SKI 15 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 How many days you been out there Mike this season? Good going whatever...... Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 60 days in the Niseko Resort Area. 25 days at other resorts on the island Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Getting tired now Mike? (Certainly can't complain if you are!) Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Pacing myself and waiting for the pow to return. Tuesday 10 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 0cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ On the change. Back knackered so resting up. Heard it was soft and spring-like in the park. Wednesday 11 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 9cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ Back to winter finally. Well below freezing and been snowing steadily all morning. More forecast throughout the day and overnight. Tomorrow should be legit. Link to post Share on other sites
Hotaka Scott 0 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Originally Posted By: MikePow 60 days in the Niseko Resort Area. 25 days at other resorts on the island You're a very lucky man Mr. Pow... very lucky indeed Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Puking pretty much all day. Especially now. At least 15cm so far today. Drop everything for a nighter or nip deep tomorrow Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Thursday 12 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 10cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ The wind howled overnight and packed the fresh in. The sun shone though, and there was nobody around. So there were some good turns to be had and certainly much better than earlier in the week. Ian Mackenzie Ian Stutchbury Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Friday 13 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 0cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ Grey, cold and rock hard. No thanks. Started snowing in the village around 10pm, then rain, then snow, then rain. Saturday 14 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 6cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ Grey and windy until around 3pm. Then it started to snow lightly. Then it started snowing and blowing in earnest. By the time I called it a night at 3am there was 20cm on the ground at village level and the winds had died down. Had to dig my way in. Sunday 15 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 34cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ Had to dig my way out. Top 25cm was light and dry, bottom 9cm was heavy. Glen and I however made the cardinal mistake of leaving a 'sure thing' this morning. Thinking that the top lifts would be on wind hold (a correct assumption) we decided to hit Rusutsu. No wind, but also neglible new snow. Around 5cm. So we drove back to Hanazono and got deepish turns and soft landings off the pillows in Strawberry and Blueberry Fields. Glen Link to post Share on other sites
D train 0 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Didn`t I tell you that? : ) anyways, I spent the day sitting on the craaaaawling quad at the poo ,so you got one up on me . Link to post Share on other sites
beans161 0 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 MIKE! the last shot of Glen in between the mushies! awesome! Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Cheers. That's his favourite too. Ian M Yours truly Link to post Share on other sites
deanrobi 2 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Mike, photo's are awesome as usual. With talk of it having been a below average season in other parts what IYO on how the season has panned out compared to the last few? Link to post Share on other sites
D train 0 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 this season ain`t done in Niseko- not by a long shot. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Originally Posted By: ratherb@thesnow Mike, photo's are awesome as usual. With talk of it having been a below average season in other parts what IYO on how the season has panned out compared to the last few? Warmer and wetter definitely. But also bigger snowfall amounts in a 24-hr period this season over my previous two. Measured 11.4m (450") so far with more forecast. Had considerably more up on the mountain Doing about normal I think when compared with Kutchan stats since 1953. Oct 2008 4cm Kutchan avg. 4cm Nov 2008 109cm Kutchan avg. 120cm Dec 2008 327cm Kutchan avg. 316cm Jan 2009 334cm Kutchan avg. 376cm Feb 2009 277cm Kutchan avg. 260cm Mar 2009 93cm so far Kutchan avg. 131cm Total 11.4m so far Kutchan avg. 12.1m Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Of course you're readings are not from Kutchan though Mike. Here is a comparison of the actual readings from Kutchan this season Oct 2008 0cm Kutchan avg. 4cm Nov 2008 80cm Kutchan avg. 120cm Dec 2008 246cm Kutchan avg. 316cm Jan 2009 286cm Kutchan avg. 376cm Feb 2009 235cm Kutchan avg. 260cm Mar 2009 76cm so far Kutchan avg. 131cm Total 9.2m so far Kutchan avg. 12.1m Overall it's been a below average snowfall season and Jan had well above average temperatures. The mild weather has meant there is a huge difference in snowdepths from the base to the peak. The base has received many more rain events than normal but it was generally still snowing up high. So the snowdepth up top is still pretty impressive averaging out near 4m currently. The base in the village though is over 2m less than this. We have certainly had more snow than the last 2 seasons and have ended up with greater snowdepths on the mountain but it's still a long way off being a good season. 04/05 was a huge season with over 14m recorded in Kutchan and 05/06 was average with just over 12m. People who've only been coming over the last few seasons really just don't know what it can really be like here. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 As a three season newbie, I for one am not complaining and can't wait for a 'proper' winter Link to post Share on other sites
kaiser soce 0 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Oh for another 04/05! Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted March 16, 2009 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted March 16, 2009 An 05/06 would be fun http://www.snowjapan.com/e/gallery/index-snowy-japan.html Link to post Share on other sites
mikelowry 0 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Righto. Just sort out this crappy exchange rate and we'll all be back for the guaranteed bumper 09/10 season! Link to post Share on other sites
reev 0 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Been here 11 seasons now in Hokkaido, can't say I've even been close to saying there has been a bad season, just have to know where to go when conditions change and not get too spoiled which happens after you get a week of 30cm falls every night, then don't go out when it only snows 10! Link to post Share on other sites
ssar 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I have posted several photos from Niseko during late Feb / early Mar 2009 in the snowjapan photo gallery here: http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_section.php?userGallery=255&userid=ssar And here is a few of them I quite like: (We were very lucky with the snowfall and weather during our time there... Stoked!) Link to post Share on other sites
Pete the Shoemaker 0 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Nice photos Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Monday 16 March to Monday 23 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 0cm in this period at MQ A decidedly average week in the Niseko Resort Area. Sunshine, warm days, slush, cold nights, bulletproof mornings not helped by amateur grooming, then rain. And repeat. Tuesday 17th Thursday 19th Tuesday 24 March 2009 Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area 7cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ Started snowing yesterday afternoon and through the night. Glen convinced me to venture up the hill and I'm so glad he did. And I listened. Dust on crust the first couple of runs, then the snow started accumulating and the crust quickly became a memory. The hill was deserted and it was fresh all morning. Caught up with Beans (Ben) and when we called it a day it was knee deep and face shots. And dumping. Ben Glen Link to post Share on other sites
beans161 0 Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hey Everyone, Just had my last shred for the season before I move on, unfortunately my year and a half working holiday is finally coming to a close.. Its time to pack my bright colored clown suit away. Hirafu and the surrounding resorts is a fantastic place, both summer and winter and I feel priveledged to have been able to call this my home. I want to send a big thankyou to MikePow and Glen Claydon for the fantastic shots they took this season.. I will stay in contact and always enjoy the udates on the forum.. I shall keep you informed of my next adventure no matter the country or mountain I end up at.. Thanks again, Ben.. Link to post Share on other sites
1 4 Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Not a bad run there I'd say. Here here on the pics. Link to post Share on other sites
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