Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Got back from my 1st trip to Niseko, what can I say?? I was blown away by the place. Before heading up I was watching the weather forecasts and none of them were particularly good, a few cms were predicted to fall overnight, so I was a little disheartened at the thought of only a sprinkling. We arrived in Niseko on Thursday night about 5pm with the intention of doing a bit of Nighta, however we didn't know that you can't buy a separate Nighta ticket and we were confused by the hourly tickets so we didn't do any riding, instead went out exploring to get ourselves an ale or 2. Nothing mental, we were back in bed for 11.30pm to get a decent kip and get up early for our first turns. It had started to snow that night and my spirits lifted. Next day, clouds were still with us but not really snowing, but from the lift I could see that a bit more than "a few cms" had fallen. we got off the Ace Pair lift 3 and decided to have a warm up run back down to the Ace Quad lift 2. Heading up we saw some pockets of trees that looked to be holding untouched powder, we weren't disappointed!! This snow was up to my knees almost and it was so light!! The board cut through with no problem, hardly having to lean on my back leg. I was truly amazed at how great this snow was and it was in-bounds, no ropes! Big smiles and whoops of joy as we rode down to the Ace Quad 2.......we decided to have a few more runs doing exactly the same. Then it was up to the top Ace Pair 4, for the ungroomed slope. This was pretty heavily tracked but the snow quality was so good that cutting through the sloughs and bumps was just like cutting through regular snow....again I couldn't believe how light the snow was. Next up was out through Gate 4, didn't open until 10am so we were very excited. Traverse across was pretty tough actually, having to walk through the gate...not fun for a snowboarder. Strapped in and looking down into the bowl and off we go......WOW!! The snow continued along the same vein, deep and light, rooster tails, face shots and knee high goodness!! Played in there, Rinkan and down to Blueberries (Strawberries was closed by the time we got there) in Hanazono and had an awesome day of tree riding and pow shredding! At the end, as Yotei was starting to appear for sunset we stole a ride down Miharashi after the patrol allegedely closed it. 1st day down and already I loved this place!! My mate was DJing that night in the Yuki bar, and we promised ourselves not to overdo it and get up for 1st lift......NOPE!! Although we weren't TOO late getting in, the next day we were worse for wear and caught a few extra Z's before getting up. As a result I didn't get on the mountain till about 10am, with my mates still lagging behind. I justified the late start to myself by the lack of overnight snow and so I didn't miss any mentally deep new pow conditions. After a few good runs down the ace runs again, and again marvelling at how the chopped up snow was still soft and nice after a clear night I was at Gate 1, longingly looking down into the bowl off Annupuri. I wanted to go down but didn't want to head off on my own as I didn't really know where it came out. God must've known my anguish as just at that moment my mates phoned to say they were on the lifts up.....oh happy days, game on!! Although the snow was well tracked by the time we got there it was still deep, light n soft and plenty of stashes through the trees to cut new tracks. Bluebird day just added to the occassion, giving us beautiful scenery to admire as we descended through the valley. Without doubt one of the greatest days riding in my life. As we had a late start, we decided to have a late lunch, by that time the snow clouds had moved in and were topping up the runs. As the darkness rolled in, we headed back over to Hirafu to meet up with a mate of mines that now lives in Kutchan. That new snow did wonders to Rinkan and we shredded that run pretty good until about 7pm. Then it was onsen, beer in onsen, dinner then more beer! Sunday.....last day. Our flight wasn't until after 8pm so we had another day on the mountain, this time we were up for ALMOST the first lift, it had been snowing all night and the runs were looking FINE!! Decided to head over to Hanazono and we play in Strawberries, on the way we rode down Rinkan. The new snow had all but filled it back up, great turns in there, so plenty soft snow in our faces! On the way down to Strawberries I hit a hidden bump and landed on my neck, goggles flying off and now covered in snow. Had to get them clear before heading anywhere else, so down to Hanazono 308 for some maintenance and an early lunch. Into Strawberries and conditions were the same, a lot of the tracks from the previous 2 days had been filled....or almost filled and so we were able to enjoy some great turns. Our bus to the airport left at 4.40pm so we started to head back over to Hirafu just before 3pm. Took a ride down Rinkan one last time and OH MY GOD!!!! With the snow staying heavy through lunch and the afternoon, the crowds took shelter in the restaurants and the runs filled up. It seemed no one had been down Rinkan since our earlier run, the snow under the lift was perfect powder, blowing in our faces, frozen snow moustaches all round!! Definitely the best Rinkan run of the weekend. Over to the Super run to the left of the Ace lifts, the pistes across to this area were throwing up shin deep untouched powder, seems Hirafu had been getting even more than Hanazono! Down through the trees of the Super run, with powder blowing everywhere to round off what had been the best snowboarding weekend of my life! Sorry for such a long winded report, but I really did LOVE Niseko. I didn't really take that many photos because the riding was so good, but here are a few, mostly scenery ones (as I suck at getting the action shots.....damn shutter lag on my P&S!!) Looking up towards the top of Hirafu from the Ace Lift Yotei from the Ace lift Mieko ripping it up down through Annupuri back Bowl DJ Dan in floor of the Annupuri bowl Mt Yoei trying to throw off its cloud coat as the afternoon petered out and sunset approached Yotei finally appears Now a couple for Thursday....... A Sapporo Classic strapped in for the run back to the airport.....sadly it and its 2 brothers didn't make it all the way! Thursday's Hokkaido Heaven! Infamous nightspot.....Wild Bill's, infinitely not Wild on the night we went there! All in all the best weekend of snowboarding ever!! If you haven't been up here then I wanna know why!! There is a lot of statements said about Niseko and how it compares to the higher, steeper resorts of Honshu, both areas give great riding, BUT IMHO, the snow up in Niseko is better than ANYTHING I have experienced at other resorts. Myoko Suginohara 2 years ago made me re-define what snow quality was, then New Years this Shiga Kogen turned my head in a new direction, but this weekend Niseko whipped the mat from under me and slapped me in the face and told me in no uncertain terms what good quality snow is! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Great report TB. With us here stuck in 'spring'. I really must go there. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 TB - question, 3 nights.... recommended? Obviously you wanted more, but were you happy with making the effort for such a short time? I think I know the answer!!! Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 damn you - one week and a few days to go. :S Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 Originally Posted By: muikabochi TB - question, 3 nights.... recommended? Obviously you wanted more, but were you happy with making the effort for such a short time? I think I know the answer!!! YES YES YES! For me though it wasn't too bad, Haneda Airport is only about an hour from me, so the travel isn't that bad. Link to post Share on other sites
snowbender 3 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Nice one Mr Beaver. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 glad you enjoyed your time! was thinking about heading back in March... very tempting indeed! Link to post Share on other sites
quattro 1 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Looks sweet glad to hear you had a great time. Link to post Share on other sites
frannyo 2 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Ace report. But, but.. why didn't you MAKE Wile Bills wild? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 we were the only people in there! albeit it was still early....we were just checking places out Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Your enthusiasm after going to Niseko is truly infectious TB! I must go there. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Nice. I'd like to go back up there sometime. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 And to think I thought the conditions were only so so whilst you were here TB. Imagine if it had really been good conditions! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Fancy a trip down here Go Native? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 do it GG. I did go up with a nonchalance about it all but that was smashed away after my first turn. It wouldn't have even been the best it gets after all its not as if it was the day after a mega dump! But even after an overnight of clear skies and no snow, the bumps and tracks of the previous day were still soft and not icy so riding chopped powder was extremly enjoyable still, without feeling like the cartilidge in Aiko Uemura's knees! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 Originally Posted By: Go Native And to think I thought the conditions were only so so whilst you were here TB. Imagine if it had really been good conditions! beat me to it GN!! I didn't type fast enough! Yeah, I know that it wasn't the greatest of conditions for Niseko, but the quality of the snow was unbelievable. When we rode the bowl out of gate 2, you can see from the pics that it was well tracked out and chopped, but with the lightness of the snow, that made very little difference! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 TB - you were up at Shiga Kogen when they had the mega storm ove new year right? Which was I presume some of the best conditions you can hope for. N was that much better? Use some adjectives pleas. Perhaps you really just have to have tried it to understand, cliche as that sounds. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 It truly is Tubby. It is what keeps us all coming back Whole lot nicer to crash onto/into than icy surfaces!! (ya can tell I stack it plenty huh?) Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 Shiga was awesome, no doubts about it. That snow was wild, light as well BUT it was lighter in Niseko. In my experience, the day after chopped powder on Honshu turns to ice cubes and crud, making for some not so nice turns and bouncing around giving your knees a good hammering. The same scenario up in N had me gliding through the sloughs like they weren't there. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 great report Tubby, i would like to visit...... Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Ace report there tubby dude. We are thinking that next season might well be the season we try that top island out. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 thanks Stem, BOC. Bags, you and 2pints should go up.....yesterday I met this Aussie guy who lives in Tokyo who drove up and was in the middle of a 2 month tour of Hokkaido, hitting all the hot spots....lucky bugger! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Lucky bugger indeed! Tubby - I think Niseko Tourism needs to put you on the payroll! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 I'll gladly accept a job as long as placement was up there!! Link to post Share on other sites
charlotte 0 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Can I have the job too!! Link to post Share on other sites
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