sapporo

Rusutsu was amazing today!!! Had to wait a little while for the lifts to start up.....but once they did!!! Knee ~ waist deep in spots. Bad wind on Isola and some real hard packed snow but the Heavenly and Steamboat areas were insane!! Best runs of my season so far! Still snowing now as we're leaving.....tomorrow will be another unbelievable day!!!

aahhh too bad! Ru is pretty $hit though, probably no snow there at all! Better to go to Teine Sun I would have thought?!

Rusutsu tomorrow. Debating Teine (if someone wants to show me around cos I'll be on me tod!) or Kokusai for Sunday.

Less wind at Rusutsu.....more white outs though!!!!

Trying to snow in Sapporo now (Chuoku area at least)

So, the weather is warming up and I no longer want to pay to go to resorts to ride slush, so might as well hike up some mountains and ride slush for free!! was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of good spots in the Sapporo area? I've hiked up Maruyama a few times and have been looking at Moiwayama for a while now, but unsure of the best routes for coming down? under the gondola? anyone tried snowboarding/skiing down Moiwa before? Anyone want to join me tomorrow?

Gopro.

Sorry. Was quite !!! heavy.

I got the 2013 Fish (black one) in a 160! I'm 182cm and 76kg, could have easily got the 156 but somehow opted for the 160!! My old board, 2008 Burton Fix was a 156 and for some reason my longer and chunkier Fish feels smaller and lighter than it!!!! Anyone considering upgrading and getting a powder board.....do it!!!!! It will change your riding ability, confidence and the sort of terrain suddenly available to you!!! Spent months watching yahoo Japan and eBay to find a cheap 2nd hand fish and ended up finding mine on rakuten!!

Got a Burton Fish at the start of the season (last years version). Absolutely LOVE it!!! Don't know why I suffered with my old board for so long!!! Love how poppy it is off ANYTHING!!

Why do I have to work today......NOOOOOO!!!

I quite often use the ones for ur toes....keeps them toasty, especially if snowshoeing anywhere!

Good call!!!!!

Was concerned for Sunday at Rusutsu when I checked the webcams earlier!! Sapporo has been dumping all day......will be a good day tomorrow around the Otaru resorts I think!!!

•Sweet potato trucks roaming the streets. •Sapporo Classic after a day on the slopes. •kotatsu •nabe Minus points -heating on way too high on trains/subways/department stores

Oops. No reply!! What I meant to write was.... If ur not at a hotel or something and have a tv connected to/that has an inbuilt hard drive then u can get rid of the box in the corner by just recording it, waiting a few seconds and watch the recording!! There is no box on a recording of the channel.

Seemore, if u are about this Sunday lets ride together?!

Rusutsu is famous for its pigs!! There is a great restaurant next to the road entrance to mt. Isola, their tonkatsu curry was delicious!!!! (Looking at a 5~10min walk from west mtn)

Rusutsu is owned by Kamori Kanko. It's properties include Mt. Teine ski resorts, Sahoro resort, the Grand Hotel in Niseko, a country club, Nakayama-Toge skijo, a bear park.....and a koala park in Australia!!!! I think the Kamori family isn't doing too badly!!!

They need to use the 'single rider' line system....kokusai gondola enforces it...but not their quad?! Kiroro quad enforces it....but not their gondola?! Rusutsu doesn't enforce it at all. Another reason why Rusutsu isn't a good choice!!

Think they used Kokusai for something too? Guessing Teine too?? There's Okurayama ski jump (built and used last Olympics here). No way they'd use nisekko....it's 2 and a half hours away from Sapporo!! They used Makomanai stadium for the Olympic torch site and some other events....could use Sapporo Dome now? The skating arena from the 70's is being torn down in the next year or two....easy to rebuild though!! Eniwayama is also quite far from anything (except Shikotsuko) so not a great resort / skijo location maybe? Hence the closing.

Downhill was held at Teine and Mt. Eniwa (Shikotsuko)

Thanks Metabo!! This list could be very handy!! Wondering why more hotels/lodges etc don't advertise on the SJ site?! Have found some other lodges in the Niseko area that accept pets....also there is a 'dog cottage' at Rusutsu Resort!

That would be my advice to anyone coming over for a couple of weeks....cheaper accommodation away from the resorts (why not stay in Kutchan or a place a small drive away?) plus a car. But I definitely think the rain we received mid January and the mild temps we had for a while allowed the sasa to uncover and reset things back to mid-December like conditions on the slopes! It wasn't until the start of Feb that most of the sasa started to disappear again, allowing easier access to the tree lines. The rivers also took a lot longer to freeze over and disappear this season (still encountered s