Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Awesome awesome advice guys. Seems the overwhelming opinion is to buy and bring. I can't belive the market is that bad that you'd save not buying in country! I definitely need a board suited to powder, but I'll still bring the freestyle board over. Its some kind of forum board. Cant remember the name So there are brands that I *cant* get shipped to me in Japan?! Brand Import Restrictions sound ridiculous.... This one kind of hurts my head. So I need a longer board cause of my weight., I see sites like shipto.com that comes up when I google mail forwarding service. This what I need to look into when shipping a board? What mailer services would you reccomend? I'm getting super stoked for this season already. Looks like I'll keep shopping, but for some reason I feel like I'll have a few more boards than I need (again) Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted June 2, 2013 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted June 2, 2013 Tachypsychia, hi there and welcome. But please do familiarize yourself with our guidelines and links policy before posting links to companies 'your're interested in'. I edited your post there. Many thanks. And have fun. Sorry to interrupt. Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Oops! Sorry about that David! Just finished a 12 hour shift.. Kinda tired... Anyway, the guide guy I'm looking at is an american rider that takes you on the Hakkoda and shows the sweet spots apparently. What certifications.licenses do you think are necessary? Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Looks like I might have to forgo a Fish and pursue a Barracuda instead! As heavy as I am it seems the better board for me and what I'm going to be doing. It'll have to be a 169cm for sure for my size. Anyone care to explain the process of getting a board over there a little more detailed? It looks like I need to either ship it before I go, or bring it with me, and I don't know if the airline will allow it/it's worth bringing at that point. Thanks for all the excellent advice so far guys. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 contact the airline direct and pay for it before you get to the airport as excess baggage.....usually they have a flat fee and its much cheaper than just turning up and paying for it per kg. It also means you can stuff it full of other gear to bring across Failing that you'll have to courier/post it across, just remember to mark it "USED" so that you don't pay any tax on it at this end Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Im seeing a lot of love for the juice wagon if youre on the burton thing. I foget who has the slackcountry - it might be tubby in fact, maybe he can tell you about it Theres also the charlie slasher which is similar to the barracuda with 20mm taper etc etc. The 2014 is going to come with an easy split core which will be interesting. I kinda want to get on the bataleon cameltoe. That looks fun. If you can ever get hold of the pre s-camber malolo it also gets a fair bit of love. Id love to get on the fishcuit just so i can ride a nug powder board - 150cm is nuts, id love to come back and scream from the rooftops that youre all stuck in the dark ages with your massive snowboards. I genuinely love my berzerker as a pow surrogate due to its camber profile (small reverse in the nose, then micro camber from outside the front insert all the way through the tail). kinda like a less pronounced S-rocker. Since i aint really a twin dude, i love that style. The only limitation is that when you set the bindings back, it loses its energy and becomes a much shittier board - please give me pop walls ride! Youd really have to add a cm or two to your normal length to get the board you want out of it in pow. Which also means you could have a look at the highlife. UL core, (its super light), but with loads of tweaks for hybrid (powder and charging) functionality. I personally felt it was a bit too tanking for my style (im lazy and like to cruise just as much as i like to rip - well, my crap version of ripping), compared to the zerker it felt way more powerful, but way more effort to reign in. The pop walls are just awesome. I only had half a day on the highlife in may time slush, and despite that i havent shut the hell up about pop walls since. Again, if youre looking for a groomer/off piste compromise this is exactly what this board is about. Just have it at your regular size and you shouldnt really struggle in anything but flat and deep. Truth is you really dont have to go for the pow board compromise at the end of the day. Theres too many tweaks out there you can do to any board to make it work. You could look in that brands line for a different camber profile, or just size it up. You can also muck about with DIY. If youre after a powder board, pick up a powder board, but if youre after a do it all with a bit of a powder lean then there are options outside of just picking up a powder stick and trying to make t work all over the mountain. Also depending on your boot size, maybe you mentioned it, i cant remember, you could grab a medium-wide like the midlife zero and some boots with a bit of shrinktech in it instead of having to definitely grab a wide (though a bit mroe width wont necessarily hurt you in the pow). Ah, so much you can do to find the board youre after. If youre after a quiver sure, go for specifics, but since it sounds like youre just after one board to do it all, you have a few more options out there. Hell, spenser (dude on easyloungin who rides 100 days in AK) seems to now be in love with his K2 happy hour as his go-to board. For hikes he'll bust out his split, but for everyday with a couple of feet of fresh, he just bangs out the happy hour and cant say enough good shit about it. Speaking of EL, plenty over there love their BSOD for an all round ride. Cant see it not working either. They are a bit C3 (capita/union/coal) mad there though. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 No I have the Salomon Powder Snake.....which is an excellent board. It's modelled on the Salomon Sick stick but is much more flexible and most important for me, the powder snake is cheaper!! Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Its hard to keep track Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Its hard to keep track I love how you write a wall of text for just about every response. Gives me a lot of options and stuff to research! I definitely want a powder specific board. Seems like that's mostly what's going to be near me as I'll be just 20-30 minutes from Hakkoda. I'm certainly not against going to other mountains as I'm sure I will from time to time, but logically it seems that the ungroomed powder is going to be my natural habitat, so I want to soar where the sky is right for me! I'll probably also get a park specific board, but that depends on the resorts and what they have available. Looks like I need to disappear for a bit and research the boards you mentioned.. I'll also see what the airline will charge me on oversize baggage. Can't be much worse than shipping it seperatley. Plus you look like a total BAMF carrying around your board everywhere you go. As if I won't get enough attention being gaijin in Aomori. Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Dont get a short board for hakkoda. If you are a big guy you need a big board for the type of riding you will be doing. I would recommend the libtech birdman 180 or 170 (its miles ahead of any of the other boards I have seen mentioned) (edit except the nitro slash 171, its a great board too) Dont forget to get yourself a pair of snowshoes and 3 piece poles too. I would recommend lightning ascents in 25" or 30" with 5" flotation tails. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Ah, but heres the genius. If its just got a snowboard, you can easy fit in 30 kilos of crap into a decent sized roller bag. This bag gets counted as sporting goods and usually has a) much more leeway pertaining to size; more leeway on weight; and c) cheaper excess prices for extra weight. Also, because its such a pain in the ass the check in people are usually really sweet if you look all flustered and exhausted and have a face on that suggests youre happy but knackered humphing it about, but youre extra special sorry for causing this poor person hassle in having to mess about with it to check it in. Never fails. Just look apologetic and helpful and unlike normal luggage which has precedents in their heads and they know youre clearly trying to take too much shit on their plane, massive snowboard bags either have no frame of reference for the person so theyll figure theres honestly nothing you can do about the weight, or better yet, they ride and sympathise. Win win! Plus if they do bill you on excess, its stil cheaper than standard luggage because it weighs what it weighs. You should also have a nice decent sized bag for carry on which you can add the excess weight stuff. No one ever annoys me about it. Plus if they do give you grief, just tell them youre moving to japan for a few years and youre really sorry for the whole kerfuffle of it all and voila! you gets away with it. Be nice, apologetic, smiley, cute, exhausted, and flustered all and once, and though you might look a bit of a mess at the counter, it costs you nothing extra at the end of the day. Also once you hit japan you find the nearest black cat flag: and so long as you know youre address you can now ship it direct to your house in Aomori for peanuts. You wont see that bag again until it gets delivered to your house. Theres ZERO issues for you once you hit japan (well, aside figuring out where the oversized luggage bay is on arrival and filling in a takkyubin form. If you can get your home address in Japanese from the BoE your SO is working for (and in English) then that might help the person at the takkyubin place to fill it out for you. So no problems! And yeah... wall of text is what i do. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 You can write it in English....it still gets there a-ok Gozaimasu, interested that you've ridden the Nitro Slash....that board has been attracting my attention for the last few years Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 You can write it in English....it still gets there a-ok Gozaimasu, interested that you've ridden the Nitro Slash....that board has been attracting my attention for the last few years yeah, i just mean if its in japanese then the dude will understand exactly whats happening immediately so someone without any japanese can just point to the board and the paper and bish bosh job done! Its not much harder in English, but it just saves the stress of the situation for a first timer in japan. Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Gozaimasu, interested that you've ridden the Nitro Slash....that board has been attracting my attention for the last few years No but I have fondled a few and would own one. I nearly bought one a few years back but lack of sintered base turned me off. I think the new ones might be sintered now. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Yeah I think so.....the last couple of times I bought a board, the 171 Slash was gnawing at my pocket but living in Kanagawa I figured a shorter board to be better as I could only ride every so often and not guaranteed pow days but now I've moved north, I can justify it now.....trying hard to not buy any gear this year Link to post Share on other sites
surfarthur 22 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 But TB, if you buy now, you can still take advantage of the out of season prices Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I currently have out of wallet cash problem I'm going to the US in July tho....may just come back with a new....erm.....iron board for the wife! Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Me likey da slash! and 300bucks is very reasonable.. I love the graphics on the 2013 edition. Has a ruler on the board to measure how deep the powder is! Of course it'd be easily covered up on Hakkoda. Man, decisions decisions.... Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 yeah, its a nice shape. Backcountry was selling them for just under $300 last month....I was sorely tempted Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 For $300 the slash is a no brainer. Still its a long way behind the birdman IMO, the nose rocker on the birdman is so insane that you honestly cant imagine how good it is until you ride it. I paid full US retail for mine plus shipping forwarder fees and it was worth every cent. Link to post Share on other sites
Dunga 1 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I picked up a 2013 jones hovercraft 160 for $260AU from a small online store from the states. I couldn't say no with that price. Problem is that I don't think I will get to use it till jan 2014 as the ski season here is not with having a pow board up the mountain with you. Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 Gah. Wish I could test ride some, but I'll just have to go of everyone's reccomendations. There's a surf/snow shop nearby but off season , I doubt they'll have anything Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Whats your height & weight Tach? Sorry if you posted it already. Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 Whats your height & weight Tach? Sorry if you posted it already. 6'2" and about 225lbs now. I have about 20lbs of volatile weight that I hope to loose on a Japanese diet though... Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Very similar to me. Then you have gear and pack weight on top of that. Dont go shorter than 170 with your board, you will thank me one day lol. I ride a few different boards all of which are 180, its easy to throw a big board around when you are our size and the float you get is insane. Link to post Share on other sites
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