An Interview with "Fattwins" (Nick Kowal) DISCUSS THIS FEATURE HERE

With almost 10,000 posts on the Snow Japan Forums at the time of writing, readers may well know about Fattwins.  Nick (for that is his real name!) had been living in Kyoto and making endless trips to the Hakuba valley in search of lines and new adventures.  Until recently that is.   He is now living and working in Hakuba and looking forward to his first season living there.  We had a chat with Fattwins to find out more...

Tell us a bit about yourself
I was raised in Mississauga Ontario. My dad loved hockey, so started to skate at the age of three. I think most of my ski balance, comes from being on skates at such an early age. My parents both love and play sports so it was perfect for me.
 

 
So how long have you been skiing?
I started to ski at the ripe old age of 18. My friends were all skiing. I really wanted to join them, but the problem was cost. My parents always helped me pay for sports, but their rule was simple - 'we will only pay for two sports'. I loved hockey and I loved baseball, so I couldn't start skiing until I could work enough to pay for it. I made it to the Toronto ski show in my 18th year and I picked up some K2 5800's. Within the year I was skiing the same runs as most of my friends and loving it.

Tell us about your experiences skiing before coming to Japan?
I actually was able to become a ski instructor after just one year of skiing. I took the Canadian level 1 test at Glen Eden ski hill. The pay was 9 dollars per hour, but the hours were pathetic. The money just wasn't enough, so I didn't quit my day job. At the time I was working for a business forms company, making what I thought was good money. My best friend had moved to Ottawa the year before. The skiing was better in Ottawa, so I visited him four times a year to ski for two seasons in a row.
 

 
I was so hooked on skiing that I enrolled in a business school for skiing. The program was ski resort management - basically a management course without any free electives. The electives were interior design and space management, stuff to due with skiing. At the time, I had the dream to become an outside operations manger. I studied hard, and was given an opportunity to do a work placement in Japan. I then spent 4 months in Gunma and fell in love with the snow.

The next season I followed my dream. I worked two seasons for Sun Peaks resort located smack dab in the middle of British Columbia. The nearest major town is Kamloops which was 1 hour away. It was so far that we almost never went there. At that time, the area was just growing. It was quite the opportunity to do many different jobs. At Sun Peaks, my roommate happened to be just about the best skier on the mountain - I couldn't have picked a better ski buddy!　 Trying to keep up with that speed demon was a chore. Everyday we would do a last run hike into the Back Country, we just starting going further and further. As we got known locals took us under their wings. They started to show us more and more places that we could hike to as well. I guess that was my Back Country start.
 

 
How/when did you get to Japan?
I first arrived at Kawaba ski resort (in Gunma prefecture) in December 1995 for a work program - and of course, to ski. I got the job through school - basically the school and the company arranged everything, I just had to have high enough marks to apply. I had never seen a real mountain before - I was used to hills of ice. At that time I thought I was a good skier, but the amount of snow that fell at Kawaba humbled me the first day. Humbled me and hooked me once again.

I spent the season skiing trees, that only my fellow Canadians were skiing. The resort didn’t care if we skied the trees. Everyday the snow was knee to chest deep - it was a dream. Skiing ice was no longer fun. Skiing ice was just something to do when there wasn't any powder.

At the time I felt that Kawaba was a great mountain. Looking back now I just think Kawaba is too small to keep me interested for any length of time. The trees there are nice and the Back Country is insanely good, but it only has six real courses. I'd love to go back one day, but I've found better places in Japan.
 

 
You used to live in Kyoto right? When you lived there, how did you get your ski fix?
When I first moved to Kyoto, I thought that I would not be working much. Like many others before me though I got hooked on the money. I paid off my loans and was saving a ton. This meant that I could only ski on national holidays or Sundays. When I did go skiing I mostly went to Hakuba. Later that first year I had to leave Japan to get my updated visa. I ended up spending 5 months back home in the land of ice - Toronto - where I was bored waiting for the Visa. I wanted to ski a mountain and make up for the past seasons 13 day total.

To spice things up for the small hills, I bought a pair of park skis. I skied park for 6 hours, then the runs for four hours. I really enjoyed that season. I improved a part of my skiing, jumping, that was important to me. When I moved back to Japan, I wanted a mountain that could give me a terrain park and mountain skiing. I found those places in Gifu-ken and for two seasons I hit Takasu and Dynaland every weekend. Both places offer cheap seasons passes and laid back patrol. There I met my Japanese friend Tats and my friend Roger. Together we started to explore other places. One national holiday Tats and I car camped it in Hakuba. The year before we found that Cortina had opened some tree runs. We wanted to head back there, but we were surprised that the tree runs were now closed but we didn’t care and for 3 days we lapped up a 150 cm plus storm.

Every year I would spend more time in Hakuba. Finally 3 years ago I bought a seasons pass in in Hakuba valley and started to ski only in Hakuba.

You do a bit of (ski) teaching.
Yes, I teach skiing at Evergreen Outdoor Center (in Hakuba) part-time. I teach anyone from 2 to 60 years old really. I sometimes teach a private lesson if a friend comes to me directly, or if it's a customer at my lodge. From this season I am also teaching at Hakuba Junior High School (as the AET). The students are great cause we all like the same things.

So recently you moved to Hakuba - congratulations! 　Do you think you'll be long term in Hakuba?
Thanks.  I saw the chance to buy something and bought it. We will open a lodge this season and so fingers crossed try to make a go at life here. I really like what Hakuba has to offer. I think that I can retire here really.

What do you like so much about Hakuba - what makes Hakuba special?
Hakuba is the steep skiing capital of Japan. If you want steep lines and you don't mind using your feet, you can actually scare yourself. It's an area that has to be respected. It’s an area that can help teach you how to travel properly in the mountains. The touring within two hours drive is world class - Kamikochi, Tateyama, Myoko and Nozawa.... the list goes on. Hakuba also has two clean lakes, clean rivers and the ocean is less than an hour down the road. In my books that is an outdoor paradise. Oh yes, we do get over 11 meters of snow as well - that's another point!
 

 
Please tell us about the gear you use.
Gear, damn, I have too much. I have four pairs of skis that I really use:

188cm Volant Spatulas fat skis for deep days
190cm Kuharu Jaks fat skis for deep days and touring deep powder.
178cm Dynastar mid fat skis for all round touring.
165cm K2 Fujatives for park and ski teaching.

Avalanche kit is a mixed bag but my go to beacon is a long range SOS or Orthvox.
Touring bindings are Fritsch freerides.

Clothing is mixed.  I have a set of clothes for resort and another for backcountry and touring. If you are touring you want it to be light and functional. That means that the gear is expensive. That is why I use different clothes. Also buying decent resort clothes in Japan is cheap. You can get set up for 10000 yen, if you know where to look.

Helmet.  I always wear a helmet - mine is a Burton red.

Japanese snow - good, great, the best?
Japanese snow ranks up there with the best places in the world. The sheer volume of snow that Japan gets is unreal. Due to the small space of this island we can access places that other countries just wouldn't build in. There are more resorts here with an average annual snowfall of over 400 inches than anywhere in the world.

Resorts or BC?
Hard question. I almost never ski on trail, I tend to go to resorts that have an open policy to out of bounds skiing though. I use the resort to access either Back Country or out of bounds/tree skiing. I'm also a wimp - I've been in two avalanches and they scare me. So in mid-winter I tend to stay in the tree-line, unless I know/think its safe. Last season, the team we had touring, allowed us to rack up quite a few good descents, even in mid winter. Next season, I'll try to do some more mid-winter touring, when the conditions are right. I guess the answer is I like them both, it depends on the time of the year or the day.

 
Can you say more about which resorts have such a policy.
I like Happone, it gives you access to some of the only above tree-line skiing in Japan. Half of the mountain is above tree line. That makes it the mountain with the most above tree-line skiing in Japan. Due to the vast area at Happone, they don't enforce a no tree skiing policy. That is not to say that they allow you to ski everywhere though - they do enforce the avalanche prone areas and will pull your pass if they catch you.

Iwatake also rarely pulls passes for tree skiing these days. Since they started the DBD club they really haven't cared about trying to pull passes.

Goryu/47 are quite strict but some of their trees are quite avalanche prone and choke into small terrain trap valleys. There are areas that they could open up but as of now that is limited to a few small sections of 47. If I go to 47 I usually go for the amazing hiking.

Tsugaike offers a DBD club but you have to sign up and sign in to ski the trees. If you don't mind wasting one hour during the season you can ski some nice open or tight trees.

Norikura doesn't have a lot of tree skiing possibilities but as it is becoming more of a family resort you can get some great early open first tracks.

Cortina is strictly closed and strictly enforced. Great steep lines inbounds but... it is highly likely that you will get your passes pulled if you head into the nice trees. By far the steepest runs in the valley with regular avalanches. The patrol thus enforces no tree skiing and will either warn you or pull your pass depending on their mood.

What's your opinion of Japanese ski resorts in general?
I think the resorts need to think long and hard about what their plans are. It seems like a throw together most of the time. Village planning and teamwork planning are sub-par really. Also so much wasted money on lifts that the resorts just don't need.

Lots of resorts are seeing decreases in numbers every year. What do you think they can do to turn round those numbers?
I don't think the numbers will ever jump back and that's a problem with some of these resorts. New goals have to be set. These have to be realistic for the post-bubble ski resort. Building parks and daycares is a start. Parents won't come to a resort if they can't enjoy themselves. Enjoying themselves means maybe that they know that their kids are safe and well entertained. Marketing overseas is good, but it's not going to save a resort. Resorts need the local population to increase or stabilize their businesses.  Some small resorts also need to close.  Yes, there is a market but Japan has hundreds of one to three run resorts that suck away business from the major resorts.
 

 
How do you see the Japanese winter sports scene moving forward in the next 5 / 10 years?
I see Back Country booming, then dropping off a bit as every fad in Japan does. I think that as long as the Australian economy stays strong, Australian skiers will continue to increase in Japan. I think snowboarding will decline to the North American levels, and that terrain parks will just get bigger.

Favorite resort in Japan?
Hard question, but I like Happone best for on piste.　 I like Tsugaike for the access above the resort into areas that wont terrain trap you.　 I like Nozawa cause the place can make you poop your pants (Nozawa can kill you... 100-foot cliffs in the trees, major avalanches and serious steep Back Country - this place can kill the prepared or unprepared rider going out of bounds).

Favorite non resort area?
Above Tsuagaike, about three hours hike up. Also pretty much anywhere above the resorts of Hakuba. They offer you easy to advanced backcountry skiing. I can't think of a better place in Japan that gets you into the Backcountry so easily during the winter.

Places in Japan you haven't been to yet but really want to!
Tejindira and Kurodake. Why those places? They look steep on a topo map basically. Niseko doesn't really interest me for that very reason. Once you get to a certain level it's not just about how deep the powder is but how much the terrain challenges you. The steeper it is the better your chance for a face shot anyways. The above two places don't get a ton of snow - about 8 to 9 meters - but offer some crazy steep skiing. That's what drives me crazy. If SJ ever wants to send me to Niseko for free though, I will go and try it and hike my butt off!

 
Tell us about some of your best adventures on the snow in Japan?
So many trips, so many good times. The first Fire Festival with my friend and his wife at Nozawa. We started to explore and found so many good spots. We skied so much powder and were high-fiving after almost every run. I love to explore and find new routes.

Cortina with my wife and friend OU. Another Japanese powder day and it was deep. I was so stoked, that my wife was keeping up with a ripping crew and doing it with style. That day the trees finally clicked for her and she just ripped. OU is a big kid and rarely gets a chance at a face shot. This day he got face shot after face shot. At the end of the day he had this smile and I asked him "what's up with you?". He said, "I have never skied anything like that before and got that many face shots".

This spring with Toque and Creekboy we had a blast. Seeing how my friend CB had improved to the point of just laying it down. I love it when my friends succeed at what they are trying to do. 2 seasons ago, we started throwing him into terrain that he just wasn't mentally ready for. This season he conquered the mental part of the game. I find it down right fun to be a part of something like that. Touring with Toque for those weeks was epic. We bagged so many peaks in such a short period of time. Again I love to explore and it was all-new to me.

Hakuba Yari and Karasawa were just climbs that were so exhausting yet the rewards were all worth it. As you are doing it, it's so hard but once it’s finished you know that you have beaten your mind.

 
Any scary episodes you can share?
Of course a few avalanches, a few too many in the same location really. Hitting my head in an out of control tumble (always wear a helmet). Watching my friend get side swiped by a boarder and go into convulsions. Rolling off of a cliff that I was supposed to jump off of. Rescuing a friend from a creek.

How about the Snow Japan community that has built up?
Snow Japan has helped me find and make friends. Those friendships have made living in another country that much better. I don't think that I would've ever bought a house in Hakuba if I had not found this site. So to the staff of SJ, thanks for putting this site together.

Outside of Japan, where do you really want to ski?
Too be honest, I would love to just explore Canadian mountains some more. If I could, India, Russia and South America are places that peek my interest.

Ever done any snowboarding?
Ski or snowboard, it doesn't matter what you do. I bought snowboard boots and bindings this year so I might actually learn how to finally do it. I like to ski cause you can always get better.
 

 
Snow Japan would like to thank Fattwins for his time and all the best for his future in Hakuba.