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After winning some tickets from Snowjapan (and getting a re-up from unclaimed tickets!! domo!), me and some mates piled into a car and headed east from Sapporo to Tomamu. With the weather the way it has been recently we certainly weren't expecting to find any blower powder conditions, we were dead set ready for some spring slush! Unfortunately, nobody thought to tell Tomamu!! The recent conditions in the Sapporo region has been warm and sunny, resulting in some ace soft, wet, slush-puppy like slopes and I expect the same has been true for Tomamu. However yesterday the freeze-thaw cycle was interrupted by the appearance of low temps and very light snow…….this meant one thing……bulletproof slopes! The slush of the previous day had frozen overnight and without the sun, it had set hard for the entire day. It was like trying to ride a giant ice-cube! So its a little unfair to judge Tomamu on this occasion and looking at the fairly consistent pitch of the treed areas, when the snow is fresh, this place would be top notch! Some really nice spaced trees on some interesting looking slopes would make excellent pow turns!

 

We basically spent the day lapping the pipe and the kickers in the park….

 

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Ben getting some good air off a kicker…...

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Alex getting not so much air…….

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I had taken a fair few more pics of the resort, including the lovely towers that blend in so well to the mountains, BUT I'm having problems with my iPhone and when I went to fix it, I found that instead of fixing the problem, it decided to delete a huge chuck of my photo library!! So muchos apologisos about there being so few of the mountain.

 

After a particularly long lunch, we headed out again to try a few of the other slopes but they weren't any better. That horrible ice-scraping noise that accompanied us everywhere put a real dampener on our spirits and we decided to call it a day pretty early in the afternoon. At the base station of the gondola, Tokachi wine had an outdoor stall and BBQ, so we plonked ourselves down there and had a few apres wines

 

 

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But thanks again to Tomamu and Snowjapan for providing us with tickets, it was still nice to be out n about in the mountains for a day. When the snow is on, this place would be great……low crowds and some good looking tree runs. Hopefully next season I can come back and experience it for real.

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Tomamu definately has some decent pitch through the trees. A powder day there would be insane, unfortunately for me Ive never seen more than 1cm of snow during my limited time there.

The surrounding countryside is some of the prettiest in hokkaido IMO

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Thanks for the report TB. I've only been there once and like you and goz say, the tree lines look good but I was also unlucky with the conditions so couldn't enjoy them. I've heard of some good accommodation and pass deals there however, so might have another bash next season.

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Nope.

Its all up market style accom/dining.

Also I think its a place to go to when the weather forcast tells you to rather than setting a date as its seems to be bulletproof more often than not

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Hi TB

Do they have a 7-11 or kwikiemart their or is it all hotel?

 

There's nothing but the hotel complex, which has it's own convini but it's more expensive than regular convinis

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Time this place right and it is good fun. We've been lucky twice - well the second time was planned luck as we decided to head there the day before.

There are a few pensions and also a small kwikemart (not next to the pensions) within a 5-10 min drive that are a cheaper option to the resort. And the pension we stayed at did offer transport to train/ski slopes if needed.

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Time this place right and it is good fun

 

Of course that pretty much applies to everywhere.

 

Yes-- but everything is relative. Although fresh snow is always good some places don't make the most of it - ie don't have good lines, or trees are too tight, or ski patrol will chase you for ducking ropes to get to the goods or it's tracked out in a few hours. At Tomamu there are some fun off-piste runs - nicely spaced trees, good pitch and not too many others to share with. Plus it's all "ski patrol" approved and consequently managed to a certain extent. However it does get snow less often than further west-- so timing is probably more important than at those places.

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Can someone just clarify "Bulletproof" I always thought it was good ie: invincible. or is it Bulletproof as in so hard a bullet won't penetrate

 

well if something is invincible, can a bullet damage it? :p

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mr. Sunday just had an inspiring story about a Chinese employee at Tomamu struggling, and finally succeeding, to learn keigo well enough to work the front desk.

Always nice to see these kind of immigrant success stories.

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