Snowboarding in Japan

[alex_aylmer]

Hey!

In December i plan to head over to Hakuba, Japan. I'll be there for 3 months, living and working in a little lodge, I'll be doing some house keeping things during the week in return for free food and accommodation. I may work in the bar and restaurant they own as well for 800 Yen an hour ($8 Aus an hour, yewww!) to get me by.. If i stay for 3 months, The owners will also give me a season lift pass (worth 30,000 Yen apparently, (legit yewww!) for free!

I'm basically just wondering if anyone has any insight with anything to do with the above... in terms of Japan as a place to live, travel and work in, Japan as a place to snowboard (obviously it's insane, but particular mountains in the area), night life in Hakuba, The Aussies that are around and anything else regarding my budget!

Thanks

:smow:

 

[B.utters]

-Try and pick up a bit of the language, it's not essential but by trying you will make great friends with locals and benefits will flow from that.

-Food can be fairly cheap in Seicomarts, Lawsons and Seven Elevens. They have premade meals for approx $3-5 to get you by if you are in need of lunches.

-Spirits are are cheaper than beer. A bottle of vodka/bourbon is around $20 and so is a 6 pack of beer. Make sure you check out Chu-Hi Strongs if you want to get hammered on the cheap, they cost about $2 for 500ml and are 9% alcohol.

-If you need to buy gear, try and find last seasons stuff. The Japanese tend to dislike "old" stuff and heavily discount it, earlier in the year I picked up a pair of skis for $500 that would otherwise have cost me $1500.

-If you head out into the back country make sure you check avy reports etc before you go out and never go alone. Preferably also take a beacon, shovel and probe and learn how to use them properly.

 

[stringbean]

i spent a week there so what i have is pretty limited, but access to all the nearby resorts is by bus, but if your in hakuba you should juat about be walking out the door and straight onto the lift. there are a few small pubs/clubs/bars around and most people are aussies/euro's traveling around doin the same thing so you shouldnt have much of a problem meeting new people. Gotta go see the snow monkies while your there, think theres a few tours that go up and see them.

 

[redbruce]

Hey!

In December i plan to head over to Hakuba, Japan. I'll be there for 3 months, living and working in a little lodge, I'll be doing some house keeping things during the week in return for free food and accommodation. I may work in the bar and restaurant they own as well for 800 Yen an hour ($8 Aus an hour, yewww!) to get me by.. If i stay for 3 months, The owners will also give me a season lift pass (worth 30,000 Yen apparently, (legit yewww!) for free!

I'm basically just wondering if anyone has any insight with anything to do with the above... in terms of Japan as a place to live, travel and work in, Japan as a place to snowboard (obviously it's insane, but particular mountains in the area), night life in Hakuba, The Aussies that are around and anything else regarding my budget!

Thanks

:smow:

PM Spanky_Ham. Spends a bit of time riding and working in the land of the rising.

 

[Dougy]

Which lodge mate? I know quite a few lodge owners in Hakuba, a few of them Aussies from Jindy. For bar work 800yen is about the standard rate. Wages in Aus are ridiculously high but then so is the cost of living.

Definitely have a crack at the language. If anything it'll give the Japanese a bit of a giggle. Then you'll find that their "little bit of English" is a damn site better than your "stuff all Japanese". Pronunciation is the hardest thing to get right. I've been at it since 2001 and still have to repeat myself a few times for people to get my accent.

Snowwise Hakuba gets a mix of conditions and is a bit steeper so more prone to avalanche. You generally can't go out of bounds and you'll get in the shit if caught. That being said Aussies and Poms are the worst for rope ducking and seem to do it in the most dangerous places. Ignorance WILL get you killed. Hakuba 47 has some of the best parks you'll find, if that's you bag, but if there's a foot of fresh don't be like the locals and sit around waiting for them to dig out the pipe.:doh:

The food from 7-11 etc is actually pretty good. The tonkatsu sandwiches, pork fillet and BBQ sauce, are my favs. Food here is pretty cheap as long as you stay away from the tourist haunts. Surely you don't want to come here to eat burgers and crap. Although, some did tell me about an awesome little pizza restaurant in Hakuba. Just can't remember the name.

You might want to bring a slightly longer board as well as your regular. When the pow is good it's really good and a little bit of extra length goes a long way to keeping you p-tex side down.

The biggest thing to remember is that you are Australian and away from home so don't act like a wanker. There'll be enough over here doing that and it shits me to tears.

If you have any problems I'm just south of Tokyo and am happy to help if you need anything. If you want PM me and I'll give you my number.

 

[alex_aylmer]

I've been in contact with the 'Windy Lodge' owners, it's a small lodge in the Wadano Forest region, near Happo-One. i should have enough saved up but if i may try and do some extra travelling after and will need as much as possibly, hence the work.. If you could let me know about other lodges that you would recommend, I'll look into them and get in contact with the managers as i've got a few mates who are keen but may not be able to work at Windy with me...

I will be giving everything a crack mate, i was tossing up between Canada or Japan and basically decided, I'll get a lot more of a different experience in Japan than anywhere else.. and i can already count to 10 in Japanese, so I'll be fine :third:. Windy Lodge has a Wagyu beef restaurant so hopefully that's dinner every night! Brekky will probably be whatever they serve to their guests, but cereal will suffice.

Obviously Aussie slopes don't really have anything exceptionally steep so it will take a few weeks to get back into it and go for the bigger slopes. I'll buy my board, bindings etc. over there i'm pretty sure, at the moment Jet Star have the cheapest flights and any extra baggage will cost a lot so i figured i may as well just get it when i'm there, Do you think that's the way to go?

I'll be away from the girlfriend for the whole time so being a wanker is inevitable..

Dougy, I'll be in touch when i get everything sorted...
Thanks for your help fellas!

 

[Dougy]

Windy Lodge is not one my friends lodges. A friend owns Black Pine in Hakuba Valley. Another guy who used to be a customer owns one there as well but I can't remember the name. There's a few other crew from Jindy that have lodges in and around Hakuba.

You won't find Canada steep in Japan. Hakuba is more like Thredbo or Hotham, and Hokkaido is like Perisher, but with 6 meters of pow. It can get really soft and if you go head in can be hard to get out. The bigger board is more for float than control at ludicrous speed and it'll help you hold speed on the inevitable flat section in the middle of many resorts.

When I say don't be a wanker I mean too often I've been in Japanese resorts and seen groups of Aussies being absolute dickheads, acting the yob, and generally giving everyone around them the shits. Much like they do in Bali, or London, or Amsterdam, or at any German Beer Hall during OktoberFest. Nothing wrong with going out and having fun just remember you are in a foreign country so at least try to be a little respectful of your surroundings.

Yakiniku is a great way to eat and heaps of fun with mates and beer. You'll probably stay away from the wagyu as it's pretty pricy. I suggest niniku foil, cloves of garlic in a little alfoil cup you roast on the grill. Again with beer. Also shishito. Like little capsicums grilled. Guess what. Great with beer. Breaky for the Japanese is usually some fish and salad:fearr Nato, sticky beans with egg. They also do western brekky so don't worry too much.

Learn please, onegaishimasu/kudasai, thank you, arigatou gozaimasu, this, kore, as in "this please" as pointing to something, "kore kudasai". Gochisosama, thanks for the feast will win you points and get you invited out again. Abunai, dangerous, is something you might hear in the resort from staff, and tanoshi, fun, you might hear from random people who see your big pow grin.

Now get studying young grasshopper