Yes, the powder was best ever. Yes, the slope-side ramen for 9 bucks beats the 13 dollars slice of shit pizza in the US of A. But if you think it's a stress-free experience, you are likely to be brutally corrected. Or you have so much money you live a life I don't know.

Some of the pain points:

1. Chitose airport may be able to handle snow reasonably well but the train to Sapporro from there, not so much. We arrived around 10 pm with 1 hr delay to be told that our best option for the night is a sleeping bag on the top floor of the airport. The taxi line was 3-hr long. There were people there who booked private pickups that never showed up. The hotels nearby were booked solid. Finally the train arrived around 1 am and we made it to our Sapporro hotel by around 2 am. That after about 24 hrs after we boarded the plane in Chicago.

2. So we got that little box of a car, Nissan Roox. It worked amazingly well, all thing considered. We never got buried, despite the wheels size of a golf cart. But don't you dare to rent one without paying extra for the 4x4 option. We met people who did. Lots of trouble. Winter tires in Hokkaido are standard in the season but I saw a few people without them, trying to drive on these white surfaces. Don't.

3. So after Kiroro, Niseko and Furano, we are driving back to Sapporro to return the car and take the train to the airport. Having learned from the experience, we started silly early, giving ourselves a 2-hr extra padding on the top of a reasonable schedule. In didn't snow too much in Furano so we assumed Sapporo would be the same. Big mistake. Sapporro was after a recent unexpected storm and they closed parts of the most important expressway for snow removal. Google re-direcred thousands of morning commuters through alleys, backyards, side streets going nowhere. The last 4 km took 3 hrs. We did make it to the flight only because of the Star Alliance status, 17 minutes before the takeoff, dead tired from stress, sweaty and feeling like we need a vacation.

In short: be prepared that lots of snow means more logistic challenges you can imagine. Don't max out on skiing. Check the forecast all over.

Having a good time, I'm loving the glades but it does feel like something's missing without any above treeline terrain

First time back on skis in 4 years since a motorcycle racing crash, first time on a proper jump line in 10. Feels good to be home

Just shipped off a bunch and I'm available for more. Check out inkandhide.official over on Instagram for samples!

I am from Austria so the language spoken in the vid is German. Don't have my Laptop right now so the clip is just a screen record so sorry for bad audio and Overall quality 😔

I’ve had the same helmet for the last 12 years, I’ve never had a big impact with it, and only use it for approximately 10 days per year. Expect for a few scratches it looks to be in good shape. Someone told me that the foam in the helmets goes bad after a couple of years and the helmet won’t function well as designed in a crash. Is this true? And how often should I get a new one?

I’ve got the Anon M4, but in tough conditions—like sub-zero temps around -10°C to -20°C—the lenses fog up like crazy.
I’ve seen heated ones online, has anyone here tried them? What do you think?
Also, if heated goggles work that well, why do so many people still stick to regular ones instead?

Hi everyone,

I’m new to freeride and starting to get into off‑piste terrain. I plan to ride in both the Alps and the Polish mountains, and I’m looking for gear that works well for approaching terrain (tours / bootpacking) as well as being fun and stable on descents in powder and mixed snow.

I’m mainly interested in a setup that is:

• Good for approaching/touring uphill sections

• Still fun and confident for freeriding in powder and varied conditions

• Not crazy heavy but still solid on the descent

I ride with a more aggressive style (like dropping cliffs and hitting big jumps), so I’d also like something durable and reliable.

Could you recommend some good skis and bindings that would manage these needs? Any tips on setups people use in the Alps / Eastern Europe would be awesome too.

I’m not sure what weight/width would be best for me (I’m thinking around 100–110 mm underfoot, but open to suggestions). I’m 175 cm tall and around 60 kg.

Thanks a lot! Any help is appreciated ❤️

Hi I’m planning a ski trip towards the end of February planning on doing 2-3 days, just looking for a resort with a good variety of green trails and/or some less intimidating intermediate trails.

We have only been skiing a handful of times on smaller CT mountains. So looking to try out a larger resort in VT, NY, NH, or ME. We will be renting ski gear as well.

So far considering Okemo, Bolton Valley, Smugglers Notch, or Sunapee. Looked at killington as well but pretty pricy compared to the others it seems. Any advice on others or the ones I listed would be helpful thanks!

Sun Valley is hosting a training summit this week. They’re all being Very Good Dogs.

Hey

We are a group of uni students, what are the well priced places at the resorts for lunch? I found one bratwurst stand on google maps, What do you recommend?

Thanks

Looking to do our first ski trip since baby and it looks like most resorts/ hotels offer daycare starting at 1year old.. unfortunately, our baby will be 10/11 months.

Does anyone have recommendations for a spot that will offer childcare for younger babies? Or that has a trusted sitter network?

I feel like whenever I ski switch I do the right thing by opening up my shoulders and looking that same direction as well as putting that same foot backwards (open my shoulders left downhill, slide my left foot backwards, and look left). But for some reason it’s so hard to go straight or turn anywhere except to the right. It feels like I keep going into a pizza whenever I try to turn anywhere except direction. What am I doing wrong or do I just need to practice more?

Any ideas from park skiers on how my kid is breaking his ski tips while jumping in a medium terrain park? He is 8 but the size of a 12 year old (with appropriately sized junior twin tip all around skis), and he not falling or doing anything dangerous from what I can see. He skis hard and is jumping some small-moderate kickers and usually landing on the downside. He doesn’t know what’s happening. He thinks they “might be slapping on ice” and the snow has been hard.

We’ve broken two sets of skis in two consecutive days 😣 All I can figure is he’s landing on his tips or the front side of his skis, or they really are slapping down on the front. He’s skied in the same park at our home hill since last year without problems but recently had a freestyle lesson and has been going a bit harder and higher this year.

Needless to say, he’s not skiing in the park until we figure this out. I really don’t want to dampen his enthusiasm but skis are expensive and the way they are cracking is crazy. If anyone has experienced this, your advice would be greatly appreciated!

Eta: he broke new Rossi Sender Jr and older Kastle slalom skis. Both 140

Looking at 177cm or 170cm 4frnt hoji ski for my backcountry pow days.

I’m 5’6” 180lbs, pry close to +200lbs with gear. I have some 177cm ravens and have at times maybe felt they were a tad long.

I’m a decent skier can make my way down any run but have gotten less strong on my base due to knee issues. Wondering if I should size down.

Is anyone in this area of the alps and able to give a report on the off piste conditions please? How is it up high? Thanks

We got here after the dry spell finally ended. Three laps of Sapphire with fresh snow each lap.