An Interview with Mike Harris Canyons Ltd, Minakami, Gunma DISCUSS THIS FEATURE HERE

Please introduce yourself!
I am originally from Dunedin, a coastal town in Southern New Zealand famous for Speights Beer, rugby and crazy student antics.

So how long have you been skiing/snowboarding?
I first started skiing at the age of 10, at Cardona ski area in Central Otago. I was hooked instantly, but because of the costs, distance, and rugby obligations it was hard to get in much time in each season. When I hit university the government had just initiated a student loan scheme program, that myself and hundreds of other students put to good use by quickly snapping up seasons passes for Treble Cone and new ski gear.
 

 
Tell us about your experiences skiing before coming to Japan?
Greg Stump's, "The Blizzard of Ahhs" had just come out, so my idol at the time was extreme skier Glen Plake. Everything a young skier wanted to aspire to; the mohawk, and all the moves. (I actually had the opportunity to ski with Glen a couple of times over the coming years.)

Most of my skiing was done in Central Otago; Treble Cone, Cardrona, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak. A lot of great terrain with a lot of steep chutes and some decent backcountry runs but no real powder.

How did you get to Japan?　
I had been studying Japanese since high school and continued my studies at university when my first opportunity to come to Japan came up in 1992, in the form of a work exchange and home stay program. I spent 4 months in Shizuoka Prefecture as a petroleum transfer engineer (pumping gas) while concentrating on learning more colloquial Japanese. After graduating in 1994 I came back to Japan and settled in Hakuba.

What brought you to Minakami?
I was working at Happo Lodge in Hakuba from 1994 onwards (I was AKA Happo Harry) A sweet deal! 100m from the Happo Gondola, free accommodation, a cruisy job, and the staff were all drinkers!

One day I was up Happo in my GS skis carving it up. I pulled up to the top of the steep section halfway down the Kokusai Dai 1 Pair lift. Another skier geared up with his GS skis pulled up beside me, and we gave each other the once over, assessing each others gear and making assumptions about each others probable speed. An instant later we both set off in race mode, flying down the course neck in neck. We both pulled up at the bottom of the lift together and gave each other the nod of respect.

When riding up the lift together I found out that he was a Kiwi who had been around Hakuba for a while. He was a quite well known groomer who went by the name of Chance. Chance told me about another Kiwi he knew who had just set up a rafting company in a place called Minakami. (I had never heard of Minakami at the time). He made it sound like a sweet summer job - 2 trips rafting a day, 10,000 yen a trip, BBQ and beers every night, and heaps of chicks.  I kept the contact details he gave me in a safe place, never to be found again.

So when the season rolled to a finish, I decided to try my hand in the big smoke. So off to Toyko it was. A mate of mine had all ready set up a pad and had work lined up for me in Roppongi. After six weeks in "the Pong”", I’d had enough. I rang a number of tour agents, before finally finding a rafting company in Minakami, called Great Outdoors (there were only around five companies in Japan at the time). Three days later I was in Minakami sitting in the back of a raft, thanking the day I met Chance!

So what do you like so much about Minakami?
Onsens, the fact that it is close to Tokyo and it has a good combination of outdoor adventures throughout the four seasons.

Spring sees the Tone River (which flows right through the middle of town) swollen to grade 3-4 which makes for awesome rafting & kayaking (best rafting river in Japan in spring!)

Summer sees the opening up of a mass of hiking trails and canyons. Minakami has some great canyoning courses, rock climbing, mountain biking, paragliding, swim holes - and let’s not forget BBQ spots. Also, you don’t need an air conditioner!

In autumn with the changing of the leaves, the lake kayaking on any of the 4 lakes at the top end of Minakami is breathtaking, very close to the mountains and hidden away from any cars of motorboats.

With the onset of winter, a lot of the locals go into hibernation, but those in the know are out ripping it up on the mountains.  There are nine ski areas to choose from, with one of the highest average snowfalls in Honshu.

Throughout all of the seasons there are the onsens.  Minakami is famous for its eight onsen areas and even boasts the largest outdoor onsen in Japan - Takaragawa Onsen. There are over 40 different onsens to choose from, each with different characteristics.

Finally, Minakami it is damn handy to Tokyo. Jump on the bullet train and in just over 70 minutes you’re in Tokyo. In a car it can be as fast as 90 minutes.

 
What are you actually doing in Minakami now?
I own and operate an outdoor adventure and guiding company, Canyons Ltd.. Guiding is a passion of mine, I love to give people unique and challenging experiences!

I also organize and DJ at outdoor (sometimes indoor) music events, the most well known of which is the Minakami Full Moon Party, which has been increasing in popularity and size every year since its conception 7 years ago. Great vibes, awesome people!

I am currently the chairperson of the Minakami Canyoning Association, and the head of the safety advisory team for commercial rafting. I also spend a lot of time talking with the city council about tourism planning (I am doing a masters degree in tourism by correspondence). A lot of the time I feel like I am speaking with a brick wall, but finally over the past couple of years some new faces in the Yakuba have started to take interest.  (The changes that have taken place in Niseko and Hakuba have been large influences).

In my spare time I am always playing with my three kids and teaching them about the outdoors; rock climbing, canyoning, skiing etc.

Please tell us about the gear you use.
Backcountry touring & big mountain skis: 195 Rossignol B3 Bandits with Naxo touring bindings
Big Powder days: 180 Atomic Big Daddy
Wear: North Face
Pack: Deuter
Beacon: SOS SB with snow bug for pack
Probe & Shovel: SOS (always carry shovel with saw)
Other BC gear: 40m rope, webbings, biners, first aid kit, snow science kit, headlamp, spare clothes (down jacket), duct tape, wire, multi tool, emergency food, zelt (emergency shelter), skins, tubbs snowshoes

Resorts or BC?
The only time I ski on-piste is when doing lessons, accessing or returning from the BC or having a few runs during a night ski session. (Okutone has a nighter that finishes at midnight).  Otherwise I am almost always in the BC. I love the freedom and feeling of riding the natural shape of the mountain (hence the term freeriding).

What's your opinion of Japanese ski resorts in general?
In general I rate them.  Japan has some huge ski areas with great facilities, but there are also a lot of areas that should never have been made. They went a bit crazy in the bubble and chucked ski fields up everywhere! Now there are a lot of 2-3 lift ski areas at low altitude that are rusting away!
 

 
Lots of resorts are seeing decreases in numbers every year. What do you think they can do to turn round those numbers?　
Close down - there are too many meaningless resorts!

The decent resorts out there really need to work on their marketing. Choose a market and then fulfill their needs. They also need to work with the town and do some destination planning that involves all of the interested parties to create real resorts. (If there was a field that catered directly for BC and powder riders, it would be an instant success!

Anyone remember the double black diamond club at Cortina in Hakuba? Dave Enright from Evergreen was one of the instigators of that idea. At Cortina a number of tree runs that used to be out of bounds were marked with double black diamonds (DBD), meaning that only double black diamond members were allowed to ride those areas.
To become a member, you had to complete a half day course with the patrol. After this, any day you wanted to ride the DBD areas you had to sign in at the patrol office and show them you are riding with a friend and have avi gear; beacon, probe, shovel. Patrol would then issue you with a large DBD armband then its off into the trees!

Change in top management at Cortina meant a change in direction. They opted for the family market and abandoned the DBD club, even though there were close to 500 members.  It would be great to see DBD at more fields in Japan...

Generally do the resorts in Minakami work together on anything or is it all “just for themselves”?
At this stage it is still every ski field for themselves. It would make a lot of sense for some of them to pair up with seasons passes and other special deals.

Are those BC runs “legal”? Do you need to be with a guide to go there etc?
The legality of running the BC is a big gray area that I quite often discuss with patrol (not always civilized debates).  Basically Tenjindaira ski area is built on a national park, they just rent the land from the government. In Japan, there is a law which states that anyone is allowed to use a national park, so the ski area can not stop anyone from using or accessing any of the areas, outside the land they rent = the BC.

My argument: I am riding with other experienced riders, everyone has full avi gear and knows how to use it. We dig pits regularly, check for snow stability, ride responsibly and always fill in mountaineering cards. If anything happens out back it is our own responsibility!

Patrols argument: Inexperienced people will follow us in.

I can see patrols point, so they should put up some decent signs!

You do not really need a guide for the basic BC but it would be highly recommended if you do not know the area well or want to do something a little more extreme.
 

Favorite resort in Japan?
Happo One (Nagano) - For on-piste vert and off piste access
Hakuba 47 (Nagano) - Nice BC access to som good runs
Nozawa (Nagano) - Tree lines, steeps
Kagura (Niigata) - Nice BC touring with a lot of options

Favorite non resort area
Tejindaira (Gunma) - Easiest BC access to big mountain
Hakkai-san (Niigata) - Some nice trees and access to steep BC

Places in Japan you haven't been to yet but really want to.
Hakkoda (Aomori) - I hear a lot of good things about it from other bc guides.

Tell us about some of your best adventures on the snow in Japan? Any scary episodes you can share?
Back in the Happo days I used to ride Happo a lot. Mainly the North faces dropping down to the Matsukawa.... no avi gear and no fear.

On February 19th 2000 that all changed. Three of my mates left early morning for Garagarazawa and never returned. They triggered a class 3.5 avalanche, starting from the alpine and traveling over 3km to the Matsukawa in the valley below. I was about to find out the realities of avalanche search and rescue, looking for three people with no beacons in over 4m of debris. After 6 days of probe searching in increasingly bad conditions, we gave up hope. The boys bodies were later recovered in Spring 2000.

For the past 6 years or so since the incident I have been putting a lot of time in avalanche study and backcountry guiding techniques, in the hope that further accidents can be avoided.

Outside of Japan, where do you really want to ski?

Alaska - no need for explanation.
Himilayas - I hear they have a few big mountains over that way.
 

 
Tell us a bit more about the Canyons operation.
Canyons is an outdoor adventure company that creates customized adventure experiences (I don’t like the word tour). Canyons specialized in three areas

Outdoor Adventures
Canyoning, rafting, caving, snowshoe, backcountry ski & snowboarding.  Currently we have four bases throughout Japan: Minakami, Kusatsu, Hakuba (a cooperation with Evergreeen Outdoors), Shikoku (a cooperation with Happy Raft). Amongst these canyoning is by far the most popular.,

Rescue & Training
One of our goals is to raise the guide standards in Japan to create a safer and more enjoyable customer experience and a more stable outdoor industry.  For backcountry and avalanche training we rely on the CAA (Canadian Avalanche Association), who are represented in Japan by Dave Enright from Evergreen Outdoors. I am often assisting (but not always being so helpful - remember to turn beacons on before you bury them) Dave with training courses.

Outdoor Education
Developing people's potential through challenging outdoor adventures, environmental awareness, fun and support.

Recently we have created the Canyons Adventure Center in Minakami. A multi use complex with heaps of local area info, a lodge , a cafe & bar (Alpine cafe) and a club/movie theater downstairs. If you are passing through town and would like a beer or just some info on local ski areas and conditions drop in!