Mike Pow 52 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Didn't see that bit. Sorry to read that. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 excellent photos Mike. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 DAY 74 : SUNDAY 27 JANUARY 2013 63 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ 33 cm fell in a 3 hr period yesterday afternoon, with an additional 30 cm falling overnight. Anticipation of deep turns was high but so too was the wind unfortunately. Last night's 'nighta' was all-time by all accounts but strong winds overnight packed the new snow just a couple of hundred metres above the base area throughout the Niseko Resort Area. THE AM WITH IAN M Ian and I started the day at the Niseko Hirafu gondola, but with the queue for day tickets stretching out the door and the line for the slowly moving gondola stretching up Boyo, we got back in the car and drove to the Niseko Hanazono base area. No lift line, the sun shining, and untracked snow all over the lower mountain. The Hanazono Hooded Quad Lift #1 was running very slowly and the turns at the top of Strawberry Fields and Blueberry Fields were very tricky with windpacked powder one turn and wind scoured hardpack the next. But once we dropped lower the snow got progressively better and deeper. This was the first morning on new skis for Ian. Taking my lead and seeing the depths I've been getting in the powder on my Coreupt The Caspers twin tips (112-79-105 in a 173 cm) Ian swapped his Dynastar Legend Sultan (126-80-108 in a 165cm, 15m radius) for the Rossignol Bandit B78 Respect (116-78-105 in a 166 cm, 16m radius). Ian also had the bindings mounted 2cm forward of normal which puts it 2cm from being centre mounted. 1 cm less in the tip and 2cm forward may not sound much but with a narrower platform and more whole foot control and balance Ian soon found the depth he's been looking for. Ian in Mario's Getting deep beside the Hanazono Hooded Quad Lift #1 Putting on a show for the lift line It was plenty deep enough if you were on the right platform and knew where to go. Ian all smiles back at the car park Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Cool to see that you had such a good day. seems like I shouldn't have given up so easily. I managed to catch the great snow on Sat afternoon. Lucky I did, because Sunday sucked for me. I didnt need to queue for a ticket, so I managed 2 runs on the gondola before the lineup was huge. 900 million 'powder frothers' were lining up for swinging monkey, so I gave konayuki and mihirashi a go. I was shocked to find they were such bad quality snow and snow drifts, that I thought I might try to see how it deposited on super ridge instead. Saw the lineup for ace quad was just as bad. When compared to the quality only 12 hours before I ended up shaking my fist at the sky while cursing, and went home. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Mike - a question in ignorance, when you talk about the depth you were getting is it better to be deeper? As a boarder my aim is to really try and float on top. Anything - do they still have signs up saying you cant ride under swinging monkey, that was a great small 1/2 pipe last Dec When that was packed we used to just walk up that little hill on the right before the litte slope to monkey lift line and drop in the back there which was a LOT of fun. Sorry not sure exactly what its called. I imagine you are already aware of that though? Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Mike - a question in ignorance, when you talk about the depth you were getting is it better to be deeper? As a boarder my aim is to really try and float on top. Anything - do they still have signs up saying you cant ride under swinging monkey, that was a great small 1/2 pipe last Dec When that was packed we used to just walk up that little hill on the right before the litte slope to monkey lift line and drop in the back there which was a LOT of fun. Sorry not sure exactly what its called. I imagine you are already aware of that though? it seems Mike likes to wear non-powder skis so that he sinks into the powder more. Its more difficult to ski, but it means he is waist deep (or neck deep!) into the powder and guaranteed face shots all day long. Not exactly sure how he does it, I ski on fat powder skis and half the time I need a snorkel to breathe and cant see where im going either. Maybe he has snow gills!! some sort of waterworld mutant. Imo, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, like hitting the hard stuff underneath, and not being able to get as far out into the slackcountry, and the track back is more difficult to push through. but Mike has been doing it a long time, knows what he's doing, and must love it. i'm sure he thinks us fat ski skiers are crazy , ive almost got a snowboard on each foot. But in the end it doesnt matter, its just cool to see great skiers out and about enjoying the conditions. the half pipe doesnt seem to be forming as much as ive seen it previously. i think they realized the more they maintain it the more people 'break the rules' and hit it the little hike at the gondola is Miharashi (i spelled it correctly this time?) technically its a black chopped up mogul run, but I dont know anybody that actually skis the run. you've got 180 degrees worth of fresh powder tree runs I only gave it one try on Sunday, but even that was garbage. the wind must have been curling around the mountain all night and compacting the snow and creating snowdrifts that like to grab onto your legs and faceplant you for kicks. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Mike - a question in ignorance, when you talk about the depth you were getting is it better to be deeper? As a boarder my aim is to really try and float on top. it seems Mike likes to wear non-powder skis so that he sinks into the powder more. Its more difficult to ski, but it means he is waist deep (or neck deep!) into the powder and guaranteed face shots all day long. Not exactly sure how he does it, I ski on fat powder skis and half the time I need a snorkel to breathe and cant see where im going either. Maybe he has snow gills!! some sort of waterworld mutant. Imo, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, like hitting the hard stuff underneath, and not being able to get as far out into the slackcountry, and the track back is more difficult to push through. but Mike has been doing it a long time, knows what he's doing, and must love it. i'm sure he thinks us fat ski skiers are crazy , ive almost got a snowboard on each foot. But in the end it doesnt matter, its just cool to see great skiers out and about enjoying the conditions. Explained perfectly anything, thanks. Big breaths, big breaths Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Thanks cal. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 DAY 74 : SUNDAY 27 JANUARY 2013 continued THE PM WITH THE HIRAFU FLYERS Ian dropped me off at the Hirafu gondola and despite what looked like a massive line stretching up Boyo I queued up to see what the snow was like in Konayuki. Windblown, windscraped and tracked. Until you got to the run out which was powtastic. As I was doing laps on the Holiday Pair Lift #1 and skiing the perfect powder below the Holiday run down to the Gondola car park I saw a group hitting a small kicker pulling some impressive moves. I skied over and asked if they wanted to up the ante and jump off something a little bigger. After a few sideways glances to each other with the 'who's this guy?' look they agreed and followed me down to a feature that I thought would be a good spot to jump off and take pics and video. James and Sarah from Melbourne and the Jersey Boys Charlie, Freddy & Dan - that's Jersey one of the Channel Islands between England and France not the US of A mind you. We skied below the feature and bootpacked up underneath the face to check the height and landing and then the group set about building the take off and packing down the run in. Sarah, Charlie, Freddy and James checking out the take off The landing Up first to test it out, Charlie The run in wasn't quite set up, but Charlie had a soft landing thankfully Where's my other ski? Freddy to the rescue Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Next up, James for the win Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Freddy keeping a cool head and landing it Charlie Take 2 Finishing with a Halo Jump Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Sarah launching and landing Freddy showing his uncanny knack to bring it back Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 James Third time's a charm for Charlie Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Freddy And last but certainly not least, Sarah launching the longest air of the day Many thanks for joining me this afternoon guys and trusting some random guy that a bigger feature to jump off existed around the corner. Your patience and skill was much appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Go Sarah!!! Good on ya Mike for helping randoms have fun. Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 ski crashes are so much fun to see I think Charlie's first stack was the best tho. Was this was pretty early in the Holiday 'extra pow' area ? just before where the cracks are forming? not like im gonna hit it tho, broken too many bones already Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 No, lower down. Closer to the car park. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 DAY 75 : MONDAY 28 JANUARY 2013 3 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Report of 2 fatalities in the Niseko Resort Area yesterday: There have been 2 fatal accidents yesterday. In both cases, the Niseko Rules has been ignored and disrespected. It is really sad to apprehend this reality. Both victims fell into a crack and lost their lives. Dangers about cracks have been repeatedly mentioned in this information, but ended up in vain. Disrespecting, ignoring or criticizing this Information or the Niseko Rules is not a problem as long as people take care of themselves and avoid thoughtless actions that could lead to serious accidents. It is a very sad morning. May their souls rest in peace. Hard facts are very difficult to come by - a real problem in this area - but it appears that a Finnish skier lost his life in the backcountry accessed from Niseko Hanazono and a Japanese skier lost his life in out of bounds terrain next to Niseko Village. It appears both fell into glide cracks caused by the weight of the snowpack sliding on the waxy sheath of the sasa (bamboo) buried beneath. Whether it was death due to trauma, suffocation, exposure or all of these things is not known. Condolences to the families. DAY 76 : TUESDAY 29 JANUARY 2013 0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ No new snow and brilliant sunshine in the Niseko Resort Area so Ian & I headed to Kiroro. Before we got to the resort entrance the sun had disappeared and the snow started falling. There was a spongy wind crust buried about 20 cm below the snow surface but on the right aspect and slope angle the snow invited you in and face shots were the order of the day. All day. DAY 77 : WEDNESDAY 30 JANUARY 2013 6 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ With snow falling steadily as we left Kiroro yesterday, Ian and I headed straight back today this time with Jonny Richards (no relation) in tow. Jonny is Editor-at-Large for UK skiing & snowboarding magazine Fall Line and is over writing a feature. Yesterday was great, today was better. Jonny Ian Jonny After a couple of laps we bumped into Hiroki from Otaru who skied with Ian and me a couple of times last season Ian in and coming out Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Ian Jonny Ian aboard the Powder Express Jonny in his happy place - the Kiroro 'gondora' Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Some great shots there Mike! Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Thanks Mick Rich. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 DAY 78 : THURSDAY 31 JANUARY 2013 0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ January fizzled out with only 83 cm in the Niseko Resort Area in the final 11 days of the month including 6 days without snow. But we still got a very healthy 473 cm (186") of snowfall and more powder in 20 days than most mountains get all winter. When the Niseko Resort Area is "dry" there's always Rusutsu, Kiroro, Teine and Sapporo Kokusai to try. And then there's the backcountry. This was the third consecutive day at Kiroro with Ian and we were joined today by Hamilton, barkeep at Maki Lounge and Nikki, long time pal and one of the NBS rental crew in Alpen Ridge. We were hoping for more of yesterday's magic but found a very tricky rime crust on top of a 20-30 cm layer of warmed up powder instead. If you let the skis go and were comfortable with speed in steep, treed terrain then it was very good. Flatter pitches were hard work on skis, especially our narrower platforms. Nikki was loving it on his board. Lots of skiers over from the Niseko Resort Area in search of powder with guided groups were looking tired and frustrated today. Hamilton Nikki Ian DAY 79 : FRIDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2013 0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ A warm, grey, miserable day at MQ with intermittent light show showers followed by a fine, misty rain. The quiet before the storm which is supposed to rage through here tomorrow and Sunday. DAY 80 : SATURDAY 02 FEBRUARY 2013 0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ The RAIN arrived at 4.30 this morning and it's bloody awful out there as I type (8 am). It's calm at the moment, but the wind is supposed to ratchet up to 50 km/h up top by day's end. The good news is this is just a blip with colder temperatures and snow forecast for the coming week and Friday looking like it could be special. Link to post Share on other sites
agillgren 13 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 We were at Kiroro same day as you Mike (Thursday).... we had some fun and could imagine this place on a proper powder day would be epic. Might try to make it back there later this week. How does the place handle the wind? Thanks for the update on conditions at Niseko this morning. We heading to there today but think we'll take our time. Link to post Share on other sites
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