Backcountry guides

[sava 0]

I think this year, people will start going into the weaker areas just because the other places are getting tracked out.

 

A guide is worth it imho. It costs what $2k to get there with a week's accom? $150 for a day isn't that much if you don't know what you're oding.

[mattlucas 0]

I just don't think that you should be telling people to hike up to the peak twice a day like it's a controlled area.

Because it's not. Unless you ride straight back down to the top of the resort. And next to nobody does that.

 

I havn't done any seasons in Niseko but I did do 3 weeks of shitty skiing up there a couple years ago. Wish I hadn't gone. Honshu was much better that year.

 

The Recreational Avy course is a good course. I too did it but back in the late 98 or 99.

 

You obviously know what you are talking about. But you have to remember that many people reading these forums don't have a clue about avy safety. And all they see is the untracked dry powder that was promised to them in Niseko

[Jackie 0]

I agree with Sava. If you're only visiting for a short time then a guide can show you safe areas which are what you're looking for. After that you know how to get there. The guide can also take you to areas that those with little or no backcountry experience wouldn't be able to assess the safety of.

 

I know people who've been caught in an avalanche in Niseko. They just ducked one rope to get there. It's an area in Annupuri which loads of people go to...over the past year or 2 it always gets tracked out really quickly. My friend and I went there the previous day but took a safe® route out cos it was really obvious that it was ready to slide. The people who got caught had such a close shave. They had to dig out one person with their hands - they were soooo lucky that his head wasn't under the snow. They had no equipment and no beacons...it's right next to the run so I guess people think it's safe. Fortunately they all made it out.

[nikeii 0]

All I can say is read the morning report at all lifts in the morning which includes snowpack, layers, wind and most importantly where the bad areas are. Then decide what you are going to do.

If the report says dont duck then don't!

 

If you read the reports and have enough experience or are with an experienced person, you may decide not to use a guide. These days most of the guides whom work for cashed up tour companies in Niseko are from Australia and are unfamiliar with the area and dagerous areas.

[Jackie 0]

At Niseko information is posted at the lifts which is great. I think the report in Japanese is fairly comprehensive. It certainly has a lot more information than the very brief English version! However, for those whose Japanese is up to reading the reports I do think that it's a bit of a false guarantee to rely on them. I do realise that's not exactly what you were suggesting:

 Quote:

Originally posted by nikeii:

If you read the reports and have enough experience or are with an experienced person, you may decide not to use a guide.

 Quote:

Originally posted by nikeii:

These days most of the guides whom work for cashed up tour companies in Niseko are from Australia and are unfamiliar with the area and dagerous areas.

I don't know how true that is but it's a scary thought!

[Fattwins 0]

Even Niseko does barely any avie control work on the stuff that they open. In Japan everyone should ride with the basic gear. When someone heads over to the annapuri peak usally others follow suit. The myth that Niseko is the only resort opening terrain is just that a myth.

[Powdagroova 0]

Might wanna delve into the credentials of some of the niseko back-country ski guides...

 

Might wanna ask about their training, and compare it to what you'd get from a certified guide in say N. America or the Alps.

 

If they've just completed an ARAC and are calling themselves a guide, run, run away.

 

Ndawg

[Powdagroova 0]

In other words, an ARAC course, and a year of riding Niseko doesn't cut it.

 

Might aswell stick that ni cen yen up your ass

[SerreChe 2]

Just curious, how did you break ur back dude?

[SerreChe 2]

Oh and by the way, going with a UIAMG (or other certs) guide with 20 years experience does not guarantee your safety in the BC. Trust me on that one. People tend to let their guard down when going with a guide when in fact they should be as alert as usual.

 

There was a very interesting article in one of the threads on that topic last year.

[Powdagroova 0]

Serra,

 

I agree that no one should let their guard down, simply because they are being led around by someone with a badge... But you have to agree that a certain standard has to be upheld with respect to mountain guiding?

[Powdagroova 0]

Re the back, it wasn't very bad, just badly fractured vertibrae. Broke it fooling around bamboo/kendo fighting up on some river rafts on the side of the Shiribetsu river when I was raft guiding...

 

That fall on my ass guaranteed my return to the professional life. I was too irresponsible for the life of goofing off!

[powda tele 0]

I'll second the vote for Nao as a good Niseko guide. His English is good enough. He's fun.

 

By the way, I've seen a metre-deep fracture at Hirafu, directly between where you first hit the ridge above the top single chair (if you hike up) and the top Hanazono chair. That area was closed, but the gate to the summit was open. Plenty of people were dropping in before the summit and riding/falling their way down into the slide path that had only slid that morning. That slide was on the resort side of the mountain, and within 100m of the piste. Patrol were doing their best to warn people, and to keep people from ducking ropes into bad areas that day, but people will always (naively and stupidly) manage to lay tracks into dangerous areas, even if they are just off-piste.

 

For once, I agree with Toque. Niseko isn't as safe as it looks. Nowhere in Japan is, really. And Niseko has it's fair share of avalanches every season. If you look at the maps that show where avie deaths have occured in Japan, you'll often find those crosses clustered around the resorts. You better know what you're doing if you go off-piste, or get a guide.

[Fattwins 0]

I think and here is my 2 cents that everyone ducking into trees in japan must have basic avie kit. Its not controlled at all and should be treated as such. I dont ride with people who have zero gear. If the patrol catch you and you dont have kit then you loose you ticket, in my books that is fair. You take the risks of what you do and by having kit you understand the risk that you are putting yourself into.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

I couldnt belive some of the places people were skiing at Happo yesterday. Cutting right across the open face next to the avie shoots/dam and peeps 100 meters directly below them filming

 

Lets stupid

[Fattwins 0]

Yes well if they can see it then they do it. We can only blame the people who went there first and made it look fun. as soon as that happens then its all over.

[eskimobasecamp 0]

that face was tracked out to hell by the end of yesterday, never seen it like that before - mr whiskers was there and he said it looked like the cat tracks, once you ducked the rope... it was so packed full of people. yehhh i saw some people traversing across it and doing really stupid stuff up there this weekend.

[mattlucas 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Fattwins:
Yes well if they can see it then they do it. We can only blame the people who went there first and made it look fun. as soon as that happens then its all over.

Hmmm
I wonder who that was
Something that obvious couldn't stay hidden forever