Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 That's what Teine would've been like if the top lifts were open.......heading up there now, report says lifts r open....hopefully i'll have some deep pow to play in Hope you get the goods. Most lifts closed in the Niseko Resort Area today. Windy as a windy thing Teine was fully open and fantastic.....now sitting with a well earned beer waiting for my bus 1 Link to post Share on other sites
agillgren 13 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Thanks for the vid Mike. Only snow I can get right now is vicariously. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 My pleasure annika. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 DAY 100 : FRIDAY 07 MARCH 2014 36 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Day 18 of the Royal Visit A boat load of new snow but more wind than Chicago meant extensive lift closures across the Niseko Resort Area. Nerys & I took the day off snow but great turns were reported down low in Niseko Hanazono and Grand Hirafu. DAY 101 : SATURDAY 08 MARCH 2014 27 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Day 19 of the Royal Visit With the wind still raging in the Niseko Resort Area, Nerys & I headed to Kiroro Snow World. The gondola was closed for the third day in a row, but we found plenty of untracked powder off the Yoichi No. 1 Express and the Center Express. Nerys was trusting the snow and terrain far more today and being more patient at the start of the turn. Nerys in 'Walk in the Woods' Blue Shadows on the Trail Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 DAY 102 : SUNDAY 09 MARCH 2014 12 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ As of today 13.06 m (514") has fallen at MQ in Higashiyama Day 20 of the Royal Visit Today was Nerys' final day on snow for this Hokkaido visit and for her last supper she feasted on Kiroro Snow World powder. Ian joined us for the morning session and it was great to see him back on skis and deep in the snow. New snow overnight, no wind, the sun shining, blue skies, and an untracked 'Walk in the Woods'. I couldn't have scripted it better if I tried. Ian Ian Nerys letting the skis run Nerys Ian and Nerys on the track out of 'Walk in the Woods' They've had quite a bit of snow at Kiroro. Here's a shot of Ian standing below the bell 'tower' on 09 December 2013 and today Yours truly and Nerys And back to 'Walk in the Woods' for more powder Ian Nerys has been putting in the hard yards on and off the groomed runs throughout this visit in all snow conditions and all terrain and here's the payoff for all her efforts - and yes she's smiling under that facemask Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 So Mike when are you going to make an honest women of Nery's? Surely she's a keeper? Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Great Mike Nice last day for Nerys as well Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 So Mike when are you going to make an honest women of Nery's? Surely she's a keeper? She's a keeper, and her next chance is 2016 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Great Mike Nice last day for Nerys as well Cheers. Yeah fabulous time and a fabulous end. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 DAY 103 : MONDAY 10 MARCH 2014 4 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ An early start from MQ taking Nerys to Chitose for her 7.55 am flight back home to Wales. In the three weeks she was on Fantasy Island we received 227 cm (89") of new snow, and she skied 16 days at six resorts, three of which were new to her - Otaru Tenguyama, Sapporo Kokusai, and Sapporo Teine. The drive from Chitose to Kiroro Snow World to meet up with Ian was snail like with 30 cm of heavy snow closing the expressway and diverting rush hour traffic on to Rt.5 Ian had 3 runs on the lower mountain before I arrived at 10.30, and then we spent the day lapping the gondola and skiing 'Hangman'. The snow was a little heavier than yesterday but still excellent. Ian Ian and yours truly Nice N' Sleazy http://youtu.be/ew5K0sflLqg Otaru local and Kiroro Snow World season pass holder Hiroki getting in on the action Link to post Share on other sites
ordinary_skiier 1 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Love the Nice & Sleazy vid. Two more sleeps... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 DAY 104 : TUESDAY 11 MARCH 2014 11 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Back to Kiroro Snow World with Ian for more 'Jarch' powder Ian in 'Walk in the Woods' Link to post Share on other sites
sevenbeers 1 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Mike, we are lucky to have you and your reports. But you sure do make it hard on us who can't be there. Couldn't you make it look a bit less fantastic. (The Nice N' Sleazy vid is awesome.) Maybe lodge a report along the lines of: 'Woke up this morning and there is no decent snow in any of the resorts and so spent the day in bed!' Keep up the great work. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Ian and yours truly Nice N' Sleazy http://youtu.be/ew5K0sflLqg Wow, natsukashii. Haven't heard that song in more than thirty years. Goes well with the video. Used to love the Stranglers. Got any "Tank"? Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Nice Mike Like the shots with both of you in Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Thanks sevenbeers, Metabo Oyaji, and seemore. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 DAY 105 : WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014 5 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ A beautiful morning with clear blue skies and no wind as Ian and I drove past the Kiroro Snow World turn off (always a hard thing to do), and continued on Rt 393 down to the town of Asarigawa Onsen and Asari Snow Resort. This was the first visit for both of us and we couldn't have picked a better day for a reconnaisance. The cons A long walk from the car park up a flight of stairs to the lifts No covered lifts or foot rests. No big deal on a sunny March day. Might be different on a stormy January day Confusingly the runs are distinguished by the colour of the lift not the difficulty level The pros Great small resort that skis very big Deserted Unbelievable views of Otaru and the ocean Snow Wide variety of pitch and terrain The south facing slopes had a sun crust but the north facing slopes had 10 cm of new snow on top of a dry light base. Blue Course - set up for race training Red courses and terrain park Ian at the base area with Asari dam in the background The mirrored ski center Ian at the top of the Purple course looking down to Otaru city and Otaru bay Strange Town Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 nice Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Been past there so many times but never skied it. Definitely nice views. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 DAY 106 : THURSDAY 13 MARCH 2014 1 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Another sunny start to the day at Kiroro Snow World, and after a lap in 'Walk in the Woods' to check snow conditions on the NW facing aspect I took the gondola to the top of the mountain, put on my skins, and started the easy tour to the summit of Yoichi-dake (1,488 m). 75 mins later and I was ready to drop into the large bowl directly below the summit. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas. The clouds rolled in, it started snowing, and it was like skiing inside a golf ball. I skied the hard packed ridge line down to a different gully and skied mid-thigh powder back to the Asari No. 2 Express chair. Great tour and great skiing. One of these days I'll manage to ski it under blue skies. DAY 107 : FRIDAY 14 MARCH 2014 0 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Met up with Geoff, Jayne, Chris & Robyn at Kiroro Snow World today. They're over on holiday from New South Wales, Australia and today was their last day on snow. They've had a week at Furano, a week at Rusutsu, and a week at Kiroro and seen all types of snow during their visit. We started the day laying the skis over on the Nagamine groomers. Perfect conditions underfoot for letting the skis run. But by lunchtime the snow had started and it kept coming. 15-20 cm fell during the day and we spent the afternoon skiing boot top powder on the groomers and knee deep powder in the trees. Fabulous day skiing. In the evening I went to Niseko Pizza to see Niseko Photography's Aaron Jamieson's presentation of his time spent on Greenland last year. Fantastic pictures and videos of his experiences of what is a beautiful part of the world. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 DAY 108 : SATURDAY 15 MARCH 2014 4 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ 'Jarch' keeps on delivering with another 20 cm overnight at Kiroro Snow World. Ian getting deep in 'Hangman' Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 UPDATE : SATURDAY 15 MARCH 2014 At the suggestion of gaijin from the Teton Gravity Research (TGR) forum who feels that : 1. my students and I are missing out on a whole load of fun because we're skiing the Hokkaido powder on mid-fat shaped all mountain skis, and 2. I'm doing my students a diservice by recommending they ski on an all-mountain ski not a powder ski even though I've never skied on one, I spent Saturday skiing Kiroro Snow World alternating between the 185 cm Line Mr. Pollard's Opus powder skis (144-118-141; r 17m) and my own Coreupt The Caspers Justin Dorey twin-tip skis (112-79-105; r 20m). We'd had around 20-30 cm of new snow overnight on top of a thin sun crust, with various densities of powder from the week's storms beneath the crust. The Line skis were heavier than mine (a combination of more ski and a heavier binding) and I was pleasantly surprised how capable they were pivotting, edging and carving on the groomed runs. After a couple of laps warming up on the groomed runs and the powder on the fringes, Ian & I headed into 'Walk in the Woods' and 'Hangman' to ski the powder. Adopting a pole planting style of skiing the Lines were very lively and responsive, popping in and out of the powder. The platform developed quickly under the skis and they were easy to turn, both pivotting and edging. With more ski on the snow than in the snow at the start of the turn, the acceleration in the fall line for the Line skis was markedly faster than the Coreupts, and it gave me a greater appreciation of what my students feel when I ask them to let both skis run in the fall line on and off the piste. The Line skis were good fun, but the fun I'm looking for is from a more immersive powder experience and for me the narrower platform of the Coreupt skis allowed me to get deeper into the powder. In addition, my students and I spend a significant amount of the day on groomed terrain so an all-mountain profile is more appropriate for our needs. A very worthwhile exercise, and I'm glad gaijin suggested it. Thanks. And thanks to Ian for getting the footage. Test Pattern [VIDEO] [/VIDEO] DAY 109 : SUNDAY 16 MARCH 2014 5 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Another great day at Kiroro Snow World, this time with Damien who is over from Hong Kong for his second visit of the season. There was still plenty of powder in the trees, albeit a little heavier after the tempertures rose overnight. We spent the day skiing the groomed runs, with Damien getting more relaxed and confident each run. Great first day. DAY 110 : MONDAY 17 MARCH 2014 1 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Happy St Patrick's Day Light snowfall overnight, sunshine and warmer temperatures this morning. Took a day off snow today, but joined Damien at Niseko Annupuri for the lunch buffet. He reported great skiing with soft conditions on the deserted groomed runs. I drove over to the Windsor Hotel at Lake Toya after lunch. Great views back to the Niseko Resort Area, Mt Youtei, and Shiribetsu-dake from across the lake. Link to post Share on other sites
onehunga 26 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Interesting video there Mike. How did you decide what length for the Line skis? Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Thats great mike Yeah I have been looking a footage of how deep I am with different boards and am convinced I can ride alot smaller for a deeper experience. What was the run out like on the flat any better with the planks? Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Interesting video there Mike. How did you decide what length for the Line skis? Cheers onehunga. It comes in 3 lengths - 178 cm, 185 cm, 192 cm Going from my 173 cm skis to the 192 cm seemed like too big of a jump, even though I see guys shorter and lighter than me skiing on 190 + cm skis. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts