The Line Up - Daily Chat :)
I wish I could stay until Monday. I desperately want to stay Sunday but not looking forward to the chaos getting off the mountain. Might get to try out my 420PH!
Keen to hear about the 420PH if you pull it out this weekend!
I wish I could stay until Monday. I desperately want to stay Sunday but not looking forward to the chaos getting off the mountain. Might get to try out my 420PH!
Keen to hear about the 420PH if you pull it out this weekend!
Yeah can’t wait to ride it. I haven’t taken it for a spin in Aus yet as I don’t want to damage it before Capow in Dec/Jan. I did get to ride some other Yes and Jones pow boards at the demo day a few weeks back. First impressions (only did 2 short runs on each):
Jones Stormchaser - big surfboard nose and short swallow tail. Nice to ride, very stable and would no doubt feel very surfy in the pow. Did ok on groomers but not so much on ice.
Yes Optimistic (2017) - absolute carve beast. I would LOVE to have this board in my quiver, however I think there are probably better choices for pow.
Yes 420 (non-PH) 2017 - wow such fun. I had a blast throwing this thing around. Highly maneuverable, carved fine.
Yes 2020 - felt a lot like the 420 but maybe not quite as lively? Needs to be ridden on pow which I didn’t have on that day.
Jones Hovercraft 2017 - rode great on the groomers and I have no doubt would do well in the pow. Probably a bit plank-ish for my liking but might suit someone looking to really bomb through pow and crud.
Yeah can’t wait to ride it. I haven’t taken it for a spin in Aus yet as I don’t want to damage it before Capow in Dec/Jan. I did get to ride some other Yes and Jones pow boards at the demo day a few weeks back. First impressions (only did 2 short runs on each):
Jones Stormchaser - big surfboard nose and short swallow tail. Nice to ride, very stable and would no doubt feel very surfy in the pow. Did ok on groomers but not so much on ice.
Yes Optimistic (2017) - absolute carve beast. I would LOVE to have this board in my quiver, however I think there are probably better choices for pow.
Yes 420 (non-PH) 2017 - wow such fun. I had a blast throwing this thing around. Highly maneuverable, carved fine.
Yes 2020 - felt a lot like the 420 but maybe not quite as lively? Needs to be ridden on pow which I didn’t have on that day.
Jones Hovercraft 2017 - rode great on the groomers and I have no doubt would do well in the pow. Probably a bit plank-ish for my liking but might suit someone looking to really bomb through pow and crud.
Saw a few Stormchasers in Japow this year and everyone riding them had this huge grin on their face - looked right at home there!
The husband has a Hovercraft (not with the spoon shape underneath though) and I had a bit of a play on that in Japow as well - it charges through the pow and also does surprisingly well on groomers but wasn’t exactly a playful board. Definitely like it’s maker - for speed and charging big steep lines I reckon.
I had a go on a Nitro Treehugger over there (Mint Tours demo fellet) - I guess in some ways maybe a little similar to the 420. A really short board and quite wide - did ok on the Japow groomers with a bit of soft stuff on the top but this thing really excelled in the pow and as the name suggests in the trees. Super fun, playful and great to throw about. I absolutely loved the thing.
Fingers crossed for the goods on the weekend for you to get the 420 out! Yiew! 
Yeah can’t wait to ride it. I haven’t taken it for a spin in Aus yet as I don’t want to damage it before Capow in Dec/Jan. I did get to ride some other Yes and Jones pow boards at the demo day a few weeks back. First impressions (only did 2 short runs on each):
Jones Stormchaser - big surfboard nose and short swallow tail. Nice to ride, very stable and would no doubt feel very surfy in the pow. Did ok on groomers but not so much on ice.
Yes Optimistic (2017) - absolute carve beast. I would LOVE to have this board in my quiver, however I think there are probably better choices for pow.
Yes 420 (non-PH) 2017 - wow such fun. I had a blast throwing this thing around. Highly maneuverable, carved fine.
Yes 2020 - felt a lot like the 420 but maybe not quite as lively? Needs to be ridden on pow which I didn’t have on that day.
Jones Hovercraft 2017 - rode great on the groomers and I have no doubt would do well in the pow. Probably a bit plank-ish for my liking but might suit someone looking to really bomb through pow and crud.
Saw a few Stormchasers in Japow this year and everyone riding them had this huge grin on their face - looked right at home there!
The husband has a Hovercraft (not with the spoon shape underneath though) and I had a bit of a play on that in Japow as well - it charges through the pow and also does surprisingly well on groomers but wasn’t exactly a playful board. Definitely like it’s maker - for speed and charging big steep lines I reckon.
I had a go on a Nitro Treehugger over there (Mint Tours demo fellet) - I guess in some ways maybe a little similar to the 420. A really short board and quite wide - did ok on the Japow groomers with a bit of soft stuff on the top but this thing really excelled in the pow and as the name suggests in the trees. Super fun, playful and great to throw about. I absolutely loved the thing.
Fingers crossed for the goods on the weekend for you to get the 420 out! Yiew!
Yeah I think the Jones boards are like that - they want to charge.
Just fitted bindings on the 420 - hope we get the expected dump tonight.
Who managed to get up this weekend? I was there Sat and Sun morning but it looks like the best of it was today. Still, had a blast on 20cm fresh on Sat and some nice dry stuff on Sunday and managed to scoot before the road chaos started (Hotham).
Got the 420PH out and had a hoot blasting around on it. The board feels very floaty - like it doesn’t seem to sink at all - you don’t even need to think about consciously keeping the nose up. I didn’t realise until I saw a pic of me on it how far back the stance is set. The nose sticks out plenty and you are standing almost right on the tail. That gives it great float. The short tail means it doesn’t hang onto a carve quite as well as a regular board and obviously carving hardpack is not what it was designed for, but it still does the job ok. It moves really fast on pow and I was easily overtaking people on regular boards and skis in the fresh stuff. The pointy nose is good in choppier stuff, but the large surface area means you can get smacked around a bit if the chop is big and heavy. The extra width makes it feel very stable, so flat-basing and landing small jumps felt good. Despite the stability, it is also very maneuverable due to its length which feels even shorter since you are standing so far back on the tail. Combined with the large rockered nose and powder hull, It is very easy to skid the nose around quickly which is a great characteristic in the trees.
Sorry I didn’t get much vid, the weather was terrible for filming but I’ll see if I can dig up anything useable.
Here’s a (not very good) pic showing the stance position on the board - very set back as you can see.
And the only bit of usable footage of me riding it - not in pow sorry.
Who managed to get up this weekend? I was there Sat and Sun morning but it looks like the best of it was today. Still, had a blast on 20cm fresh on Sat and some nice dry stuff on Sunday and managed to scoot before the road chaos started (Hotham).
Got the 420PH out and had a hoot blasting around on it. The board feels very floaty - like it doesn’t seem to sink at all - you don’t even need to think about consciously keeping the nose up. I didn’t realise until I saw a pic of me on it how far back the stance is set. The nose sticks out plenty and you are standing almost right on the tail. That gives it great float. The short tail means it doesn’t hang onto a carve quite as well as a regular board and obviously carving hardpack is not what it was designed for, but it still does the job ok. It moves really fast on pow and I was easily overtaking people on regular boards and skis in the fresh stuff. The pointy nose is good in choppier stuff, but the large surface area means you can get smacked around a bit if the chop is big and heavy. The extra width makes it feel very stable, so flat-basing and landing small jumps felt good. Despite the stability, it is also very maneuverable due to its length which feels even shorter since you are standing so far back on the tail. Combined with the large rockered nose and powder hull, It is very easy to skid the nose around quickly which is a great characteristic in the trees.
Sorry I didn’t get much vid, the weather was terrible for filming but I’ll see if I can dig up anything useable.
We got up there (Perisher) on Monday. It was absolutely INSANE! It was snowing when we got up there just after first lifts and it didn’t stop all day.
We were getting fresh pow runs from first lifts to last lifts basically. We even had one lift to ourselves mid afternoon - how good is a pow day when the whole lift line is just you and your mates!
Monday was legit up there with some of the best days I’ve had in Japan for pure fun and stoke levels. A few moments were as cold as that too - took spare balaclavas and glad we did - the husbands got damp from face shots and actually froze!
Stoked you got the 420PH out and had some fun on it! Were you planning on taking it north in 2018?
We got up there (Perisher) on Monday. It was absolutely INSANE! It was snowing when we got up there just after first lifts and it didn’t stop all day.
We were getting fresh pow runs from first lifts to last lifts basically. We even had one lift to ourselves mid afternoon - how good is a pow day when the whole lift line is just you and your mates!
Monday was legit up there with some of the best days I’ve had in Japan for pure fun and stoke levels. A few moments were as cold as that too - took spare balaclavas and glad we did - the husbands got damp from face shots and actually froze!
Stoked you got the 420PH out and had some fun on it! Were you planning on taking it north in 2018?
I was very distracted at work on Monday watching cams etc. A damn shame we missed it, but still had a good weekend. It was bucketing down on Sunday when we left.
Yeah I bought the 420 specifically for Canada, not really expecting to get it out that often in Aus 
Have yet to board in Japan as it tends not to line up so well with school hols and seems expensive for a longer stay. Definitely keen to check it out at some stage, though.
Here’s my car on Sunday morning around 10:30am ie. before the 50cm++ that followed through Sunday. You can see it was still puking down.
Here is another one a mate posted but my car was pretty much the same condition…
was about 4ft deep after the storm, took over an hour to dig it.
Heh yeah main issue I had was the snow was forming little wedges right under the wheels and stopping the car moving, even with AWD and chains. Might have been better if I was driving out forward rather than backing out maybe? Normally i can just clear the front and blast straight out. Quite hard to dig down under the skirts of the car from a raised position, but got there in the end. I can tell you the shovel i took down from the lodge was in demand in the car park.
We got up there (Perisher) on Monday. It was absolutely INSANE! It was snowing when we got up there just after first lifts and it didn’t stop all day.
We were getting fresh pow runs from first lifts to last lifts basically. We even had one lift to ourselves mid afternoon - how good is a pow day when the whole lift line is just you and your mates!
Monday was legit up there with some of the best days I’ve had in Japan for pure fun and stoke levels. A few moments were as cold as that too - took spare balaclavas and glad we did - the husbands got damp from face shots and actually froze!
Stoked you got the 420PH out and had some fun on it! Were you planning on taking it north in 2018?
I was very distracted at work on Monday watching cams etc. A damn shame we missed it, but still had a good weekend. It was bucketing down on Sunday when we left.
Yeah I bought the 420 specifically for Canada, not really expecting to get it out that often in Aus
Have yet to board in Japan as it tends not to line up so well with school hols and seems expensive for a longer stay. Definitely keen to check it out at some stage, though.
Here’s my car on Sunday morning around 10:30am ie. before the 50cm++ that followed through Sunday. You can see it was still puking down.
@Mudhoney japand not that expensive unless you are high maintenance!
im taking my 10yr old daughter next feb. using points to get there so taxes are 500 then ive scored 11 nights atboth hakuba and myoko then 1 night in Tokyo and its 1200 for both of us with breakfast at all places. when we are myoko suginohara has kids ski free and its about 50 a day for an adult. cant see the states or Canada getting near that price!
@Mudhoney japand not that expensive unless you are high maintenance!
im taking my 10yr old daughter next feb. using points to get there so taxes are 500 then ive scored 11 nights atboth hakuba and myoko then 1 night in Tokyo and its 1200 for both of us with breakfast at all places. when we are myoko suginohara has kids ski free and its about 50 a day for an adult. cant see the states or Canada getting near that price!
Sounds great, can you post or PM me where you’re staying so I can take a look? We’re definitely not high maintenance. Only real requirement is ski-in/out or close to. Don’t want to have to drive/hire car.
Middle of snow season and this place is quiet .....
@Mudhoney where do you want to go? I reckon myoko is probably
better with kids as the 2 resorts at akakura have some nice groomed long runs for kids. we are staying
at a place called petit for you lol funny name but good reviews on tripadvisor I think from
memory its 580 for 6 nights with ensuite and breaky. the ensuite is a big one with kids, hard to get,
and my daughter woudnt want to be showering with randoms in a onsen showering area.
@Mudhoney where do you want to go? I reckon myoko is probably
better with kids as the 2 resorts at akakura have some nice groomed long runs for kids. we are staying
at a place called petit for you lol funny name but good reviews on tripadvisor I think from
memory its 580 for 6 nights with ensuite and breaky. the ensuite is a big one with kids, hard to get,
and my daughter woudnt want to be showering with randoms in a onsen showering area.
Not sure where to be honest, @brenno. I liked the look of some of the Hokkaido resorts like Rusutsu, but Mrs Mud is keen on Honshu. We want it to be a bit of cultural experience so maybe steering clear of the more westernised places. Have heard good things about Nozawa Onsen. You don’t have to worry about easy runs for the kids, ours ski better than us (I am the only boarder) and can handle double-blacks etc. They do struggle a little in deep pow, though.
The Japanese commercial accommodation seems really expensive and small, but I did hear some better deals can be had on AirBNB etc. I will check out that place you mentioned. It won’t be this year as we are already booked for Canada.
Thanks for the tips!