Teine has had its first dusting of snow and may make its opening date of 11/23....yeah!
Below is a review from TubbyBeaverinho, January 2014. If any of you have skied the 7 bowls mentioned in this review I'd appreciate your input.
Last season I was fortunate to ski the main Highland area with someone who had worked at Hokudai Avalanche Research Centre and even though Teine had about 2.5 metres at that time I was advised not to go near the bowls until at least another metre had fallen. On Kita Kabe (turn left off Summit Express and left again before Ladies Downhill) there were rocks and tree trunks still visible, so for safety reasons I can understand the need for more snow before attempting the bowls which are unpatrolled. Also for safety reasons I'd prefer to ski it with other people, preferably those who have skied it before
"THE reason for coming to Teine Highland though are the bowls and chutes. Accessed from the top of the Summit Express, you turn right and walk under an ominous sign saying DANGER, DEATH, with a few skull and cross bones thrown in, heading for the old abandoned ropeway station a little further up the hill. Below and beside the old station is a series of 7 bowls that when accessed will give you some awesome short, but steep n deep turns. I've only been out as far as bowl 3 as the cat track run back to resort is a bit of a PITA. Remember this area is out of bounds so its totally on you and your ability, when you drop in here. The patrol don't keep an eye here and there are no signposts saying where the resort is at the bottom. That said the cat track is usually very well established and should be easy to spot (keep an eye out for all tracks converging skiers right). If you ride down too far then you are gonna have a long and deep walk out to the resort or the access road so be careful. Today, bowl 1 and 2 were fantastic, even when it was all chopped and tracked, it was still soft to plough through and face shots were aplenty!! If you are in the Sapporo area then you should definitely give Teine a try.......actually no, don't....avoid it like the plague!!!! ;)"