ltd1982 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 So, I just joined this forum, as I've finally booked my flights to Japan for the last two weeks of February, and plan on spending 4-5 days skiing on Hokkaido and another 2 or more on Honshu (depending on how angry my wife gets with me for not spending more time with her family for the two weeks we're there ). I'm bringing over my alpine-touring setup since it's better than my alpine setup in powder, but was also wondering if there are any SJ'ers in the Hokkaido area that are up for taking a foreigner on a back-country / slack-country ski tour? I live in Vancouver, Canada, and am something of a weekend warrior. I usually get out on the North Shore for a couple of slack-country laps twice a week before work and either ski Whistler or do an extensive tour on the weekends. I would rate my avalanche risk assessment style as "cautious" - although I love shredding, I also love not dying, shredding something less gnarly, and skiing again tomorrow. If there's no touring partners to be had, I'll just take the advice in this thread and try and hit these hills solo. Thanks for any help or advice! Ltd....Maybe think of starting this in a new thread then fellow west coasters like myself can welcome you properly instead of tip toeing in and out of Yamabushi's posts. Taking the above excellent advice, here we are in a new thread Panhead_Pete has already put me on to Black Diamond tours, but I'd still be keen on hooking up with whoever else over there is into some skiing shenanigans! Cheers, Billy. Link to post Share on other sites
XBenX 0 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Ill be about from end the of Jan for most of Feb Im not a local, havent been to Hokkaido for 5/6yrs but I know my way around most of the resorts we will be hitting. We'll spend most of our time in the slackcountry as we are boarders with shoes & gear. Let me know where you plan on hitting. Link to post Share on other sites
mitchpee 10 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 BIlly I'd love to give you some ideas where to go. If you do a black diamond tour stop by the lodge and ask for me. I'll give you where I would go and see if any of the other guys have ideas. To help us help you... Do you have any touring equipment? Willing to hike a ways? Want big cliffs? Jumps? Steeps and pow? What are you looking for mostly? There's lots of terrain and lots to do! Do you have any backcountry experience? Link to post Share on other sites
LYC 0 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Hey Buddy, FInally some more Canadians in this village. I was born and raised in East Vancouver and use to ride Whistler and Baker all the time. This is now my second season here in NIseko and I'm still loving it. Theres a crew of us that ride pretty much every pow day. We all have avi training and gear and do lots of gate accessed slackcountry and bits of full on backcountry hikes. Out the 7 or 8 of us we only have 1 skier. So if you dont mind being apart of the minority you more than welcome to join. Cheers, Luke Link to post Share on other sites
ltd1982 0 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Sweet, thanks for all the responses today, guys! Ill be about from end the of Jan for most of Feb Im not a local, havent been to Hokkaido for 5/6yrs but I know my way around most of the resorts we will be hitting. We'll spend most of our time in the slackcountry as we are boarders with shoes & gear. Let me know where you plan on hitting. That sounds awesome if you're going to be around. I don't have any firm plans yet, but I'm going to be up on Hokkaido for 4 or 5 days, probably from the 20th till the 25th of February. The plan so far was Niseko, Rusutsu and maybe Furano, but I'm super easy. BIlly I'd love to give you some ideas where to go. If you do a black diamond tour stop by the lodge and ask for me. I'll give you where I would go and see if any of the other guys have ideas. To help us help you... Do you have any touring equipment? Willing to hike a ways? Want big cliffs? Jumps? Steeps and pow? What are you looking for mostly? There's lots of terrain and lots to do! Do you have any backcountry experience? Hey Mitch, Thanks for the response! Yeah, I've got a decent amount of backcountry experience. I've been touring in the backcountry of BC for 5 years, and skiing for about 20. I've taken the Level 1 Avvy course here in North Van a couple of times, and I'm going to be bringing my touring and avalanche gear. I emailed the info@blackdiamondtours.com guys from my work email, but haven't heard back yet... our domain sometimes ends up in the junk folder however, so I followed up with their online form today. I like powder, trees and steeps the most, and also enjoy pillows and small cliffs (probably nothing over 20-30 feet depending on snow, I'm getting old ). As I said in the email to BD, I'm pretty keen to just get out and ski as much awesome stuff as possible, and would be stoked to hook up with you guys! Hey Buddy, FInally some more Canadians in this village. I was born and raised in East Vancouver and use to ride Whistler and Baker all the time. This is now my second season here in NIseko and I'm still loving it. Theres a crew of us that ride pretty much every pow day. We all have avi training and gear and do lots of gate accessed slackcountry and bits of full on backcountry hikes. Out the 7 or 8 of us we only have 1 skier. So if you dont mind being apart of the minority you more than welcome to join. Cheers, Luke Hey Luke, that's rad! Small world! Hahaha, I definitely don't mind being the only skier, or in the minority. When I was in university I was the only skier I knew in a field of boarders. I'd be stoked to tag along with you guys as well on a powder day. Thanks again for all the awesome replies everyone, I'm SUPER stoked on this trip, especially now that I know I won't just be cruising around on the hills solo! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Not much to add other than to say HI and welcome. I'm a Victoria guy... so skied Washington a lot but also lived in Vancouver for a few years and did the hop to Whistler every chance I could. Cheers and good luck in your prep for your J trip. Link to post Share on other sites
XBenX 0 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 My dates have firmed up a bit. Ill be in the Niseko area from 27th Jan till Feb12. After that Im heading up to Tomamu, Furano or down to Nagano if I cant get out of a meeting I have in Late Feb. (back home at the end of Feb) Ive done 3 trips to Niseko, 7 to Japan and done BC trips in Japan, Nth America/Euro (and Au and NZ if they count =p) Ive got all my gear, Id be on shoes, not a splitty) Wouldnt mind doing a Yotei hike/decent if anyone is keen. Let me know if anyone is keen for catching up. Link to post Share on other sites
ltd1982 0 Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 If you're down in the Nagano area after Feb 12th, I'll send you a message when we arrive (the 14th) and see where you are - I'd like to do a day or two down there outside of the time I'll spend on Hokkaido. I heard back from BD the other day and am stoked that they're going to try and get me on some guided tours around Hokkaido! Link to post Share on other sites
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