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!