hokkaido

So I was extremely fortunate to be posted in Tokyo for work this year so took advantage of the location to chase down more of Japan’s famed powder.

I am writing this post after around 25 days in a handful of Japan’s hundreds of ski resorts mountains. Some old, some new but all good times. Sat in the corner of a huge hotel room with its own hot tub and sauna on the 19th floor with a 3 meter long window overlooking an incredible mountain in Tomamu that we rode yesterday.

A little sad because I was hoping for one last ride of my season, but the winds are too strong and the top lifts (where all the good stuff is) are not open.

Sad also because my assignment here has come to an end and as soon as I head back to Tokyo this evening I will be packing my things and returning to London. At least until I can get my affairs sorted for my next assignment in HK.

So I have spent every weekend since the new year snowboarding. Starting with an extended 5 day trip over new year in Nozawa Onsen, which just never disappoints. More weekend trips to Nozawa and Myoko Kogen with a long weekend in Niseko filling the rest of the weeks.

Days trips to other mountains included Togari Onsen which had loads of untouched yet not patrolled side country action accessible off the lifts. A short bus ride from Nozawa made a nice change of scenery to explore and a bit of variety.

Seki onsen again a short bus ride but from Myoko this time. Seemed to be a small family run mountain with only one 2 man lift. We arrived here just as it opened and looking up the mountain the visible face only had a couple of lines down it. By the end of the day there was more touched than untouched snow on the face. A great location for laps and laps of side country. My friends will tell you (or rather gloat) that there is even better fresh line action. Payload for this is a hike which I was not equipped for at the time. Next time Seki, next time.

Myoko

The fun this year has definitely got to go to this last trip. A 10 day tour of Hokkaido including Rusutsu, Niseko, Kiroro, Furano and Tomamu.

Rusutsu was as fun as it was last year, but more chances to explore the actual resort’s runs an side country as I was here for more than a day trip. A nice long hike up the main ridge, plenty of bowl action, but you do kind of feel you are always traversing in the bowls rather than gunning it down the mountain.

‘The Meadow’ as we nicknamed it, just off the main piste through a short section of trees opened up to a massive field where you could always go that little bit wider and find fresh lines. Only down side is it required a 10 minute walk back up the road to the gondola. Worth it every time. Staying in a Japanese style ski resort in itself is an experience. A self contained complex with various dining options, indoor way pool and water slide, but with staff uniform and decor that made you feel like you were in a 80s time warped. Everything is well maintained and runs smoothly, but just like it had been intended in 1979. You can’t knock the fact that it just works, but as the location becomes more popular with international skiers I do wonder if they will bother to refurbish the complex or not. The fast food options were pretty terrible, but the Bavarian style buffet which had all the snow and king crab you could stuff your face with was a highlight.

Niseko just increasingly feels less and less Japan. The modern Canadian architecture is really nice and luxurious, but its that what attracts the masses of gaijin to the point that nearly all service staff are not Japanese and can’t even exchange basic Japanese formalities nevermind understand what nama-biru is.

Limited amount of lifts were open when we were there, but always enough to have fun. What we did benefit from the Niseko effect was the access to good restaurants. Quite common in Tokyo, but less so for the ski resorts of Japan.

The Barn – Niseko

La villa Lupicia – Niseko

Kiroro – What an absolute gem of a resort. A more modern take to the Japanese resort compared to Rusutsu. Still a little chintzy in Piano hotel where we were staying, but the main hotel looked pretty modern. We had arranged a local transfer from Niseko which to be honest I had expected a coach. A mini van turned up and the guy got out the van to look at the masses of luggage we had and scratched his head wondering how it was all going to fit in. We took over and a bit of tetris later, packed the van to get all our luggage and us into the van. Arrived late afternoon and after checking in and hit the night ski. And oh what a night. It had been snowing most of the day and even the piste was ankle deep, side of piste was up to my thighs. Loads of natural terrain to play with under lifts and side of piste, made for one of the fun filled four hour runs with the crew.

The next day the gondola had opened after a number of days closure. We arranged a guide, who took us too all the different secret stashes of side country. So many options for runs and plenty for everyone so much fun with varieties of big steep powder fields and technical run outs (having to dodge holes that drop into rivers).

Some hiking routes which I will need to explore next time I come back here.

Furano – a bus back to Sapporo to pick up the hire car and drive to Furano. We had booked into what was a pretty cool modern business hotel. We only had one day skiing in Furano as we extended our Kiroro stay due to the good snow conditions. I opted to take a hike option up an old ski resort. It hadn’t snowed for a few days which was a shame, but the hike was fun up a solitary, but not imposing mountain. Cost benefit was still pretty low as the snow was ok, but not amazing. We decided to play about and build a kicker.

We drove over to Tomamu the following morning which took about 3 hours. It was a bit overcast but we were all keen to get out. What we were presented with was an incredible couple of super steep powder filled faces with lots of natural features to play with. Unlike Rusutsu we didn’t really have to be conservative with dropping height as there was just so much continuous steep face.

Despite being kitted out with all the essential avi gear (except airbag) doing some basic avi training and research, a couple of avalanche stories early on made me pretty apprehensive and risk adverse most of the season. Except for some very sketchy moments I was glad to get out of I’ve had a great season of powder filled runs that I will always remember. I have definitely shifted from a flocking mentality depending on the knowledge and judgement of others to make my own assessments and decisions which has allowed me to enjoy my boarding with more piece of mind.

It’s certainly is sad to finish another season in Japan, but I will definitely be back. Hopefully to Kiroro and Tomamu

After 2 weeks in Niseko I can truly say its changed my perspective on snowboarding, both in the different pleasures it can bring, but also educated me in the dangers the fun can bring. (Don’t worry Mum it was all done safely).

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve managed to experience the joys of riding through the gated areas of the Niseko resorts. Ungroomed and unpatrolled areas which are only opened when the conditions are good and safe enough to do so. Steep and deep in snow with lots of trees to meander through. Incredible, just incredible.

Physically challenging both when you have to dig yourself out the powder if you have fallen and mentally challenging for having to plan your line down and respond to the terrain in front of you.

I’ve hiked more times than can remember this trip. Sometimes through marked gates, other backcountry routes to peaks (with friends with significant backcountry experience) and other times with organised guides. I’ve had to dig deep as I’ve found both stamina and mental determination are both essential, but also learnt a great deal about equipment and clothing. Whilst here I borrowed or rented various bits, but I’m definitely investing in some avalanche gear before I return to Japan to snowboard (which is a certainty). More so for the piece of mind and knowing your own gear when it matters would be critical. I wanted to do an avalanche course, but time and overall exhaustion from the trip didn’t really allow.

Most of the time it was to find those mountain faces which haven’t been touched of if they have only the few who were willing to invest the hours to hike to the drop points. Some of the most mind-blowing runs in my 14 years of snowboarding that I will continue to dream about.

The mountain face we conquered

The ridge we walked up. Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

Mt Yotei

Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

At the top! Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

Other times it was just as much for the hiking experience – a great physical workout which still probably doesn’t net out the insane amount of food I’ve eaten.

A finally by no means least of the new experiences is cat skiing. Not cheap at $300 USD, but given a lift pass is about $50 a day I think you get what you pay for.

We managed to fit about 7 runs in on the day. We got picked up at 8am for briefing and equipment hire. The operator took us to a disused resort where the cat would drive us up to various points on the mountain and we would ride down through completely untouched runs given we were the only people on the mountain. We were lucky with the weather as it had dumped the night before and were told it was pretty tracked out with previous 5 days tours where it had not snowed. A pretty awesome bento lunch was provided as was a collection of videos and photos as part of the package. Great fresh track runs and some interesting chutes out which aren’t too dissimilar to the boarder cross in the olympics. Only single filed, much more narrow and unfamiliar turns which you need to be prepared for. I’ll let the photos do the rest of the explaining, but something I would definitely factor into my trips in the future.

I also lucked in on accommodation. I stayed for a good few days in the normal lodge set up with the Tokyo Gaijins group but got the opportunity to share an amazing 17 sleeper chalet through Shane’s network of snow junkie friends. Kasetsu which was run by The Niseko Company was an insane set up that combined Japanese style with Canadian build quality. It was being in an episode of MTV cribs for 4 whole luxurious days. Would highly recommend doing this if you can.

To complement this it was a complement of extremely considerate and fun people from all over the world and varying walks of life.

So many laughs, snow experiences and one epic house party. I will forever be grateful to Shane and Xue for introducing me to the group, Hugh for dropping out (sorry dude but you missed out big time!) and most of all Don and Rochi for organising it all.

The money shot

Prior to this my Niseko experience had been very different. The massive influx of tourists, so much so it was so far removed from the Japan I have thus far experienced and grown to love. A popular destination for the Australians and Chinese made for a weird combination where staff would typical speak to you in English because they either couldn’t speak Japanese or were expecting you not to try.

The experience was particularly marred when walking down the street a young Australian walking towards me who thought he was being smart in front of his mates shouted out to me “Ni Hao” in an attempted comical Chinese accent. His ignorance was somewhat thrown back when I replied in English to point out his comments may have been of racist persuasion. I would like to point out that I don’t bare any grudge against that great nation. Firstly because some of the best people I’ve met in my travels have been Australian and secondly it’s no different to the British contingents the bring such a great reputation to our nation in the various Mediterranean islands destinations. I sound like an old man, but where is the sense of pride in representing your home nation.

And finally a note of thanks to Simon who kindly put me up in a bed for a couple of nights while I sorted myself out on my slow journey back to Tokyo. Not only did he offer to put me up for a while, he carted me and my luggage around, showed me some pretty awesome parts of the resort runs I hadn’t really explored properly and offered an interesting local insights into Niseko. Thank you.

He had mentioned one evening as part of his tenancy agreement he was required to clear the balcony of snow, so after he left for work one morning I spent about an hour shovelling the snow and compact ice off. More as a small gesture of thanks but it turned out to be quite a satisfying job. Hilariously as Simon returned from work I had cleared the balcony his house mate was responsible for and he pointed to the other balcony he was responsible for which was still caked in a meter of snow and compressed ice. Oooops.

Walking back to Simons one afternoon I was met by 4 open back trucks and some huge piece of machinery that picked up the 2 stories worth of snow at the side of the roads. I recalled a conversation with friends another evening where they said they had that much snow they have to take the snow away. Crazy! And this was suppose to be a rubbish year for snow!

Apologies for the long post, but it’s been a big two weeks of my life that will remain the best (and possibly most exhausting) 2 weeks of my riding career.

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Niseko, Hokkaido – The final snowboarding chapter