Mike Pow
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Posts posted by Mike Pow
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Ever think about making it down to Honshu?
Every season.
But by the time I have free time, the pow always seems to have finished
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Thanks for all the posts and pics Mike. Seems like you spent a lot of time at resorts outside of the Niseko area this season. What percent of your season would you guess you skied Niseko? I've missed out on Hokkaido the last two seasons but thinking of a road trip for a couple of weeks next season.
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
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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 rain and sun crusted off piste.
The view of Yoichi-dake from the top of Kiroro Snow World
Damien is really getting a handle on standing tall at the start of the turn, letting the skis run in the fall line, and accelerating through the first part of the turn.
The legacy of the snowplow stem and skidding the skis to kill the acceleration at the start of the turn rear their ugly head on the steeper pitches, but they're disappearing day by day as he becomes more confident and trusts his ability to balance with the mountain.
Damien
Spring Stardust
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Fabulous. Great pics.
Looks right up my street.
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Good season again Mike!
When does it finish for you?
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
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Thats great mike
Yeah I have been looking a footage of how deep I am with different boards and am convinced I can ride alot smaller for a deeper experience.
What was the run out like on the flat any better with the planks?
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.
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Interesting video there Mike. How did you decide what length for the Line skis?
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.
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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.
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You guys are slow this morning, shouldn't the title read
"Smug, lying resort developers luring skiers and investors"
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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 twin-tip skis (112-79-105; r 20m).
We'd had around 20-30 cm of new snow overnight on top of a thin sun crust, with various densities of powder from the week's storms beneath the crust.
The Line skis were heavier than mine (a combination of more ski and a heavier binding) and I was pleasantly surprised how capable they were pivotting, edging and carving on the groomed runs.
After a couple of laps warming up on the groomed runs and the powder on the fringes, Ian & I headed into 'Walk in the Woods' and 'Hangman' to ski the powder.
Adopting a pole planting style of skiing the Lines were very lively and responsive, popping in and out of the powder.
The platform developed quickly under the skis and they were easy to turn, both pivotting and edging.
With more ski on the snow than in the snow at the start of the turn, the acceleration in the fall line for the Line skis was markedly faster than the Coreupts, and it gave me a greater appreciation of what my students feel when I ask them to let both skis run in the fall line on and off the piste.
The Line skis were good fun, but the fun I'm looking for is from a more immersive powder experience and for me the narrower platform of the Coreupt skis allowed me to get deeper into the powder.
In addition, my students and I spend a significant amount of the day on groomed terrain so an all-mountain profile is more appropriate for our needs.
A very worthwhile exercise, and I'm glad gaijin suggested it. Thanks.
And thanks to Ian for getting the footage.
Test Pattern
[VIDEO]
[/VIDEO]DAY 109 : SUNDAY 16 MARCH 2014
5 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Another great day at Kiroro Snow World, this time with Damien who is over from Hong Kong for his second visit of the season.
There was still plenty of powder in the trees, albeit a little heavier after the tempertures rose overnight.
We spent the day skiing the groomed runs, with Damien getting more relaxed and confident each run.
Great first day.
DAY 110 : MONDAY 17 MARCH 2014
1 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Happy St Patrick's Day
Light snowfall overnight, sunshine and warmer temperatures this morning.
Took a day off snow today, but joined Damien at Niseko Annupuri for the lunch buffet.
He reported great skiing with soft conditions on the deserted groomed runs.
I drove over to the Windsor Hotel at Lake Toya after lunch.
Great views back to the Niseko Resort Area, Mt Youtei, and Shiribetsu-dake from across the lake.
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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'
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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 ridge line down to a different gully and skied mid-thigh powder back to the Asari No. 2 Express chair.
Great tour and great skiing.
One of these days I'll manage to ski it under blue skies.
DAY 107 : FRIDAY 14 MARCH 2014
0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Met up with Geoff, Jayne, Chris & Robyn at Kiroro Snow World today.
They're over on holiday from New South Wales, Australia and today was their last day on snow.
They've had a week at Furano, a week at Rusutsu, and a week at Kiroro and seen all types of snow during their visit.
We started the day laying the skis over on the Nagamine groomers. Perfect conditions underfoot for letting the skis run.
But by lunchtime the snow had started and it kept coming.
15-20 cm fell during the day and we spent the afternoon skiing boot top powder on the groomers and knee deep powder in the trees.
Fabulous day skiing.
In the evening I went to Niseko Pizza to see Niseko Photography's Aaron Jamieson's presentation of his time spent on Greenland last year.
Fantastic pictures and videos of his experiences of what is a beautiful part of the world.
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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
Confusingly the runs are distinguished by the colour of the lift not the difficulty level
The pros
Great small resort that skis very big
Deserted
Unbelievable views of Otaru and the ocean
Snow
Wide variety of pitch and terrain
The south facing slopes had a sun crust but the north facing slopes had 10 cm of new snow on top of a dry light base.
Blue Course - set up for race training
Red courses and terrain park
Ian at the base area with Asari dam in the background
The mirrored ski center
Ian at the top of the Purple course looking down to Otaru city and Otaru bay
Strange Town
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Thanks sevenbeers, Metabo Oyaji, and seemore.
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15-20 cm during the day at Kiroro.
Knee deep off the groomers.
-6 to -10 C
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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'
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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 arrived at 10.30, and then we spent the day lapping the gondola and skiing 'Hangman'.
The snow was a little heavier than yesterday but still excellent.
Ian
Ian and yours truly
Nice N' Sleazy
Otaru local and Kiroro Snow World season pass holder Hiroki getting in on the action
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Great Mike
Nice last day for Nerys as well
Cheers. Yeah fabulous time and a fabulous end.
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So Mike when are you going to make an honest women of Nery's? Surely she's a keeper?
She's a keeper, and her next chance is 2016
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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
Nerys letting the skis run
Nerys
Ian and Nerys on the track out of 'Walk in the Woods'
They've had quite a bit of snow at Kiroro.
Here's a shot of Ian standing below the bell 'tower' on 09 December 2013
and today
Yours truly and Nerys
And back to 'Walk in the Woods' for more powder
Ian
Nerys has been putting in the hard yards on and off the groomed runs throughout this visit in all snow conditions and all terrain
and here's the payoff for all her efforts - and yes she's smiling under that facemask
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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, but we found plenty of untracked powder off the Yoichi No. 1 Express and the Center Express.
Nerys was trusting the snow and terrain far more today and being more patient at the start of the turn.
Nerys in 'Walk in the Woods'
Blue Shadows on the Trail
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My pleasure annika.
Heavy snow please. Now!
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Knee deep and face shots at Kiroro