Queen Cosmo
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Posts posted by Queen Cosmo
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Yup, you can get a points ticket, or an 8-hour ticket late in the day, both of which will apply to the "nighter."
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Haven't uploaded photos in a while, it seems much easier these days, let me know if you have any trouble viewing them K? Headed to work now, come see me at BD and I'll pour you a beer
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Hey Guys!
Just wanted to share some recent photos from our recent romps around Niseko and Rusutsu. It's been dumping non-stop, as most of you probably know, and the snow is just incredible...
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Thanks guys, yeah it was a very real reminder, as was the vid I just watched that someone posted of a guy falling in a hole. That happened to me last year at Chisenupuri, in the pillow lines skiier's left of the chair lift. Backwards, head first, down a huge rock well. Managed to get myself out (delicately) only to lose a ski 5 meters down the hole in the process. The whole event was made more sketchy because as soon as I slithered my way out of the hole, I realized that what I was standing on was an unstable snow bridge between several gigantic car-sized boulders. We reinforced the snow bridge with our probes and ski poles and it took three guys and me, holding ankles, to get my ski out... another very lucky day. Thankful for not ending up resurfacing belly-up in a smelly onsen weeks later.
OK enough scary stories for one day. The powder is absolutely amazing here right now, folks. DiGriz, it's supposed to keep snowing right through until sometime Tuesday, and I assure you there is plenty to go around. You won't be disappointed!
Metabo and Muika- Sorry about last season- I did not intend to abandon the site. After my Malunuma post, we spent a rainy couple of days in Hakuba, then drove to Niigata, hopped on a ferry, and came here. I was so memerized by the crazy snow here that I became incapable of turning on the computer. Then we discovered Rusutsu. What ensued was a very snowy fairy tale and only a few photos, which I am happy to post if people don't mind getting last year's news. We had come here with intentions of staying for a week and that week turned into two weeks and then a month. And now I'm back again, this time for the season.
I am living in HIgashiyama, working at Hooting Owl Lodge, which is a stone's throw from Black Diamond Lodge, where Mitchpee will be working once again this year. I will also be doing some evening work at the Black Diamond Lodge restaurant. So, rock on up here, get your own glorious face shots, say hi to Mitch and me and maybe I'll even pour you a beer.
We are trying to be better about taking photos this year. I have my own personal photographer, Kenji Funahashi. He takes amazing action shots. So, hopefully, there will be a few more posts this season... again sorry about last year
Hope to see you all soon!
Cheers!
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So yesterday I was riding at Higashiyama and I experienced a **mini** slide in the wooded area to the right of Miso Shiru, near the bottom half of the run by the old gondola. Scared me right good, but I really need to stress that it was a small, mini avvy in one of the rollovers in that area, which should probably just be avoided to begin with due to obstacles and the fact that the whole thing is kind of a terrain trap.
So this is what happened... (and I'm not proud of it but it's worth sharing!)
Imagine Miso Shiru, the slope to skiier's right of the Mori-no chair. To the skiier's right of Miso Shiru are some sweet woods. We will call them the 'sweet woods' for lack of any other available name that I know of. To the right of the sweet woods is the old gondola line (now disabled). Toward the top of the run, the gondi line is good skiing. In the bottom 1/2 of the run, one should not go too far right for you can get stuck in the gut of the gondi line and have to do a hard traverse left through bushy stuff or schlep out at the bottom. In general, I would not classify the area as high-potential avvy terrain, but there are a couple of little rollovers in there and one of them completely slid and swept me about 15 meters down the hill. It did not bury me; it was more like a strong sluff of heavy wettish snow, but the way it fractured and ran, I have to say that what happened was a small avalanche and it swept me downhill 15 meters and scared the sh*t out of me.
I was skiing with a less experienced rider, showing him around Higashiyama, and had all of my avvy gear with me. We skied the sweet woods on the previous two runs and I told him not to go too far right in that area. However, the third run had me searching a little too hard for the untracked lines and I did not follow my own advice and ended up going a little too far right. At the instant I realized I needed to go left back toward the sweet woods and Miso Shiru, I busted a hard left turn on the top area of one of those little rollovers (essentially performing an inadvertent ski cut). The top layer (about 30+ cm) sloppily fractured, and it was running almost before I realized what was going on, and an instant later when I figured it out, I was on the move, sideways, down the hill. The slide pushed me by my thighs and gained strength as it slid, but the whole system was weak enough not to really take me out or bury me, thank goodness. When it stopped, I paused, took a deep breath, and found a careful and delicate way out of there. The snow quality of what slid was considerably wetter than what we had been skiing all morning. The time was about 12:30 and we had received minimal solar.
I wanted to share this to stress that these things happen when you least expect it, even within the resort in un-roped areas. It served as a (thankfully) gentle, but very real, reminder to be careful where you go, continue to make judgement calls as you descend, go with a friend, and always take your gear, because avalanches can and do happen. I am very lucky to have received such a gentle reminder and not have been vacuumed up into Middle Earth with no oxygen and a guy with no avvy training to find me and dig me out.
Have fun out there, and go safely. I should add that I was a tad hung over- just a little headache and some brain fog. Keep your wits about you folks; I was lucky but it could have been much worse! And when you have to shop too hard for freshies, it's time to move to another area. We could have gone to Annupuri or Hanazono instead, both which have amazing powder and trees.
Cheers and oh-so-thankful!
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Thanks for the kudos, guys! Sorry if I`ve kinda gone MIA for a bit- honestly we have been in Niseko since before Christmas and we`ve been so busy skiing and enjoying our stay at the BD Lodge that I haven`t really made time to get on the computer lately. I should post something soon, though, because it has been absolutely wonderful here. We hiked and skied Yotei last week -what a hoot- and it is positively DUMPING DENDRITES right now and has been falling sideways for the past 30 hours. Like get out a shovel every time you have to move the car kinda dumping. I hear Hakuba is getting nailed too! Cheers to those down there!
The snow today was absolutely bottomless. If you have thought about coming up, now is certainly the time. Will post more soon. Sorry for the lapse in contact. Mitchpee is here, so I`m sure you`ve seen some of his updates. CHEERS YALL!
PS- we took the ferry from Niigata to Otaru- cheap for us and the car and very comfortable- especially since we brought plenty of schochou with us.
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Had to get our fixins last week, so we headed over to Malunuma. We had low expectations, but pleased to say we were pleasantly syrup-rized.
Did a lil' hiking, a lil' poachin', got some freshies, gotter done.
We are still road tripping (in Kyoto currently!), so therefore internet access is limited. Catch you guys on the next update, or hope to see you on the slopes!
Cheers
Jen
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Hakuba or Niseko
Hakuba or Niseko
Whichever has more snow
...ya know?
Aren't any of you guys skiing over the holidaze besides Mitchpee?
Mitchpee- wee will see you over yonder
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Nice photos, BM! Have you ever skied it? I have found info on where the good ski lines are, but then I've also heard it's pseudo-illegal?
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Originally Posted By: MitchPeeI'm from New England as well New Hampshire to be specific! Skied everything you are talking about. Nice to meet ya
Heck yeah, Mitchpee! Nice to meet a fellow Hampshirite.
I most recently lived in Manchester, where I busted my butt at an architecture firm to get where I am now (on extended sabbatical). 
Did I read earlier that you're working at Black Diamond Lodge this season? Good luck with your new gig. We'll stop in and say hi when we get up that way. I think we want to trade in the Nissan rental for a Hiace, budget providing. I hear they rent those there... hopefully cheap.
We're leaving in a few days for an extended road trip to the southwest. Decided we've only got a short time to explore the other areas of Japan before we begin our skiing binge. Might still make it up to Marunuma Kogen before we head out- they got some snow.
-Cheers-
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Originally Posted By: Tubby BeaverI hate when they have Natto for kyushoku, the classroom is stinking of it, the kids have the trailers floating from their mouths and chopsticks.....talking with their mouth full of that nasty shit......bleurgh!!!
For crying out loud, I've been having freakin' nightmares ever since I read this. Thanks a lot, TB.
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Hey Metabo, yeah I've def been keeping an eye on it. Yesterday the report and photos didn't look stellar, and with the latest rain I wasn't sure...
*Update*
OK so it appears they are opening more terrain this Saturday. They are talking about having 7 trails by then. We'll see. If so, we're heading up, but I'd love to go Monday and beat the crowd; praying to Ullr for a Sunday night dump.
Cheers!
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I am definitely lookin' forward to it, BM! Yeah I'm from the US, Maine is where I growed up, to be exact. Lots of very friendly folks up there. When I'm home I ski anywhere, typically the White Mountains for the BC. Up there, we gotta hike/climb to get to the real steeps. There's a forum similar to this one that we use for backcountry in the Whites, actually. A few of us have fun competing with each other in the late spring, after most people have moved on to mountain biking, boating, or parenting, to see who can get the most vert in a day.
An entertaining thread here with a vid a... the end of May
Oh yeah, I slack it all the time, love riding the lift, getting lots of runs in. I take to the woods when I can. In New England my favorite place is Jay Peak, though don't tell them at Sugarloaf (my home mtn). Jay gets the most pow, but pow here in Japan is measured on a vastly different scale, from what I'm hearing, and ooh I can not wait to gogittit!
Way, WAY enough about me. Sorry to bore you. Not a blabber, but I'm happy to get to know you guys.
Looking forward to this winter and sharing stories with you all!
-Cheers-
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Nice nabbin', Metabo. Way to get after it. Rider69, Sounds like you've been out having some fun.
I'd love to see some photos as well.
Surprised more people aren't hiking up to access the high BC (yes this includes me, but
). Do folks genearally wait for resorts to open? Or just busy at the office? Hoping for lots of snow this season!
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Thanks BM. Not sure how many posts I need to have in order for PMs to work. I assume it's also not a such a great idea to provide an e-mail address on here. Hmm...
I'll keep posting and see what materializes. Catch up with you later, BM. Thanks for the 411!
Jen
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Yeah Yama, I hear ya about the weather. Everyone back home has been getting the goods since Thanksgiving. In fact, I skied in Maine on Oct 24th, just before departing for Japan. Don't worry, the snow gods will bless us shortly!
I also am very interested in Hakkoda. I would love to take you up on your offer. Particularly in the early season, so please holler if you get the mother lode up there and I'll come runnin'.
Cheers!
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Originally Posted By: Black MountainIf you settle into a place for a month or so they usually can give you a really good deal. One place I stayed in last season was 1500Y a night.
Thanks BM, that's exactly the kind of beta I was looking for. Much appreciated. If you have a second to disclose your other "alternative" places to stay, such as the one mentioned above, it would be much, much appreciated. If not allowed to do this on the forum, see if you can send a PM, though I'm not sure I'm authorized to PM yet since I'm a newbie on SJ.
Thank you thank you thank you!
(BTW, are you from a place called Black Mountain? If so, whereabouts?)
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Hey folks-
From the views I've had during some recent hikes, it appears that there could be a lot of snow at some of the higher elevations. Tanigawadake and the Alps are looking nice and white up high just to name a few. Isn't anyone out there getting after it yet?
Jen
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Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaverhotel Nissan??
Yup. -
To all you folks who are planning trips to ski destinations for a month or two at a time, etc; I am curious to know more about the kind of arrangements you make for where to stay. Do you camp out, stay in hostels? Couch surf at friends' houses? Or just kind of sap your $avings? I am starting a fairly lengthy road trip here pretty soon- here's to hoping some of you might have some insight on the subject.
I'm not usually one to commit to a set plan and reservations; more of a storm chaser, me. I like to go where the gettin's good, when it's good, get face shots and maybe brag about it later. Me no likie investing in a big trip and come to find out it's a hot spell and raining when I get there. If that kind of thing just doesn't happen in Japan, then do call me out. (Good vibes for lots of snow this winter!) But I am curious where people sleep during month-long trips. Is there an alternative to hotel Nissan that I'm not aware of? Or do I need to become independently wealthy?
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Looks like it could be some fun skiing to Sukayu onsen, maybe hike up and ski from the peak.
I'd be willing to meet some folks up there on the way to that Hokkaido ferry, maybe early Jan?
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14-ML-20421-ML-
Moved to Trip Reports section
Another Niseko Story
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Lookin' good!