Mike Pow

Thanks. Top of 'B' double chair, turn left, traverse 200 m, drop in and enjoy

UPDATE : SUNDAY 05 JANUARY 2014 The Lovelocks, Craig and Ian enjoying the Moiwa powder. May contain sunshine! Moiwa Part Three

DAY 42 : WEDNESDAY 08 JANUARY 2014 6 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ It warmed up considerably overnight to leave a dry, calm day at Hirafu and Hanazono with the Lovelocks, Neil and Ian. We started our day at the Hirafu Gondola and after a couple of laps on Ni Kabe made our way over to the Hanazono 3 chairlift and the Yotei Sunset run. We worked on letting the skis run on the steeper slopes and bringing that acceleration under control with soft, quick steering to mimic the rhythms and tempo we'd need to achieve once we got into the spongy, fast boot top to knee deep powder. T

DAY 41 : TUESDAY 07 JANUARY 2014 9 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Day off snow today. Alex injured her wrist yesterday so it was a morning at the hospital to see if anything was broken. Thankfully not. She'll be back on skis the day after tomorrow. It's snowed most of the day but hasn't accumulated to much. Noticably cooler today, getting down to the temperatures we experiened last year. Light snow forecast overnight, but with the cooler temperatures the snow is staying in great shape. UPDATE : SUNDAY 05 JANUARY 2014 The Lovelocks, Craig and Ian enj

Fabulous. Thanks.

DAY 39 : SUNDAY 05 JANUARY 2014 28 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Today at Moiwa will go down as one of my best days skiing. Ridiculously deep snow and very gratifying to see 6 of my students enjoying themselves so much and skiing so well. The collective energy of the group encouraging and complimenting each other was wonderful to witness and be part of. We skied the runs and the trees off the double chair 'B'in the morning, and after a relaxed lunch we skied the trees off Shirakaba Slope and Giant Run. It was well tracked - well trenched would be a better description -

That is awesome. And the terrain's not bad either Thanks

DAY 37 : FRIDAY 03 JANUARY 2014 21 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ The winds calmed overnight and there was a good covering of superlight powder on the Grand Hirafu slopes this morning. The Lovelock family were having a rest day so Ian and I spent the first two hours skiing Konayuki and Tetse's. After coffee I skied with Greg Heptonstall. The wind increased and it got a little warmer which made for denser powder but we still found plenty of untracked goodness in Tetse's and Waterfall. Gate 9 was still closed but we traversed in to Waterfall from the Holiday piste. Gre

Otaru is at sea level, village level in the Niseko Resort Area is approximately 300m. The top lifts go to 1100m That differential in altitude makes a huge difference in snow quantity, quality and density. Ask Whistler?

These are off-piste beside the terrain park in Hanazono.

DAY 36 : THURSDAY 02 JANUARY 2014 22 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ As of today 502 cm (198") has fallen at MQ in Higashiyama Day 5 for the Lovelock family and we headed back to Hanazono. The wind was still howling and there were intermittent snow squalls throughout the day but they kept the Hanazono #1 Quad spinning all day. Legend of Shinya, Blueberry Fields and The Cuts offered up boot top to knee deep turns all day with all getting better by the run. And we even got 5 minutes of sunshine early on. Ria skiing the trees off the terrain park

Here you go ordinary_skiier and ju87. 0.00 to 1.02 The East Tignes piste and short hill off the East Quad chair that leaves from East Mt Gondola base station 1.02 to 2.25 The Isola Grand Bypass piste that takes you to the Isola Grand piste that runs down to the Isola Gondola. Underneath the Isola Gondola. Trees skier's left of Isola Grand piste 2.25 to 2.50 The trees skier's left of Steamboat-A piste 2.50 to end Underneath the gondola

Great. Thanks for sharing.

UPDATE : TUESDAY 31 DECEMBER 2013 The Lovelocks and Ian enjoying the Rusutsu powder

Welcome ordinary_skiier

I think the moisture content of the new snowfall (density) is the key to this question. Otaru will typically have snowfall with a higher moisture content than that of the Niseko Resort Area. If 10cm of snow falls in Otaru and 10cm of snow falls in my neighbourhood of Higashiyama, once compacted by humans, machines or additional snowfall the snowpack will be higher in Otaru. Plus there have been significant rain events in Niseko that compacted or depleted the snowpack to almost nothing. Otaru may have missed these rain events. The sasa in this area can grow to almost 2m in heigh

Still plenty of sasa around, but obvious paths top to bottom. A bit like Miharashi was the day we skied it. Neil and I getting caught out every once in a while because we're sinking in more.

Good spot seemore. After the first rope and getting back in after the flat stretch.

My pleasure. Thanks for reading. It's getting better by the day here.

DAY 34 : TUESDAY 31 DECEMBER 2013 5 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ December saw 336 cm (132") of snowfall at village level, making it the 4th highest December total in the 8 winters I've been keeping records. The snowiest December was 2011 with 514 cm (202"). Day 3 for the Lovelock family and we went back to Rusutsu for more powder, but this time with sunshine and no queues. Ian and the Lovelocks (l-r, Neil, Hayden, Alex, Ria) The frosted forest below the East Mt gondola The powder was light, with boot top to knee deep feathers all over the m

Thanks. It can be. The Rusutsu lifts are more protected.

A very nice way

DAY 33 : MONDAY 30 DECEMBER 2013 24 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Day 2 for the Lovelock family - Neil, Ria, Alex and Hayden. We had intended skiing Niseko Annupuri today, but high winds across the Niseko Ski Area made for a delayed opening of the Annupuri quad chair and the gondola being offline all day. So instead of sitting in the Nook waiting for things to happen Ian MacKenzie drove us over to Rusutsu where there was less wind and plenty of new snow. There was a 10-15 minute queue at the East Mt gondola base station at the start of the morning, which turned out to be th

Same here TubbyBeaverinho. But filling in every day.

DAY 31 : SATURDAY 28 DECEMBER 2013 25 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ As of today 423 cm (167") has fallen at MQ in Higashiyama The high winds overnight packed in the snow up high, making the off-piste tricky to say the least. But lower down the mountain the new snow was dry and light. I skied with Ian early on before he headed to the airport, and then with Greg and Chris and found some great stashes of non-wind affected powder near the Hirafu gondola Chris Ian ready to drop in Ian in the groove