[Craig64]

Yup, also difficult to tell just how fast you are going on clean powder. Even going down deep chopped up powder if its steep you are kinda committed to just holding on and getting to the end I often find. Couple of pics from the last 2 days at Shiga Kogan. I let me skier mate have a go at some deeper powder, he is not doing it anymore he reckons after finally digging himself out lol
Today I just left a run to check out some powder on the edge of a groomer that I have been bombing down for days, hit some random icy patch that kicked me right, did a tumble turn and ended up somehow hitting a tree with, fortunately, the back of my head, a full 3.5m from where I lost it. Still can't work out how I even got there. Thats twice in about 7 years I have needed a helmet btw and I have done hundreds of tight tree runs etc but shit I was lucky. Thats about how often I have needed my wrist guards also. It's not the things you do that actually are dangerous that get you I find, its pissy things you don't rate.

Gee Myoko, that first picture is a nice shot over the tree line. Is that blue outfit a one piece?

 

[Myoko]

Gee Myoko, that first picture is a nice shot over the tree line. Is that blue outfit a one piece?

Yup, I love it! Only problem is you need to lift your hands up so you can bend down easily and do your bindings....and if you end up on your ass its actually hard to get up Oneskee UK

 

[Craig64]

Yup, I love it! Only problem is you need to lift your hands up so you can bend down easily and do your bindings....and if you end up on your ass its actually hard to get up Oneskee UK

80/60g fill weight, Lycra wrist gaiters, 25k nice. Looks the best colour of the range. I see they have a rear zip opening for toilet. Does the front central zip come down far enough to go for a piss.

 

[JDA]

Yup, also difficult to tell just how fast you are going on clean powder. Even going down deep chopped up powder if its steep you are kinda committed to just holding on and getting to the end I often find. Couple of pics from the last 2 days at Shiga Kogan. I let me skier mate have a go at some deeper powder, he is not doing it anymore he reckons after finally digging himself out lol
Today I just left a run to check out some powder on the edge of a groomer that I have been bombing down for days, hit some random icy patch that kicked me right, did a tumble turn and ended up somehow hitting a tree with, fortunately, the back of my head, a full 3.5m from where I lost it. Still can't work out how I even got there. Thats twice in about 7 years I have needed a helmet btw and I have done hundreds of tight tree runs etc but shit I was lucky. Thats about how often I have needed my wrist guards also. It's not the things you do that actually are dangerous that get you I find, its pissy things you don't rate.

So what's your thoughts on Shiga Kogan versus Myoko for example? I heard they groom absolutely everything, is this true? how about the tree runs, is there anything with decent spacing? How do these resorts compare now that you have done both?

 

[Myoko]

Zip is fine, super convenient a onsie is I am finding. Good sizing also, I'm 83kgs 180cm
Myoko v Shiga hmm

• Shiga obviously massive with many, many very long tree runs although I thin k it would be a good idea to have a guide for a day and save a lot of time. Myoko has short tree runs but go very quickly to a lift to repeat
• Myoko great night life, needed to book to go eat in 2020 for first time, Shiga ZERO nightlife when I am anyway at Giant. You eat here and he turns the lights out at 8,30 to you go to your room WTF!
• Myoko much more busier than here, and its not that busy.
• Seems to be powder everywhere here and despite what you hear, ducking under ropes doesn't seem an issue. Myoko was becoming quite strict about it
• Basically i would rate this much, much higher the Myoko given the variety of terrain and tree runs, but forget any nightlife...thats the trade off. Myoko is warmer , more like -3 to -7. here more like average -9 from what I can tell but only been here 5 days boarding
• cant even buy cheese or any kind of light coke for example, forget trying to buy bottle of rum or something

Happy tp be educated by someone staying more in the middle of Shiga, i'm on one end basically

 

[JDA]

Thanks for the detailed response mate. I think I'm going to head back up to Hokkaido for 2024, not Bali on ice again (Niseko) and preferably more than one resort.

 

[MountainMystic]

Zip is fine, super convenient a onsie is I am finding. Good sizing also, I'm 83kgs 180cm
Myoko v Shiga hmm

• Shiga obviously massive with many, many very long tree runs although I thin k it would be a good idea to have a guide for a day and save a lot of time. Myoko has short tree runs but go very quickly to a lift to repeat
• Myoko great night life, needed to book to go eat in 2020 for first time, Shiga ZERO nightlife when I am anyway at Giant. You eat here and he turns the lights out at 8,30 to you go to your room WTF!
• Myoko much more busier than here, and its not that busy.
• Seems to be powder everywhere here and despite what you hear, ducking under ropes doesn't seem an issue. Myoko was becoming quite strict about it
• Basically i would rate this much, much higher the Myoko given the variety of terrain and tree runs, but forget any nightlife...thats the trade off. Myoko is warmer , more like -3 to -7. here more like average -9 from what I can tell but only been here 5 days boarding
• cant even buy cheese or any kind of light coke for example, forget trying to buy bottle of rum or something

Happy tp be educated by someone staying more in the middle of Shiga, i'm on one end basically

A quick search suggests not. no konbini, no supa, a few gift shops and thats about it, by the looks of it.

I think the nearest would be a supermarket, Lawson station and other konbinis near Yudanaka train station - down off the mountain.

Convenience stores near yudanaka station

www.google.com

 

[JDA]

The stoke is high! Rad Dads' Japan tour 2023 kicks off tomorrow morning.

 

[NT.Thunder]

I'm in Bali right now actually transiting home, been here a dozen times but not for years and really know why I hate this place.

Cost me 500,000 and a couple of hours just to walk from the arrivals, collect my bag and check-in again and add to this another delayed Jetstar flight!

@JDA enjoy yr trip, no doubt it'll be epic. Good to see the Aussies getting plenty of the Northern hemisphere powder this season, long time overdue.

 

[Craig64]

I'm in Bali right now actually transiting home, been here a dozen times but not for years and really know why I hate this place.

Cost me 500,000 and a couple of hours just to walk from the arrivals, collect my bag and check-in again and add to this another delayed Jetstar flight!

@JDA enjoy yr trip, no doubt it'll be epic. Good to see the Aussies getting plenty of the Northern hemisphere powder this season, long time overdue.

I remember seeing a Documentary where David Attenborough said Bali was the best Country he'd ever been to back in the old days pre-commercialism and Tourism.

 

[NT.Thunder]

I remember seeing a Documentary where David Attenborough said Bali was the best Country he'd ever been to back in the old days pre-commercialism and Tourism.

Well, there were plenty of animals on the red eye Bali to Darwin flight last night.

 

[MountainMystic]

Well, there were plenty of animals on the red eye Bali to Darwin flight last night.

Were they wearing Bintang beer t-shirts or singlets? or have the current fashion-forward bali bogans moved beyond that?

 

[nitro91]

On way to niseko and forgot to bring my walkie talkies although apparently foreign ones aren’t allowed anyway?
Anyone know where I could buy one in the niseko area?
Also is Fatmap the best app to use for backcountry routes etc?

 

[NT.Thunder]

Were they wearing Bintang beer t-shirts or singlets? or have the current fashion-forward bali bogans moved beyond that?

Yep, you know it....these things never change.

 

[Craig64]

On way to niseko and forgot to bring my walkie talkies although apparently foreign ones aren’t allowed anyway?
Anyone know where I could buy one in the niseko area?
Also is Fatmap the best app to use for backcountry routes etc?

I haven't been to Niseko for a few years but there is an electrical/electronic type store I've been to in Kutchan just east of Railway Stn. I tried to find it on map but was not able to. We used to always bus it to the Co-Op next to Railway Stn to do our grocery shopping. There would be something like that around there. You could check with the accommodation staff when you're there.

Found them, they have moved:

Yamada Denki
Kezudenki Kutchanten

electrical store kutchan hokkaido - Google Search

 

[Doraibu]

On way to niseko and forgot to bring my walkie talkies although apparently foreign ones aren’t allowed anyway?
Anyone know where I could buy one in the niseko area?
Also is Fatmap the best app to use for backcountry routes etc?

If it’s higher power 簡易　(kan-i) 1-5w I would just rent if I were you. Under 1w yea you can just buy.
Technically it’s illegal to use foreign walkie talkies or unregistered local walkie talkies, with severe penalties. It takes 10-14 days for paper work to process , and you’ll need to be able to read and write in Japanese…
There are shops around who rents them or maybe ask the local tour group if you could borrow/rent them. Some of the lodges also do back country tour, maybe you’re residing in one

I’ve bought a couple of Japanese ones this trip, so I can tell you the hassle is annoying. I come here every year, so I don’t mind buying and registering.
Plenty local guys just use cheap short range walkie talkies , don’t need registration for those. big major electronics retailer may stock those eg yodobasbi camera, big camera etc

Two-way Radios in the Hokkaido Backcountry | HokkaidoWilds.org

Two-way radios can be very effective in reducing risk exposure in the backcountry. Japan is very densely populated for the most part, however, so the airwaves are highly regulated.

hokkaidowilds.org

 

[MountainMystic]

If it’s higher power 簡易　(kan-i) 1-5w I would just rent if I were you. Under 1w yea you can just buy.
Technically it’s illegal to use foreign walkie talkies or unregistered local walkie talkies, with severe penalties. It takes 10-14 days for paper work to process , and you’ll need to be able to read and write in Japanese…
There are shops around who rents them or maybe ask the local tour group if you could borrow/rent them. Some of the lodges also do back country tour, maybe you’re residing in one

I’ve bought a couple of Japanese ones this trip, so I can tell you the hassle is annoying. I come here every year, so I don’t mind buying and registering.
Plenty local guys just use cheap short range walkie talkies , don’t need registration for those. big major electronics retailer may stock those eg yodobasbi camera, big camera etc

Two-way Radios in the Hokkaido Backcountry | HokkaidoWilds.org

Two-way radios can be very effective in reducing risk exposure in the backcountry. Japan is very densely populated for the most part, however, so the airwaves are highly regulated.

hokkaidowilds.org

Did you mean Bic Camera?

ビックカメラ.com | 家電･パソコン･日用品など何でも揃う ビックカメラの公式通販サイト

ビックカメラの通販サイトビックカメラ.com、人気のデジタル家電をはじめ、最新のアイテムが何でも揃います。安心の長期保証サービス、店舗在庫をネット上で確認、お近くの店舗で受取り申し込みもできます。

www.biccamera.com

 

[Rip154]

theres two electronics stores right outside town, south of the bridge in kutchan. skype seemed to work though, depends how far off grid you plan on going i guess. fatmap is good, but uses alot of data.

 

[Doraibu]

Did you mean Bic Camera?

ビックカメラ.com | 家電･パソコン･日用品など何でも揃う ビックカメラの公式通販サイト

ビックカメラの通販サイトビックカメラ.com、人気のデジタル家電をはじめ、最新のアイテムが何でも揃います。安心の長期保証サービス、店舗在庫をネット上で確認、お近くの店舗で受取り申し込みもできます。

www.biccamera.com

Yes, but there are plenty of other retailers too. You can copy paste this into the search bar if it helps, 無線機. It means wireless device, so you’ll get a mix of walkie talkie and other wireless device in search result. The transmission wattage should be obvious even if you can’t read Japanese 、like 10mW or something.
Those big retailers tend to have English speakers too, at least in major tourist spots. You can also ask for tax free price, 免税、if you bring your passport to the shop.

 

[Chern]

For all you currently in Japan. Happy Setsubun
Was anyone snowboarding in Oni Masks today?