A Day For the Record Books

Clay, Tim, Rob, and myself headed out with four snowmobiles and an endless variety of terrain. The sun was bright and the snow was pristine and untouched everywhere we went. Things looked grim in the morning as we struggled to get 4 sleds loaded onto the truck. After the morning struggle with the truck, we finally got on the road and met Rob at the parking lot where another challenge rose. The battery on the 1000 cc machine conveniently died and wouldn't pull start. After jumping it with a car, we got it charged enough to ride. Within the first hour on the summer road we faced a fallen over tree, avalanche debris path sidehill, and a gulley which we had to man-make a traverse to cross (see photos). 

After we got up higher we were projected into an unlimited network of ridgetops and cornices. I saw the speedometer go above 100 mph a couple times in the perfect bluebird conditions. There were a couple of trials along the way, most of which were attributed to me, but we managed to get out just before dark. All in all it was one of the prettiest days I have ever witnessed in Hokkaido. It's hard to leave tomorrow, but I know Hokkaido always has a special place in my heart and the pure, rich beauty of the landscape on this island is unmatched with any other I have ever seen. 

I have a lot of skiing photos from Lucek (LucekPhoto) Poland and Glen Claydon which I will share in the next couple days. 

Man made traverse

The Shark Fin, don't fall left or right

Awesome photo

Me riding the fresh

Rob with Discovery Japan shot of the year

Just another day in Hokkaido, Japan

Hey there lil fella

Overlooking Yoichidake (one of my favorite touring spots)

The way back up

A Black Diamond Road...Party?

Well the Black Diamond staff crew and myself set out for what turned out to be a tour of Hokkaido. We had a pretty awesome weekend to say the least. Here's a mini recap:


Friday we started the road trip off at Teine resort. A little hidden gem bordering the massive city of Sapporo, with beautiful views of the city. The light, fresh snow helped make it a good day as well.

Clay with the ocean in the background at Teine

 Friday night we did the typical Susukino Sapporo night party downtown. Karaoke, good food, good times, good people, etc were all to be had. Then the siren calling us from across the downtown area shone brightly: Club Booty. Club Booty is an awesome bar that we make it to quite often because the owner/killer DJ Sebastian and laid-back bartender Jimmie make it fun every time. Not to mention there are some attractive women there as well, which always helps.

My drink with Susukino, Sapporo in the background

The "all you can drink" that ended in an "all you can karaoke"

Saturday night was unexpected to say the least. There's a small town on the northwestern coast of Hokkaido known as Rumoi. It's a shrining fishing town with some amazing people. The endless amounts of snack bars proved to be a little too much and we stumbled upon this tiny upstairs bar the "Peace Park". As far as Saturday nights go, it was one of the better ones I have had in Japan. Clayton and I met some very friendly locals and listened to some of Rumoi's own homemade music. A lot of the music played was reggae, which is always cool with me. They started with the classics (Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, Beres Hammond, etc) and then moved onto their own reggae songs, which were actually really good.

Peace Park!

Sunday and Monday were exploring days. We revisited a skiing spot that the Polish guys and I went to last week. Unfortunately we got turned around multiple times and didn't actually end up skiing. We did get a pretty good sled day in though.

The entourage

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go North

Well Niseko has had a bit of a warm spell. Instead of sitting around waiting for the snow we decided to make our own destiny and head to the colder/taller mountains of Daisetsuzan National Park. We knew the snow would be good since temperatures there didn't get above freezing. Clayton, the Polish Workforce (Polish professional skier Marek Doniec with friends Lucek and Mee how!), and myself headed into the unknown and had a damn good time. Here are some of the pictures from our trip to central Hokkaido. Plenty more updates to come! You can check out other pictures/videos from the adventure on Black Diamond Lodge Facebook

I am drooling in this picture

Just a bit of terrain

Good warm up lines for the day

Mt Asahidake doing what it does best - blowing steam

Yes, we skied into an active volcano

Some Randoms

Well there was a bit of a dry spell last week. On the off days the Warren Miller guys and myself took a day trip to Otaru to check out the sites. There were many laughs, cries, and the occasional passing of gas.  Mostly, we explored the culture the fishing based city had to offer. A group of Japense fisherman allowed us to hop on their boat which was docked and take some pictures. The guys were pretty cool and very interested in our van which was loaded to the brim with skis. Apparently they were snowboarders and big fans of the ski industry.

Me on the back of the boat

King crab going price- $280 USD

Meet Henrique the Spanish king crab in Japan

An amazing sushi lunch proudly displayed by Hiroke, our chef

A picture from the coast 

Epic Day at Iwanopuri

Luke, Ryo, and I took a staff shred day at Iowanopuri. We got a pretty early start and luckily beat the crowd of people that flooded the backcountry today. The snow was extremely "surfy" which means that you don't really feel anything and have a floating sensation the entire time you are moving forward. There was a chute between a few rocks I had been scoping for a while now. There hadn't really been enough snow before. Needless to say, with the 13+ meters of snow (43 feet) of snow we have had, it wasn't too hard to ski this time around.

The fun line

Ryo slaying pow

Mitch and Ryo (yes that is the ocean)

Not enough fresh lines

One way in, one way out

Luke with Goshiki wall in the background

Luke shredding the steeps

Ryo with the epic backlight

All in all it was an awesome day. There were smiles from ear to ear and the term "Yabai", the english equivalent of "sick!" was thrown around a lot. Most of the Japanese I talked to said it was one of their best days, if not their best.

Kumbodake Session

Well the weather was nice, snow was nice, light was nice...I guess everything was nice! We decided to sled up Kumbodake and help the Nimbus guys get some shots. The weather ended up being amazing and the sun stuck around all day (a very rare thing in Japan). What better way to spend the sunny day than by building ramps of snow to defy gravity and huck into the snow? I surely can't think of one.

One of the jumps

Andy cheesin with Yotei in the background and Tatsuya GTSing

Kumbodake with the sleds NOT intentionally modeled for this picture

First Sunny Day in January

Well the sun came out today and stayed out for the first time so far in January. We got on top of Kumbodake and snapped this picture quickly.

The Nimbus guys built some jumps and got pretty good shots. All in all a pretty good day weather wise and definitely set up some plans for the future!

Mt Yotei version 4.0

Well today was my fourth trip up Mt Yotei. We took an incredibly strong group up who kept their strength the whole trip even in the face of penetrating 80+ mph winds. It was hard to keep the group optimistic in the cold temperatures and piercing wind, but when we reached the top and saw ourselves above the clouds in a perfect 360 degree view, it was time for a moment of glory. The snow on the way down was the best I had skied on Yotei and the gully gave us some awesome turns.

Trees on the way down

No Words to Describe

January has been a very gratuitous month for snow. It's hard to distinguish the best days when they are all truly amazing. However, yesterday is definitely one for the memory banks.

There's a hidden gem behind Niseko that doesn't get much attention from foreigners (perhaps why it's so good). It's a small resort that smells like rotten eggs (also great for driving crowds away) and isn't very steep. Sounds awesome right?! Well the snow is deep and the pitches that are steep are the pillowy heaven you dream about when you think Japan snow. Don't believe me? That's fine, pictures say a lot more than I could ever hope to blog about.

And after all this you get to sit in the majestically surrounded onsen. Pure mineral water straight from the geographically blessed island of Hokkaido famous for the serene, peacefully, and warmfully inviting bathes after a serious ski session. I think I've said enough for today.  

And So it Begins...

Another season at the Black Diamond Lodge, another season of pow. Hokkaido is well on its way to setting snowfall records this winter and those of us that are skiers are here to reap the benefits. Things have been a little busy around this time as the film crews start to arrive and we search for new exciting areas of which to huck ourselves off.

Here are some photos of Rusutsu courtesy of a very kind and talented Mark Whallen and a video from a backcountry day that I took with Stu Anderson in the Goshiki Onsen area.

Video- Backcountry Skiing Japan

I'll look to update more as I get a bit more time and footage!