Mike Pow
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Posts posted by Mike Pow
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Yeah loads of my mates teach skiing on Hokkaido for the Northern Hemisphere winter and then teach in Australia, NZ or Chile for the Southern Hemisphere winter.
Some rack up over 200 days on snow per calendar year.
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Daily buses to Kiroro and Rusutsu from Niseko Hirafu.
Leave from the Hirafu Welcome Centre.
Schedule comes out in the autumn.
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You can do week 2 by public transport but a car would make it much easier.
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+1 to snowhuntress' suggestion.
Or for something completely different,
Week 1 based in the Niseko Resort Area riding Niseko United, Niseko Moiwa and Rusutsu.
Week 2 based in Otaru riding Kiroro, Sapporo Kokusai, Asari, Otaru Tenguyama and Sapporo Teine.
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Thanks seemore and iiyamadude.
Compared with a lot of my mates I'm a part-timer
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From my records at village level in the Niseko Resort Area :
2009 / 10 Season Snowfall
Total - 15.8 m (mean for 8 winters 14.3 m)
October - 5cm
November - 82 cm
December - 359 cm
January - 590 cm
February - 260 cm
March - 271 cm
April - 13 cm
Fingers crossed for a repeat
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Cheers.
Hoping to sneak another trip in this summer, but the way S America has started I could be looking west
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Thanks guys.
Only over the terrain park features from what I saw Go Native.
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Cheers.
To try and preserve the snow for as long as possible I think.
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"ROYAL SKIING AT THE KINGDOM OF SNOW"
Over lunch a month ago my uncle mentioned that he needed to move furniture from his home in Wales to his summer (ancestral) house in northern Italy.
Being the dutiful nephew that I am, I offered mine and Nerys' services to drive the van to the small village of Granelli just outside Bardi in Emilia-Romanga - the area where a large number of the Welsh Italians "Taffia" originated from.
And on the way back catch a couple of days skiing on the Stubai Glacier in Austria
- Nerys' first taste of European skiing.We took the Dover - Dunkirk ferry with DFDS and drove through France, Belgium, Switzerland on the way to Italy.
We left at 8am on Sunday 08 June and after a short night's sleep just outside of Basel got into Granelli at 5pm on Monday 09 June.
Glorious weather all the way down, and earlier in the day we took the Gothard Pass road via Andermatt rather than take the Gothard Tunnel.
Nerys in Andermatt town centre
Birdos skis
On the way over the Gothard Pass we stopped to take in the views. Plenty of snow around and plenty of people touring and skiing.
We spent Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday morning in Granelli and Bardi kicking back, drinking espresso and red wine, and dining on fine food and catching some sun in the 30 deg temperatures.
Granelli
Bardi
Wednesday lunchtime we headed north over the Brenner Pass to Austria to spend two days skiing on the Stubai Glacier.
When I was looking into which areas were open for skiing at this time of year the Stubai Glacier won out because it had
good snow conditions
great coverage
comparable vertical and length of run to what Nerys had experienced on Hokkaido (thanks Clarky999)
and this killer deal
2-night B&B and 2-day ski package for 99 euros per person
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Search-Book/Packages/Sunshine-skiing-special
You don't know where you're staying until after you've booked the package and we were assigned the Gastehaus Danler in Neustift-Milders, about 15 km drive from the lifts
http://www.hotels.ru/eng/hotels/austria/neustift_im_stubaital/gastehaus_danler.htm
Neustift-Milders was all you could wish an Austrian alpine village to be. Beautiful and charming. And green green.
Gastehaus Danler is a lovely place. Great welcome. Plenty of room. Great continental breakfast. Free wifi. Walking distance to everything in Milders. Highly recommended.
Had dinner at one of the local hotels and then got an early night in preparation for the first day on snow in a while.
DAY 1 ON SNOW : THURSDAY 12 June 2014
We woke to glorious sunshine and blue skies and after breakfast drove up to the base station.
The lifts run from 7.30 to 12.30 at this time of the year and the place was deserted.
The Gamsgarten I gondola takes you from the base at 1750 m to the Mittlestation Fernau at 2300 m and you stay on to the start of the skiing at Gamsgarten at 2620 m.
From there it's a short skate over to the Rotadl 8-seater chair which accesses the blue and red runs off the Rotadlkopf and the blue, red and one black run off the Daunferner I t-bar.
The skiing goes from 2620 m to 3109 m for a respectable 489 m of vertical.
It was possible to ski to within a couple of hundred metres of the Mittelstation Fernau at 2300 m with a short walk back to the gondola station where the snow had melted - approx. 700 m of vertical.
Stubai Glacier Piste Map
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Ski-Area/Lifts-Pistes/2D-Piste-Map/2D-Piste-Map
The pistes were well groomed and the snow was soft but not wet. The off-piste snow was consistent, smooth and a little grabby.
No queues and plenty of terrain available despite the closed off areas for race training.
Available ski area
Nerys
Coffee & cake was 5 euros, and lunch of 1 beer, sparkling water, main meal was 15-18 euros.
We finished skiing around 1pm, had lunch, and got off the mountain around 3pm.
Back to the B&B, quick shower and then out for sightseeing and afternoon tea.
Grawa Waterfall
DAY 2 ON SNOW : FRIDAY 13 June 2014
We paid for an extra night at Gastehaus Danler at 24 euros per person and after breakfast headed up for our second day on snow.
After warming up on the warming up pistes we spent the rest of the morning skiing the off-piste terrain.
Big improvements for Nerys today.
Patience and lightness at the start of the turn to stay above the soft snow
Greater confidence and comfort accelerating in the fall line
Far more adventurous line selection, including skiing between rocks and in gullies
We left around 9am on Saturday morNing and drove back via Innsbruck, the Zugspitse area in the German Alps, and through Germany into Belgium.
Stopped for the night about 30 mins from Brussels, and 90 mins from Dunkirk in an Ibis Hotel. Excellent value at 65 euros for the room.
Got the mid-day ferry from Dunkirk on Sunday and we were back home in Aberdare by 6.30 pm
An excellent road trip to Europe and an excellent & cheap way to get a couple of days skiing on snow in the summer months.
Highly recommended.
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Edited for Accuracy
1. Niseko Village
2. Akakura Kanko, Myoko
3. Hakuba 47
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Fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
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The most consecutive days of snowfall at MQ in Higashiyama during the 2013/14 season was 27 days between 22 December 2013 and 17 January 2014 when 534 cm (210") fell.
There was no snowfall on 18 January and 25 January 2014 but it snowed every other day until 08 February 2014 with a further 202 cm (80") falling.
That's 47 days snowfall in a 49 day period with 736 cm (290") of accumulation.
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it's complete truth with the restaurant situation.
During the time the OP is intending to come, then yes the restaurants are busy..
The whole season, not in my experience.
Look at it from the complete holiday viewpoint.The OP specifically asked about the snow component.
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Snow that late?
I want to see one of your photos like last year (?) when it was barely covered in snow. That was funny. (Was that you?)
Yep. Got to take what Mother Nature gives.
A great day out.
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It's too busy every day of the season now.
That is complete nonesense.
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Yeah. They're very aesthetic.
Be great to ski amongst them. A very different look.
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Plenty of precipitation, but not cold enough
But it can change overnight and drop enough in one storm to be able to ski, like it did on 15 May last year.
Always in hope
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SATURDAY 19 APRIL 2014
Back in the 'Land Of My Fathers', and had a fabulous walk up Sugar Loaf Mountain in the Black Mountains above Abergavenny with Nerys, Sue, Mark, Ceri & Gemma.
We did the Sugar Loaf Circuit as recommended by the National Trust
http://www.nationalt...-1355786035621/
Easy access by car to the Llanwenarth car park (free car parking) and then a 60-90 minute walk to the summit (depending on conditions underfoot, the weather, and your fitness).
We had intermittent sunshine and clouds with a strong breeze that dropped the tempeature down significantly as we got to the top.
Ceri, Gemma, Sue, Mark & Nerys at the summit
The 596 m summit is lower than the Central Beacons Massif of Corn Du, Cribyn and Pen-y-Fan (886 m) but with easy access, a healthy 275 m vertical, and wide open non-rocky slopes it should be a great ski.
With enough coverage the ancient oaks and beech in St Mary's Vale at the foot of the mountain could offer up some wonderful tree skiing
TravelChampion's winter walk of Sugar Loaf from January 2013
On the way back down to Abergavenny we popped into Sugar Loaf Vineyards for coffee (the drivers) and a wine tasting. Well worth it.
And then on to the Hardwick for a late lunch
The 3-course set lunch offers plenty of choice and tremendous value for money at 24 quid.
Excellent. Highly recommended.
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In my experience over the past 8 seasons,
1. by 20 December between 2.5 - 3.5 m of snow has fallen in the Niseko Resort Area.
2. the snow falling from the sky won't be markedly different for the two time frames you've proposed.
3. the later date should see a greater base depth and more terrain open.
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February may have been crap on the western side of...
Honshu.
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Thanks for following and commenting muikabochi, onehunga, SKI and seemore.
Much appreciated.
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DAY 137 : SUNDAY 13 APRIL 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
For my final day on snow this Hokkaido winter I drove 90 min south west to the coastal fishing village of Shimamaki, the gateway to the Kariba Mountainous District.
In the winter months the road beyond Chihasegawa Hot Spring onsen is closed, so it was a 9km (2hr) skin on a very gradual gradient to the car park area for the Garo-no-Taki waterfall and the base of Higashikaribayama (1319 m).
A further 2 hr skin took me to the summit of Higashikaribayama and fantastic views of Mt Kariba (1520 m), the Sea of Japan, and the Niseko Range from Iwanai to Mt Yotei.
Mt Kariba
The Sea of Japan and the Shakotan Peninsula
Mt Obira (I think)
There was a crew of snowmobilers out who rode to the top of Higashikaribayama and if you had access to a snowmobile the travel time from Chihasegawa Hot Spring onsen to the summit would be about 30 mins.
The skiing was great.
A light covering of dry powder up high and corn down low.
Higashikaribayama
Mt Fumonnai
The Kariba Mountainous District
The Hokkaido Backcountry Club are hoping to offer cat & heliskiing in this area in the future and it certainly has the above treeline terrain suitable for all ability levels.
Who knows, it could become the 'Haines of Hokkaido'
Seasons in the Sun
[VIDEO]
[/VIDEO]DAY 138 : MONDAY 14 APRIL 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
I took the day off snow cleaning MQ and sorting out what I'm taking back home to Wales.
DAY 139 : TUESDAY 15 APRIL 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Homeward bound after another fantastic winter in the Shiribeshi area of Hokkaido.
The total snowfall I recorded at MQ in Higashiyama, Niseko Resort Area (~ 300 m) this season was
13.58 m (535")
The mean for the 8 winters I've been measuring is 14.27 m (562").
So slightly below "average"
Late November into mid-December we had three rain events which wiped out the snowpack down low. Took a while for all the sasa (bamboo grass) to be covered up.
Biggest change this winter was the increase in wind events resulting in lift closures and sometimes whole resort closures.
Despite the above, the powder was excellent.
I skied 100 days, of which 63 were knee deep or deeper powder days.
Not many areas in the world have that consistency.
The 2013/14 List :
Ski Areas
Asarigawa Onsen (2), Kiroro Snow World (38), Niseko Moiwa (10), Niseko United (30), Rusutsu (9), Otaru Tenguyama (1), Sapporo Kokusai (3), Sapporo Teine (1)
Heliskiing
Shiribetsudake with the Hokkaido Backcountry Club (1)
Ski Touring
Kariba Mountainous District (1), Mt Eniwa (3), Tengudake (1)
Many thanks to all those I skied with for their patience when I was taking pics and video.
And it might not be over for this winter.
I'm hoping for a late season ski in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales.
Last season I skied on 15 May
SR : Wales 2013 / 14
http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/23316-sr-wales-2013-14/
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Thanks snowjunky and Nisoko.
Great vid seemore. A legend. And a thoroughly nice chap.
Niseko accommodation Hirafu vs Annupuri
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Although the skiing experience will be similar staying at either Annupuri or Hirafu (albeit less people starting the day in Annupuri generally), the non-skiing experience will be very different.
Hirafu for greater variety of restaurant, bar and shops.
Annupuri for limited choice in all three of the above. The quality is definitely there in Annupuri, just less choice.