Storing your snowboard for the summer

Rocky Thompson of Backcountry and the infamous/famous Goat blog gives these tips for storing your snowboard or skis for the summer.

What's for dinner?

One of the scariest parts about coming to Japan for the first time is eating. I routinely talk to people terrified of the experience. If all you eat is the basic steak, potatoes, and cheeseburgers, stay home. Really. You'll be unhappy and folks will be offended. However, if you're willing to try a few things, Japan is spectacular.

A great thing about Japan is the prevalence of kaiten sushi bars. These are sushi restaurants that have conveyor belts bringing sushi around. You don't need to speak - you just take the plate you want. The plates are color-coded for pricing so that's easy too. Pictured is ebi furai roll. I got it in a kaiten sushi bar but did need to special order it. Ebi furai roll means fried shrimp roll.  It's a large fried shrimp with a lettuce leaf and a very small bit of mayo. Naturally, each restaurant is different - this isn't available everywhere - but it's a bit tasty. The plate shown cost $3 to $4...I don't remember precisely.

I love Japanese food.

What now, gaijin?

You thought it was a respectable restaurant. It came with high recommendations. Then, you were served this. What do you do? Do you panic? Do you run? Do you ask for another flavor? Actually, you use the part around the bottom for your soy (shoyu) sauce. If you need more, grab it firmly and grate - it's fresh wasabi you nasty-minded foreigner!

I love Japanese food!

Stop monkeying around

I love signs in Japan. This is one of my favorites. While this isn't a problem in most places, the sign clearly (loosely translated) says: Caution - Monkey Crossing.

One more H-town version from Springsteen

Liberty Hall...so right. Such old feelings. What a song!

Narita Airport, page 2

Fox in the snow

Borrowing this from The Goat's (Rocky Thompson) backcountry.com blog. Seriously amazing!

I don't always like to share

This is very recent Kagura area, less than 30 meters off piste. It's not dawn patrol. How crowded is it where you ride?

A brief essay in terror while en route to snowboarding in Japan

You knew it would suck. There's no need to leave this early for dawn patrol. Still, somehow you got shafted into driving and your so-called-friends crashed out, snoring their lives away.

You drive forever without seeing signs you can read. Paranoia marries sleepiness - you're edgy as hell. Up ahead in the distance, a warning sign looms...what can it be? As you get closer you see...

That's right - this area is swarming with giant, killer tanuki.

Well, not really. First, they aren't very big...at all. Second, swarming is an overstatement...I've only seen them in zoos over here although friends mine...even when sober...claim to have seen them. Finally, they don't kill much other than small rodents and bugs. They're actually kind of cool and a sign of good luck. Wikipedia has this interesting article.

Americans usually call them Raccoon Dogs. They boldly guard entrances to restaurants and shops, displaying their rather disproportionately large juevos to all who care to look...and to those who don't care to look.

Why the cats and dogs?

Simply put, we're suffering a bad series of events. While there is snow, there's also wind so lots of lifts are closed. Adding on, this is the Japanese end-of-year holiday period. So, with more people and fewer lifts...I'm home playing with my dogs. I'm still not writing off the weekend...Sunday is a possibility.

Cat's in charge

Sometimes our pets outshine us...okay, often. At the same stop where the highly skilled Shiba plies his trade, this cat supervised vehicular security. With the engine (and heater running), the driver went to sleep. He slept soundly knowing that Spot the WonderCat would repel all invaders.

The Shiba declined comment.

One man, one Shiba Ken

This is a roadside stop just after getting off the expressway. It has clean, semi-warm restrooms and vending machines, making it very cool. It's even on the correct side of the road if you're on your way to the resorts.

On this day, it offered one additional service - there was a Shiba Ken carrying an ice scraper in his mouth. As I didn't have icy windshields, I'm not sure what the charge for cleaning them would have been.

Stateside dog lovers know this dog as a Shiba Inu. It's a Japanese dog and, over here,  they say Shiba Ken. It has to do with how you read the kanji...oh, well...what do they know? ;-)

BTW, they are outstanding dogs. I have one and he saved my life...literally and figuratively. I may tell the literal story at some point. The figurative one is between him and me.

Blue moon

My Internet friend Rocky posted this on his Liquid Astronaut blog. It's pretty funny and interesting. Being older than the average snowboarder...hell, I'm older than the average person...I have actually heard the expression "once upon a blue moon" to indicate something that rarely occurred. My parents used it a lot when I was growing up.  They would be 100 or so now if they were alive.

As a child, I checked pretty regularly for a moon with this...er....colorway. I never saw one so I dismissed my parent's saying as another sign of impending senility and assumed that anyone who used the expression was either senile or easily fooled.

Rocky reassured me that the expression hasn't died out completely and, since he's young, it's not a sign of senility. I've never tried to fool him so I can't address that earlier belief.

Snowboarding in Japan and not sure which run to take?

This sign at Kagura should clear it up for you. No need to thank me.

How bad was the visibility?

Kagura rocks but it, like lots of places, can leave something to be desired in terms of visibility with snowboarding. For the video, I used my new cam, holding it out in my left (front) arm and operating blind. It came out okay when you consider that's really what it looked like. Still, powder rocks...vis or no vis.

Tree tripping

A month from now, this root will be dead and gone. Today, laying just under the surface, it caught my board and helped me into a slow-motion face plant. That's what I get for going places no one else has gone...of course, I'd do it again. Kagura always rocks.

Epic Kagura

Saying it was sweet is to understate it. Snow all day yesterday. Most of the crowds over the Japanese holiday went somewhere else. Visibility was poor - more on that later - but all else is sweet. Kagura has great off-piste runs. Normally, folks track them and the cold kills the saplings. It's too early for that this year - I was running through the jungle. Here's what was on the other side of the ridge...good thing I go slow when I don't know what's ahead. That's a creek bed...with water. First you get soaked, then you have to climb out. Sometimes being slow is cool.

Ullr says "Snow in Japan"

At least that's the weather projection for today, pretty much from Niigata to Niseko. If it holds, I'll have to verify conditions tomorrow on a quick trip. Fingers crossed and prayers to the Holy Snow God.

More coming

December didn't roar in with deep powder...it kind of sneaked in with powder here followed by sun there. January looks better and this week will have some dusting to keep things fresh. I want to point out to my friends who predicted a dismal year here....you were wrong. Trust in Bubba, the happy gaijin - we will ride powder this year! I know it will be a good year because my knee's already aching.

Playing for change

What will we do this year?