Tokyo

We have said goodbye to Hokkaido. Now in Tokyo with friends Drew and Maiko. They have been looking after us well and have shown us a couple of nice climbing spots close to Tokyo. If the weather is good hope to head further south to see Joyama, one of Japans more well known climbing areas.

Season is coming to an End

Today is our last day of work here in Japan. Mixed feelings of being glad to finish work and excited about future plans but also a bit sad to soon say goodbye to new made friends and to Japan. We have a few days left in Hokkaido and hope for more backcountry hiking and riding missions. Then ditch the snow gear and head south to Tokyo and warmer climes for a couple of weeks of rock climbing, camping and exploring. Then on to Sydney for a few days and finally to Wellington to see family and friends.
Yesterday was my day off and did a cool trip. Went over to Rusutsu which is another resort close to here and did some hiking across the valley. A mixed day, sunburn in the morning and snow storm by the afternoon. Hiked up twice for 2 great runs. We hiked up the left skyline ridge and the first run went down the prominent snow face on the left. The second run we hiked up the same way but carried on around a bit and rode down through the trees.

Hike the Peak

Just one of the clearest days we have had here and a nice shot. The mountain in the background is Yotei, Hokkaido's Mt Fuji! The first shot is of James Martyn and the second geezer is Mark Taylor. Sarah a bit further back in the red helmet.

Yuki Matsuri

The Sapporo Snow Festival is a long standing tradition in February. In Odori Park in the middle of town 100's of snow sculptures are created. For many people it is a highlight of their stay in Hokkaido so Sarah and I managed to get a day off together and with a hired car and a couple of friends made it over to Sapporo for a night. The sculptures were amazing. The creators had trouble as a day before the opening it rained and many were damaged. So a few last minute touch ups were required. The festival goes for about a week and there are many others like it around Hokkaido. A testament to how cold it is here in winter!

Trying not to laugh

But it just keeps on coming. Here are some more pics. The first is of a mate called Buddy in some off the chair back country. The second is Sarah loving the pow the first day riding after a 2 week forced lay off due to a snapped sewing needle stuck in her foot. This resulted i n a night in hospital, 8 stitches, NZD600 and 2 weeks of no riding!

Trees and Mushrooms

It hasn't snowed much for the past couple of days and most of the resort is fairly tracked out. However with a short walk Sarah and I found a few fresh turns to be had. Here are some action shots for you.

Moiwa On

Mark rippin some turns.
Moiwa

One day off a week is a killa. It comes and goes so quickly, you want to catch up on some sleep but on powder days theres no way you can stay in bed. We were organised this week and headed over to another smaller resort called Moiwa. Nice place, away form the chaos of Hirafu. Only two chairs and lots of accessible backcountry runs. There was even reggae playing over the speakers on the towers which led to the overall atmosphere of the place. No queues ever, probably about 100 people on the whole field. Our first run wasn’t so good, dust on crust. Not much snow overnight, only 5-10cms. But our second run we hit up some of the leeward slopes which were great. Did a bit of hiking throughout the day, but with only a hundred or so other people about we didn’t have go far for fresh turns. 12 or 13 runs, all clean lines. Perfect day. Didn’t get many photos as the riding was so good we kept forgetting to stop. Check out the ones below.

Me in a cloud of snow!!

The White Room

Happy New Year all. We saw it in watching Japanese drumming, drinking sake and watching about 100 skiers/boarders coming down the slope holding burning torches. After a bit of a slow start to the season, the next few days is looking like its going to dump some large amounts of snow here in Hokkaido. Locals feel they haven't seen this little snow in Dec/Jan for a long time. But in saying that we have still had some sweet powder days. And an average season here is still going to awesome. Check out these pics.....