Mike Pow
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Posts posted by Mike Pow
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DAY 123 : SUNDAY 30 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
It was raining when I woke, so I took the day off snow.
The rain turned to very light snow in the afternoon.
DAY 124 : MONDAY 31 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
March saw 151 cm (59") of snowfall at MQ, the 3rd lowest total in the eight winters I've been collecting data.
The highest total was in March 2010 when 271 cm (107") fell.
A skiff of new snow had settled at MQ overnight but I was on the road to Lake Shikotsu and a solo skin & ski of Mt Eniwa-dake.
The route up (green) and down (red) of Mt Eniwa-dake
The peak of Mt Eniwa-dake from the skin track
East Face of Mt Eniwa-dake with Lake Shikotsu in the background
The volcanic vents, chutes and snow of the East Face bowl
My line
Mt Eniwa-dake from lakeside
Mt Tarumae and Mt Fuppushi-dake from lakeside
The skin up was straightforward and straight up. A few tricky sections towards the summit. Took 3 hrs.
The ski in the East face bowl was great with a solid platform and spring snow. The line goes top to bottom but not at this time of the year.
I cut back to the skin track and the descent through the trees was hard work. Breakable crust and knee deep slush in tight trees.
With mid-winter powder it would be excellent.
Mt Eniwa-dake Solo 1
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Hi Mike enjoyed your report touring around Jyozankei dam. Wondering where you source your topo maps. Any info appreciated.
Thanks.
I use google maps and earth and the link at the top of this pic
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Thanks fluff and seemore.
Yeah forgotten how good & long the runs are off the peak.
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Great terrain. Very lucky guy.
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This coming weekend at Kiroro could be one for the ages.
A well known snow forecasting site is calling for the freezing level to plummet back down to sea level, and for
11 cm on Friday
50 cm on Saturday
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Ha ha
It's not that bad
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MP: yeah, it's an expensive mistake for me if I go and it's raining though...guess I'll wait on the forecasts another couple of days...
FYI
Today's forecast called for rain up to 850m
Rained earlier this morning, but been light snow since at my place (~ 300 m)
Just starting to stick on the newly uncovered grass
Calling for a freezing level above the top lifts in this area for Thursday and Friday.
If they're right, then it's going to rain top to bottom.
If they're wrong, then it's on like Donkey Kong
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Spring on Hokkaido is definitely a suck it & see scenario
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DAY 122 : SATURDAY 29 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Once the early morning valley mist had burned off leaving blue skies and sunshine I started my day at Niseko Village taking the gondola and single chair to the top of the ski area and then traversing over to the King Lift #4 (pIzza box) at Grand Hirafu.
At the top of the single chair it was skis off for the hike to 'The Peak' for the first time this winter.
A short walk later I was atop Mt Niseko An'nupuri ('The Peak') at 1308 m, enjoying a 360 degree view of all this area has to offer.
The summit marker and Mt Youtei
The Niseko Range stretching out to the sea
Ready to drop in
Grand Hirafu, Hirafu village and Mt Youtei from 'The Peak' of Mt Niseko An'nupuri
I dropped in to the north face hoping for smooth corn snow and for the first half of the run was met with rutted, re-frozen hardpack which hadn't softened in the sunshine.
My fillings got a good work out.
As I traversed skier's right back around to the front face the snow softened and I could let the skis go.
The run out through Jacksons was smooth, and I haven't seen so little snow depth on the road out from the golf course in all the times I've skied it.
As I was taking the Hanazono lifts back up to do another lap I bumped into Greg Heptonstall and instead of hiking again we did laps through Gate 4 dropping back to the Hanazono 3 chair lift.
Great skiing with plenty of unskied spring snow to enjoy.
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Yeah great to get out 'walking' in the mountains seemore.
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Great list there DiGriz
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It was TubbyBeaverinho and muikabochi. It was
I was in no particular rush sapporo. If you took the more direct route I reckon you get to the top 2 - 2 1/2 hrs.
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DAY 119 : WEDNESDAY 26 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Each time I've driven the road that runs alongside Jyozankei Dam on the way to Sapporo Kokusai ski area I've looked up at the jagged summits of Tengudake and Tenguyama admiring the very different look from most of the peaks found in this part of Hokkaido.
Picture taken on 24 February 2014
Tenguyama on the left, Tengudake on the right
With the spring freeze thaw cycle underway I took a solo exploratory trip from the Jyozankei Lakeline road across Sapporo lake and up to Tengudake today.
4 hrs of skinning the long way round taking in all the sub valleys and lines running down from the summit at 1114 m
Tenguyama
Tengudake
The summit marker on Tengudake
After a quick bite I headed down and around to the main gully below Tenguyama
The sun and warm air had really got at the snowpack, with most of the slopes covered in pinwheels from snow falling from the rock faces and trees.
The shaded sides of the gullies were hardpacked & consistent, the sides in the sun offered up knee deep slurpie snow.
The run out in the main gully and river course was smooth and easy with steep tree skiing either side of me.
In mid-winter conditions the area has it all - rock lined chutes, big cliff drops, natural halfpipes, and steep trees.
Looking back across Sapporo lake to my route of descent
[VIDEO]
[/VIDEO]DAY 120 : THURSDAY 27 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Great day at Kiroro Snow World with Ian skiing fast groomers and spring corn snow in Hangman under blue skies.
Temperatures rising by the day with a peak of 12 deg C at village level this afternoon.
DAY 121 : FRIDAY 28 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
A foggy day in the Niseko Resort Area so I took the day off snow.
Had a fabulous lunch at Chez DouDou on the road to Chisenupuri.
The wind picked up in the afternoon and it started to rain around 11pm.
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Hey there, this is my first post so I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I'm looking to do a few months skiing in Japan. The only thing I'm worried about is that the terrain won't be challenging enough to keep me interested. I Like to ski steep, hard lines, mostly in the trees. I hear there is great tree skiing in Japan at certain resorts, but I'm still not sure if the lines would be steep enough. I've been looking at Rusutsu and from the pictures it seems to be OK at best. I've been skiing at Red Mountain the past couple seasons, a resort known for it's steep, technichally challenging runs, but the snow hasn't been there. If anyone considers themselves a good skiier (by good I mean you're straightlining double blacks) and has experience in both Japan and BC, or terrain similair to BC such as the Alps or Alaska, and could give me their 2 cents on whether or not I'll find worthwhile skiing in Japan, I'd be very appreciative.
Welcome.
Only skied on Hokkaido, so here goes.
If you're prepared to skin / snowshoe / bootpack then there's an abundance of steep tree skiing on Hokkaido.
For example,
the Tokachidake area
the peaks around Jyozankei Dam (pics and vid on my thread later)
Lift accessed supplemented with skin / snowshoe / bootpack you have
Kurodake
the Kiroro backcountry
Otaru Tenguyama
Sapporo Kokusai
Sapporo Teine
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Today was day 90, of which 61 have been knee deep or deeper powder days
Niseko United 28
Niseko Moiwa 10
Rusutsu 9
Hokkaido Backcountry Club Heliski 1
Kiroro 34
Asarigawa Onsen 2
Otaru Tenguyama 1
Sapporo Kokusai 3
Tengudake 1
Sapporo Teine 1
Bolded resorts / peaks are new ones for me.
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The heli takes off from the Black Diamond office in Higashiyama seemore.
It's an expensive day Tubbybeaverinho, but a very different experience from the BC (Canada) meadow skipping skiing I've done.
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No outside basket this season. Will be having one next season.
Secured inside the heli.
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DAY 118 : TUESDAY 25 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
A grey day in the Niseko Resort Area with drizzle at village level for most of the afternoon.
Today was definitely the right day to rest up.
With the downtime I got the chance to edit the video I took back in mid-February on my day with the Hokkaido Backcountry Club heli-skiing Shiribetsu-dake.
Come Fly With Me
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Asahidake for the best chance of avoiding the rain and getting fresh snow.
Tokachidake if you're into touring.
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DAY 116 : SUNDAY 23 MARCH 2014
1 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
The morning started off windy and grey with light flurries so I took the day off snow.
Around 11am the sun came out and great Spring powder turns were reported all across the region.
DAY 117 : MONDAY 24 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Ian and I enjoyed a beautiful Spring day at Sapporo Kokusai today.
Fantastic groomed runs early on and then we took a walk above the gondola to the slackcountry skier's right of the gondola.
The south facing slopes were sun baked with heavy spring powder but there were some great turns amongst the trees on the shaded north facing slopes.
Ian
Inbounds the shaded slopes skier's left of the 'Downhill Trail' offered up untracked knee deep powder all morning.
It got up to 8 deg C at the base of the resort by lunchtime and the freezing level is set to rise through the week (1800 m on Saturday), with heavy rain forecast for Friday and Saturday.
Might be time to take a trip up north to Asahidake and Kurodake where the freezing level is set to top out at 1350 m and snow is forecast Saturday and Sunday.
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Thanks for reading and commenting cal.
At 47 years young I have to pace myself.
The quality of the snow helps a lot.
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Yep.
Took today off snow. It was pretty rubbish earlier, and then it went bluebird.
Heard from Glen Claydon that it was bluebird powder at Kiroro today
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DAY 115 : SATURDAY 22 MARCH 2014
1 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
With sunshine and high winds since my last visit to Kiroro Snow World on Wednesday, Ian and I weren't expecting much from today.
Thankfully Kiroro continues to surprise and delight us.
10 cm of new snow on a light sun crust with 20 cm below that. And 10-15 cm fell during the time we were there.
Managed to get one series of pics before the blizzard started.
Ian in 'Hangman'
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DAY 113 : THURSDAY 20 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
A sunny day across the region with great groomed skiing on offer.
The skies turned grey just before sundown, and the light snow was accompanied by high winds through the night.
DAY 114 : FRIDAY 21 MARCH 2014
2 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
With little new snow in the Niseko Resort Area in the past 4 days and snow forecast for the Otaru area resorts, Damien and I headed to Asari Snow Resort to find some fresh turns.
There was about 5-10 cm on the groomed runs at the start of the day and another 10 cm or so fell when we were there.
Not enough to cover up the crunch off-piste, but smooth crusing on piste.
Even got to see the ocean and Otaru Bay at day's end.
Damien
Damien has been battling the feeling of the skis running away from him at the start of the turn in steeper terrain and the fear that the acceleration brings.
Today we worked on increasing the tempo of balancing to the outside of the turn and foot speed when pivotting the skis across the fall line to overcome the pull of gravity down the mountain.
Once he was comfortable with managing the acceleration, he used it to his advantage accelerating through to the belly of the turn.
Off Track (and On Track)
SR : HokkaidOH! 2013/14
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Thanks seemore.
It was. Went back up yesterday. Report to follow