kokodoko 67 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Yesterday we went to Kamui Ski Links on a day trip from Furano. You can get a bus from the Alpine Centre for about 5800Yen. It leaves at 8am and you arrive about 9:30 at Kamui. The bus leaves to go back to Furano at 4pm. Here is a shot from inside the bus just heading towards the turnoff to the ski hill. There was not any fresh snow and the day before I think it had all melted and there was a lot of icy bits here and there. I followed some doods to the far right and went through the trees which were OK but a bit bumpy as it had been chopped out by the previous day's skiers. I had a horror time getting back to the main gondola and had to do down through all these icy bumps amongst the trees. My confidence was shaken quite a bit. Here is a shot of the resort from the bottom. There is a gondola and about 4 chair lifts, I think. Maybe more. Last week the crew had it going off so it does get really good. It seems to get more snow than Furano. The pork buns in the ski center for 100Yen were the highlight of the day for me. I had chicken flavour. I think they had pizza flavour as well. que? So in summing up, a great little resort but I got it on a bad day. doh! Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 oh, loads of my photos came out beautifully. I was gonna make my own thread on it, but might as well add to this one. The trees definitely look a little more brown than when we were there and that shot of the bottom looks furano style skating Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 well i hope your photos are better than mine. Glad your camera was still working. Florin left this morning. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Another place I have no idea about thanks for sharing. Looks pretty tame, does that photo from the bottom cover most of it or is there more? Link to post Share on other sites
timlilimaxjet 0 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 where is this ? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Here http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/resort_map.php?resortNo=137 Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 it costs 5800ï¿¥ for the Bus!!?? really? that seems a bit steep....did you mean 580ï¿¥? Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 5,800Y includes the lift ticket! It's a different place on a powder day but then isn't everywhere Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Originally Posted By: muikabochi Another place I have no idea about thanks for sharing. Looks pretty tame, does that photo from the bottom cover most of it or is there more? that is just one side, there is another side around the back and lots of tree runs and backcountry stuff as well. the back side is reasonably steep and the front runs have some steep bits. there is heaps more than what you can see in that photo. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Can you show us? Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Originally Posted By: brit-gob Can you show us? sorry, next time i hope to get some better photos. doh! Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Interested to see more. Makes such a difference hey snow quality. Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I've just had a look through the photos I took when I went there a week ago but they are mostly of my camembert for Cheeseman's post Link to post Share on other sites
cheeseman 1 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 And I thank you! Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Where:Kamui Ski links. Just on the outskirts of asahikawa smack bang in the middle of Hokkaido. Resort Map:http://asahikawa-tourism.com/images/img_winter/kamui/kamui_013.jpg When:1st February 2011 Who:Ive now been riding about 4 years. I have little to zero park skills, but can slash a bit in the trees (with some speed checking still, i cant quite let fully rip... though its getting close). I tell you this so you know what im likely to be hitting out there. Cost:CHEAP. 3000 yen for a day pass. About the Snow:Its been a tough year so far in central hokkaido. The snow just doesnt seem to be making its way here. The previous day saw about 10cms drop, and was one of the first real drops in the area in about two weeks. This, in case you dont realise is PEAK snow season in hokkaido in a season that started already quite late. The conditions at the resort was calf-knee deep freshies though, so that was nice. Resort Conditions: All the groomers beautifully groomed, all the rest of it open to hit whatever you like. Resort Facilities: Not that much. A cafe up the top and a ramen place at the bottom. Aside a little ski-jo shop selling typical combini fare and a ski school, theres not that much else around. Other Info: Kamui is owned by the town of Asahikawa. No accommodation exists at the site. If you want to hit this place you need to bus in from somewhere (assuming you dont have a car). The obvious 2 places are asahikawa itself and of course furano (which runs trips there on sunday monday and tuesday for 5800 yen (bus and liftpass)). It might seem like a pain, but if you stay in asahikawa it means you have lots more options for accommodation and nightlife. Heres a page telling you a bit about the place and also how to access it: http://asahikawa-tourism.com/asahikawa/asahikawa_winter/kamui_ski_links/kamui_ski_links.html Review: After a forty minute bus ride from furano we arrived to a perfect bluebird day of smooth white untracked snow. It looked a bit flat and small, but no worries! I grabbed the gondola and headed straight up. Being the child that i am, the first thing i did was found the line under the gondola and played on that. It was honestly a riot. Knee to waist deep, lots of bumps and drops, and an awesome little pow field that reminded me of strawberry fields (though completely untracked). Immediately i realised the day was going to be a lot of fun. After a couple of runs up and down the length of the mountain, my attentions went elsewhere and i ended up on the sidebowl. Serviced by the double chair 5 lift, the place was honestly fantastic. The tracks were still there from the previous week or so, but no matter, there was still always fresh lines to hit. The skiers right side from the top of the lift took you into a really fun powder tree run, whilst the left side took you to the bowl itself and a thoroughly enjoyable straight run to the lift. You could drop into the bowl from hundreds of different places, so it honestly didnt matter, you were going to get a fresh line somewhere. After about 4 or 5 runs, i headed back to the main mountain and tried out the two big wide runs on skiers left. Yeah, they werent that special. Just nice little runs from top to bottom with a few places to duck into the trees. A bit flat in places though, so watch for the unclipping if you go too far in Still, they changed teh tempo a little and gave you something else to do other than scoot trees and slash powder, so it was a welcome, if brief, diversion. But the main selling point was the pow, so it was time to hit the A, B, and C runs. I'd seen them riding the gondola and they looked pretty fun, so the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to find them. Still, its not as easy as it looks They are pretty indistinct from standard tree runs, and because theres some nice spacing in the trees, it was pretty fun just sitting in that general area and riding. I should say you might need to watch out for the evergreens in this area. They do get dense and pretty tightly packed, and although i dont think its deep enough to be seriously concerned, theres always the chance of tree wells. So if youre about, do try and stick near the silver birches. Indeed, it was a boot pack out from this which led to me having a few heavy tumbles one after another that bust my hand and ended my day (around 3pm). Anyway, some pictures from the morning: Arriving at kamui looking up at this small little hill (its actually way bigger than it looks): The view down: Two shots of the side bowl: And a couple of tree and pow shots: Concluding remarks: Its small, it has about two or three days of life in it, but when youre starving for pow and this place has snow on it, you need to go here. One of the guys i was with on the bus and rocking a prior splitboard had this to say: "that was one of the best days ive had in my life!" Pretty much a ringing endorsement if you ask me. It was also a great way to end my japanese season in truth. Even though furano as a whole was a massive let down, the day of total fun i had riding this place ALMOST made up for the general sense of BLEH id been feeling since leaving niseko. If youre staying here for a while it will get old fast so i advise you base yourself somewhere different and have a day or two at kamui to recharge. Still, that being said, its top notch stuff in the short term. In fact its 10/10 if its a day or two. So long as there is snow on the slopes, this place is awesome fun: its kinda like a little adventure snowpark for powder hounds. Its not got the most incredible terrain, nor has it the deepest powder, its not serious backcountry. But you can go anywhere you like on the resort and no one is stopping you, so who cares, right? The place is about FUN and it delivers it in spades. Overall, Kamui is a great little resort that will remind you why you snowboard or ski in the first place. It really brightened up my last week and even with the busted hand it still remains one of my favorite rides of the season Such a pretty place too Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Looking good Ippy Glad someone is getting it ... damn, we have to do a mass snow dance. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Nice photos, thanks for showing Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Thanks for the pics.....Brings back LOTS of memories. I was at Kamui pretty much every weekend for my three years in Hokkaido. We still go up every Christmas break but the past two years there has been no snow. Still pulled in the parking lot to have a look though. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 turned the pics into a proper (for me) review. over at trusnow, so figured id bring it here. Sad that you turned up to see it without snow, hopefully next year Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Interesting and thanks for posting. I know it's bordering cliche, but so many of the Hokkaido place photos seem to show lots of rolling-hills more than great big mountains you see in Niigata and Nagano. Link to post Share on other sites
Snappa 0 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Well done Ippy good rave with some very nice pics. Cant believe that there could be such a difference in snowfall to Niseko. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Cool, enjoyed that. brit-gob, you askings for troubles there! Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 That's a good (and spot on) review Ippy! Had a very similar experience there the Sunday before last, though without the blue skies! Shame you didn't get to enjoy Furano more though. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Originally Posted By: Snappa Cant believe that there could be such a difference in snowfall to Niseko. They're quote a way off each other though aren't they. Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Yeah plus they're affected by different weather systems, etc, etc Link to post Share on other sites
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