Greenroome

Thanks Mike. Seems like great value to me.

Originally Posted By: Soft Landings You can get a K winter pass that from will let you access Rusutsu Resort, Sapporo Teine, Sahoro Resort and Nakayama Toge Ski Area. Not a bad range of options if you are based in Sapporo! K winter pass Does anyone know what this year's earlybird price for the K Winter Pass is? From the Kamori website I can tell that it's available from the 1st of October to the 16th of November, but my Japanese is shaite and I can't read the price. Anyone? Any general info on this pass would be appreciated too. I plan on using it for Teine until mid-Feb, and

Oh dear. A couple of those bowls match, GG. You've shattered my perception of you as some hard-core, grungy rock dude.

It doesn't seem to have a wind forecast though. Any sites give that?

I only got here in May, so I dunno. It looks like the 'precipitation radar' should give a 6hr snowfall forecast. Snowfall might show under 'precipitation' in the hourly stats page too, so you could see how much fresh fell by the hour overnight. Btw, thanks for getting this thread back on topic Thursday. It was feeling like the Sahara.

... and beautiful again today. Sunny and 27. The humidity in Sapporo at 1pm was 37% - the lowest I've seen this summer on the JMA website. What a cracking website it is! Shipping gale warnings, hour by hour stats, and a very reliable 6hr rain radar.

S'like ridin' a bike. Takes time to get your balance. No tips will save you lookin' like a kook for a month or so. Just practise your 'I meant to get off my board - I felt like a dip' facial expressions.

Originally Posted By: tsondaboy I am able to catch shoulder size waves on a longboard by now, but I could not catch a single wave all weekend on the shortboard (5.8). You'll need to take off later and steeper than you did on the mal, Tsondaboy. You can get a bit of a boost by jamming the tail of your board underwater into the base of the wave face before you start paddling. Tricky, but worthwhile. Once you've perfected it, you can even catch the odd wave without paddling - handy after three hours when your arms have turned to jelly but it's too good to go in.

Re-reading my post, it reads like Viz-style innuendo. I actually am interested in the diet of a trucker, since the offerings you see in most roadhouses are so dismal.

And how was your diet? Eat many battered savs?

Originally Posted By: Ezorisu Originally Posted By: Greenroome Been beautiful sunny 27 most days here in Sapporo, with warm outdoor evenings that I would easily trade Perth's (West Australia) summer evenings for. I don't know about that - it was overcast and rainy for the past several weeks in Sapporo until the beginning of this week... Rainy? No. There were showers and it was overcast at times, but I've ridden to work 9 days out of 10. I haven't bought a travel card for about six weeks. The showers have rarely lasted more than an hour.

Been beautiful sunny 27 most days here in Sapporo, with warm outdoor evenings that I would easily trade Perth's (West Australia) summer evenings for.

I'm not joking, folks here in Sapporo seem to start getting edgy if there hasn't been a festival for a day or two. I recently thought I'd made it through a day's riding around without riding into the middle of festival, and then I turned a corner and rolled straight into what appeared to be a fire services festival. It had extendo-ladder rides for the kids, 'see if you can hold on to this high-pressure hose' challenges, 'try and light these flame-retardant babies clothes' opportunities, and a jazz band smack in the middle of it. The winner for me was the smoke alarm demo tent. I was ushered in

Sapporo is ace. Friendly people, great bars, virtually flat for cycling, and a festival around every corner. You've just missed the beer festival featuring the attack of the six-litre Kirin beer towers (marketing genius), but you're right on time for the 'Sapporo Autumn Fest - since 2008'! http://www.welcome.city.sapporo.jp/english/event/september.html#autumnfest Enjoy...

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver I'm maybe not being clear about what I mean. So I won't try to muddy the waters anymore, but the fact is I don't believe in this "offsetting" nonsense that has sprung up. Give us extra money so yo can feel less guilty about the pleasures you take part in....screw that!! I like meat I offset my flight in May from Oz to Japan through Greenfleet. I paid about 40 bucks and they organized some cubs or girl guides to plant a dozen mixed-species native trees on degraded saline ex-farmland for me, thus re-building habitat for struggling native fauna, removin

There's no way I would set foot inside a fake skiing joint unless they gave me an independently verified guarantee that 100% of their power comes from renewable sources. Same goes for wave pools, fake kayaking rapids, and (if the global warming predictions continue getting grimmer and grimmer) maybe even nighta. It's gonna be tough enough breaking our fossil fuel habit as it is. Apparently the dudes in Perth, West Australia are gonna use renewable.

I miss swinging the axe too, Soubriquet. I love it when you really hit the grain you were aiming for and the round splits so easily you could have used a quarter of the force and still aced it. And then there's the challenge of choosing an entry point to split a round with a nasty knot through it. Unfortunately, in Mama Bear's neck of the woods (my home town too), the burgeoning population growth has seen a ban imposed on the installation of any new wood combustion heaters. Won't stop me and my axe - I'll be moving to a village on the south coast on my return. Nothing like dry split jarr

Originally Posted By: Mr Wiggles This begs the question, what do they call lesbians on Lesbos? 'Mate' ?

I'm in Sapporo, and we just had an earthquake. Anyone else feel it?

We want you! We want you! We want you as a new recruit! It's perfect! We'll call it 'Dance Force'! Snow glistening in the light of the disco ball, two inch platform tele-army boots... heck, the music system's already there! Do you have an agent, co hiker? I've been around the game a bit. This could launch you. It's gonna be big, I can feel it!

Mmmmm, tele-skiing... disco on ice.

Have a great trip, MB. For all Oz's snowfield faults, there is definitely something very special about skiing through groves of gum trees. Spun me out.

I paid AU$1800 for Perth>Sapporo return with Qantas in May this year. Seats were available on any flight, and the plane was only two thirds full. Qantas didn't seem too interested in the flight - it was a JAL plane (code-share). I read shortly after that Qantas has decided to reduce the number of flights between Oz and Japan.

I'll bet you're glad you're going to Thredbo second, not first, Mama Bear. Check out the news story called 'Unreliable snowfalls prompt business rethink' on Page 2 (july 7) at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/video (apologies for this not being a direct link - I'm getting used to a Mac. What I wouldn't give for a right click) Along with woeful images of grassy pistes and exhausted snow-making machines, there is some classic archival footage of sixties cats grooving in the chalet by the fire.

Being from Perth, I know what you're talking about, JA. Travelling to snow is a big deal and that's why, for the third time in my life, I'm here in another country getting ready for a season. Short trips leave me stoked but longing for more. Snow is far more important than career for me. And seeing first snowfall right through to Spring slush is a beautiful thing. I think that's what Charlotte is talking about - a whole season. My main aim is not to blow my money before the season ends, so that means backpackers, supermarkets, buses, shoe-shines, in-store appearances, organ sales, book-si