Higuma 0 Posted March 15, 2003 Share Posted March 15, 2003 Although it appears that Niseko is becoming a 4 letter word around here, I was just there - 13 & 14th - and offer the following brief report... Having had 3 other overnight trips to Niseko this year already I was very surprized to find the snow to be the best that I have experienced so far this year..... Please account for the fact that I am NOT a powder hound and so the groomed runs, trees and wind blown steeps were absolutely amazing.... Weather on Thursday - partly overcast and some snow and wind, about -5 degrees - snow HARD with a touch of ice in spots but perfect for full on course wide high speed carving.... Friday - SUNNY & -2 degrees - GOOD overnight grooming, beautiful Corduroy & with the snow softened up a bit, it made for huge rooster tails coming off the skis... Off piste was real busy with a line of people hiking the summit off the top of Hirafu till early afternoon... All I can say is that the weather & snow is a heap better up here than it was last year at this time.... I thought that this might be my last time out this year but now I'm confident that there will be some Great spring skiing this year.... Link to post Share on other sites
TheOrange 0 Posted March 15, 2003 Share Posted March 15, 2003 4 letter word??! Don't get that impression my friend. Thanks for the report. No Hokkaido for me this year. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted March 15, 2003 Share Posted March 15, 2003 G'Day Fred! Good to hear that you had a good couple of days! I hope you get lots more spring softness! On the whole was the mountain busy? Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted March 15, 2003 Share Posted March 15, 2003 Yippee!, I just found out I won the four day Holiday to Niseko. As I was already going up there from the 22-24 of March, I am going to tack it on to the end of that trip and be up there for 7 days. Second trip up there this year and I love the place. I certainly hope there is a least a few good snow falls left this season. The 2-day mountain tour that comes with the prize should be a hoot! Now I just have to con my boss to give me 5 days off. Thanks SJ! Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted March 15, 2003 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted March 15, 2003 Very glad to hear you can make the most of it. Have a great time up there PS Please check with NPC - we were under the impression that the mountain tour was for 1/2 day, not 2 days Link to post Share on other sites
Higuma 0 Posted March 16, 2003 Author Share Posted March 16, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by snowboard_freak: On the whole was the mountain busy? Certainly not by North American standards or by any other for that matter... Lift lines were always less than 10 people... probably due to the fact that they don't load chairs here - lots of pairs and singles riding by themselves - and no such thing as a singles line.... The mountain it self wasn't to bad for people except ( putting on fire proof suit now... please wait..... ) for the amazing amount of lazy ass, poser, wanna be snowboarders who park their asses in the middle of the slope in groups like wino's around a fire in a garbage can... They litter the slopes sitting on their asses in the most dangerous places - converging runs, just over a crest of a steep section (I assume it's easier to stand up if you park it on on a steep slope) it is literally amazingly dangerous and the Ski patrol just goes on by and doesn't say a thing... The beautiful thing about the snow as I mentioned earlier was the ability to throw up HUGE rooster tails of snow off of your skis at speed - I never looked back but it's just possible (from the screams I heard) that a few lazy ass wanna be's parked in the middle of the slope might have caught a little snow of my skis now and then........OOOOOOOOOOOOOPS.... Gomen.... Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 Higuma - yell at these people. "Jamaa!!" "Dokei!@!" They need to learn. I haven't seen so many of them sitting around in stupid places this year, so maybe progress is being made. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 I noticed the same thing when we were there. There were several occasions where i have had to pull up or swerve to avoid people sitting slap bang in the middle of a run. Very annoying indeed. I haven't really noticed over here as much as i did in Japan though. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 make them C rap them selves by straight lining for them and at the last min pulling a nice spray of the freah stuff! Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by Higuma: They litter the slopes sitting on their asses in the most dangerous places - converging runs, just over a crest of a steep section .... it is literally amazingly dangerous and the Ski patrol just goes on by and doesn't say a thing... If there is one time that the patrol should act almost as police, it is in these cases. It is very dangerous and selfish. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 > make them C rap them selves by straight lining for them That would work really well if they were looking up the slope - but they're not... Link to post Share on other sites
Higuma 0 Posted March 17, 2003 Author Share Posted March 17, 2003 Ocean, Perhaps you could translate a rather nasty messege in Kanji for us and post it here, so I can paste it onto some meshi and pass them out on the slopes.... Maybe...... Dear ignorant Git..... Perhaps you are unaware of the dangerous and selfish behaveour that you are currently exibiting... perhaps in the future you might consider parking you bony ass somewhere where it will not endanger the rest of us serious snow enthusiasts - like on a park bench in Odori Park or better yet watching snowboard videos at your parents house... Feel free to elaborate on the script.. but of course I don't need to ask you to soft pedal.. it of course should be polite but snotty and hopefully embarassing to all those who read it... If you give me your name and contact info I can print it on the reverse side and maybe you will get some business out of the deal.. Link to post Share on other sites
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