing circles around me.

Originally Posted By: stemik Originally Posted By: Black Mountain As an example. From the Goryu website: If you want to ride half day for free at Goryu just stand around the ticket machines around lunch time and when someone returns their full day ticket to get their deposit back just offer to pay them the 1000Y. You'd be surprised how easy it is! Not very good to do this...espcially if your caught Just out of curiousity, what would happen if you got caught?

Originally Posted By: chairmanoftheboard edit:any recommends on 2nd hand skis, gear etc? cheers Aside from the classifieds here and on other forums, there's always 2nd hand shops and good ole fashioned gomi hunting. Also some of the smaller/local ski shops will have older model gear going for pretty cheap. ICI Sports (Matsumoto) had a 2 year old model boot, size 28 going for 70% off that I kick myself for not getting at the time.

More parrot humor: A lady wants to get a pet parrot but they're all a bit expensive so she asks the pet shop owner if he has any discount parrots. The owner has a parrot that spent most of its life in a brothel so the owner is willing to sell it cheap since it knows mostly foul language. The lady figures she'll save a little money and buys the parrot. When she gets home the parrot says, "Oh, new madam! Hello new madam." Later that day her 2 daughters come home from high school and the parrot says, "Oh, new girls. Hello girls." Then in the evening her husband comes home from wor

The height/weight ratio conjures up a nice, upright, old-school style tele stance. Just add lurk and Paul Parker cap. But in all seriousness, if chairmanoftheboard is looking for a new challenge this is one option. I reckon its a bit more physically demanding than snowboarding and alping skiing, but therein lies the fun. As for getting down some basic skiing skills and then moving on to tele, a lot of alpine skiers found it hard "break old habits" when trying out tele at first. I too had this problem in my first few outings so if its something you're considering, it may be better just

182 cm + 71 kg + 43 yrs old + very fit = telemark

Just from personal experience, I've got both skiis and boots that are well past the 6 year mark. Aside from the usual dents, dings, and a little odor, they're still good to use.

Was wondering if any fellow backcountry skiiers have any advice for keeping snow buildup off the top of my skiis when breaking trail in powder. After a few hours of this it feels like I'm dragging anchors. The only advice I've gotten so far is to use car wax on the top sheet but was wondering if anyone had any other tricks. Thanks.

Black Diamond also offers perscription goggles for around $200 USD. http://www.bdel.com/gear/goggles.php