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My Introduction to Japanese Skiing |
My introduction to Japanese
skiing took place roughly 27 years ago.
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It took
place in front of a television set in Warren, Vermont, my
hometown in the United States, and also home of Sugarbush
Ski Area one of the eastern USA’s largest ski resorts. My
father being a transplanted
Austrian who had emigrated to North America to become a ski
instructor, who had not yet adopted the American custom of
watching lots of baseball and football (the American
variety), kept the TV set on the coverage of the Sapporo
Winter Olympics.
I remember watching the skating and ski events and little else.
It was not even until a few years later that I discovered that the Winter
Olympics were in Japan. At the time of watching, I probably didn’t know what
"Japan" was, anyways.
I was a little more prepared the next time the Olympics came to
Japan. I had recently interviewed for the Japanese Exchange and Teaching
program, and while quite excited at the prospect of going to Japan, and a
little more knowledgeable about skiing in Japan, the only clear memories of
the Olympic skiing were the names "Hakuba" (which I know means "white
place", now) and "Happo-one". The "Herminator’s" (Hermann Maier) fall in the
downhill, and the earthquake that interrupted one of the skiing
competitions, were about the only vivid Nagano skiing memories I had.
By that July, I was residing in Morioka, the capital city of
the largest prefecture in the country. I was made a little aware of the
skiing available in the area by an email one of my future co-workers sent.
The name "Appi" sticks out from that email. Upon arrival, I discovered the
nearest major resort was Shizukuishi the host of the 1993 World Ski
Championships.
Still, with limited space of what I could bring I merely gave
my skis to my parents and asked them to send me them in the winter. A break
and severe sprain of my ankle in that fall had me spending most of November
in a pool trying to rehab my ankle, and waiting for the doctors OK to stop
using the portable cast. At that point, snow was little more than a nuisance
for my crutches, and skiing was far from my immediate concerns.
In early January, I found my father had replaced my Giant
Slalom-cut 207 cm long "planks" with a light, hourglass cut pair of 190 cm
skis, a size I had not skied since Junior High School. Being a "speed
demon", I was needless to say a little miffed. What happened after that, my
introduction Japanese skiing, was something else.
The northern part of the island of Honshu, actually gets more
snow than any other populated area at it’s latitude than any other place on
the globe. To a geographer, it probably signifies difficulties for the
native population in winter. To the skier it means SKIING! and lots of it.
With my news skis I was off and skiing, into what has now been a great two
year run.
Inside the prefecture I live in (Iwate), are some great ski
areas. The world may know about Shizukuishi, which is notorious for not
exactly doing a great job of hosting those World Championships in 1993.
Truth be told, it is a good resort, with some excellent challenging terrain,
and plenty of good intermediate runs, and a few runs for the novices too (I
have heard).
Shizukuishi most years will hold the Japanese National Skiing
Championships, and may well be the best racing terrain in Japan. Appi is
considered one of Japan’s ten best resorts, has a great variety of terrain,
and is really an excellent resort for just about any kind of skier or
snowboarder. Hachimantai Resort, is just about the best place I have ever
seen to learn skiing at, with its well cut trails, fast moving chairlifts,
and great view of Mt.Iwate, the prefecture’s signature volcano. I go there
four (or so) times a year to teach with my schools (I am an English
teacher),and each time sees the resort hosting several large groups of ski
students from all over the country. Hachimantai Ski Area is also a great
place, with three lifts serving several trails, and countless acres of
woods, valleys, ridges, and tons of powder. It is a true backcountry
/off-piste legend, and the ownership knows that, as they do ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING to stop off-piste skiing/boarding, unlike a lot of other resorts
where you risk getting your lift ticket clipped for that offense.
The rest of the Tohoku region has some other great resorts.
Akita Prefecture has the renowned Tazawako ski area, a pretty good ski area,
with an absolutely gorgeous view of Lake Tazawako. It is, with out a doubt,
one of the most beautiful ski areas you will ever ski at. Aomori Prefecture
is host to some excellent off-trail skiing. The Hakkoda ropeway serves two
"de jour" trails. Do they really exist? I spent too much time skiing acres
upon acres of woods, chutes, and lots of powder between the base lodge and
the tramway terminus. Like Hachimantai, the management knows off-piste is
the calling card, and I never even saw a patrolman when I was there.
Iwakiyama, is actually a a fleet of snowcats running skiers to the peak of a
mountain every 20 minutes or so. The day I went the snowcats only went up
two-thirds of the way, and it wasn’t fantastic, but some reliable sources
said the top third makes it worth more than your while.
The aptly-named Yamagata (it
is "mountain-shaped" in Japanese) Prefecture also has some excellent skiing.
Zao, a rather large ski area that consistently makes most Japanese "Top-10
ski area" lists, mixes the best of Japanese and European ski tradition. It
is modeled after a European ski resort, as is the design of the town the
resort surrounds. It is very reminiscent of the ski resorts I used to visit,
when I was visiting the "Austrian" part of my family. The Japanese
tradition? The town is littered with "onsen" (Japanese traditional
hot-spring baths), some as low as 200 yen (dirt-cheap, Japanese style),
perfect after a day of exploring this large resort. Another can`t-miss at
Zao is the "JuuHyoo"(frost-covered trees) on and around the summit. Bring
your camera, and get there early, as many people, including non-skiers, will
gobble up the days allotment of tickets for the tramway to the summit long
before the day, if not the morning, is over.
Yamagata is also host to Gassan, a high mountain pass, whose
ski season does not even start until May, as that is when the snow has
melted enough to allow cars to pass through and get to the resort. There
still is enough snow to keep it open until July most years, with an annual
race being held each June. I skied, for the first time in my life, during
the month of May, this year at Gassan, and it was breathtaking. Both the
skiing and the beautiful sights from the peak and it`s accompanying ridges.
Looking around at all the mountains surrounding Gassan happened seven months
ago, but the picture is etched into my memory like it was yesterday.
This, however, is not a
complete picture of skiing in Japan. Not by a long shot, it is just the
highlights of one region, and one that I have not fully skied either. Tohoku
(the region I live in) is considered the third best of the three major parts
of Japan that have extensive skiing. The other two Hokkaido (the northermost
of the major islands) and Chuubu (the region to the direct south of Tohoku,
and north and west of Tokyo) are reputed to be the best parts in Japan to
ski. These are the places that the world has seen skiing, in the Winter
Olympics of 1972(Sapporo-Hokkaido) and 1998(Nagano-ChuuBu).
The geography of Hokkaido explains why the skiing there is so
abundant, as is a lot of snow. It receives a lot of unfettered cold winter
weather as it leaves Siberia, which has probably the strongest winter
weather in the world, Antarctica excepted. This, to a certain extent, would
explain the tons of snow that hits Tohoku annually. Having skied previously
in the North American Rockies, European Alps, even the hills of the
Northeastern United States and Finland, I can say that the quality of snow,
and its abundance, as well as plenty of terrain to ski on, is comparable,
and in some aspects better than those aforementioned spots. Ok, the Rockies
are hard to beat, but the dogfight for second is strongly contested by
Japanese skiing.
The selection of skiing in
this country is quite astounding. Though it is debatable that Japan has the
highest number of resorts in the world (if a ski area has lifts owned by 4
different companies, it counts as four resorts by Japanese ski census, one
by most others), it is certainly close to the top in raw numbers of resorts.
It also is undeniably the possessor of the most ski lifts of any country in
the world. Of course the country is the size of California, and 90%
mountainous, so there are lots of places to put them. A few ski lifts can
even be found in the southern
regions of Kyushu and Shikoku.
The quality and selection of
skiing in Japan is something that I have learned more and more about, much
to my surprise and pleasure, the longer I have stayed here. I still have yet
to leave my local region to pursue my ski adventures (I have rarely left it
,period, in my 2-plus years here!). I have had a ton of fun, found some
great quality skiing, and have also found a great way to practice my
Japanese language acquisition, and a great way of interacting with the local
population. My skiing, with the addition of carving skis and a ton of powder
and off-piste skiing, has gone to a new level. What does the rest of Japan
have in store for me on skis? Names
like "Niseko", "Furano" "Kiroro", "Naeba", "Shiga Kogen",
"Hunter Mountain", "Goryuu Toomi" and "Owani", names that meant little or
nothing to me two years ago, now are presented to me in near-mythical
proportions through the grapevine and media sources. I somehow think the
three year limit to my current job will not be enough, and I will need more
time to explore the mountains of this country. Whatever it is I have to do
back in my home country, it can wait.
"SUKIIJOO NI IKIMASHOO!!" (Let's go to the Ski Areas)
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