Japan Snow Continues To Go Off 13-Foot Snowpacks = The Norm Japan is having one heck of a big winter this year. There is more snow on the ground here right now than there has been at any point in the past 8 years. Many ski resorts on the main isle of Honshu already have over 4-meter (13.1-feet) deep snowpacks. This January has been almost nothing but big storms. The second two weeks of December were exceptionally snowy as well skyrocket the Japanese snowpack to record levels. Things have filled in in a way we don’t generally see here. Pillows are bigger, lines are smoother, new options have opened up, and the bushes and low trees are nonexistent. […] SnowBrains | January 23, 2015 0 Comments
Gear Review: Flylow Quantum Pro Jacket and Baker Bibs Flylow is an independent outerwear company dedicated to manufacturing high performance, durable products out of Lake Tahoe. Originally created by ski mountaineers in the Pacific Northwest, Flylow’s technical pieces are designed to accommodate fast uphill and aggressive downhill skiing. In addition to designing hard-charging outerwear, Flylow is also working to achieve a long-term sustainability plan to better serve the planet and the ski industry as a whole. The Quantum Pro Jacket and Baker Bibs are two of Flylow’s versatile, waterproof, breathable hardshells. […] Gear Rachel Delacour | January 14, 2015 1 Comment
Gear Review: Flylow Billie Coat and Nina Pant Flylow started ten years ago when two college friends recognized a need for technical outerwear to fill the gap between mountaineering and ski outerwear. They created gear that was light for the ascend and durable for downhill charging. Ten years later, Flylow is based in Lake Tahoe and still true to their independent, mountain-raised roots. The Billie Coat and Nina Pant are Flylow’s three layer hard-shell outerwear options designed specifically for women. 20k/20k waterproof fabric (20K waterproofing means “if you put a square tube with inner dimensions of 1” x 1” over a piece of said fabric, you could fill it with water to a […] Gear Liza Sarychev | January 7, 2015 1 Comment
Japan Is Having Its Best Season in Years: December 2014 Photo Tour Japan is having its best ski season in years right now. It’s not normal for Japan to have this much snow this early in the season. The bushes are covered, the big lines are in and it’s game on most everywhere on Honshu isle. Ski resorts in the Hakuba area have already gotten 332 cms (132 inches or 11 Feet) of snow at their bases in the month of December alone. If you haven’t been to Japan yet – if you haven’t seen it snow in Japan yet – it’s time to go. evo is taking skiers and riders to Japan this winter. Evo’s got all the details worked out for you so all you have to do is show up, ski deep pow, eat great food, and get […] SnowBrains | December 30, 2014 3 Comments
The Top 10 Award-Winning Ski/Snowboard Gear of 2015: This Fall, we rounded up the award winning ski and snowboard gear of 2015. We wanted to give our viewers one place to find all of 2015’s most highly praised gear. We called it TOP GUN. We’ve now gone through all the award winning gear we could find and we want to show the best award winning piece of gear from each category: The Best of TOP GUN 2015. Below you’ll find the best award winning gear from the following 9 categories: Powder Skis, All-Mountain Skis, Women’s Skis, Ski Bindings, Ski Boots, Snowboards, Snowboard Boots, Goggles, and Ski Jackets. OnTheSnow.com gave their Editors’ Choice Award to 5 powder skis this year, […] Gear SnowBrains | December 22, 2014 0 Comments
Top 5 Reasons To Go To Japan This Season: Japan is on everyone’s lips these days. It was once a secret, but a secret it is no more. The consistently deep snows of Japan are well known and sought after world-wide. Storms don’t matter in Japan. A cold wind blows out of Siberia, crosses the Sea of Japan, picks up moisture, and that moisture slams into the mountains of Japan resulting in ceaseless snowfall; especially in January and February. There are places on Honshu Island (Tokyo’s island) that receive 1,200 to 1,500 inches of snow per year. That’s 100 to 125-feet of annual snowfall. Whoa… Hakuba, Japan generally gets about 300 […] SnowBrains | December 16, 2014 0 Comments
TOP GUN: The 2 Award Winning Snowboard Boots of 2015 Nothing beats a powder day on a snowboard. Slashes, cutbacks, floaters, ollies, and pig-dogs. Powder on a snowboard is nothing but pure pleasure. Snowboarding has been given a lot of the credit for the new freeskiing movement. Snowboarding influenced freeskiing’s style, tricks, and ski shapes and it’s true. Snowboarding has always been progressive and cutting edge and it’s made everyone better as it rolls along. The snowboard boots listed below will help snowboarding continue to influence and up the ante of the snow sliding world. […] Gear SnowBrains | December 16, 2014 0 Comments
Japan Conditions Report: Bottomless Powder at Cortina Yesterday What a start to the season at Cortina! With 50cm today and 50 cm yesterday, it was truly bottomless, by any definition. Snow quality was quite good, and face shots were plentiful. As the lifts opened, the clouds parted and gave us a few hours of beautiful light before it started to snow again. Despite weekend crowds and limited terrain due to only Chairs 2 and 4 being open, the resort did not track out too quickly. This last storm has done […] Conditions Report Lee Lyon | December 15, 2014 0 Comments
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