Job Discussion Forums

[kcskibum]

Hi everyone!
I hope to be in Japan by this time next year. I really want to be close to a ski area, and get out skiing most weekends. I have some general questions about this:
1. What ski gear should I bring? All of it? Or just my boots?
2. I am a well-qualified ski instructor here in Canada- what are my chances of doing some lessons on the side in Japan?
3. What areas would you suggest I look into as a place to live and teach? I want to be somewhere that is not a huge city, has easy access to skiing, hiking, mountains, etc, yet is not too isolated from other english speaking people.
Thanks for a start!
-Kelly

[JimDunlop2]

Skiing, like many sports here is EXPENSIVE as hell! I think part of that is the whole Japanese sports culture -- if you're going to do something you gotta do it RIGHT! Which means: buying all the best equipment -- top of the line skis, poles, boots, sexy outfit, goggles, etc, etc....

Realistically, I got my skis with decent bindings out of the gomi pile. Free. Not a scratch on em.... Just a few years old is all. Otherwise, the local "Off House" sells em second hand for peanuts.

But, since you asked..... BRING YOUR BOOTS!!!! I can't find my size here to save my life! (And I'm a regular US size 10 mens). And If I CAN find my size, I really don't feel like paying through the nose to buy em. Even worse for womens size shoes just ask my wife -- although ski boots may be OK.... She just has to get a mens' boot. As long as you don't insist on pretty pinks and baby blues......

Otherwise, I've been told you can rent anything and everything here too -- including ski outfits. It's a popular pastime. But you pay for all that.

Where to go? I'd say either Nagano or Niigata. Yamanashi is close to those areas too and has one or two hills but nothing to brag about.

I dunno about being a ski instructor on the side. Unless you speak fairly fluent Japanese, I'd say your chances at being a ski instructor here are less than 0. But that's hard to say. You are competing with well-qualified native Japanese instructors -- so unless people want the exoticism of a foreign instructor or practice eikaiwa while they ski, the market may be limited.

Good luck though. I am also trying to hit the hills this winter but that won't go anywhere unless I can scrape together some coin and get me some solid ski boots.

[denise]

I am in Niigata, and there are plenty of places around here--three within a 45-minute drive from my house (the closest is about 15-20 minutes). There are several bigger resorts within a couple of hours.

I got a board, bindings, and boots for about 45,000 near the end of the season (mid-March) at either Xebio or Alpen Sport (don't remember which one). It's a good board--more advanced than I am! You can pay through the nose for equipment--trendy sports shops in malls (the ones that have more name-brand clothes than actual sports equipment) sell boards for up to/more than 100,000 yen. Ouch! What Mr. Dunlop says about sports culture is right--people pay for top-of-the-line gear because it looks good, use it a handful of times, and then toss it and buy all new stuff the next year.

d