 Poster: A snowHead
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beanie1, lol cheers, have bought a facemask and got my down gillet ready 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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beanie1, I have noticed you are Hong Kong based. I am due to relocate there very shortly. Was thinking about skiing options once there. Now and again I hear about ambitious plans for various ski resorts in mainland China. Have you ever been? Do you have any views on where best to go if based in Hong Kong?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Oleg, I haven't been to China yet. I believe it's a growing industry there, but currently fairly basic. Japan seems to be the best closest option, or there is also some in S. Korea. Europe is not too bad either in terms of travelling distance - get a Friday night flight and you'll be in resort by mid-afternoon on the Saturday.
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Damn it's been cold this week! Snow the past few days in Niseko sounds like its been great. Less of it up here, but still not too bad. Heading down to Rusutsu for the day tomorrow so will report back on conditions there.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It's been cold all winter!
-15 C at Kiroro yesterday.
Warmed up today though. -5 ish at Grand Hirafu.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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just under 48 hours till I leave, hope the snow keeps falling...
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Mike Pow,
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Warmed up today though. -5 ish at Grand Hirafu.
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Seriously? My group all felt it has got progresively colder throughout the week... Today i couldn't really manage more than 3 runs at a time before needing a de-frost break.
Gear tips for next season would be appreciated! I currently wear Skins, thermals, running t shirt, fleece, Arcteryx soft shell and then hard shell. I'm thinking a down mid layer is the way forward?
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beanie1, -20 in Switzerland last year I wore 2 x long sleeve thin merino layers with a fleece on top of that and an Arcteryx hard shell on top...... I have packed (or will be) a down gillet
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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beanie1, thanks!
How about the States/Canada? Do you know if there is a good local operator?
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kitenski, iwould freeze in that! i hate the cold!
Oleg, I know people who ski in N. America from HK but it's a seriously long way, Europe is closer and better from a time difference perspective.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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beanie1, do you have your wrists covered at all and a decent hat/helmet?? My missus also feels the cold and has found sweat bands over the wrist helps,,,,,
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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kitenski, no i don't have my wrists covered, other than with gloves / sleeves - will give that a go! I wear a helmet. WHat i find an issue is the neck warmer - it is wet within about 15mins in the snow, then is next to useless! Someone needs to invent one with a waterproof outer layer.
It is so cold here that I avoid any runs with a straight section / schuss - the cold is too painful and makes me feel sick. 
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beanie1, she also likes the base/mid layers with thumb holes as they also cover the wrist area where the veins come close to the skin...
What's making the snow melt in order for your neck warmer to get wet?? I use turtle fur types and they haven't (to me) got so badly wet, but I've never experienced Japanese powder before
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You know it makes sense.
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kitenski, warm breath on the snow i guess! It falls so heavily that the neck warmer turns white pretty quickly. Everyone fround here looks like a snowman!
THe positive is that skiing amongst the trees in the powder is about the warmest place you can find. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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beanie1, you have made a very good point about the distance there. For some reason I assumed North America is closer from there, but had a look at the map and sure enough you are absolutely right HKG to LAX 14 hours 35 minutes - could be an excuse for a stop over in Hawaii though One week skiing and the next chilling out on a beach...
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Poster: A snowHead
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Oleg, no, it's further, and NY evern worse - about 18hrs. Plus the time difference is 15 hours + , so tough to go for a week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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beanie1, where in particular in Japan would you recommend? I am thinking big enough to make it last/exciting for the whole week. Perhaps I am being naive here, maybe all the main resorts are huge...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Growing up in HK my first few ski trips with my family were flying over the Pacific to Vancouver. A hell of a long flight, I remember the tiredness and jetlag were brutal. Would have been much better to head up to Japan, but it really hadn't been promoted to international tourists in those days.
Oleg, there's more than enough to keep you entertained in Japan. There are 600 odd ski resorts across the country. The best known being Niseko and Hakuba. You certainly won't get bored at either!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Oleg, I"m currently in Niseko and can thoroughly recommend it. The snow is awesome, powder every day.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Day 40 for the winter today for me, and what a day it was. Headed to Rusutsu with Mrs Magseven and met a few friends there. There had probably been around 20-30cm through yesterday and overnight, but today the sky was a gorgeous blue and stayed that way all day. The snow was great, the weather was great, Rusutsu was empty, faceshots in the trees all day. One of those days that's impossible to get the smile off your face! Well worth the long drive to go there and back for the day. A couple of action shots:
The views were gorgeous. It was a day of pinching ourselves and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to live in this amazing place!
View down to Lake Toya
View over towards Lake Shikotsu, which can't be seen. But Eniwadake, Tarumae-zan, and Fuppushidake can just about be made out which are the 3 mountains which tower over the lake.
View of Yotei and Niseko. It looked like the clouds rolled in to cover Niseko in the early afternoon, so I guess it started to snow over there later in the day?
As we drove back through Sapporo it seemed there had been a decent amount of snow, and it was still snowing. So we'll head out tomorrow for some touring in the Teine backcountry.
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Oleg, I'm also Hong Kong based, and am about to do my 5th trip to Niseko in as many seasons. I'm pretty keen to check out Korea and the emerging scene in China, but frankly I would never do those places at expense of missing out on an annual trip to Niseko. I would only do them in addition to Niseko. While both CHina and Korea offer significantly cheaper skking and an interesting experience overall, the stats of those resorts and the anecdotal reports of them from firends simply don't compare to Niseko.
For me personally, there's more than enough at the four Niseko resorts to keep me happy for a week, and there's three resorts within an hour's drive.
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MagSeven, yup clouds rolled in about 2:30 and it very quickly started snowing after that.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A little video from my skiing in Niseko up to Jan 23
http://vimeo.com/35792110
Since then ChrisWo and I have been in central Hokkaido - Furano, KAmui, Ashidake - some good skiing but nothing to compare to the deepness it sounds like Niseko has been getting. Anyway it's Rusutsu today then back to Niseko.
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Great pics MagSeven.
Love the vid thebongolian.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Was absolutely puking from around midday onwards at Teine today. I imagine tomorrow will be a great day to hit any of the Sapporo/Otaru area hills.
thebongolian, nice video. Look forward to seeing more! Shame you didn't get the best snow up in central Hokkaido. Hope you enjoyed the trip though. Missed you by a day at Rusutsu!
Will be in Niseko next weekend, 4th/5th, probably riding mostly by myself. If anyone is around and free, would be great to meet and make a few turns!
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You know it makes sense.
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| thebongolian wrote: |
A little video from my skiing in Niseko up to Jan 23
http://vimeo.com/35792110
Since then ChrisWo and I have been in central Hokkaido - Furano, KAmui, Ashidake - some good skiing but nothing to compare to the deepness it sounds like Niseko has been getting. Anyway it's Rusutsu today then back to Niseko. |
Good effort, dude.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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MagSeven, beanie1, Ordinary_Skiier, thanks for the information. Japan it will be!!! The photos look amazing. Surprising how different the scenary is from the Alps.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Oleg, when do you move to HK? Let me know if you'd like to meet up for a beer!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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beanie1, we are booked on this Friday night's flight out of London, so should be arriving on the 4th Feb. Would be good to grab a beer. Will give you a shout once we are there and settled a bit.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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thebongolian, very nice pics! Put of interest what camera are you using? Amazing clarity!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sorry meant to say 'Just out of interest...' and not 'Put of interest...' Not sure what was going through my head there...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Great update thebongolian
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Oleg, I'm using a Pentax K7 SLR. ChrisWo some form of Nikon SLR.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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thebongolian, Nice, where goshiki?! Think we saw your redeemers outside the restaurant at lunchtime!!
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