The Roof of Hokkaido

Invited to go climbing with a friend today in the southern end of Daisetsuzan National Park.  It is the time that we get reacqainted with the snowy mountains as soon as there is a good cover of snow.  He rang at around 10pm last night which was a little late as I already had plans to take a buddy and his kid mtbing.  From the trails we had great views of the mountains, a blue bird day and not much wind.

Two years ago we were hosting a professional group of riders from Red Bull and staying in the backcountry area of Tokachidake at the southern end of the Daisetsuzan National Park. We had been hiking for turns for a few days and so I wanted to show the boys some nice lift accessed powder.

We gave the Furano Ski Resort a call and told them that we had some pro riders in town, headlined by the ‘Flying Tomato’ himself,  Shaun White.  I asked for access to some of the off-piste areas that the resort always roped off, and to ride up on the first lifts with the patrolers and lift staff.  We were given all that, as well as complimentary lift tickets and the services of the head patroler, just in case one of the riders got injured. Maybe Shaun gets the same hospitality at all the resorts he goes to?

One of the films that was made of their Hokkaido ski trip made it to American cable where it was broadcast to 20 million households.  Furano was portrayed as the number one powder capital of Hokkaido.  But wait, Furano only allows on-piste skiing right?

Since then HPG has managed to get permission to guide clients on the backside of the resort, a place that is not visible from the lifts and the main runs. A signed police report stating our intentions would have to be handed in, and then a patrol escort  who would show us the boundary fence, kindly lift the rope and tell us not to make too much noise as we disappeared in to the forest.  It was if powder-skiing was the forbidden fruit.

This could all be about to change. Recently we had a meeting with the Ski Area management and they seemed more open to us guiding on the sidecountry areas that are visible from the resort.  We are hopeful.

The issue always came down to liability and the resort didn’t want to be held responsible for any accidents  which might occur outside the ski resort boundaries.  So what has  opened them up to this possibility? A few forbidden turns in the forest perhaps?

A few segments from this clip are on Furano;

The guys from Sweetgrass Productions spent a number of months in Hokkaido filming their new movie ‘Signatures.’ I occasionally ran in to them in various parts of the Hokkaido mountains. One time was in the local resort of Moiwa just outside of Niseko on what was probably one of the coldest and windiest days of the season.  The bad weather had relegated us to the resort and I remember riding the lift with my hands clenched inside my gloves trying hard to keep them warm.  The lift went over one of their filmers who was waiting patiently for the rider to come down and I remember thinking that the guy looked colder than I felt.

Season 08/09 was an interesting one as we had a few warm spells during the month of January.  In the Furano area this meant that there was less snow at the lowder elevations, but a lot more than usual up high. 

Today I was hiking in the Tokachidake Area of Daisetsuzan National Park and there was still quite a lot of snow around, especially in the shaded areas and gullies where meters build up over the course of the winter.  I did see one ski line, which must have been made not that long ago at all.  I did manage a few turns in my hiking boots!

For many skiers who only see Hokkaido’s mountains during the winter time, I thought you would be interested to see what the mountains look like in summer.

Yesterday we were looking at the mountains, but today we were in them, in what will be the last day of skiing for the season.  We were in the Tokachidake area of Daisetsuzan National Park and climbed Mt Tokachi, which, at just a shade over 2,000 meters is the highest mountain in the area. 

Mt Tokachi is a live volcano and on the climb there are reminders of this, with numerous electric trip wires down the mountain.  There are also 3 live web-cameras parked on the peak to forewarn of any eruption.  It is one of the more active volcanoes in Hokkaido, erupting at least once every 30 or 40 years.  The last time it blew its top was in 1988, so I guess we are safe for a few more years.  There was a ski resort at that time, but was abandoned soon after that. 

The biggest eruption was in 1928 and the town located closest to it had to be evacuated for year.  The lava flow ran for kilometers.  The trees that regenerated after that were birch and there are now beautiful birch forests at the lower elevations.

Of the 29 national parks in Japan, apparently more than half of them have active volcanoes and by region, Hokkaido has the most active. 

I was with a local crew today.  All very good skiers.  One of the guys could telemark backwards!  Another guy skied in plastic climbing boots with a home made tongue stiffener which he attached to his boots at the top of the climb.  If you have every tried to ski in plastics, it is very difficult to stay out of the back seat, but he did a great job, getting down the hill as if he was in proper ski boots!

I have been lucky to ski in a few different countries and guided people from around the world.  There is one thing which we all seem to agree on and that the powder here in Hokkaido is some of the lightest around.  I guess Utah has some pretty good days, but another great thing about this island is the dependable snowfall. 

We were host to Mountain Tracks this year.  It was their first trip to Japan, led by Nick Parks who has skied many different places.  Anyway, find out what he said here on the PlanetSki news site about where his best ski day was this season; http://www.planetski.eu/news/333

Camilla obviously didn’t like the driver.  I wonder if the bus driver’s sunglasses were mirrored?  We guided the crew for a few days when they were in Central Hokkaido earlier this year. Camilla gives a good insight in to the cultural quirks and the joys of riding powder in Japan.  If you want to read the full story, please find it on our media page.  You will need to zoom in to see the small writing.  http://www.hokkaidopowderguides.com/media.html

The guys from Sweetgrass Productions are headed to Hokkaido and will be here for the whole season to capture the Hokkaido backcountry powder skiing culture.  They have asked us to guide them for one or two days in early January.  By the look of their latest offering of backcountry skiing in North America, I am looking forward to what they can produce in Hokkaido.  Here is an exerpt from their website and a clip of their latest movie ‘Hand Cut.’

“From the hand-fired railroad days in Revelstoke to the miners of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, Hand Cut blends old-timer wisdom with self-propelled, big mountain, lines from Alaska, British Columbia, and Colorado.

The Hand Cut release includes endless pillow lines in the BC interior; exposed descents in the Coast Range with ski mountaineering legend John Chilton; brilliantly shot inverts over the old wood mines on Red Mountain Pass, Colorado; and the original deep-country blues of John-Alex Mason. Hand Cut: self-propelled stories brought to life in High Definition and brilliant 16mm film. “

what is ‘danchi?’  Here is the Wikipedia translation;

Danchi (団地, Danchi^?) is the Japanese word (literally ‘group land’) for a large cluster of apartment buildings. The Japan Housing Corporation, now called UR or Urban Renaissance Agency, was founded in 1955. During the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, the UR built many such low-rent apartment complexes in the outskirts of urban areas to offset the housing demand of the then-increasing Japanese population. ^[1] Fewer and fewer Japanese live in the gradually aging danchi.

This is a movie of a group of pro-riders led by Niel Hartman who use their vehicles to road-trip around Hokkaido to get the goods.  I often see them when I arrive early in the morning at a ski area or a car park that accesses backcountry terrain.  Often they are just getting up and rubbing the sleep from their eyes.  Once, I was guiding a client deep in our backcountry terrain and they appeared from out of the mist and were gone just as quickly, like spirits in the mountains.  I managed to get a shot of Yama chan’s frozen beard before they disappeared though.

Here is their latest offering;

Last season we paid an expensive price to a sign maker for a sign which I thought I could have made myself.  Anyway, this year I thought I would do just that.

half way there

Done!