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Never been to Arai, but in general in Japan, I think the o/b thing is pretty fair. if you can duck it, or go round it, ride it, understand the resort has absolved itself of all responsibility, and yer on yer own. In most cases, it's obvious if the resort REALLY doesn't want you to go somewhere.

 

As for herd mentality, to be honest, I think rule breakers in Japan are frowned upon. If I've laid first tracks o/b, there is rarely a rush of tracks after.

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I tend to agree with his point if you ski at Arai. If you have not been there it has soon massive cliff faces that paeople have died on just sking off because it looked good from the top. Sometimes people think they are to good and dont check things first. I look to resorts back home and think what they do. Whitewater Fernie and most of all red mountain will pull your pass and ban you from the resort depending on the offense. If you knowingly duck a rope the fit hits the shan. I have also seem patrolers just sitting there waiting to catch you.

 

The patroler did hit the nail on the head there are a lot of people who cant ski well here incluing us.

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For the people who dont ski Arai

here are the details

 

Its in an area that up until years ago japan would never even stick a lift there.

 

Huge un jumpable blind cliffs in some places only 20 turns from the rope.

 

3 most patrol wear beacons and all carry or

have the gear at the top. PS respect to these skiers they are stronger skiers than we give them credit for.

 

resort tries to open runs quickly this is why people sleep in the parking lot.

 

The top is mostly not open due to the fact that the bombing places are up high.

 

Three most places that are skiable are open

 

PS this place is exposed almost no real tree runs the place where you could ski trees has no lift and with the resort cutting back next year maybe never.

 

This place is not to be considered a normal japan ski area it is 50 % adavnced so dont bring beginers

 

As for money everyone knows the beginers and mid level skiers fork out the bucks advanced people sleep in cheap hotels eat cheap food buy seasons passes do everything to make sure they save money I know I do it.

 

Bcbum

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Having worked patrol in New Zealand and NZ Avalanche qualified my opinion is this: EDUCATION.

The resorts have a responsibility to the sport to educate and entertain, in my 6 years skiing in Japan my observation is that the fail miserably at both. There is no standard for Ski Patrollers in Japan as far as being avalanche qualified goes (you will be lucky to find a patroller who is) and usually the most informative reason they can give you for not going somewhere is it is the rule. I have skied the last 6 years in Niigata mainly on Seibu/Kokudo Ski areas so here come some generalisations that some may consider harsh. I am yet to meet a Japanese patroller who wears an avalanche beacon, carries a shovel, probe or any first aid equipment more extensive than a sticking plaster. I have asked on many occasions, usually right when I am being bleated at for going out of bounds. There is more to respect than a uniform. Arai is a different case to a lot of other fields in Japan as it has a lot of terrain traps and gets a huge amount of snow. But their answer to resort control clarified by this article makes them no different to any other resort I have had anything to do with here. They have all got their head up their arses - some just at different angles.

The resorts wonder why their business is in decline?! Hello! The sport is changing and evolving and definitely getting more exciting but the Japanese Resorts seem determined to smother the thing to death. Personally, I think the Japanese skier, boarder and gay blader deserves a better deal. They may have a herd mentality and it is a cotton wool society but the ski areas are doing nothing to educate people and judging by this patrollers opinions about his fellow Japanese I wonder if they don't think the public has the intelligence? Not my experience. When you have knowledge and share it in a useful open way which helps people enjoy their day rather than just shutting them down - people will listen. When I ski overseas in Canada or New Zealand I don't go out of bounds because I respect the patrol and believe they make very fair and and informed decisions. I am yet to met a Japanese patrol I respect and am happy to be on the black list where I ski.

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I think people like "fatplanker" just don't get the real deal here - the majority of people are NOT INTERESTED in what you are talking about.

 

The majority are families and non-hardcore riders who want a nice day out on the slopes. If there were a huge business to get out of doing as you say, believe me, they would be either seriously thinking about it or DOING IT.

 

But there isn't.

 

http://www.skijapanguide.com/2002/wave.gif]/img]

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I'll say it again - it's the image that sells.

 

Go to a winter sports store and gaze at their video display, or watch a TV ad for a resort. They have crazy testosterone dudes flipping through the air and luffing through knee-deep powder. If not that, then carving very fast down deserted slopes.

 

That's what the resorts and the makers think it takes to catch people's interest, and that's what most people would like to be able to do, and are aiming to do, although most never will.

 

However, it's the existence of this ideal that keeps people coming, and if the resorts keep ignoring that and knocking it flat whenever it shows up at their resort, then they will suffer ultimately.

 

If you don't believe me, how else do you explain all these complete beginners on boards, ploughing their pitiful way down powder fields they shouldn't be in, according to both the rules and common sense?

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I'm very happy this subject is continuing to be discussed.

 

One of the last things I want to see again in my life is a partner of somebody who skied out of bounds and did not come back. The survivor not only has to try to come to grips with the fact that they'll be going home alone, but live the rest of their life with the unpleasantness surrounding the situation.

 

One of the key points mentioned in this forum so far that ARAI agrees with is that industry standards need to be implemented.

 

We have gone so far as to organize conferences of the world's avalanche experts in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture.

 

From the Nagaoka conferences, we adopted and implemented clear guidelines for all patrollers to wear avalanche beacons, and to carry shovels, probes and first aid equipment among other items.

 

You can see in the photos posted in the column concerned that Ko-san does have a shovel. Please kindly trust that he also showed me all the other equipment mentioned above as well and has it with him at all times on the job.

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Well its good to see that some of the resorts are actually responding. Do you work for the resort Blair or just live nearby?

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I understand that with the purchase of a lift ticket, liability insurance is included.

 

If a guest has an accident(within the proper resort), which is reported to and written up by the ski patrol, then the insurance may apply.

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Blair, does that include accidents with other skiers or boarders that may well be your fault?

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Hello

 

The way I understand the explanation I received is that, with the exception of those caused via poor driving, accidents that occur within the boundaries of the resort are covered.

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