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It's defineatly not traditional, but I can see that it works to really break down the barrier that most people have when fully embracing the fall line of the hill. You can really see that most people will instinctively avoid facing strait down the mountain when pole planting, where as your style has the skier really embracing the mountain and letting the skis work rather than fighting the hill looking the that next turn.

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DAY 3 : SATURDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2012   0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ     Pulled an all nighter watching Wales lose to Samoa in rugby and then had a relaxing, indoor day avoiding the torrential rain a

DAY 1 : THURSDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2012   Back on Fantasy Island, and picked up at New Chitose Airport by long time skiing partner Ian MacKenzie.   Great to see him and great to be back.   Just over a

DAY 5 : MONDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2012   23 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ     5am alarm and the snow was still coming down.   It took me longer than I'd anticipated to get my kit together which meant out

DAY 147 : WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL 2013

 

6 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ

 

 

A good covering of new snow on top of the spring crunch for my second day at Niseko Hirafu with Greg Heptonstall.

 

Super Course was smooth.

 

The early birds catching the spring powder worm

 

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Global warming is taking it's toll on Hokkaido. The Hirafu glacier is breaking up badly

 

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and the sasa is coming out to play

 

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Hey Mike, I'm really interested as to what benifit you see in teaching people to ski with their arms spaced quite wide. It's just a different look to a lot of other teaching styles.

 

A lot of the instructors do that same style here actually, all for helping with the balance. But teaching styles vary from person to person and from resort.

 

When ever I have taught people skiing, especially beginners I get them to keep their arms out more to help with their balance as well getting their stance sorted from the start.

 

I think if the teaching method used gets results then that is the main thing.

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Japanese or Western instructors snowdude?

 

If Japanese, then they definitely have wide hand spacing but teach the opposite of what I teach.

 

They advocate 'aeroplane' turns where the uphill hand is low and the downhill hand is high, making the student bank inside.

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DAY 148 : THURSDAY 11 APRIL 2013

 

7 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ

 

 

Another good fall overnight and glorious sunshine for my third day at Niseko Hirafu with Greg Heptonstall.

 

The early birds were out on Super Course again

 

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We were joined by Ian for the first couple of hours and he was flying.

 

El Presidente

 

 

 

 

Greg was slowly but surely moving away from his ingrained 'Pop & Drop' by day's end.

 

'Pop & Drop'?

 

An aggressive pole plant to start the turn then a sudden lurch into the fall line and followed by a heavy edge set and rapid decelaration across the fall line where the skier 'parks' his skis discontinuing foot pivotting and 'rides' out the 'turn'.

 

As night follows day, the skier runs out of space, puts even more pressure on the snow by getting smaller and smaller and the only way to get up is to repeat the 'Pop & Drop'.

 

Greg standing beside the Ace Pair Lift #3

 

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And skiing it

 

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Mr. Blue Sky

 

The first clip is on 'Super Course', the second on 'Large' skier's right of King Lift #4, and the final clip skier's right of the Ace Pair Lift #3.

 

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Japanese.

Yes they do the aeroplane style and in fact that is how I was taught the first time I had a lesson about 14 years ago.

 

 

 

Japanese or Western instructors snowdude?

 

If Japanese, then they definitely have wide hand spacing but teach the opposite of what I teach.

 

They advocate 'aeroplane' turns where the uphill hand is low and the downhill hand is high, making the student bank inside.

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DAY 149 : FRIDAY 12 APRIL 2013

 

0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ

 

 

No new snow in the Niseko Resort Area but a day of light snowfall at Kiroro with Ian and Hamilton.

 

After a couple of runs Ian took one for the team and stepped out of his Dynafit TLT 5 Mountain boots and stepped in to Hamilton's Tecnicas.

 

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Ian lasted two runs and called it quits!

 

Hamilton found out how much easier it is to pivot skis in a lightweight boot with a more upright cuff angle.

 

And how he could feel the snow so much better in Dynafit bindings.

 

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Finding centre in the fore aft plane was challenging after so many years jammed into the tongue of an alpine boot but he was certainly taller and lighter on his skis.

 

April Showers

 

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DAY 150 : SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2013

 

0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ

 

 

For my last day of Shiribeshi skiing this season I headed to Kiroro with Greg and Hamilton, and today Greg "got" balancing with the pitch of the slope.

 

Patience, standing tall and relaxed.

 

Blue Danube

 

 

 

And this was continued in the steeper off groomed terrain where we surprisingly found up to knee deep powder.

 

Greg staying "longer for longer"

 

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DAY 151 : SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2013

 

0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ

 

 

Homeward bound after another fabulous winter on Fantasy Island.

 

Great times and great turns with wonderful people from eight different countries.

 

A number whom I skied with for the first time, the majority returning students.

 

The youngest Charlotte aged 6, the oldest John aged 86.

 

I had 113 days on snow at eight ski areas - Chisenupuri, Kiroro, Niseko Moiwa, Niseko United, Noboribetsu Sun Laiva, Rusutsu, Sapporo Kokusai, and Windsor Ski Village - with the deepest turns of my life this winter.

 

The powder turns started on Monday 19 November 2012 and continued through to yesterday, Saturday 13 April 2013.

 

6 consecutive months of snowfall.

 

Many thanks for the patience shown by all the people I skied with, taught, and took photos & video of.

 

And special thanks to Jonathan & Julie Martin and Ian MacKenzie for making my season so easy and enjoyable.

 

The wind was far more volatile this winter than I've experienced previously - causing untold lift and ski area closures - but this was more than made up for by the extra sunshine and snowfall.

 

These are the snowfall measurements I recorded at MQ (Mike's Quarters) in Higashiyama

 

November - 146 cm (57")

December - 473 cm (186")

January - 473 cm (186") [what are the odds?]

February - 395 cm (156")

March - 239 cm (94")

April - 27 cm (11")

 

Total - 1745 cm (687")

 

 

That's the most snow I've shovelled in my 7 winters collecting data in the Niseko Resort Area.

 

 

 

Back home in Wales until November and even though the early April snow has disappeared from the mountain tops I'm not putting the skis away just yet.

 

I started my season on 03 November 2012 and it would be great to finish the winter with some Brecon Beacons turns.

 

http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/22112-sr-wales-2012-13/

 

I'm going to spend my time at home setting up my own web site and putting pen to paper for a book about my ski teaching philosophy and my experiences on snow.

 

Until my next Hokkaido winter,

 

Thank you for reading my daily updates and for commenting.

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Awesome work Mike, always a pleasure waking up here in oz reading about the snow in Hokkaido. It's in my daily morning ritual.

 

Till next season!

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