Mike Pow
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Posts posted by Mike Pow
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Thanks.
If you're in the Niseko area drop everything for tomorrow.
It was mid-thigh and superfly today.
Has alternated between puking and puking hard all day.
Tomorrow will be an EPIC day on the mountain for any time of the season.
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Originally Posted By: FattwinsIf you do come give me a heads up there are lines in Hakuba in MAy that are better and it is cheaper.
If that was for me Fattwins, thanks and I will. -
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That first pic looks amazing
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Thanks guys.
Been slack last week. Well slack on here. Been out nearly every day.
Between opening day (23rd November) and today (3rd December) we've had 82cm of snow (from slush puppies to feathers) at my house.
Lots, lots more up on the mountain
Each day we're getting more snow. Each day they're opening more terrain. Each day it just keeps getting better and better.
Here are a couple of shots from yesterday.
Troy hitting the trees looker's left (looking down the mountain) of Yotei Sunset, near the Hanazono #3 Chair.
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Love the first pic.
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Sunrise over Mt Yotei on 29 November 2007
Taken in front of Pow Pow
Much more snow around the village now.
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Spot on Fattwins.
My Hirafu Village measurements 'of actual fallen snow, not blown in snow' for this season are:
15Nov07 - 21Nov07 105cm
22Nov07 - 28Nov07 52cm
29Nov07 - 03Dec07 70cm
Total so far 227cm
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On Hokkaido at least, you have to be certified and show that you've instructed for at least 36 months to get a 'skilled labor' visa.
There are working holiday visas available to Australians and Canadians where the 36 month rule doesn't apply. Don't know if the US is in the programme.
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Bus is door to door.
Neither Hirafu station nor Kutchan is as convenient as the bus.
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It will be just a matter of time before Moiwa is linked to Niseko United in my somewhat informed opinion. Maybe next season or the season after.
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Sounds brilliant.
More pics please, and I know that's rich coming from me seeing as it took so long for me to post some.
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That's a great post CB. Very balanced.
I've met this conundrum before when I lived in the town of Whitefish, Montana, USA and skied at the then Big Mountain (it's now Whitefish Mountain Resort).
I worked as a rep for the British tour operator Inghams and they used to offer two centre holidays - 1 week in Fernie, BC and 1 week in Big Mountain.
Unfortunately they offered Fernie first and Big Mountain second.
In my opinion they should have offered it the other way round.
Go to a less steep mountain with excellent powder but not normally in the same depths overnight as Fernie receives to get your ski legs and to familiarise yourself with soft snow conditions, then go to Fernie for the second week to ski steeper and deeper terrain.
Which leads us back to the Niseko area.
Can I ski steeper terrain that what is on offer up here? Yes.
So why am I spending my second winter here? It's all about work and visas.
If I can get work in the Hakuba area instructing in the English language and get the visa to do it legally then I will quite possibly make the move. Until that time I'm very happy skiing and teaching on the terrain that this area offers.
If I had any business interest in the Hakuba area the first thing I would do is get an association with a business in the Niseko area.
And the message would be congratulations on coming to Niseko. If you've enjoyed this holiday but would like a different experience on your next visit to Japan, do one week in Niseko and then head down to Honshu for the second week to get different ski and non-ski experiences.
That way everyone wins, especially the customer.
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FRIDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2007
25cm in the past 24hrs on my steps at village level (300m).
Opening Day
Got to the lifts at 7:35 to find that the ticket window wasn't opening up until 8:20.
So my chances of first chair were shot down early.
Saw who I thought was StuntCok from the TGR forums at the ticket window and asked him if he had 'change for a nickel'. He did. Made a change from wearing a white carnation under the clock tower at the train station and introducing myself with "lovely weather we're having for this time of the year'.
We proceeded to ski together for the day and what a day.
I was cursing initially when I saw that the lower mountain (read ALL terrain below the top of the Ace #2 quad was closed). Having skied it all week, I can only think that they were trying to save some pow for Saturday's visitors.
Skied innumerable laps on the Ace # 3 double chair in the am getting closer and closer to the lift line with every run. We bushwhacked through some tight sasa grass and what looked like alder and had the first couple of laps to ourselves.
Knee deep and light, with lots of face shots.
After lunch I was ready to call it quits after two laps on Ace# 3, when StuntCok and I decided to see what the snow was like between 'Center' and 'Rinkan'.
Although there was plenty of sasa sticking up, the snow and coverage was excellent. It spat us out on to the groomed lower section of 'Rinkan' from where we skied past King Bell Hut, and down 'Tachi' before dropping into 'Konayuki' (powder snow).
I don't think a run has been so aptly named.
Fairly steep, nice and deep, and oh so cheap (it was only Y 2,000 for the day after all). That's less than $10
Five laps and it was closing time.
Skied untracked all day and never ducked a rope.
StuntCok between 'Center' and 'Rinkan'
StuntCok between 'Center' and 'Rinkan' part deux
StuntCok on 'Konayuki'
StuntCok off 'Konayuki', last run of the day
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Yes m'lord
Put the pics in the thread, scroll back a bit.
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The collective name for Annupuri, Higashiyama, Hirafu and Hanazono ski areas.
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Could be less talk and more action hopefully Creek Boy.
Smart move in renaming the gondola. I suspect that they're hoping that international guests will see the name 'Niseko Gondola' on the trail map and think that it's the heart of Niseko United.
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Ski instructor in the winter. Real estate year round.
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Thursday 22 November 2007
15cm in the past 24hrs on my steps at village level (300m).
Although a couple more hours in bed wouldn't have hurt this morning I'm very happy that I didn't succumb to the pillow.
Our (myself and work colleague, boarder and all around good guy Derek Begley) Tuesday boot pack and lines had disappeared as I made my way up the switchbacks this morning.
Knee deep all the way.
At around 750m there was 30cm of featherlight on top of 5cm of crust on top of 45cm of consolidated, well bonded pow.
I would say that today's turns were sugoi (awesome) but having 'eaten' so many face shots on my way back to base I'd have to say they were oishii (delicious).
Didn't notice the crust, and when the hill gets ploughed tomorrow it should be nicely mixed in.
As I got to the base of the Ace #2 quad, some of the Grand Hirafu Snow School crew were hopping on the chair for some turns.
I tried my damndest to catch a ride but like Wayne & Garth without backstage laminates, I was denied.
Will just have to wait for tomorrow.
Day tickets (Y 2,000) go on sale at 7:30am with the lifts set to spin at 8:30am.
If you're in the area drop everything and get up the hill. You won't regret it.
The boot pack
On the half way line between what's below me
and what's above me
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Higashiyama are seriously considering opening the closed terrain for next winter (2008/09) based on control work and the 'behaviour & understanding' of people playing in Higashiyama this coming season.
If the terrain does become available, then I would like to see a system similar to the regulations for the Delirium Dive area at Sunshine, Alberta, Canada put in place.
Can only be accessed through a control gate that opens when it gets the signal that you're wearing a beacon. In addition you must have a shovel & probe and at least one other person skiing/riding with you.
There is tremendous terrain - steep & technical - in the closed areas of Higashiyama and the 'Forbidden Zone' between Higashiyama and Grand Hirafu.
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If I'm not mistaken, Chinese New Year is sometime in early to mid-Feb.
The Niseko area gets very busy during that week.
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Actually been snowing in Hirafu since last Thursday (15th) and in the past week I've measured 105cm outside my front door in Middle Hirafu Village.
As a guestimate, but an informed one, I'd say between 1.5 and 2m has fallen at 1,000m
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Wednesday 21 November 2007
10cm in the past 24hrs at village level (300m), read my steps
We've had it all in the past 24.
Heavy wet pow, about 30 minutes of drizzle, styrofoam pellets, clear blue skies and above zero celcius temps, dandruff snow, clear starry, moonlight skies and currently serious cold smoke dumpage.
At least 10cm has fallen since 8am this morning (it's just after 1pm as I write).
No turns today. There's a 2-5cm wind/wet snow/rain crust lurking below today's snowfall.
Will let you know how it skis tomorrow. Could be interesting.
Still no word on which lifts will be running on Friday or whether they intend grooming.
But Grand Hirafu has announced that day tickets will be Y 2,000 per day from 23-30 November. Good on 'em.
Moiwa
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
It seems to me that Moiwa may be a bit small for what they're planning. I guess if they manage to link up with Annupuri it might be OK.
This is the crux. Ultimately if Moiwa is linked to Annupuri and as a consequence Niseko United then Moiwa will become a dormitory town for the bigger area, much like outlying villages in the European Alps.
The resorts in the area have the prefix 'Niseko' including Weiss and Iwanai at the coast. This is not a marketing ploy, at least not by this wave of developers.
The horse has already bolted.
I'm not going to pretend that the buy-in price is cheap. But in comparison with ski-in, ski-out apartments in Upper Hirafu they are a third of that price tag.
And if you visit the area for 7-14 days each season you won't find cheaper in this area.