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Last month I scored the Snow Japan giveaway: a day pass for Appi, and 1 night's full board at the Rocky Inn. I've been hanging out for snow, so when it started chucking down on Sunday, I booked for the Monday night.

 

Drove up first thing Monday. Access is really easy, about 20 minutes from the Tohoku Expressway on a good road, and properly signposted. I was on the snow by 10:30. This is the mountain from one of the gondolas. It's a stratovolcano.

 

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It was snowing when I got there, with plenty of fresh powder about. Late morning the snow gave way to weak sunshine. There were lots of tracks between the trees. The forest here is more boreal than Yamagata, with more birch and larch.

 

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Plenty of fresh snow at the top, but it was pretty chopped up. I don't have the legs anymore to handle sliding off icy moguls into chop, but there was plenty of good snow to be found.

 

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Early afternoon the wind picked up to a gale, and everything shut down bar a couple of bottom lifts. I was getting cold. We Yamagata peeps have a traditional saying which translates to: "when the skiing is shite, it's time for a beer and the onsen".

 

A couple of beers, a nice long soak in the spa, and kip set me up nicely for dinner. As the only guest, I ate with the crew. Dinner was excellent. Chef showed me his arm, bent like a banana from failing to land a 70m ski jump. He's the first person I've met who holds chopsticks with his left hand, so there are two of us in the world.

 

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Takashi, the innkeeper, was excellent company and plays Eric Clapton pretty well. I was on vocals. The Rocky Inn was very nicely kept and professionally run. Takashi skis and boards.

 

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Tuesday morning, the wind had dropped. It was snowing gently, with enough light to give good contrast, and 20cm of fresh powder. Woo hoo. Conditions were absolutely perfect for me. I was out early and able to cover the top area, fresh tracks all the way. The powder hissed like silk. My feet were in control, letting the skis run, and my mind free. I haven't been there for about 25 years. Brilliant.

 

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Had there been anyone to take a picture, this one would have been of me, an elegant figure of taste and refinement, carving perfect lines. As it was the visibility was too poor for decent photography, and I wasn't stopping much at all.

 

Being volcanic rather than metamorphic terrain, Appi is never going to have the really steep slopes of the Alps. But it far enough north to have the driest snow I've encountered in Japan so far. Seekers after ultimate thrills should probably go elsewhere, but I found plenty to entertain and challenge me. The lower slopes have a huge area, and it would be perfect for families and mixed ability groups.

 

thumbsup.gif Thanks Snow Japan, and Thanks Rocky Inn.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by soubriquet:
Chef showed me his arm, bent like a banana from failing to land a 70m ski jump. He's the first person I've met who holds chopsticks with his left hand, so there are two of us in the world.
3
I'm a lefty as well
But then you havn't met me

Good report
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Lefty as well..

 

Nice pics! I finally get to see Appi. I snowboarded there 2 years ago for nearly 5 minutes when at 9:35 in the morning I broke my leg. 'Twas a hell of a 5 minutes. ;\)

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Appi's great eh! I liked that place when I went last year despite the blizzard. I couldn't fully appreciate the powder back then, but thinking back, it was an awesome weekend that we went. The snow quality seems to be similar to Hokkaido, in lightness and dryness.

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It was snowing gently, with enough light to give good contrast, and 20cm of fresh powder. Woo hoo. Conditions were absolutely perfect for me. I was out early and able to cover the top area, fresh tracks all the way. The powder hissed like silk. My feet were in control, letting the skis run, and my mind free. I haven't been there for about 25 years. Brilliant.
I smiled heaps when I read this bit.
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If you are going to hit up Appi for a weekend then you need to go to Hachimantai Forest. It is just around the corner and doesn't have all the glamor/people. It does however have all the Off Piste terrain everyone wants to hit. They only groom about 20% of the official runs and it is dirt cheap for the day, about 2,500 yen. It doesn't have great food or accomadations but they are not far off. The runs are not long so you have to get off the trail and do your own thing. The patrol/staff have gotten a little more vocal since the deaths last year but I guess that would be expected.

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Uh Oh looks you have all oyaji qualification, soubriquet!.

\:D

Damn looks nice pow.

Wish I could make it to visit some other area in winter to enjoy different slopes not only Hakuba area.

:rolleyes:

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Thanks everyone. A couple of hours playing on the computer gives this:

 

soubriquet_85.jpg

 

Appi viewed from the NE. Topo map fitted over a digital elevation model, showing location of the lifts on the mountain.

 

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Appi viewed from the NE. Slope angle fitted over a DEM. Black is less than 20%, other classes at 5% increments. Steepest areas are 30-35%.

 

As le spud might put it, "flatter than a skating rink in Niseko". Not to be unfair here, no volcano is going to be significantly steeper than about 35%, the angle of repose.

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No problem, a Digital Elevation Model. It's a raster, like a digital image, with each cell value representing average height of that cell above sea level. Lovely things DEMs.

 

I forgot to add, the images above have x2 vertical exaggeration.

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Thanks soubri - that's a refreshing report.

 

Nice pics, Nice graphics, Nice talk.

 

Seeing the season has ended (is ending)abruptly, it's good to get that "Endless Winter" feel a la surf movie "Endless Summer".

 

Unfortunately my mind won't be entering that portal this season. \:\(

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