agillgren
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Posts posted by agillgren
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10/2/14
Woke up to about 15cm of fresh fluffy stuff at Tomamu with a mostly bluebird day. Registered to get our hideous bibs allowing off piste riding and set out. I do like the off piste policy here-- your pretty much allowed everywhere as long as you accept the risk and where a helmet. If there is a rope it's for a reason. They have good terrain for it with open tree runs all popping nicely out onto groomers at the end.
In most places you could still feel the firm base under the powder-- but there were some very nice runs to be found in the trees which where deep enough to properly cover the base. At around lunchtime disaster struck though (OK I'm sulking a bit and maybe a bit dramatic). After "hiking the peak" we were preparing to drop in under the abandoned lift when I hit a rock hidden under 15cm of fresh snow. Fell onto my right knee very hard. It was only 5-10m from the cat track, and wasn't visible in any way (top coating of snow was smooth). Took my breath and told myself to toughen up and ride down.
I was going to keep riding…. until I looked down and saw I was bleeding… through my 3 layers of clothes. Damn!!!! Off to ski patrol centre. Seems I had a fairly deep cut on my knee. Double Damn!!!
They told me to go to a local hospital for stitches and gave me directions.
1st hospital I think I had an inexperienced doctor. He got hesitant after trying to clean it, decided not to stitch it up and leave it with a drain in it. Literally a small tube out of the cut. WTF!. He then said I should go to Obihiro to the larger hospital.
So take 2 I got an older and much more blaise doctor. After x-rays to confirm no bone damage all sowed up and ready to go again. I like him… he said snowboardings OK so long as I don't' fall on my knee again. Oh.. and it doesn't hurt. So now i'm just waiting for the swelling to drop so I can bend my knee again-- don't' think I could do up my bindings as is. Hopefully all good in a few days.
Luckily I was only going slow just getting ready to drop into the deeper snow, otherwise I reacon I would have fractured my patella. Still I'm bloody annoyed… I suppose it's one of those things… I was in an allowed off piste area, there was no signs, no ropes, no visible marking under the snow (was just a gentle slope). Ah well sightseeing for me for a few days. At least I got 1/2 day of good stuff first.
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Don't tell the hoards….. they might start fighting for freshies.
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Booked onto the Aurora for tomorrow morning.
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Thanks Goz.
Any hotel recommendations around there-- sorry wrong person to ask--- you were in the car weren't you….
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Wow. Lucky Teine. That came out of no where. Blue skies here in the east of Hokkiado - but powder was found easily enough at a quiet resort (well so I was told).
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Nice pics… that does look good.
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Thanks guys. We're going to head east through Abashiri to hopefully see the drift ice, then back through Sounkyo and the spa ice festival. We've stayed in Sapporo and Otaru before so decided on somewhere different whilst we have some time.
After that if still no snow then beer and sushi it is...
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Ideas please!!!
I'm slightly injured… and the forecast looks woeful (read not good enough to make any pain worth while).
So the question is…. what do you do in Hokkiado in winter if not snowboarding. Seriously, I've never thought about anything other than snowboarding here. So any suggestions would be welcome. We have a car are willing to drive around and have about 5 days to kill.
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We were at Mount Racey yesterday! I've had some great days there so far this year. Yesterday was ok, a few stashes of powder in the trees, but it was mostly an on piste and park day for us.
Nice! Yeah we stopped in and had a walk around the base station. Looks like there would be some OK terrain there.
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Saturday was a lovely day at Kiroro! Nice pics again Mike.
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9/2/14
No new snow Niseko way for 2 days… but a promising forecast to the east. We took a gamble (price was a nights paid accom in Niseko we gave up) and decided to make a drive toward Tomamu. So today was a sightseeing/driving day.
Morning drive had some nice sightseeing around Toya lake and a mountain pass on the "scenic" route we thought we would try. The GPS seemed to think the mountain pass wouldn't be open and got really angry when we kept going the wrong way
. Must learn how to shut that thing up.. but all the menu is in japanese writing.
We stopped at Sunlavia (often called Sunrabia) for a quick spin on the way. It defiantly gets less snow there than the big N area. Small snow base and pretty icy underneath. We did have 1 nice sneaky run under a lift with alright snow. I did love the local onsen sign…it's a pearler. Not sure what there are trying to say with that one...
As we headed East the sky darkened and the snow began. We had a quick scout of Yabari Mt Racey on the way and have put it in the definitely need to check out pile but the snow wasn't thick enough yet to tempt us.
We've made it back to our fav little pension in Tomamu. The owner even brought out the picture of when we stayed last year to show he remembered us
.Looks like 5-10cm at the moment here and it's meant to keep coming down for a little while yet. So at this stage looks like the gamble paid off. Looking forward to tomorrow.
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We took the risk and drove to Tomamu way.. and it seems we found the new fresh snow in Hokkaido. Over 5cm here already and it looks like it's setting in for the night. Fingers crossed by tomorrow morning should be a nice covering.
I've never seen a front here where the snow comes from the east/south before. Have a look at the JMA radar...
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After seeing that there may have been snow closer to Otaru we decided on Kiroro this morning. It was well worth it.
We had one of those rare beautiful bluebird days. Even though there wasn't much overnight snow the cold temps kept the snow in great condition and there was still plenty of fresh lines to be found in bounds. I'd say maybe all those don't ride off piste signs are working-- but more likely that there is just so much terrain). The resort was busy but mostly with locals form Sapporo.
We could see the more adventurous choosing lines in the back country-- a few riders may have had a risker path than they thought. From the distance it looked like they came very close to a bad looking line in the snow-- you can just see it in the pic below.
On the way back to Niseko area we were treated to fantastic scenery with views of Yoti, Sheribetsu and Niskeo range. The sunset behind Niseko was great.
Another good day
Tough decision for tomorrow now. Forecast currently shows decent snow Tomamu way for late Sunday and Monday- more so than in other areas. I just don't know whether to believe it, and it isn't a short drive
. We'll make the call tomorrow.
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WV it was busier than I've seen it in previous years. There was a wait for the quad at times… but it was on go slow from wind. And there is plenty of terrain available.
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Well.
2014 trip has begun with style.
5/2/2014
Picked up our trusty wagon and ready to go. Seemed clear as we landed but as we headed towards Niseko the snow got heavier. Probably the heaviest snow we had driven in… so slow going but no complaining here. We're basing ourselves at Higashiyama for the first 5 nights and then we'll see how the forecast looks after that.
6/2/2014
About 20-30cm overnight. With forecast of wind to pick up we decided to head to Rusutsu to find shelter in the trees. Along with what felt like half of Hirafu…. defiantly seemed busier than in previous years. But was still goof fun. Perfect starter day to remember how. Easy runs-- including knee deep powder down marked ungroomed trails for the first hour or so. Frigging freezing though. Too cold to stop for photos...
7/2/2014
It continued snowing lightly overnight but the wind had dropped off. Reports stating another 15cm-- but down low on the mountain didn't look like that much. We decided on Moiwa and got quite lucky. It appears the quad lift had been closed the day before and there was good untracked powder to be found off that lift well into the afternoon. Got to love that floating feeling
Definitely more people here than in previous years… even had to wait up to 10min for the lift at times
Still cold today but at least the sun came out for a few brief glimpses.
No snow forecast for today/tomorrow so not sure where to tomorrow yet….
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Actually both those places are just as busy as Niseko now. May as well stay there everyone!!
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I concur.. Only two days here so far. Rusutsu and Moiwa. But both places looking much busier than in previous years. The hoards are spreading!
Still great fun though… I suppose still quiet relatively speaking.
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Great. The one I found must have been an older copy without the coordinates.
Thanks everyone
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Two weeks till our 2014 trip and the snow stalking and general frothing at the mouth is in full swing.
One of the things I always like to do is start reading the area/avi reports to get an idea of what condition the snow pack is is. This was in today's niseko now avalanche report:
"The upper sections of Annupuri West Ridge are often glare ice, ice crust and generally very difficult snow conditions. Yesterday Hirafu Patrol rescued a guided tour customer on West Ridge. This is no place for guides to be taking customers. If you want to ride the west face and sidewalls please take the North face and come around to Chinpoku Rock. Always take care on the West face(coordinate F7)"
Does anyone know which map they are referring to? It would be a handy thing to look at - making sure I'm understanding where they are talking about? The normal terrain map I've seen for there (comes with the niseko rules) doesn't have that level of detail or map coordinates. And yes I did try the original report website but I couldn't spot it.
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Nice thread OzSB. You've definitely been getting around. I take it this part of the trip more for the sight seeing then the snow?
How long was the drive out to Shiretoko from say Tomamu or Sapporo? And was the sea ice worth it?
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We stayed in one of the standard middle of the range hotels (western room with japanese breaky) last year for around 8000 yen per night twin share (so 4000 each) in the centre of Asahikawa Was nothing flash but did the job. You can probably find cheaper if you look around.
We were 5min walk from a heap of restaurants. So loads of good value choices for dinner. When we went looking for coffee/other breaky options not many places were open till after 8am.
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We got lucky and had a nice 2-30cm day in Tomamu and then followed it to Sahoro last year. Loads of fun.
But then when we were in Asahikawa we had a dry spell.(had a good day in Kamui the year before). Hence this year was thinking how we could do it better.
I think the problem is my Australia driving brain doesn't factor snow and mountainous roads so interprets a 110km drive short 1 hour spin.
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Thanks everyone.
Maybe we'll compromise. Base ourselves Kutchan way for the first 5 days (easy drive to Rusutsu, Moiwa, Niseko, Kiroro ect) and then see where from there for the last 5 days. I'm thinking if it looks like a good coming head north to Asahikawa or inland to Sahoro way. Otherwise stay in Otaru or Sapporo and be close to the other places there.
Goziamaas what your saying with the nightly travel. Was more thinking of which city to base ourselves in for a few days at a time. The northern and inland resorts can be good I reacon...but you can also get skunked with a dry spell whilst it's still snowing in N. So I'd like to try time a trip that with the forecasts.
Never made it as far north as Wakanai (Pippu was as far as we got). What's up there?
Flights booked for 4th to 16th of Feb. Got to love pre-trip dreaming excitement.
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I figure in the cities we'll be fine. Last year we changed our accommodation dates on the fly in Otaru no problem. Pretty nice/fancy hotel for only $100 too. We're happy staying in the cities and not always at resorts (although I'm not sure about love hotels)... just wasn't sure if there are many business hotels in Kutchan? I can't see much on hotel search sites....
And we are booking flights now
Rusutsu 2014
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
I meant about Kiroro and Tiene. I can only imagine how messy Niseko is getting now after 5 days of no snow.