JAPAN GRABS - Hakuba 2014-2015 : A Season Exploring the Japanese Alps
Nice one!!!!! 
Just saw that you can split the latest Charlie, and it has ABS down the guts, so when ya do split it, it has inbuilt sidewalls!!!!! Awesome idea!!!!!
I’m in the factory splits ftw camp, Mizu, but there’s no denying the Charlie Slasher is a beast!
It was a pretty crazy weekend. Andrew is going to be posting a Happo report soon, but in the meantime check out how deep it was in Toyama!!!!
-Marc
Epic! 
Ohhhhh, I’m hatin you deep down inside!!!!! 
So is that Charlie ABS thing a commonly used thing????? While I’ve never seen or heard of it before, I confess to not really lookin into splits at all!!!!! I’d definitly love to do it one day though!!!!!
hmmm, I have the feeling I’ve seen the ABS inner sidewall somewhere else so I can’t really say if Capita was the first to do it or not. It’s definitely a cool option, knowing that after you ride it as a solid for a bit you can extend it’s life as a splitboard. Depending on your handyman skills, it could be a way to save money on a factory split.
To tell you the truth, I found my Charlie used and really cheap, so I got it to be my powder rock board. In just a half day of riding though, it’s promoted itself into the regular quiver!
So what’s your favorite powder board Marc? You have so many haha. How’s Charlie vs La Nina?
hmmm, I have the feeling I’ve seen the ABS inner sidewall somewhere else so I can’t really say if Capita was the first to do it or not. It’s definitely a cool option, knowing that after you ride it as a solid for a bit you can extend it’s life as a splitboard. Depending on your handyman skills, it could be a way to save money on a factory split.
To tell you the truth, I found my Charlie used and really cheap, so I got it to be my powder rock board. In just a half day of riding though, it’s promoted itself into the regular quiver!
I don’t think I’ve ever read a negative review of that board!!!!!
Jeremy should buy me one for Xmas!!!!!
I haven’t even ridden the la nina yet! This weekend will be one day on it and one day on the powder snake
Happo, Saturday 13th December.
Another day. Another powder explosion. I wasn’t planning on riding last Saturday, but reports of 30cm of fresh snow at base level in the village in Hakuba had me changing plans and I made it Happo for the afternoon.
Attempts to take out the Go Pro and film anything were beaten back by constant heavy snowfall, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it was deep! It was the kind of runs you need windscreen wipers on your goggles, and failing that, the back of your hand. Once again, mid-winter conditions in mid-December! For in-resort powder, this has been an amazing first 2 weekends so far.
Board nerd corner: I was on La Nina 159 for the first time. It floated fine.. but didn’t “feel floaty”. It didn’t have that magic rocker float feeling pushing up on your feet. It did have a really solid tail for high speed beasting of chopped up deep powder, which was good, but I’m not sure if it floats any better than my flat 159 Smokin Clancy. I was hoping the gradual rise of the banana/rocker from just behind the front foot to the nose would make it a floating machine. I’ll let you know how this goes after some more ‘research’...
In one brief moment when the snow was falling slightly less ridiculously, I snapped this shot of local instructor and vegetarian ninja, Ben - this lift will be moving later in the season!
And the next day, check out how much more snow had fallen! (Sunday photo by Chitose Kobayashi)
On Sunday, I was at Hakuba Cortina, post to come soon.
As for this coming weekend, it’s snowing now… and there are heavy snowfall warnings for the next two days. Will the lift even be visible next time?
-Andrew
Maybe you’re just used to tapered deck float?
And does Japan ever had a bad season. It’s like every edit is a powder edit 
so jealous haha
That’s unreal. I won’t lie, I’m starting to get jealous. 
I’m looking forward to the next update.
wtf cant wait to get the,
forty… six… days!!!! GAAAHH!!!!!!
There’s so much snow in Hakuba right now. Another 70cm fell today, and there’s 100cm more forecast for tomorrow!!!
Too bad I have to work.
Sunday 14th, Hakuba Cortina.
Hakuba Cortina opened last weekend and while there were still a few more bushes here and there compared to full high season, the inbounds trees on the top half of resort were surprisingly good already. From the very first lap, it was run after run of racing for powder.
First run was untracked joy, plenty of fall line turns before some airs under the chairlift. Based on how fun that is, and how often I find myself doing it, this blog might have to change its name to “Airs Under Chairs”. Strictly front-country. Dad-core. Ice axes and snowshoes optional for looking hardcore in the restaurant at lunchtime. Can you become a professional recreational powder rider? I think I need to look into that.
Cortina is very well known now, and even in mid-December there was a good line up for first lift. However the vibe was positive, and it wasn’t that long before the powder hounds either got tired, had long lunches, or headed to Cortina’s amazing onsen (thermal hot spring baths) early, as by 11.30 the line-ups thinned out. The obvious spots were pretty well tracked out, but you could either just blast through them ignoring the tracks as it was still soft and deep, or find untouched nuggets elsewhere. This little clip was in a spot barely touched in the afternoon, showing there’s always more fun to be had somewhere:
Board nerd corner:
Day 2 on the Lib Tech La Nina. Still not sure. It rides fine. Good pop off side hits. Solid at high speed. Still feels a bit weird on hard piste – you feel the tail camber, but not the nose, so it’s like you have a long tail and no nose. It doesn’t actually ride like that.. it just feels that way… I was riding with a high speed powder rider on 160 Hovercraft, and didn’t get left behind, so it wasn’t getting me stuck in the pow. Maybe I just need to get better at snowboarding and not expect the board feedback to feel amazing?
For the last few years of Japan powder I’ve been working on riding it on an all-round board, but the crazy early season conditions are making me think of full-on powder sticks… YES 420, Rossignol XV, Jones Hovercraft, Trapper Trout Trap…. When it’s so deep you aren’t going anywhere out of resort, and it’s waist deep on piste, what do you reach for?
- Andrew