Kyoto: A Blend of Traditional Culture and Modernness

Kyoto is a pretty amazing city. I visited the oldest temple in the city amongst various others. I'll do a more in-depth write up when I get the time, for now here are some pictures.

Japan Backcountry!

The past few days have been filled with adventures as always. Our snowmobiles have been overworked and over utilized, but that didn't stop us from exploring some of the least inhabited areas of Hokkaido, Japan. We have had some great snow, but some aspects have been a bit windblown. Next season Black Diamond Lodge is looking to expand into relatively uncharted territory for Japan. Lucky for us, we got to do some of the initial scouting and the area looks SICK! Here is a video:

Japan Backcountry Video

Summiting Mt Yotei

Well today was a day all about adventure. The snow on Yotei wasn't the greatest, but overlooking the area of southern Hokkaido from a 360 panoramic view on a volcano is always pretty cool. All the guys that went up today were Montana locals and a really solid group of guys. At a height of 1,898 meters (almost all of which you have to hike) I don't think I could describe how exhausted I currently am. Here are some photos to do it justice:

Photos thanks to Ryan Krueger

Inside Japan: A Message to the Western World

It seems as though the western world yet again is in a media frenzy to keep ratings up. The Japanese local news differs greatly from what is being shown in the US, Europe, etc. To me it seems as though the Japanese media is using terms like help, recovery, action and CNN is using words like destruction, terror, mass death. Perhaps it is just the different perspective that I have been so used to seeing, but it looks like the Japanese media is trying to spread helpful tips instead of dramatic daily conversation fillers.

There seems to be a general calm here given the circumstances that have hit this country. Granted I am very far from the real affected area, however, the Japanese people seemed determined to rebuild quickly. They are not looking to point fingers at which orginization failed and where. They do not care if FEMA didn't follow exact protocol. They are simply rolling their sleeves up and doing what they can to recover. Very few cultures throughout the world have that type of audacity in a time of disaster. Instead of worrying about comparitive casualties and where this earthquake stands statistically in history they are developing plans.

So please do not start your day with all of the negative banter that already contaminates the modern news. Instead look for a way to help out or at least to ignore the negativity that seems to fuel media consumption. A little positivty towards the situation here would make all the difference, especially from the international community.

Natural Disasters

Well it looks like the earthquake that hit here was made quite public in the international community. Japan was hit very hard and there are several communities that were completely obliterated by the tsunamis as a result of Japan`s largest ever recorded earthquake. We felt it in Niseko which is a very, very far distance to feel such a powerful release of energy. From what it seems there have been a lot of people who have lost everything and I plan on trying to fit a few days in before I leave trying to volunteer to help them cope with this extraordinary loss. We saw several large convoys of national guard troops going down the highway to meet and I will update soon as I get to a less volatile source of internet.

Updated:

So the mess just keeps getting worse with the looming disaster of a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. Everyone is hoping for the best, but something of the meltdown could be catastrophic. Luckily we are far enough away, but there are a lot of people in the direct path of the disaster.

Some Night and Day Pow

So it has been a while and with good reason. The past few days the Black Diamond crew has been exploring the vasts of Hokkaido. Recently we stumbled upon "el dorado" the remnants of an old mining area of which the location is to be withheld from the general public until further notice :). Perhaps once this next snow runs through we will be able to film some there and expose it.

Other than that I have been skiing pow and lots of it the past few days. We got an awesome night session at Hirafu and an even better day at Teine for which I can thank Clay for properly introducing me. Definitely a bit sketchy since any slope you touched instantly slabbed but luckily nothing significant other than a cornice propagating in front of me which tumbles down and hits me in the video...

March looks like it is going to be get the little work there is to be done and take some time for the Black Diamond crew to get some shots. The snow is going to come and we have numerous adventures planned with our own crew, Field Productions, and Meathead productions. Stoked for everyone here and hope to update more!

Video:

http://vimeo.com/20673059