tmc_girls 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Hi, I'm a freestyle skier from Whistler, Canada and this will be my first season training and competing in Japan. Does anyone know which resort has the best halfpipe? preferably around nagano area...Thanks if anyone can help. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I know that the half-pipe used for the winter olympics here has dissappeared. There is one at 47 in Hakuba Village, Nagano. Maybe others nearby, but don't know. You'll have to wait for the Hakuba locals and others in that area for that answer. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 the best pipes are in Gifu. I think at Takasu Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs Egg 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 They seem to be less popular than they used to be. Why is that? Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I think it might just be that resorts here don't like the hassle. Link to post Share on other sites
frannyo 2 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 And cost. (I suppose theres a fair amount of maintenance) Link to post Share on other sites
AK 77 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Hi there, Takasu Snow park in Gifu (not so far to drive if you are in the south of Nagano prefecture, or Nagoya) probably has the best park and pipe in Japan: http://www.takasu.gr.jp/contents/park/index.html But i'm sure it will get really busy at the weekends... queueing for the pipe, etc. In the Nagano area, 47 has a superpipe dragon so probably the best pipe, but again it will get really busy. It was pretty short last year - like 4 or 5 hits as they didn't shape the bottom half due to lack of snow (or complacent laziness...). The only saving grace is that pipe has been getting less popular over the last 5 years (the punters prefer flatground tricks on the pistes as they can do this in their social groups together more), so the queue should be more like 5 minutes than 15 or more when it was really popular. Oyuki - how big is the pipe in Karuizawa that is lit up for night sessions, compared to 47? From Nagano city do Nozawa or Myoko have decent pipes? Sometimes a slightly smaller pipe in a place that people don't associate with freestyle will mean an empty pipe...! 47 will probably be your best bet, so don't miss the early bird season pass price. Link to post Share on other sites
AK 77 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 The Hakuba 47 early bird pass date is until Oct 31st. Don't know if you can buy it from outside Japan though. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 47 did their best with the pipe but they fought a battle just to keep the park going really with a light snow year. All of the ski resorts in the Takasu region have super pipes and good ones at that. If you are going to just train park I would look into that location. Will be very busy on weekends but during the week you can lap it up. I dont think the pipe is less popular I think last year it well and truely sucked to be a pipe rider with crappy pipe conditions all year. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Yeah, Takasu has good a good pipe. They actually have 3. Big, medium and small. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I read somewhere that Noz had a pretty decent park last year. Can anybody confirm that? Somebody ride it? Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Me and Jib did it last spring but it was crap. There was a pipe but it was under maintenance that day. If I remember well, there was 1 rail 1 tabletop 2~3 kickers and the pipe. Link to post Share on other sites
tmc_girls 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 Thanks guys...that was really helpful!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Domokun_72dpi 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 can I tack a question on here plz, what is a half-pipe like?, I am an old skater, and used to concrete, metal & wood. I imaging the half pipe is one hell hard concrete-like fast ice experience. Looks amazing, but scary =) Link to post Share on other sites
AK 77 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 As "an old skater, and used to concrete" why would you be scared of a snow/ice halfpipe? Try one in the spring when it gets softer too. FT - from the Japanese riders I have spoken to, and looking at magazines and reading interviews, pipe is way less popular than it used to be. It is still quite popular, but it used to be virtually the only way to 'make it' as a snowboarder here - ranking highly in pipe competitions was the only way to get sponsored big time, and most Japanese riders would rank pipe as their number one goal. But since then (the time of the Nagano Olympics) other areas have developed more, in resorts but mostly in the media - rails, jumps, slopestyle competitions like the Burton Nippon Open and the Nissan X-trail Jam, which have pipe comps, but the slopestyle is now the main attraction. Pipe is not the most popular feature at 47 compared to a) the beginner / medium hits and rails in the park, or going round the pistes doing flat ground tricks in a big group with friends, or c) sleeping in the cafeteria. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 sleeping in the cafeteria is what I need to work on this year Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I always lined up behind 10 people in the pipe and there were 3 lines like that last season. Anyone hittng the mini hits was riding the pipe first. Then you have to factor in the skiers, The skiers are killing the riders in the pipe these days. (ak cheap shot to induce a ski buying spree) Back on Topic Noz has a crappy park, they had a good one about 5 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 AK would be soooooo much kewler if he was a skier :p Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 it seems to me that skiers wreck a pipe more than snowboarders. When they land on the lip they take out chunks whereas a board doesn't leave a mark. any evidence to back this up? FT will this halfpipe ski buying spree include halfpipe-specific poles? Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Originally Posted By: Creek Boy AK would be soooooo much kewler if he was a skier :p well, he wouldn't have any friends... Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I wasnt aware he had any now ...Ewok doesnt count - too furry and aggressive to be considered a friend Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 he's pretty good friends with a hole and a rock up there somewhere above happo... Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Originally Posted By: Kumapix it seems to me that skiers wreck a pipe more than snowboarders. When they land on the lip they take out chunks whereas a board doesn't leave a mark. any evidence to back this up? FT will this halfpipe ski buying spree include halfpipe-specific poles? here we go... Link to post Share on other sites
AK 77 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 FT - yeah, but those lines would have been twice as long a few years ago, as far as I know. Did Myoko have a decent park? No, I don't have any friends that are not furry aggressive creatures. I am not cool enough to have friends. Skiers suck in the pipe, and Samurai sucks the most. I would probably take up skiing if he didn't make it look so awful in the pipe. Whatever. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 akakura has a decent park Link to post Share on other sites
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