21 replies to this topic

[Black Mountain]

I was in Hakuba last weekend for three days. It was three days off sweet deep pow. At moments it even bordered on a spiritual experience when I met some kamoshika deep in the forest. In fact, I saw the same ones on two separate days on totally different areas of the mountain. They were as curious of me as I was of them. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my good camera up on the hill so these ones from my video camera will have to suffice.

























I also made a video last night instead of sleeping (thank last night's storm for that ). It's a quick mashup of three days. I'll post it as soon as it's finished formatting.

[Jynxx]

You are having a great streek at Hakuba, huh !

Experts onry classic

[muikabochi]

Cool pics all the same!
How close was our furry friends?

[Black Mountain]

Really close. The first day I ran into them I stayed about 15 feet away for nearly 30 minutes. We just sat there watching each other. The next day on a different hill I cruised past them 4-5 times and they just stayed calmly watching me. They were a lot bigger than I expected. Larger than most of the deer I've seen around here. They look like they are quite powerful animals as well.

[Black Mountain]

Here's the video I put together... I wanted to upload it to SJ but it was too big! :(

[SJ-David]

Out of interest how big was it Black Mountain.
We can change the limit if need be.
Thanks.

[Black Mountain]

970MB... what's the limit for the SJTV site?

[SJ-David]

Quite a bit less than that if I remember correctly!
That's a big file, hey!

[Black Mountain]

Yeah, HD plus music... I should of converted it but I'm a quality junky... maybe I'll knock it down a few MB when I get a chance to post it on here

[tokabochi]

Nice.

I really want to see a rabbit scurrying around. Never have.

[Tex]

Nice BM I thought it was Darth Vader at first

What camera you using?

[smostyn]

Noce pics. What are those animals? We saw them as well, but didnt get the camera out fast enough. Are they some sort of deer or goat?

[stemik]

Great to see BM. You have lucked out with the snow everytime you have been here!
Actually I have seen a lot more Kamoshika this season. I wonder why?

[Black Mountain]

Tex, the camera is the new Sanyo Xacti. I've got mixed feelings about it so far but the price was right.

Smostyn, they are called Kamoshika. In English they are Japanese serow, a kind of goat-antelope.

Stemik, it has been a very powder filled season. Hopefully a few more good days on the horizon.

[Jynxx]

Originally Posted By: Black Mountain

.. the camera is the new Sanyo Xacti. I've got mixed feelings about it..

Got me interested there. Care to elaborate?
Waterproof model? Did you gaffer tape it?
(By the way, some skydiver´s use them, too. That means a lot because most cameras don´t handle freefall very well.)

[Black Mountain]

Well, I've used three different models of xacti camera now and this latest model is a mixed bag. The video quality is perfect. I have no complaints about that... but photo quality seems to have gone down a bit. They also made the buttons a little squishy... you can't tell when you've focused and when are talking the photo... kind of a dumb mistake I think. They have fixed issues with the zoom so that is a step in the right direction. However, and this is a really big problem for me, they've gone to a less sturdy battery. The battery life has been reduced and it performs very very poorly in cold weather conditions.

[Tex]

Thanks, I have had a couple of earlier Xacti as well and still have the original HD1000, have you tried the filming in 920 to get a higher field of view as opposed to the wide... I ended up getting a wide angle lens for the HD1000 Xacti to keep filming in full HD but even that wasn't enough for me, hence two cameras now when I added to GoPro, but still use the 920 res.

[Jynxx]

Haven´t snowed here for 3 weeks.
Had a snowboarding in Pow dream after watching your vid.
I like the shots from over the shoulder, and a little above and behind. (into 4 min and 4´30) some really nice moves into 6min.
You have very loose and realxed style.

[Black Mountain]

Cheers Jynxx!
I was playing around with a few angles but my camera doesn't have a wide enough angle lens to do it properly. At 6mins in, even though it's difficult to see, I caught some sweet air for two jumps in a row. The snow was well overhead off the little ridge I jumped from. Great fun. I think the loose riding style comes from my days of being a skate boarder. I like to launch myself into things and react instead of planning things out... good for my reflexes

[Jynxx]

No factory wide angle lens converter for accessories?
There are so many Xacti now I don´t know which ones have them.
There are some aftermarket ones for skydiving but apparently they have focus issues so don´t get it.
(I get my info from dropzone re: cameras for sports)

Really like to ride with you one day