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As suggested, hire your gear for the first time for 2 reasons.

1) If you suck, you haven't spent too much money

2) If you get it really quickly, you can try a few different boards and see what type you like

 

Buy ski clothes, I wear ski pants, ski jacket, ski gloves and add wrist guards to the ensemble. You can't really tell the difference unless you want to look like a baggy pants'd homeboy.

 

You'll find that the major transition from surf to snow is which foot you weight. I still put too much weight on my back foot, much to the detriment of my heel side turns.

 

As far as natural or goofy, try it and see.

I am left foot dominant but ride natural because of a flaky right knee. I know guys that are right handed/footed but ride goofy. If natural feel strange, try goofy. If neither way feels easier/harder, you gonna find it easier to do tricks. Just pick whichever you want

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DeeBee,

 

A mate of mine is a surfer from way back (about the same as you). He had never had a day on skiis or board, but decided he wanted to take up telemarking. All of us were impressed at how quickly he picked it up (faster than some of the ex-alpiners in our group), and could only put it down to his fine tuned sense of balance on a surfboard.

 

It will definitely provide more challenges than skiing (and snowboarding as well from what I have heard from tele friends who also board), and gets you out of the 'wanna be' shadow of your brother. Set up might be a little more expensive because I dont know how well tele is catered for in Japan, and its probably a lot more difficult to do rentals, but there is always online ordering! Check out www.telemarktips.com if you want to find out more. \:\)

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Weight is the biggest issue with choosing a board, not height. At 95 KGs, I have no probs whatsoever with a 168 burton custom, riding deep powder. The longer the board, the harder it is to turn, so for a beginner, don't go too long!

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Helmets keep your noggin very warm - try and find one with good vents. Mine is not great from that point of view, and steams for 10 minutes after I take it off. Also I look a bit like matey below, but happier.

 

confused.gif

 

Belle, I bought my board on the Net, and got a very good deal. And miteyak's opinion notwithstanding, there's no problem with turning on longer boards as those who actually ride them frequently attest. Go long and enjoy the extra stability, a bigger issue the taller you get. ;\)

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Hey deebee, I too am a surfer. Probably get 5-7 sessions in a week. I also am a skier. I've boarded plenty too, but all the hubub about surfing being the same as boarding is BS. They are two completely different sports. As others have said, just do what you want. I like them both and have a great time doing both. I personally prefer skiing, but that is me.

 

Where do you surf at down there? I'm up in nothern japan about 5 minutes from the beach. Big swell headed our way! I actually just ordered some bootie socks and a thermal top so I can do a little surfing in the snow.

 

peace brah!

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Scouser - I have chosen snowboarding. Why? I will have fun either way, I have never really done it before so it is something new and mainly because skiing is steeped in tradition and conformist ways (at least from my perspective) and I am not much of a conformist. The best analogy I can use is that I prefer apple computers over PC's.

 

NJ - 5 surfs a week! lucky bugger. I get about 1 per month. But most of the time it is very bad surf. The Japanese people I go surfing with are great but they do things very differently than I. When I surf I know the swell size and direction, the wind direction, the wind strength and the tide. I then choose when and where to go based on this info. The weather map is the surfers best friend. These guys just 'go surfing'. ie they go to the beach and surf what ever is there. Most of the time I sleep in the car.

 

We go the Ibaraki, but sometimes chiba. I cant get them to go anywhere near Tokyo. That is where they claim to be 'locals' and that is where they surf. Which is a shame as it is the ugliest dirtiest coast line I have ever seen. It is quite depressing for me. I am however fortunate to have these wonderful friends to go surfing with. They are very good people.

 

I bought a brand new 6'10" with me from Australia planning to get some typhoon swell but it still doesnt even have wax on it.

 

The last surf I had in Australia was 5 foot kirra point breaking over 200 metres, complete with dolphins. That was 5 months ago...I still live on the memory of that surf.

 

cheers

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(I need to register)

deebee - once a month???? I check the surf every day. Officially, we aren't supposed to be in the water here, but a lot of us do it. There are some shredders up here. Very hardcore dedicated surfers. Probably a lot different down south.

 

So it looks like you have chosen boarding. Just have fun with whatever you do. I'm pretty torn right now. I have been having a blast riding my 9' log on the big days, but I want the snow to start flying! Such a toss up - skiing or surfing??? I'm just glad that they occur in different seasons!

 

Oh, and deebee - I have some good surf and weather sites for you to check if you are interested. This is my homepage I have up right now - http://www.geocities.com/atwoodn33.

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yay! I'm registered now!

 

My site is totally geared for Northern Japan. (hence NJ as my moniker). It doesn't seem like too many people on here are from up north.

 

So, you're from Oz? My friends back in Oregon are so jealous. Yeah, no waves in japan. the snow sucks. Hehe! This place is great! How do your friends perceive things here?

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Had some great Feta on my pizza in Towada yesterday. Hey cheeseboy, what is you favorite US cheese? (company, not type). I'm from OR if that helps. We know a thing or two aboot cheese. (stuff stinks though - damn cows!)

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c'mon cheesboy! sorry, cheeseman. Sharp cheddar straight from Tilamook? The white anglo from Umpqua? Do you know about squeeky cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese? Curds that is. Sustained and plugged me for an entire week.

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I was in the army for a while and the small tins of processed "chees" we got in our field ration packs were called 'bung hole' as it was designed to stop you from needing to dig a toilet hole every day. It worked.

 

NJ - Most people in Australia think that there is no surf here, or very little. But Australia and nearby Indonesia are surf meccas so people seldom bother to consider what lies elsewhere.

 

I would be far happier living out of Tokyo and to the north for the surf and snow. Infact, I cant stand the Kanto Plain in general. I have never been somewhere so flat.

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deebee - just tried to email you and it didn't take. send me an email at atwoodn@hotmail.com. It's great to see another surfer on here! I like to think I'm well-rounded - surf in the spring and summer and ski in the fall and winter!

 

would love to hear from you!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I used to ski years ago and loved it. I really want to do it again but just cant resist the lure of trying something new, so I am setting myslelf up for boarding this year.

 

I must admit that with mental visualisation, going down a hill facing forwards 'feels' (in my head) more natural. I am also wondering what it will be like having both feet static on a snowboard. I think that will take some getting used to.

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