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Nozawa onsen 23rd~27th January 2013

5K views 45 replies 7 participants last post by  dreampow 
#1 ·
Recently got back from my latest trip to Nagano. 5 Days in Nozawa onsen.

First couple of days were blue skies with left over powder (in my top secret stashes) from the day before.

Incredible visibility which tempted me into the park as well as my usual tree runs.








Could be my last trip with this set up as I will upgrade board and bindings shortly. This is a great board/bindings combination and I can slay pretty much anything with it.



Friday Saturday and Sunday brought 30~40cm each day and it pretty much never stopped snowing. Sunday afternoon did clear up and gave great visibility for some killer tree runs.

Light and fluffy, white rooms were in abundance.

On Saturday and Sunday I did my first paid guide work on a snowboard. We guided (me and my ex-pro buddy) a group of 7 riders around the lesser known tree runs and safer side country of Nozawa.

Everyone had a blast, including myself. May upload some video footage later as we had some amazing runs on Sunday. Some of the best I have ever had:D.
 
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#3 ·
Nice one. What are you upgrading your setup to?


Since you're doing paid guiding, I assume you're certified, and have the necessary insurance? Just wondering if its hard to get all that setup. One of my friends is studying to be a guide but I have no idea what he's doing
 
#6 ·
I rode my proto(154 I weigh 180lbs) in knee, mostly waist, and sometimes chest deep pow with my bindings set on the reference points for the last 3 days.

My buddy was riding a Ride Highlife(158 he weighs about 170) and had to move his bindings back to the rear reference points(this deck has 2 sets of reference points with little arrows) I found this to be very interesting as that plank of a deck he has is highlighted by some kind of "2 stage rocker" with "low rise" and "high rise" at different points in the deck? I may be confusing the exact details,

Anyway I know that you (Dreampow) rode the Highlife recently, probably even the same model...thoughts? comments?

Not trying to bash Ride by any means, they have been good to me in the past as well as K2 seems to be on point with gear, imo.
 
#8 · (Edited)
First pic dreampow... dont think i dont know whats over that ledge there ;)

Glad you had fun. Didnt realise you lived soooo far away. I thought you were in the area or something. So why did you end up in Nozawa so often then? Is it just where your mates ride, or do you really love it that much? Ten days on the season pass (and a shocking destruction of ushikubi which i never even considered would happen until late season when theres no snow), has left me running out of ideas and lines down it. Im trying to stave off hitting up yamabiko until later on when theres literally going to be nothing left worth playing on, so i dont get sick of it. And obviously keeping out of pic 1. But yeah... the eyes are starting to wander across to myoko, kosha, and shiga kogen again. Hell, since they are opening the top lift on kagura this weekend, thats also tempting me.
 
#14 ·
No fraid that wasn't me. I mostly ride their on weekdays.

I did however talk with the ski patrol as we discussed in another thread. They said they will think about making announcements (and maybe a notice board at the top gondola station) on the daily avalanche conditions.

They will not put a gate up and their policy is that ducking ropes is not condoned and yo do so at your own risk. You pay for any search and rescue.

They definitely need to get people more informed or its just a matter of time before the inevitable happens.

They said they will discuss the points I raised in their next meeting.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Gates are long shots for sure, but be proud dude, if they do start putting up info in the right places (at the bottom of yamabiko and the very top if they dont want to sign post the drop in points too much) then youve helped make nozawa just a little bit safer. :) Gondola is SORT of okay as a location, but yamabiko is the main area for dropping off the resort (i guess theres skyline as well, but i wouldnt chance that without someone who really knows their shit). The top of the gondola is just WAY Too busy, and also useless for the dudes coming from higake without a detour. Definitely at the base of yamabiko where people start unclipping and sitting around would be ideal. Also at the VERY top area near that photography area near the map would also work). They need it in a few places in truth.
 
#17 ·
#19 ·
Alas i have no clue, only two places i really know there are lodge nagano (gaijin central hub - but i can only imagine theyll be heaving this weekend) and bun-bun, which is where lodge nagano stuck us because they were full. Actually preferred being there in truth. Now i live close enough to not bother. If you find yourself stuck, just send me a pm and ill see what i can figure out though.
 
#21 ·
Will keep you posted, didn't get much of a response from the forum so we will probably stick with Japanese clients for the most part.

We will definitely do some lots more tours and some will be open to non Japanese speakers. I will post up on here.

Powder and good ramen are both in abundance here:D.
 
#22 ·
Popped there saturday and monday. Yesterday was PHENOMENAL. Deep enough that it turned all the moguls into softpacked bumper car mayhem. Stayed on piste just because you honestly didnt need to venture off anywhere to find awesome freshies. :)

Saturday on the other hand was a bit more... messy :) Found another of the big lines. Found it arguably the worst possible way. Came down too far, followed a line despite my brain screaming at me to get back to the resort and ended up on the sketchiest face ive ridden. Lots of trees to break it up, still, when it did slide, and it did, you got carried a few meters down the hill with it. Plopped into what i thought was T.Ch but realised the skyline was in front of me, so clearly i was in the middle on the way down to nagasaka. Had to dodge a few rather large potholes (i didnt realise the creek bed was on the left hand side), but came out unscathed.
Had another go though, found a nice entrance into it, had a nice ride, but saw two dudes cut to the far left through the bottom trees. I followed them a bit behind and slowly realised the walls on my left were getting larger, and the creek on my right was getting closer. After a VERY CAUTIOUS walk across a VERY DODGY snow bridge (the only one without a massive trek back), i made it back to terra firma.

Two down, two more to find. Actually i dont really want to "find" the third one. I can see it on the higake gondola up and i cant believe people ride the damn thing. It looks dodgy as hell. As for the fourth one, im pretty sure there isnt actually a loop off the back and round the side without serious trekking being involved to get past the ridge line at the bottom of the main yamabiko lift.
 
#23 ·
I was there yesterday. Great terrain, the snow was okay. Deep pow but with a hard bottom so you couldn't open it up, plus the first few runs had no idea where we were. By the time our local rider showed up we had figured out where things went and he just showed something obvious which sucked. We promptly went back to the previous zone we had been riding. I went too fast for a photo and hit a clump of trees in the white room and that ended my day. massive bruising and a cut on my shin which I'm hoping will go away by the weekend.
The drive home sucks for us since we get caught in the myoko traffic.
 
#24 ·
The really obvious lines are up yamabiko. I have a feeling though your local dude did the right thing. No avi reports yet, but im assuming it was pretty tricky this weekend. That ice layer (which im honestly amazed you felt - well, if you werent just riding under the yamabiko lift - that line might as well be a groomer its so tracked), is really serious stuff. Felt it for reals on friday at suginohara. We had about 15-20cms at the start of the day, and when you hit it, you really felt it. Barely any traction in it at all. Its a pure solid sheet of ice. As the day went on though, the snow got deeper and it disappeared.

Saturday was good fun. Despite massive screw ups, that face i was telling you about, unlike the ice walls, this one was sugared up. The loose snow broke in with it creating just enough to rip you down the hill a bit. Plenty fo trees though to arrest it, but conditions definitely indicate that heading off the beaten track would be insane.

Sunday gave it all a chance to compress. And then sunday night/mondays snow would have seriously given me cause for concern. A bit of weight on that under layer and i assume its sliding. At least thats how my brain decided what to avoid riding.

Often a lack of knowledge is a great protection. :) If i actually knew what i was talking about i might have taken a chance on it.

But who the hell needed it anyway, monday was awesome fun on piste. Just played on Kurokura (the steepish line coming off ushikubi into higake)... i could have ridden that all day. And i would have if my stuff wasnt in nagasaka. Ill never get bored of destroying moguls! :(
 
#30 · (Edited)
Yep, yahoo auctions. Good prices too. But it depends on whether what u have is popular. Burton powder boards sell super easy. But large bindings are harder to sell.

Sold a fish noboard, a nug and a con artist, plus sold a pair of sherlocks and a split earlier in the season.

But I just won an auction for a 160 nitro panterA for 1000¥ lol
 
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