Hakuba has been pretty hit and miss for us the last 3 years, we even had rain there this year. So much rain, if only it was a few degrees cooler it would have been an epic pow day. Still had a few good days of shin deep snow there though.

Myoko on the other hand, this year we had "upwards" of 50cm in 6 hours and went on to get 1.5m in 24 hours. Literally swimming. Need a bigger board

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MY93 Impreza GX 1.8L, 0hp, 0nm

As it was our first time to Hakuba, we tried all the resorts in the area. I liked Cortina and Iwatake the best. Those two would be great I throught on a deep powder day. I like the fresh powder and the tress, which some of the other resorts at Hakuba lacked I thought.

Nozawa had a great mix. Nices trees and even a few good steep runs. Anyone do the 39 degree run? (Only showed as 36 degress on my iphone app) Plus the Nozawa village is pretty funky I thought.

Have not tried Myoko - maybe one to add to the list.

Will be doing Niseko again next year (have not been for a few years). It's a bit western and busy, but the snow is normally great! Will be doing a few days at Rusutsu as well. Rusutsu is not far from Niseko, but less crowds and some cool runs. Yes it has the wacky euro/japanese theme (lacks resturants/nightlife too) but is fun for a few days.

Anyone else been to other resorts in Japan?

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MY11 WRX + 86

haha the 39deg run... Best time was smashing through the trees to the right of that. Massive pillow to jump off. Thats where i eat a bunch of snow off the pillow in my vid.

Niseko had some crazy powder. I prefer the village style of Noz better. Annupuri (left of Hirafu) is the best though. Less crouds and more powder tree runs.

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Huge range of extinguisher brackets for cars!

http://kap.industries/

Any recommendations for ski gear purchases?

Need a new jacket/ pants/ goggles for my next trip...i've thinking tactics.com or dogfunk.com with a shipping company so i can get the good gear...

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hello my name is tommy
i don't have a Subaru

I recommend getting a shell style jacket. That way you can layer up if its cold or if its warm just have less layers. Sometimes i was sweating my box off after a powder run.

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Huge range of extinguisher brackets for cars!

http://kap.industries/

We replaced a lot of our gear last year on our trip to Canada. So much cheaper then here and that was resort prices. If you can get it from the states online even better.

I have always had good experience with the North Face Gore-tex stuff. Last jacket lasted 10 years and it did a lot of snowboarding! Been very happy with my Oakley A-Frame goggles which have done two trips now.

+1 for layers. Thermals top/bottom, medium fleece and then gore-tex pants and gore-tex shell jacket, is my setup. Wife adds an extra jumper sometimes as she feels the cold. Beanie under my helmet works well to keep my head warm and safe

Going to go watch Russ's video again to find those pillows for next time

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MY11 WRX + 86

There's a shop over in Canada called the mountain co-OP and their snow gear is great, wide range, and cheap
Not checked if they do online sales, but if they do, jump on it

Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Went shopping there the other day for some gear. Ended up with a Jacket and some thermals there. It's all good gear, but it is their own brand. They don't stock any other brands though.

I just bought a DC jacket yesterday. Axis jacket, 15k waterproof, 40g breathability. Got it for CAD$150 down from about CAD$260. Everything is so much cheaper here to buy than in Australia. Even when it's not on sale here. Going to look at boards/boots/bindings once i start work and get paid too. Could get a good setup here for ~$500 i'd recon.

The Boardroom, Pacific Boarder and Comor Sports are all right next door to each other in Van. I bought my boots from Comor and the staff were awesome to deal with. If you're heading to Big White or Silver Star check out Deviate Board Shop and Island Snow in Kelowna. Gah, all this talk of pow makes me wish I was out riding right now =/

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273.2whp / 203.7kw / 371.2nm @ 17psi. Verso tune by ASG.

Resorts I have been too -

Niseko- Hirafu, Hanazono
Myoko- Akakura Kanko, Akakura Onsen, Suginohara (Japans longest run, 8.5km, leg burner!), Seki Onsen. (THE best resort ever on a powder day)
Hakuba- Happo One, Cortina, Iwatake

Hit Cortina NYE this year, we caught a taxi at some redic hour and beat the crowds, first chair/tracks with a nice big dump overnight and snowing basically all day. Such a fun place with the main run being nice and wide. Fun up the top and in the trees.


As for purchasing gear, i usually look at-
tactics.com (have bought a HEAP of gear off these guys)
Evo.com (have bought a few things)
dogfunk.com
eternalsnow

and believe it or not, Amazon can be pretty good for hardware, I got bindings for my powder board from amazon for a great price

If you find products that won't ship to aus, i use hopshopgo.com as a mailforwarder.

mmmm snow.

I'm aiming for a week in August this year to get an AST1 course under my belt, and 3-4 weeks in japan next jan/feb, cat/hiking back country tours.

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MY93 Impreza GX 1.8L, 0hp, 0nm