mitchpee

Hell yeah Stu looks awesome man! Seemore best of luck looks like the snow was a bit hit by the sun, but it is usually good. Hopefully I'll run into ya one day there.

All of this with emphasis on the backcountry rules applies. The cornice has been growing just be a little more careful on it than normal! Would hate to see someone hurt and Rusutsu tighten up on it. Don't think they could do anything about it as it's outside of the resort boundary. There was an avi death there a season or two ago and nothing happened afterwards. Sorry I didn't mean rules of the resort. I meant unspoken backcountry rules like bring a buddy, wear a beacon, have gear, etc If anyone is going to that ridge as you can see in the picture the big open bowl on the bac

The trip down was amazing! Unfortunately no footage but the snow in the gully was amazing!

All of this with emphasis on the backcountry rules applies. The cornice has been growing just be a little more careful on it than normal! Would hate to see someone hurt and Rusutsu tighten up on it.

Hiked Yotei with a group today. Super windy at the top (130+ km/hr ) but got away with this snapshot..

I'm not going to deny where the money is is catering to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Chinese families. Those are the people willing to spend the money and come to Japan. What I want to talk about is exactly what you brought up GN. This is about it costing "too much" to manage the terrain. I argue the opposite that it won't cost that much and the return will be much greater. So many people go to Rusutsu, Kokusai, Kiroro, etc because of the terrain at Niseko being flat and tracked out quickly. I argue drawing those people and more would be far more of a benefit than the costs to maintain.

Kurodake is awesome, but unfortunately in the middle of nowhere far away. It's tough when these areas are a 5 minute walk and stare me in the face every day.

I think a better analogy would be like being from Hawaii and knowing pipeline then going somewhere that has safer waves, maybe Lombok? and offering advice. I don't expect to be the one to change everything but I sure as hell want to promote some talking about this issue. Not bad mouthing, not drama, not condemning...simply questioning why such a region is permanently closed.

This is what I am trying to get at. A discussion about why they are closed and if it still serves as a purpose of saving lives to be closed or just being stubborn. The o-sawa areas (especially mizu no sawa) are just simply not going to cause deaths. If they are managed decent at best, they will be fine. On the extreme days when the chance of sliding even becomes fathomable, it can be trigged intentionally or allowed to settle. This is not difficult at all. I agree Haru no taki is more difficult of an area with massive trigger points and steeper, more sustained, wider bowl areas, and ge

I really appreciate all the feedback. I fully realize my limitations as a gaijin living in Japan. However, I am not alone and yes there are nationals who feel the same. Working on the Nihongo part of this all and this is just the very beginning. I'm not expecting Haru no take to open tomorrow. I do, however, expect my points to be heard and considered by someone who will listen. To those that have asked I and many people who feel the same way as me have spoken to various patrollers and Akio has been talked to as well. My main issue is there is absolutely no discussion about these areas

Ah yeah localism is completely worthy of respect. I'm not asking for unconditional opening of these areas. Just simply a logical discussion of the benefits vs ACTUAL dangers (not perceived, created, imagined).

Hey Guys, So there's a lot of people that feel Niseko is not living up to its full potential. Every day we stare at the fresh, untracked lines in the o-sawa/Haru no take areas and ones that are permanently closed. Upon living in Utah, I have seen many extremely more dangerous areas managed with almost no incidents. We can provide scientific data recorded every day from our own weather station to help describe the safer days on when these could potentially be opened. I personally have never seen anything slide in these areas even with daily bombing occurrences. I would like to invite th

Photos courtesy of a very generous Mark Whalley.

Yesterday was sick! No need for many words, just photos D-E-E-P Can you see Mark? Because I can't They say Scottish people can't fly...mark proved them wrong.

Yeah Stu, good stuff.

After about 200 days or so I get new boots. I usually beat the living hell out of mine!

That's Goshiki Onsen right behind Niseko

Thanks guys, Anyone in Niseko (or surrounding area) stop by and say hi!

Hey Guys! Figured I'd post some stuff on what's going on here in Hokkaido. It's been a super busy month so far and the snow has been amazing. Here is some evidence words cannot do justice. Amazing photos thanks to Mark Whalley! Will try to update with some more specific info

The thing is Niseko is super easy to get around when the visibility is good. It's a small and isolated mountain. Pretty much anyone can look from the peak and find their way back to Annurpuri. However, most of January and Feb (when the snow is best) has terrible visibility. Wind, snow, etc make it very hard to see which backbowl you are dropping into. There are places that if you drop in the wrong place you will not be able to get back to the resort without a hard climb out. That said, I'd be happy to point you in any right directions and if I am out shredding for fun show you the areas I

BIlly I'd love to give you some ideas where to go. If you do a black diamond tour stop by the lodge and ask for me. I'll give you where I would go and see if any of the other guys have ideas. To help us help you... Do you have any touring equipment? Willing to hike a ways? Want big cliffs? Jumps? Steeps and pow? What are you looking for mostly? There's lots of terrain and lots to do! Do you have any backcountry experience?

Seems a lot less sunny than last January, but I honestly couldn't tell. It's snowy, windy and dark! Sounds like Japanese winter to me!

No it's not. It's to familiarize yourself with the territory. And once you've paid for the tour, you're free to do as you wish with that knowledge. what is a university? Why did you assume it was a guide and a paid group? All the times I've seen it, they were a bunch of Aussie mates going down the nth time with beer in their backpacks. I guess I read that wrong. I thought you meant you tagged along with tour groups that were paying hence why I would be insulted if someone was to follow a group closely. Absolutely nothing wrong with tagging along with other people who a

Nice man! Enjoyable editing

I have seen this done. A group ready to leave through a gate, someone comes up and says can I join you. The times I've witnessed, the answer has always been yes. You could do the same and not pay the 16K for guiding through the gates. The point of paying for ski guiding is to help employ a person who has knowledge and safe awareness of an area. You wouldn't expect to go to a University, sit down, and start getting your degree for free would you? Personally if anyone asked me to "tag along" next to people paying for the experience I would probably be a bit insulted. I wouldn