Giving It Away by Fattwins (Nick Kowal) Nick excitedly tells us about his favorite spots in Gifu, and some of their secrets....

While thinking of titles for this piece about the ski areas around the Gifu area I came up with these - Gifu why Gifu, Gifu why not Gifu, The secrets of Gifu. 

I just couldn’t find a title that I could build a story on. I decided I would focus on the resorts and the secrets I know best - Takasu Snow Park and Dynaland.

Canada has Whistler.  America has Mammoth.  These mountains are the freestyle hotbeds in North America. Japan has a freestyle hotbed too, the place where the young kids come out to see and be seen. Some people will argue the point - 47 has big jumps, Ontake has a great park, Naeba hosts killer events.... I’ve been to them all and Takasu still holds the number 1 spot by far in Japan.

Now some people here might not want to huck their meat to clear 5 to 10 meter jumps. Those people would say "why go to Gifu, why not just book a trip to Nagano or Hokkaido?" To that I have to say this - from January to March last year I skied mostly untracked powder anytime I wanted to. There are lines around Takasu that I can honestly say, "I am the only one who has skied that". 

So here goes, I am going to give up some good spots, I’m going to use maps and give you part of the goods..... are you ready?

How to ride the park:
Basically the whole right hand side of the mountain has park features. You have to hike 5 to 10 minutes to get to the Backcountry booter, extreme right. The resort makes a hit but doesn’t groom the landing. This is a plus on a powder day, but check that the landing is not crunchy before you huck. The first good kicker is small - a 2 to 3 meter gap to a nice landing. During the season a spine will be built up so you can hit the spine then the kicker. From there you can take a run through the super pipe. This year the pipe’s top drop-in has been fixed, so the air out of the pipe should be good. After that, you can choose to ride up a lift and do it again or head to the rails and big kicker section. 

The rails are a rainbow long box and straight rail, 50cms high. 

The big kicker is the showpiece at Dynaland. Visible from the main lift or the main lodge, the kicker is always perfect! A 5-meter gap with a 50 meter landing area. Some crazy stunts and crashes can be seen there. My personal best was a giant 30-meter plus 180. They have lots of rails but last year they didn’t put the hard ones up....why, I don’t know.

Powder: 
Now that the park has been covered, next is the powder section. On a powder day head to the quad on the extreme rider's left.  This is the south facing area.  It will open at about 8. Take the steep runs that fall down into the valley. They usually have moguls so don’t bomb them right off the start. Lap them up till they are almost done. Then hit the roped-off trail. Go under the quad, cut right and past the patrol shack at the base of the quad, duck the rope and head down. At the bottom there is a gully so be careful your first time down. The run out can be more difficult than the course, sometimes sun-crusted at the end of the day.

After that, go under the quad and into the trees. This one is hard to explain. Don’t ride the lift line - the patrol hates that, and you're likely to lose your head cause the line is so low. Duck the rope where the lift line is, head rider's right a little on the ridge (with the quad still in view). Slowly make your way to the lone pine tree in the whole forest, and head down from there. Short line, 20 turns - but you will be the only one lapping it. Now tuck at the bottom head up the cat track as much as you can. Drop into the power line area. Hitting this area higher up is better. Us skiers can duck-walk it. If you do go higher up the cat track, or you rode the lift line to the cat track, take a look around - there are some 5 to 10 foot drops.

The middle north-facing trees - if you're willing to take a chance at having your pass pulled, then there are some nice short lines that run under the chair. People who get caught here usually don’t understand where the exits are. From the top of the lift you ride down about 20 to 70 meters. If you go any further you risk having to slog it out under the lift-line. The upper section is longer at about 200 yards max but the fall line is good, and if you hit the right area you can air anywhere from a 5 foot drop to over 10 feet. There is a nice double drop in there but it is hard to find - you usually find it by mistake. The exit is a short traverse across to the easy course that runs down the valley. (Hint: stay away from the bridge.)

The next short area has 10 technical plus turns of up to and over 45 degrees. Head to the top of the black diamond courses that you can see from the main quad. About 10 to 30 meters before the course starts, drop down into the trees, your third turn and the pitch will drop, so be on the ball. Keep your speed at the bottom and either go behind the power shack or drop down the next face. This could have been a better area had they not cut a cat track in there. You can still make it over to the big kicker if you keep your speed going. I use this run as a way of getting over to the south side and not having to ski bumps or the bunny slope. This run holds better snow later in the day cause it faces north.

At last, the single chair. If you really want to put lines down where no one else goes, head above the chair then drop into the small bowl, rider’s right. The rider's right of this bowl will lead you to a wide open meadow that you can't actually see. This area has a gully at the bottom - so be very careful.  How to get out?  Well, there are two choices, #1 - traverse a short distance to the lift (but  be aware that the lift staff get pissed if they see you);  #2 - get to the small steep hill at the end of the run.... from here you should be able to see the lift queue.  If you can't see it then you might not be in the right spot. From there boot pack up 20 meters, strap in and either slide back to the single lift for more or you can head to the back country kicker or half-pipe.

I have held back some secrets for reasons I can justify: 

#1
most of these areas besides the last one, you can still be saved by patrol if something happens. 
#2
a lot of lines have rocks or steeps depending on the snow and also gullies.  A few lines end in deep gullies. One gully is a 10-foot drop to rocks and no way out. These areas have to be found.  Ride it slow the first time cause it has seen some good falls in tight trees. 
#3
due to some areas having tree falls you have to be careful. I spend my lunches hacking things that poke towards you. 
#4
last reason..... hell, I want beer for some good spots!

Dynaland's Patrol Note:  
I have been busted at Dynaland. The patrol staff are usually fine and way too busy on a weekend to deal with powder poachers. My hint is to limit the amount of time you ride under the lifts. Don’t do it back to back to back - they have radios. The quad near Takasu is too low, and it gets tracked out fast.

How to ski the park:
The park is on the rider’s left hand side of the mountain. There is a dedicated high-speed quad running the full length of the park. The top part features whoop-d-whoops, plastic and metal beginner rails, fun boxes and one horrible flat section before the best stuff. 

The Big Park......wow, what a place! Last year they had an 8 meter box rail, an 8-meter doublewide rail, kinked rail, air to thin box, air to rail and a rainbow rail that almost never opened.

But there's more!  3 half pipes (two of them back to back), a slope style, 4 meter kicker to 7-meter kicker to over 10-meter spine, and finally to air to rails. Then there are smaller tables and smaller rails..... too much to talk about. There is a crew always grooming the jumps and spotting the airs. This place is full on about it's snow park.

Natural jibbing and jumping features: 
This place has so much, it’s a jibbers dream!  Look for the quarter hit near the middle quad loading area. If you find the electric box - far rider's left - you can jib it around a bit too. This place can be built up depending on what you want to hit.

Powder:
Too many places to mention here. The resort for the most part faces north and holds great snow. 

Hit the trees off the top first - lots of lines. Short shots that put you on the main course, but then take the cat tracks to other spots.

Rider's right off the top of the mountain..... take the middle quad or the gondola; take the right course a bit or a traverse or skate. Take that course down till you see the first cat track for the wimp outs, duck the rope and go. Be prepared for a cat track slam.  Smooth that out and duck the next rope. Another good line - head down the same run till you see the Dynaland sign.  Drop down from that sign... a good little run. You can see all these lines from the gondola, so it’s not hard to plan your lines. This place is best during the weekday because on weekends it gets skied out pretty fast. That said, the Japanese tend not to look in the tight spots so you can usually find lines.

The middle quad lift: So many people ride under this lift and I just don’t get it - there are some good south-facing lines that end in tight trees that have a better fall line. To hit this line (so you get some length to the run) go to the entrance of the mogul course, head to the rider's left side, enter the trees traverse for 20 meters and drop in toward the lift line. The trees at the bottom are tight - very tight - so put the brakes on. Here is a super secret - there is a hidden bowl behind this area I just told you about. From that same point drop away from the lift line. You can slide down into a small bowl, then traverse and do another small bowl.  There are two ways out of here - #1 after the small bowls run along the valley or #2 you can traverse up towards the lift and angle the trees down to the main course. I find this area better in the spring to be honest.

The Lowest Quad chair: near the pond, rider’s right side. This lift is great - if the gondola is packed, move over to this lift. You can use it to get you up and over to the middle quad. This lift almost never has crowds. One reason it doesn't get crowded is because of a nasty flat 500 meter area. You must tuck or skate to get to the bottom of this lift. Also with the new magic carpet the non-hardcore riders will usually decide to head over to the gondola. Hint number one - don’t ski under the lift line....it’s so off fall line leave it for the others, trust me. Off this lift you can access V-Bowl, Short and Steep, Hiro’s, Hold on, 95% of the Dynaland sign line, and my favorite --- SSSHHH. I will point out Hiro’s on the map (for the others, again, I want beer!)

What is SSSHHH? Well, here's a hint.  If you think you have found it, tell me. It is a natural half pipe, well hidden, 40 degrees - with trees to dodge. If you find it beware.....at the bottom there is a gully that is hard to cross. I usually build a bridge but I won't be able to this year. REPEAT, NO ONE WILL FIND YOU IF YOU FALL IN THAT GULLY, SO CROSS IT VERY CAREFULLY.  IT CAN BE VERY DEEP WITH LOG FALLS IN THE HOLE. IF YOU CAN'T CROSS IT, GO AROUND IT BY CLIMBING FOR 2 MINUTES. THE BRIDGE IS USALLY ONLY 50CMS WIDE. 

On to the Backcountry:
Hike above the Gondola and you can see the potential. The Backside of Takasu has a mid-sized bowl. This bowl has 2 rocks you can huck off of or the wind lip. The wind lip can be built up to be as big as you want it to be. The problem is the three or four trees if you can’t stick the landing. The bowl gets lots of sun and sometimes the landings might not be as soft as they look. Good air in here, you can go superstar if you really want to!

Next you can hike up above the rocks along the ridge.  This ridge will lead to Dainichi Dake peak. There are big bowls here.  Not long, but the vertical is 500 to 800 meters of open bowl skiing. Almost no-one rides back here so use your head. Lots of nice lines, most of them can be claimed as a first descent. This is the area we had our BBQ last year - a good spot if the sun is shinning and there is no wind.

Again I have held back some secrets. If you buy me beer I can give you more, (smile).  Some places are best found on your own, exploring and finding the next stash is what it’s all about.  

Takasu’s Patrol Note: 
They have never busted me once. I skied right by patrol once after popping out of the trees and he/they didn’t say a thing. They tend to rope things off and not say anything. 

Last of all.....these spots are good because not so many people know about them. Don’t let everyone see you ducking ropes or fences - the more they see you, the more people will want to follow you. I'm always afraid that someone will follow me who really shouldn’t be in this terrain. Please use caution, ride safe and understand the area before you go full out. Probe jumps and look for signs of avalanches if in the backcountry.

Good Luck!

Nick Kowal - perhaps better known to many readers as Fattwins

(Check out Fattwins Insider member page and his Profile on the SJ Forums.)