The first meeting begins... Welcome to the Backcountry Board Room. A forum on adventures and safety in the Winter backcountry of Japan.

Join in on the meeting as we explore the Powder covered peaks of some of the best lift accessed off-piste touring in the Northern Hemisphere. We will discuss snow conditions and slope stability, as well as keep you informed of new happenings in the mountains. Many topics will be centered around the Heart of Japan; Nagano, Nigata and Toyama's  North Alps and maybe a few notes on the Hokkaido scene. So if every one in the house is ready...Shredders, Pow Hounds, Pin Heads, snow bunnies...Let's Start The Meeting!

 So you've been caught red handed, goggle eyed and drooling in front of the tube watching one of those hard core pow flicks! "But...but it's the first one in six months, I swear... I promise I won't trash the place, as I jump back and forth in the tatami room with all my new equipment on, like I did last year watching that Tree Top vid". Sound only too familiar? Don't worry you're not alone, we've all done it one time or the other in our lives, some a little more than others, however. And if you haven't what are you waiting for, get your gear together and get ready for another session on the slopes.

 Now, down to business; What will Ular bring us from the North this year? Well, from all accounts the season down in the Southern Hemisphere was a good one, with great early dumps and a ripper of a grand finally. While we up here in the land of the rising sun saw Summer heat waves and a wimpy Typhoon season. Right now we are experiencing a beautifully colourful Autumn with mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures here in the Alps.

So what does this all mean? Well I am going to put my rep. on the line and say that we should prepare ourselves for a long cold winter of lighter snowfalls than last year. But with cooler, dryer winters we see that light and fluffy pow stay, well, fluffy just that bit longer. Unfortunately a draw back to these types of conditions is the formation and perseverance of weak layers in the accumulated snow pack (i.e. an avalanche prone snow pack). Now, I could be all wrong we could see a mild , moist season of dumps of 50~70cms over night and weak layers that bond up quickly. What ever type of season we receive we will be grateful and wise out there in the mountains.

I would like to take this occasion to express great regret and sadness at the loss of the Double Black Diamond Club off-piste area at Hakuba Cortina ski hill that was the answer to the No Go Zone of Japanese Winter resort's treed areas. It was a system with three years of planning and ten years dedicated to avalanche control and rescue training. When finally established in the '99-'00 season, simply put, it went off! The second season of the DBD club saw membership double from some 650 people the first year, to close to 1400 members and the accessible area double in size. All reports were of unrelenting bliss, as was seen in the giant grins of pow eaters of every walk of life as they charged out of the DBD trees.

 So if everyone had big white smiles frozen to their faces, what was the problem. For starters the concept didn't seem to fit the mold of the resort managers sitting in the steel and glass offices of Tokyo. One would think that the shear numbers of increased recreationalists would cause the bald heads to open their eyes and rejoice in the upward trend in skier/boarder visits to the hill while other fields saw that trend fall. Why the increase in visits? Controlled, steep, treed, knee deep pow that didn't get your ass chased all over the mountain for poaching what would be roped off and closed at any other ski hill in Japan. Even though not every one wanted to do this type of shredding the word was out that Cortina was HOT. Well unfortunately this year, it is NOT.

The main man and my partner in crime Mr. Motomura, head of patrol for 10 years and head of ski hill operations for the last two seasons has moved on in response to pressure from the big wigs in those tall Tokyo towers. The head of patrol for the last two years, Sarashina Shotaro, moved on to start a family which left me in a position to run the show or move on to greener fields and my own show away from the strings of Tokyo. I chose the later and will run with that this Winter. In retrospect, however, I am a little bit sorry that we didn't fight harder to keep the DBD club alive, but now Mr. Motomura is spreading the good word of controlled in bounds off piste winter recreation to other resorts on Honshu and Hokkaido, while I keep spreading the word about backcountry safety and avalanche awareness. Together, like the system we created at Cortina, we hope to increase awareness, control and access to areas of great off piste skiing/boarding all around the mountains of Japan.

A large goal and a hard rock to go up against, but well worth it if the result is increased interest in winter recreation within controlled and patrolled areas rather than the status quo of ducking ropes into uncontrolled avalanche areas with in and outside winter resorts while patrol, resort managers and users turn a blind eye to the inevitable danger lurking beneath the fluffy white surface of joy. You may have found yourself ducking these ropes outside the view of the resort staff, more than just a few times at various resorts around Japan. I know that I have, but I urge you however to think about snow stability, terrain obstacles and the rules of the hill that you are at before jumping that rope. Do you or any one else know the snow stability and who is below you when you drop in? If not please think twice or thrice before you make that decision. Have you taken the right precautions (ie training, equipment, partners, slope tests) for everyone to make it out safely? All questions I ask you, to ask yourself.

The lack of in bounds off-piste skiing/boarding may cause you to look for areas away from the groomed runs at the resorts not unlike the areas shown in those very same hard core pow flicks. Shredding the great white wave away from the crowds on blue bird days seems so simple in the videos and magazines. Most of those riders in those shots have experience in the backcountry or a guide who oversees locations to be shredded and snow stability of those areas. So remember if you truly wish to get out there into the wilds of the winter mountains and plan to continue to go out there, it is always wise to hire a guide or go with some one who has experience in the back country and some idea of what is taking place under foot. For any one interested in visiting the winter backcountry a course in avalanche awareness and rescue is a must. You can take recreational awareness courses around the world; Canada, America, Europe, New Zealand and yes here in Japan. So do yourself, friends and family a favor, get yourself an Avalanche transceiver, probe, shovel, a partner and enroll in an awareness course to show you how to use this equipment and more importantly how not to have to use it.
  
Some good makers of avalanche rescue equipment are:

Another long time player who make good beacons; F1 plus analog, M2 analog/digital; but when it comes to Ortovox probes and shovels  I personally stay away as I have had various problems with them, this can be  said for the M1 beacon as well as I have found them very confusing for myself and students.

Copycat products for twice the price!  Decent helmets however.

If you would like more information on backcountry equipment, training or guiding contact me and I will give you a rundown on what you will need to get yourself into the Winter backcountry. For now however plug in those pow flicks and get stoked on the fresh season almost upon us, but remember we all have our limits and the mountains do not have pity, shame nor do they grieve the loss of life, so always play it safe and respect these great monuments of Mother Earth and you may return to play another day. 

Peace & Powder to the people, 

Dave Enright.