My Default Blog
I took the overnight bus to Takasu snow
park in Gifu-ken this past Friday....it was the best session I have had
this entire season. I woke up on the bus in the parking lot at
4:30 am as the snow was falling like mad. 7 olock we jumped out
of the bus into shin high powder and ran to the locker room to change
and get ready.
Took a gondola to the tippy top and nothing but long long ass powder
rides all the way down. Felt so good. Then the park
opened up and so began the insanity. 3 half pipes , a huge
selection of kickers, table tops and rails to choose from I went off
this day... majorly. I finally managed to do some really
smooth and stylish 360s which I am quite happy
about. Although i had a gnarly face plant which
caused my mouth to bleed quite a bit. I was stoked and on
an overdrive rush of adrenalyne. I will go one more
time to this place on the 21st and that will end the season here unless
i end up going to Hokkaido in April...which there is a good chance I
just may do it.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
After 4 days of testing the Ride DH I have come up with some results.
I can def. say that the board is excellent as it is advertised for park
riding. It held up wonderfully on rails and going off
jumps. Very stable on turns as well. Its really a well
balanced board. However, the top sheet is kinda weak. I
didnt rip it off like most horror stories I have heard, but there are
some noticeable wearing on the top sheet already...which is pretty
earlier if you ask me.
In conclusion I am in love with this board. It gives a beautiful
feeling when i launch off kickers and table tops. I cant
butter it though...i think i just suck at that though hah. Cant
wait to use it again this weekend...it is waxed up and rdy to
fly.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Pay day at last....and i rushed to the store to grab me a new
board. Bought the Ride DH which I had been eyeing for a
while, and also picked up a new pair of boots too, the Burton
Sabbath. I cant wait for this work week to end so I can test it
out. Now I need to be patient = (
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Published by NamiEwok: 12:48 AM
Updated On: 1/18/2006 at 12:49 AM
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Saturday, January 14, 2006
It was suprisingly much warmer than usual today....
Meaning it was raining at the mountain allllllll day. The
crappiest weather to snowboard in today for sure. But im stoked
no matter what is going on, I made the best of it and stayed in the
park doing jumps and rails all day. mountain courses sucked too
much bc of the conditions, but the park was alot of fun.
Pay day comes tues., i need the replentishing my of bank acct.
badly...and then i think i will head to the store and grab some
stuff....like...perhaps a new board. The Ride DH is calling to me
and at the sale price its a no complains deal. Totally going
against my new years resolution to save my money....oh well, carpe
diem.
I waited too long to snowboard today. First the fast train didnt
come bc it was cancelled due to some unknown reason. So i had to
take a regular train which stops at every single stop along the way and
transfer a million times. Then the bus didnt come to get to the
top of the mountain...it was snowing so bad it couldnt operate
properly. Finally one did come, but we had to walk 15 min in the
snow carrying all our sh*t bc it couldnt climb the mountain due to snow
and ice.
Finally arriving there, it was PACKED. I think all of Japan
decided to go snowboarding and skiiing. It was ridiculous, waits
for the lifts were like rides at Disney Land.
Other than that though it was a pretty fun day i guess. Did
some sick jumps and rail slides, and also did a nice face plant at the
end of the day...landed a nice air, and then fell flat on my
face...awesome. Last day of snowboarding during
break...time to become the weekend warrior again. But of course i
have the option to take my given days off whenever i want too ^ ^
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Finally woke up and caught the train on time. It was
blizzarding in the morning and I didnt think it was gonna be a good
day. But man...it was awesome today. The courses didnt open
until mid-day bc of the snow, but when they opened nice beautiful
powder snow. Do whatever crazy thing you wanna do bc if you fall
you wont feel a thing. Like falling into feathers. So i
took advantage and went nuts on some of the drops and jumps the course
offered me.
What can i say....yes i am stoked today as i am no matter what day i
snowboard. If i didnt have to stop in to the board of
education tomorrow in the morning i would go again, but looks like i
will have to wait until sunday.
Just a side note...there are monkeys on the mountain. Real
monkeys. Not people that suck and i am calling them names,
real...discovery channel monkeys. I saw one from the gondola
riding back from the top of the mountain where the lifts are.
Pretty big one walking alone in the snow and then he climbed a
tree. So yeh that made my day.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
I was supposed to go snowboarding today....
What did i do? Alarm goes off at 6AM so i can get my ass to the
station to grab the train to head to the slopes, but instead of waking
up, I unconsciously turn off the alarm completely (not even snooze) and
wake up mad mad late. So it was too late to grab a train in time
to make the day worth while. I am so stupid haha. wtf am i
thinking?
I have plans to go on Thurs and Sunday, but break is almost over for me
before I have to go back to work m( ; _ ;)m
I wanted to get in as many weekday sessions
as i could before i become the weekend warrior again. Ah
well.
Happy New Years!
The end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006. I can't really
complain about 2005 too much, it was a pretty good year full of
accomplishment. I graduated college, got a sweet job in Japan,
and met the girl of my dreams. Lets hope 2006 is as sweet as 2005
was. Setting goals is important...like I need to save my money
and not blow it on snowboard/surf gear and other things I dont really
need....I'll do it I swear.
I had a good New Years eve chilling with my friends and
girlfriend, drinking and watching Pride full contact fighting and the
Japanese new years special. Comedian Okamura attempted to stop a
1 ton flaming dragon ball in motion with his bare hands...god I love
Japan.
Friday, December 30, 2005
I live in Japan. I have the wonderful advantage of a world of
mountains surround on all sides by the ocean. Which means surf
and snowboarding year-round. All the good surf now is in the
north-west area near the Japan sea, where it is a lovely below freezing
temperature. I do love surfing but not enough to get
hypothermia. So what do I do...I grab a snowboard and head to the
closest slopes to carve on a different element. The mountains
here are beautiful and the air is clean. I am typically the only
white dude out on the mountain snowabording, but its cool. You
can generate alot of respect from the locals if you chill and talk to
them a bit.
There are so many slopes and areas to shred on here. Its
unbelievable. I have only tapped into two of them so far.
The rides are short on the ones I have been to, but its alot of
fun. After New Years I am taking a trip north with my friend to
hit up the better slopes in the colder areas.
Without a car trips to the slopes are interesting. I wake up
typically at 6AM, jump on a train at 7:45, and I get to the destination
at 9:00, take a bus 15 min. and I am snowboarding by 9:30ish. Not
a bad deal I guess. It could be worse. I get to stay until
the slopes close at 5pm and then rinse and repeat for the travel back
to my apartment. Lugging around all my snowboard gear on the
trains can be quite a pain with 10000000 billion Japanese people
running around like mad men on and off trains, but you get used to
it.
Bottom line is...life is good here.
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