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Ni-choume in Shinjuku is "fun"... It is actually quite safe. How does one best describe it... Hmm...

 

Okay, how about this - the last time I was in the area (just passing by, thank you), I saw a 200cm+ tall Nihonjin dude with a blonde Marilyn Monroe wig and a 1960's-style skirt and sweater and bigger than Japanese H-cups!

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  • 2 weeks later...

And Sapporo just got greater! What a beautiful sound to wake up to... front-end loaders clearing carparks and roads of beautiful beautiful SNOW! It's been snowing steadily since about 3am and now the city is officially white again. About 8cm.

 

Even better is the forecast - tomorrow's rain cancelled, replaced by SNOW!

 

Rusutsu here I come (even if it is only one course)!

 

banner

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Yeah, not too much in the way of webcams for Sapporo surprisingly. The SJ one doesn't fire up on my computer, and an internet search just brings up TV tower ones and a wacky Susukino one. Lucky for Sapporo's squeaky clean image that the Susukino one doesn't have a zoom function and people can't see what's on those laminated placards being held by the touts in trench coats.

 

Anyway, not much of the white left to see now. Warm day in town today. 7 degrees. It was cooler out at Rusutsu where I spent another awesome day ducking in and out of the trees. I simply cannot get my head around the fact that there remain wide tracts of untracked fresh powder available for plunder just off the edge of the pistes, right up to 4pm. I'm so stoked. I know it's going to get busier, but for now it's just nuts.

 

Not sure how the next few day's weather will leave it looking. Here's hoping. They've opened up a fair bit more terrain in the last few days, including the gondola from West Mt. to Isola and East (no more shuttle bus). Hope they don't have to close it again.

 

I certainly did enjoy loosening my boots back in the resort, to the rousing upbeat Dixieland numbers being played by the five-piece band of full-size mechanical bears.

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Check out the STV, HBC, and HBS (local TV broadcasters) sites for their webcams - just look for the "live camera" links in katakana off their main pages and bookmark for future convenience. Quite handy. There's also a good highway camera page form the Hokkaido Transportation Bureau... I'll post the link later.

 

I hit Sapporo Kokusai yesterday (finally) and there was some nice leftovers from the weekend dump. It was all ridden out by the afternoon, but the snow condition and consistency is still nice, so just so long as it doesn't rain, the groomers should be nice for a couple of days. The snow base is still rather thin. There are a lot of ground elements still showing through the snow in places, and most of the secret off-piste areas are stick gardens as the snow hasn't fully buried the little saplings and shrubs yet.

 

There was a little snow toward Otaru this morning, but nothing to make me leave the house for Kiroro or anything. I hope there is some good activity before the weekend!

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Nice one Ez. Good cams, and thanks for the update on Kokusai.

 

Well, I now realize that until today I had no idea just how truly great Sapporo is. As far as city snow living goes, this must be as good as it gets. My wife and I woke up to light snow falling on top of Thursday's 8cm, cold temp and patches of blue sky. We walked to the end of our street and got on the city-bound bus (200yen), then caught the train to Teine (260 yen), then hopped aboard the free Teine shuttle (9.15am). It did not stop snowing all day and it was puking as we caught the last JHB bus down at 4.30pm. I reckon Highland got about 30cm during the day. There was surprisingly little on the ground in Sapporo when we came down.

 

Crowds were light, visibility was good all day, there was a good cover over ground items, and I was still poaching lengthy stashes of light dry pow at 4pm. Plenty of dudes were going under the ropes but as it was my first time up, I kept things pretty legit. Didn't need to anyway. I can't believe Hokkaido. I'm in heaven. My last three outings in a row have been outstanding, the kind of powder days that I would normally feel happy to get once every three or four times up!

 

You guys were right!

 

cheers

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I went by Kokusai again on Thursday in anticipation of the snowfall. There was about 3-5cm on top of the translucent blue melt-ice from Tuesday to wednesday's heat, but like clockwork, flurries started at noon. Toward the afternoon, it was actually pretty nice.

 

On Friday, it was almost epic. There was a good boot-top deep layer of settled powder with knee deep pockets in places. The hard base was still noticable in hard turns, so that's where the "almost" comes from. The constant new snowfall all day and wind redistributing the snow around kept things fresh until early afternoon. After that the temperature rose a little, the snowfall tapered, and the after-lunch rush tracked everything out.

 

There was some nice snow overnight, so it's probably pretty nice everywhere from Kokusai to Teine to Kiroro today. Supposed to get sunny tomorrow, so don't know how the rest of the week will go.

 

Oh yeah, Greenroome, if you get by the Munchen Xmas market in Odori-koen, there is a place along the West side that has Paulaner Weisen and Hefe-Weisen for sale. Nothing beats a good Hefe-Weisen and some tasty wurst in the snow after a day of boarding (or a day at work)!

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Ez - stoked to hear that you were up there on Friday. What a day. And thanks for the Munchen tip. I did walk through there but was a bit put off by all the plastic Made in China shite I saw being sold so I kept walking. Didn't see the beers. Will definitely return for some of that.

 

Anyone know a good place to get your board waxed and tuned? I live near Mount Moiwa, Maruyama side. Thanks in advance.

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Originally Posted By: Ewok 2
not so related to snow but my cousin has his dental clinic in sapporo. one day i would like to visit and have my teeth cleaned.


My friend just had her tooth capped by a dentist in Kotoni...
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I give you credit riding through all those ice patches this week! Saw some dude in Odori all geeked out in tights and a mask on a fairly nice disc-brake hardtail with those IRC Blizzard or some other spiked/studded MTB tires (maybe Vredesteins?) cranking the turn from the Marui-Imai corner into the park at a good clip, leaning into the turn something steep, the studs on the tires crunching/scratching against the ice.

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He wasn't wearing all blue was he? And a full-faced motorcross helmet? I saw a very similar-sounding dude doing just that near the same corner last night. He became my marker and I put Momma though her paces and stayed with him for three blocks. Very swanky hip moves from the dude.

 

Last night was easy though. Virtually no ice. Just huge puddles, until later on with a wacky corn veneer and high winds. I haven't been riding on ice much recently. Just getting out of my shadowed ice-rink street would have been an achievement.

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I think it might actually be - I do recall the full-head helmet! Think he was wearing black with some red trim though when I saw him. If you stumble around on the net, there is a Doctor in Sapporo somwhere with a "snow bike" website in English showing his bike setup and some of his winter training rides with friends. I found it by accident once. It seems rather hardcore to go long-distance cycling in a snowstorm, although it inspired me to consider trying the Sapporo-to-Shikotsuko bike path in the winter!

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