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and your address is........

good luck, ippy.  

Yeah, good luck on the jobhunting front. In the meantime you can get vicarious thrills from the fact that I have just bought a NEW BOARD!!

its really tempting....I'm dying to try it out but I'm also chronically broke this month (I just got paid last week :( ) Last weeks until the wedding and I'm on a monetary knife edge.......but Kagura is ringing a large bell in my head!!! :D

 

MiJ....where are you heading to? Mick you are heading up Yuzawa way aren't you?

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Oh take pity on the man...get the bro's together, someone pick him up and all pitch in for a lift pass and a few brews in honor of his impending wedding. A bucks party, but for the snow days.

Go on. You KNOW it is the right thing to do!!

 

(wonders why everyone calls her a bad influence)

 

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:lol: Get off our backs Mamabear and tell us about today's demo action! ;)

 

its really tempting....I'm dying to try it out but I'm also chronically broke this month (I just got paid last week :( ) Last weeks until the wedding and I'm on a monetary knife edge.......but Kagura is ringing a large bell in my head!!! :D

 

MiJ....where are you heading to? Mick you are heading up Yuzawa way aren't you?

 

Yeah, it looks like my Saturday return to the slopes has been redirected from Fukushima to Yuzawa. Will therefore probably get the train up 2moro afternoon, stay at Kenkou land in Yuzawa and take it from there! :thumbsup:

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Love it when I'm expecting something to arrive... even more than moment when it arrives.

 

:thumbsup:

 

:dance:

 

You mean like the 2 feet of lovely, light snow that's going to fall on the Yuzawa ski jos tonight?? ;)

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Unfortunately rain looks more likely. Hopefully higher up places will get snow.

 

With all your local knowledge, where would you recommend going, as I've a free ticket for Hakkai-san (thanks SJ!!) that's burning a hole in my pocket, but could go there another time if it's not the best choice?!? No pressure Muika!! :lol:

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Hmm, a free ticket sounds like it has decided it for you!

Like I said in the comments over on the blogs, though, Hakkai-san doesn't stay open past the end of this month - I would go there earlier than later if I were you.

And if you are lucky it might get snowed on later today with a bit of fresh for tomorrow.

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I've never seen it before on their extreme weather warnings.....today has dense fog and avalanche as their advisory. Hope the rain doesn't do much damage (or if it would prefer not to fall at all, I'd accept that as well) :p

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rain yet? We are expected to get battered by rain from mid morning....which is really scuppered my cycling to work this week.......between snow, grad ceremony and bloody rain, I haven't been able to cycle in all week

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Just got to come expecting spring-like stuff I suppose. That way, we can only be pleasantly surprised if we get a good new layer. :)

 

I'm sure there's tons of fun still to be had. This year I really hope to get out more than usual up until May.

 

Another 10 times is my target.

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:lol: Get off our backs Mamabear and tell us about today's demo action! ;)

Yes Sir! ;)

Yesterday I stuck with the Burton Feelgood because it was #1 sons 20th birthday and he wanted to play in Strawberry Fields for much of the day ... I was a bit hesitant to go get a different board and then tackle the trees with that unfamiliarity. The Feelgood handled well in that environment, not a lot of powder, bit too warm for it, but a lot of fun to play in in any case.

 

Today I grabbed a Stepchild. It is kinda funny because there have been LOTS of times over the years that people (some in here) have asked me to adopt them. :)

 

The board was a 152 Stepchild Jibstick, and we also swapped the bindings over to the Burton Stilleto which has a lower high back. MUCH BETTER!!! Seriously...this week has taught me just as much about my riding and preferences as it has about current board stock. I WAY prefer a lower back in my bindings...much more playful, and I don't think it decreases the control at all. Fastec v ratchets..well..I am sure there will be the odd time when I roll my eyes and say 'I wish I had ratchet bindings' but given I did not sit to do them up ONCE this week, and they took longer to poke the bumpy bit into the ratchet bit than to ram your foot in and click the back up...I am going back to Fastecs!

 

Onto the board review. I felt like a total park rat walking out of rhythm with the Jibstick, a fraudulent one! LOL. And was very concerned about the edge hold because today's conditions were probably the opposite of optimal...sunny day, fast running groomers... But it was a joy to ride. One run down the groomers convinced me that it was responsive and easy to control, and the slightly shorter length meant maneuverability was high. So we headed higher and found some trees to play in. There were areas of untracked, although by this stage heavier, denser snow than the famed Niseko pow, and the Jibstick sailed through these areas without any appreciable loss of speed. I had a play through this area last year on the Burton Troop (full camber) and found it tough going, I needed to pick wide open trees and rapidly lost speed when it wasn't steep or there was a lot of snow. This time around I found I could pick much tighter lines through denser packed trees and the board just went where I wanted it to. Much like the Joystick I found myself airborne a few time unexpectedly, and the landings were sound...no edges catching and sending me AOT unceremoniously like often happened on the Troop. So I started seeking little kickers out...again this is a board that could take me in a direction I had previously written off as folly for a woman in her mid 40's.

 

As this whole week has been about finding me a new board, I headed back this afternoon to swap the fun little plaything for the Roxy Eminence ... I want to spend the entire last day on this board to really assess in light of what I experienced on the others if this is 'The One'.

On the way back down we came across a section that had been groomed, and had iced up...apart from sheet ice and exposed rocks I reckon this surface was about as bad as you can get, corduroy with ice gravel, it was like sliding over millions of ball bearings in various sizes, I instantly clenched my teeth and concentrated on the edge hold, thinking that if any board was going to slide out and send me skidding this was it.... But it was FINE. Certainly not enjoyable, but I don't think it would be on ANY board. The Jibstick is another winner.

 

So...I have trialled a true rocker in the Jibstick, a v Rocker in the Burton Joystick, Burton's girly hybrid the Feelgood, and my fave so far...the hybrid Roxy Eminence. Every single one of them was a nicer ride, and gave me more control than my Burton Troop. Honestly, a couple of years ago when I bought the Troop I was looking at the K2 Va Va Voom. I got talked out of it by the Tokyo sales guy. 'No no, this board for park...'. Shoulda... Coulda.... Woulda... In the end I think riding the Troop the last few years has made me a better rider, but by God my board control, speed and enjoyment factor have gone through the roof this week!!!

 

 

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