Mike Pow

Knee deep and face shots at Kiroro

Every season. But by the time I have free time, the pow always seems to have finished

My pleasure Black Mountain. Thanks for following and commenting. To date : 86 days 28 days at Niseko United 10 days at Niseko Moiwa 9 days at Rusutsu 1 day heli-skiing with the Hokkaido Backcountry Club 32 days at Kiroro Snow World 2 days at Asarigawa Onsen Snow Resort 1 day at Otaru Tenguyama 2 days at Sapporo Kokusai 1 day at Sapporo Teine

DAY 111 : TUESDAY 18 MARCH 2014 0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ A thoroughly miserable day in the Niseko Resort Area. Grey skies and RAIN in the day and howling wind and fine, bitty snow in the evening and through the night. An indoor day, with a brief trip to Prativo in Higashiyama for the wonderful buffet lunch. DAY 112 : WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2014 3 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Back to Kiroro Snow World with Damien for a wonderful Spring skiing day on the groomers. There was about 5-10 cm of new snow on the ground but not enough to cover up the windblown

Fabulous. Great pics. Looks right up my street.

Great season thanks. Gets better each year. Heading back to The Land of My Fathers on 14 April. Hopefully a couple more pow days between now and then

ha ha

Thanks seemore. Breaking trail between the two pitches in 'Hangman' was much easier on the Line skis. The ski out on the track was much easier on my Coreupts.

Cheers onehunga. It comes in 3 lengths - 178 cm, 185 cm, 192 cm Going from my 173 cm skis to the 192 cm seemed like too big of a jump, even though I see guys shorter and lighter than me skiing on 190 + cm skis.

Ha ha. Some of the gentlemen, and I use the term very loosely, developing Hirafu certainly fit the bill and deserve double shots of vitriol.

You guys are slow this morning, shouldn't the title read "Smug, lying resort developers luring skiers and investors"

UPDATE : SATURDAY 15 MARCH 2014 At the suggestion of gaijin from the Teton Gravity Research (TGR) forum who feels that : 1. my students and I are missing out on a whole load of fun because we're skiing the Hokkaido powder on mid-fat shaped all mountain skis, and 2. I'm doing my students a diservice by recommending they ski on an all-mountain ski not a powder ski even though I've never skied on one, I spent Saturday skiing Kiroro Snow World alternating between the 185 cm Line Mr. Pollard's Opus powder skis (144-118-141; r 17m) and my own Coreupt The Caspers Justin Dorey tw

DAY 108 : SATURDAY 15 MARCH 2014 4 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ 'Jarch' keeps on delivering with another 20 cm overnight at Kiroro Snow World. Ian getting deep in 'Hangman'

DAY 106 : THURSDAY 13 MARCH 2014 1 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Another sunny start to the day at Kiroro Snow World, and after a lap in 'Walk in the Woods' to check snow conditions on the NW facing aspect I took the gondola to the top of the mountain, put on my skins, and started the easy tour to the summit of Yoichi-dake (1,488 m). 75 mins later and I was ready to drop into the large bowl directly below the summit. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas. The clouds rolled in, it started snowing, and it was like skiing inside a golf ball. I skied the hard packed r

DAY 105 : WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014 5 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ A beautiful morning with clear blue skies and no wind as Ian and I drove past the Kiroro Snow World turn off (always a hard thing to do), and continued on Rt 393 down to the town of Asarigawa Onsen and Asari Snow Resort. This was the first visit for both of us and we couldn't have picked a better day for a reconnaisance. The cons A long walk from the car park up a flight of stairs to the lifts No covered lifts or foot rests. No big deal on a sunny March day. Might be different on a stormy January day Confus

Thanks sevenbeers, Metabo Oyaji, and seemore.

Nicely done

15-20 cm during the day at Kiroro. Knee deep off the groomers. -6 to -10 C

DAY 104 : TUESDAY 11 MARCH 2014 11 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Back to Kiroro Snow World with Ian for more 'Jarch' powder Ian in 'Walk in the Woods'

DAY 103 : MONDAY 10 MARCH 2014 4 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ An early start from MQ taking Nerys to Chitose for her 7.55 am flight back home to Wales. In the three weeks she was on Fantasy Island we received 227 cm (89") of new snow, and she skied 16 days at six resorts, three of which were new to her - Otaru Tenguyama, Sapporo Kokusai, and Sapporo Teine. The drive from Chitose to Kiroro Snow World to meet up with Ian was snail like with 30 cm of heavy snow closing the expressway and diverting rush hour traffic on to Rt.5 Ian had 3 runs on the lower mountain before I arri

Cheers. Yeah fabulous time and a fabulous end.

She's a keeper, and her next chance is 2016

DAY 102 : SUNDAY 09 MARCH 2014 12 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ As of today 13.06 m (514") has fallen at MQ in Higashiyama Day 20 of the Royal Visit Today was Nerys' final day on snow for this Hokkaido visit and for her last supper she feasted on Kiroro Snow World powder. Ian joined us for the morning session and it was great to see him back on skis and deep in the snow. New snow overnight, no wind, the sun shining, blue skies, and an untracked 'Walk in the Woods'. I couldn't have scripted it better if I tried. Ian Ian

DAY 100 : FRIDAY 07 MARCH 2014 36 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Day 18 of the Royal Visit A boat load of new snow but more wind than Chicago meant extensive lift closures across the Niseko Resort Area. Nerys & I took the day off snow but great turns were reported down low in Niseko Hanazono and Grand Hirafu. DAY 101 : SATURDAY 08 MARCH 2014 27 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Day 19 of the Royal Visit With the wind still raging in the Niseko Resort Area, Nerys & I headed to Kiroro Snow World. The gondola was closed for the third day in a row

My pleasure annika.