Mike Pow
-
Content Count
2244 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Mike Pow
-
-
Hoping to hit Fantasy Island towards the end of next week.
My longtime student and mate Ian has got a full-time gig at Kiroro running ski ops amongst other things.
Nerys & I are doing branding and marketing for the resort, so I'll be living and spending most of my time there this winter.
Road tripping to central Hokkaido in December with Nerys to check out Furano, Kamui, Sahoro, Tomamu, Asahidake and Mt Racey.
And down to Hakkoda too hopefully.
Can't wait
-
1
-
-
Hatsu Yuki at village level in the Niseko Resort Area, Rusutsu and Kiroro
-
1
-
-
I'm not a park guy at all, and it seems a long way to come to just (or mostly) ride park.
In terms of the extra stuff you're looking for.....have you considered staying in a city like Sapporo? It's got Teine and Kokusai resorts in the city, and I seem to recall someone telling me that Kokusai usually has a decent park. Rusutsu is easily accessible as is Kiroro and Niseko isn't that far away. If you hook up with a crew of people then Furano, Kamui and the like are a bit further by car the other way.
Good call.
Asari has a dedicated park which is also available at night.
-
Very light dusting on Mt Annupuri, Niseko United yesterday
-
1
-
-
Opening Day at Kiroro is Friday 21 November.
Grand Hirafu is normally the same day or the following day.
I've had plenty of powder days on Opening Day. On pistes which haven't been groomed, not in the trees.
Too much sasa.
-
Gym at J-Sekka and the Hilton at Niseko Village
-
So u destroy your skis and boots in 4 seasons or less?
Yes. I put it through its paces with a typical season seeing me on skis for 100 days.
Most of the outerwear lasts 1-2 seasons.
Mid layers last 2-4 seasons.
Base layers last 1-2 seasons.
New gloves every season.
Goggles last 1-2 seasons.
Helmet is 4 seasons old but needs a change.
-
Avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe are the only things that have lasted more than 4 seasons.
-
Your whole problem snowdude is that you confuse weather with climate.
Lose the personal insults because the 5 words bolded above have explained the situation better than any graph, table or stat.
IMHO obviously
-
NASA has just reported that globally it was the warmest Aug ever recorded. Overall the summer was the 4th warmest Jun-Aug period ever recorded globally. Of course all this record warmth is what you'd expect just before the onset of an ice age.....if you're a complete imbecile.
Coldest August in the UK in over 20 years.
However if Scotland leaves the Union tomorrow that figure will be revised. Dramatically
-
First fall on Asahidake
Haven't seen any pics though
-
Thanks for the reply. Half of us are intermediate and the other half are advanced.
That said I didn't realise that on average we would miss some days due to bad weather. Apologies for my dumb question but if it is too windy at Niseko wouldn't Rusutsu be too windy as well? We have 17 full days (i.e. ignoring arrival and departure days) so its hard to guess what we can prepay.
Not always. Sometimes very different weather patterns, even though the resorts are relatively close by.
-
Not sure about the merchant's fee, but you may want to reconsider buying the all-mountain passes.
Better to see your groups ability levels and the weather conditions.
In high winds the top lifts close meaning you can't access all areas.
And during heavy snow the visibility is poor up high making travel between villages difficult and unpleasant.
And if you wanted to visit some of the nearby resorts - Moiwa, Rusutsu, Kiroro - you wouldn't have already paid up for a days skiing.
-
ha ha.
no I'm like Rick Wakeman at the keyboard now.
-
1
-
-
Forgot to mention that I now stand at the computer rather than sit. That's made a massive difference to my core in a very short space of time (3 months).
And about 30 mins to an hour of that standing time I stand on a balancing board.
-
Walking.
Flat, uphill and downhill over mixed terrain.
Skipping. The rope variety. Although have been known to skip down the mountain.
-
It certainly does rain a fair bit.....but it also gets a decent amount of sunshine. I would still say that back home has more rainy days during summer.
That was my experience too.
Much warmer & drier than a South Walian summer.
-
The site that forecasts snow calling for 74cm in the next 3 days up high, around 30 cm at 2,000 m
-
Already snowing in Kamchatka and freezing level dropping by the day
-
Or Lupicia just out of Hirafu Village on the way to Higashiyama.
Or a little further afield Maccarina in Makkari.
-
Yes to Kamui.
And Tomamu if they've had fresh snow.
-
Thanks metabo and pie-eater for your quick replies.
The only reason I'm sticking to Niseko is that, as far as I'm concerned and beside the crowds, it is the best place if you're seeking powder almost guaranteed.
Close to it, it's Rusutsu with similar powder dumps, right?
Keep in mind that we are skipping our ordinary trips to Pyrenees and Alps because we want to have a taste of the best powder in the world!
Welcome polinawer.
Excuse the piss taking.
The Niseko Resort Area is the most popular in that part of Hokkaido but there are many areas with the same snow conditions.
They may be smaller or less developed or have less English spoken.
Outside of the Niseko Resort Area prices are cheaper.
e.g. Rusutsu, Kiroro
Search the resorts area of snowjapan to see which ones suit your budget.
And there's always Honshu
-
The main run down? I rarely ever go that way cos it's always mogulled to shit.....I usually take the trees down
Yeah, that's the one.
-
The H4 black run from the top of Sapporo Teine wasn't pretty the day I skied it.
Steep, narrow, bumpy and scraped.
Where will you be 2014/2015?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Sounds good