Shiso Lemon.
Awesome pics, too.
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Shiso Lemon.
Awesome pics, too.
Tokachidake parking in 2020 was the most crowded backcountry parking lots I have ever seen. Totally slammed with people on many of the days with hundreds of cars. We still got good skiing though. Those photos look great.
Interesting. We got to tokachidake and got a parking and even a room in 2016 without reeservation. But next day was a full on death storm. So there's that.
Yesterday and today were 14*C. WTF? The forecast is warm for a week. Rain. This year's February feels like April.
This is traditionally my coldest month of the year. I feel out of my element. Lost.
I'm usually outside right now, shoveling, taking brisk walks, splitting firewood with cold fingers.
I was contemplating taking the tarp off my grill and smoking food today.
This winter is fucked. And it's creepy.
Same up here but feels more like March.Quote:
Originally Posted by gaijin
7 C yesterday.
Roads are clear which makes for easy driving.
Storm rolling through today and tomorrow.
Rain early next week, and then it's cold & snowy.
Just a glimpse, or a throw-back, of what early February is supposed to look like around northern Tohoku.
Oh man that looks like fun. Hope winter comes back for you.
I missed out on the Onsens in the Wild - looks great! As for those chips, if I ate anything like that (and I did a lot) I'd wish I had gum afterwards to clear the funk out of my mouth.Quote:
Originally Posted by wendigo
We found the shitshow where you did as well too, we were wondering how quiet Hokkaido would have been if there were no guides to chaperone people around. Everyone we talked to had guides.
Some tourist shit when not skiing:
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And gajin, I found a decoder of the hot junk:
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So much fish paste....
... results in an amazing broth and flavor throughout all the tofu products. I admit, it's "fish lips and assholes" but still healthier (pure conjecture) than hotdogs.Quote:
Originally Posted by muted reborn
Okay, maybe it just feels healthier. But I legit love everything coming out of that stewing pot. The konnyaku is the biggest stretch for me. Even though it's technically a starch from underground "vegetable" I find it fairly unnatural in its consumable state. Like hard, fake jelly with zero flavor.
But the eggs, the fish paste items, the tofu items, all get my love... especially with some cayenne pepper shaken on top.
That double just opened last year; it's wildly unpredictable on when they decide to open it but it's worth the gamble. Unfortunately much of the good terrain gets sun so on deep days they usually don't run it due to slide danger and then it's a narrow window before the sun gets it when it clears. However, when it's on it's so good and the sheer size of the area it opens up means that even if the sun is out there's plenty of good stuff to find.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennymac
Looking for advice; next week going to Hokkaido until the end of the month. Have a rental car and solid touring partner. The freezing level goes up to 2300m (本当?!?!) on Monday night with rain so nothing will escape that front. Snow follows but not much; a few inches a day the rest of the week. The weather clears the following weekend if the forecast holds. The last week of the month looks decent.
Leaning towards Kurodake for the weekend when the weather clears but at a bit of a loss for finding something high enough to get some snow but that's still below the treeline if the visibility is poor. Furano isn't expecting much, light snow and about 4-5cm a day. The Rusutsu / Niseko area is expecting more rain on Monday and less snow the rest of the week than Furano. Maybe trek up to Nayoro Piyashiri on Wednesday and Thursday? The likelihood of dust on crust still seems high.
It was 20 degrees C yesterday in Tokyo, what a strange winter.
*****
Yeah to be clear when I said it “sucked” I mean in a relative sense :) Woulda loved to spend all day hitting the northeast facing side without the go-go pressure of everyone else around. We managed 4 runs there and 2 off the other aspect. Was a great day regardless! Those first two runs were very memorable.Quote:
Originally Posted by CascadeCrudSkier
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bef6a419a4.jpg
If you want to speak to someone pointedly about Kurodake I'd suggest contacting Gerard at Yukiumi House on IG. He knows his way around there very well, and lives in Kamikawa so may have current conditions infoQuote:
Originally Posted by CascadeCrudSkier
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That sounds closer to our 2014 experience when we saw just a handful of other skiers.Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
Just a reminder to all people who are powder hungry-- this is the recipe that kills. Not to be a downer, but keep it real the next two weeks.
You just had a dry spell, and warm temps, changing the snowpack. This dry spell has also driven you insane, making you tourists feel like you're not getting your investment's return.
It's gonna warm up again this week, then it might rain where you're at. Then it'll change to snow. And it might nuke where you're at. It's forecasted to drop a good knee-deep layer here.
And then the flocking begins. People race for what they perceive as their last chance at pow. They chase new snow on an ice layer.
Just sayin'. I see it every year.
The last thing you should be doing with the upcoming snow is skin anywhere. All of next week's snow is gonna move. With that temperature drop, nothing will be bonding anywhere. And all of it is going to be so beautifully calling our names.
^^ well said. I too am seeing this very closely, and every day.
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this is what brought the rapid ruin to Tokachidake
https://www.powder.com/stories/hadaka-no-tsukiai
That was a great tripQuote:
Originally Posted by BFD
I think I learned about it from trip reports on here. Maybe including yours? Either way, I would never blame anyone for wanting to go. It’s a unique and beautiful place that I liked enough to return to.Quote:
Originally Posted by BFD
And depending when you go can still have to yourselvesQuote:
Originally Posted by Dromond
Rain to snow 0900 JST Kutchan
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Got very warm Saturday, Sunday and Monday, +10C at the base.
Absolutely pissed down Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Then turned to light snow which has turned into 1cm/hr dry, fluffy powder this morning (Wednesday 21st Feb).
The rest of the month looks cold and snowy :)
Nuking in Tohoku right now through tonight. It came in as rain before it changed to snow but I'd still be weary of secure bonding. I just had lunch in my car and watched the 3cm slide down the windshield and fold itself neatly over itself... like a wet towel on the bathroom floor. I'll be sitting this storm out. Should make for nice gelende skiing with the kids, though, on Friday.
Just finished reading through the thread start to finish. I'm planning a trip to Japan for January 9-20, 2025 (dates are fixed due to work/family commitments) with a couple buddies, likely a group of 3 possibly 4. One of them has been to Hokkaido once a few years ago, based out of Kiroro with some touring mixed in. We will be doing a mix of resort/sidecountry and touring (guided) and have been debating Hakuba vs. Hokkaido. I realize this season is an outlier but it seems like Hakuba has been hurting for snow outside of a solid system or two with Hokkaido fairing better. I was initially leaning toward Hokkaido because the primary objective is the highest chance of skiing deep pow. We live in Vancouver and ski Whistler/Sea to Sky as our home turf so we are not going to Japan to try to get onto bigger terrain as we have that here.
The reason Hakuba came up is a guide that we have skied with before and really gelled with runs programs out of there. In addition, WhiteCap runs trips out of Hakuba and we have all toured with them out of their McGillivary pass lodge here in BC. From talking to the guide as well as others that have gone with Hakuba, they strongly rate the terrain there. Not just bigger alpine lines, but say that generally it is steeper/longer and less benched than Hokkaido. They also say that in a normal year they get enough snow for it not to really matter.
I think we will have fun no matter what we do, but given primary objective is pow vs. terrain, and we are mid-January, it seems like Hokkaido is the call?
Fuck the guide and making any plans. if you have your dates locked in just make a game time decision. Go where the snow is then. Western guides are ruining Japans skiing they are bringing kooks to all the stashes who shouldn’t be there.Quote:
Originally Posted by gramboh
Come here, put in the work and figure it out for yourself. You won’t be committed to any said location or schedule. With the modern GPS, mapping and forecasting resources there is no reason to pay someone else to do the homework for you. The terrain here is easy to figure out if you have any mountain sense and if not, you probably shouldn’t be venturing out of the resorts. I’ve been here the last 2 weeks in Hokkaido. No guide, doing my own research and able to find good zones and snow in a very low point in terms of snow fall. Now heading to Hakuba to chase another system. I wouldn’t have the freedom to move around if I can booked and prepaid in advance. Not to mention guided week is like 3-4k minimum per person. I think my wife and I will end up spending around 8k with all airfare, lodging, lift tickets and food for 21 days. Japan is cheep, easy to navigate and way more interesting if you’re not being schlepped around by some foreign guide who likely doesn’t care about your cultural experience.
In more interesting news, Asahidake was deep yesterday but pretty much everyone chasing snow in Hokkaido was there. Any every fucking guided group of Jerry’s. By 11 line was almost to the end of the cat track. It took almost 2 hours to do a lap! We contemplated just skinning the left zone but it was -14 with winds so my fingers weren’t willing to do the work to deal with change overs.
Fuck the guides, couldn't agree more how western guides are ruining the place. Japan is simple to plan, clean safe easy transportation. Plenty of good info available here. I will disagree about chasing snow. Gaigin had a good post about taking time to plan. My trips are based on touring. Last trip I planned by looking at Google Earth and finding the most vertical than a ryokan in the area where we could just ski out the door. In 3 weeks we were the only skiers staying in any place we stayed. We only saw other skiers one day and they were a Japanese crew. It was 2015 and it was a big year for snow so no need to chase anywhere. And fuck tokachidake I would not ski anywhere that busy in the US sure not going to Japan for that.
I was also bummed by the amount of white dudes showing white dudes around. And Tokachidake was the worst, the locals there must be so frustrated with us whiteys taking up 75% of every tram. It seems exploitive for non-native guides to come over and ruin the place. Sure these guides will all claim they are bringing needed tourism money to whatever region they work out of, but we all know they don't give a shit about anything but skiing pow and making money. I only saw one couple with a japanese guide and thought 'good for them!' I'd rather see locals making the decision to overrun their island not foreigners. And local guides could certainly shut down some of the obnoxious white guy behavior in onsens, which would be nice.
Next time I'll know the game better though. As mentioned over and over these guided newbs are easily avoided. I would guess it's much, much more crowded than it was ten years ago, never mind 20 years ago. So ten year old info about quiet places ain't always good anymore.
Recent upload from Kokusai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpmCqPHigsg
bolton, is that you? Or somebody else's upload?
We went to Hakuba with Whitecap. Had an amazing trip. Accommodations were fantastic (we were a group of 5 - the guide stays with you in the chalet). Hayden our guide was amazing in all aspects. You’ve dealt with Whitecap before so you know how well they run things. We only had one major dumping of snow just as we arrived but we skied untracked snow all 7 days we were there - and except for one day that a “backcountry chair lift” unexpectedly (for us) opened in the zone we were skiing we rarely if ever had other skiers in the areas we were in.Quote:
Originally Posted by gramboh
Not sure how us skiing untracked snow 7 days after a storm in an area where all day we literally saw no other skiers - even in the distance - is ruining it for others. From all appearances no one wanted to ski the amazing snow and terrain where we went.
Having skied Hakuba and Hokkaido I don’t think you can simplify it down to “Hakuba beats Hokkaido for terrain” - maybe on a grand scale but both have what you are likely looking for.
And yes you can do a ski trip in Japan cheaper than paying for an inclusive guided package - this isn’t a revelation to anyone.
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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...26f7313bfc.jpg
I'm happy anyone is out there skiing in Japan, far or close to me, as we were all probably having the times of our lives. But if you didn't see the shit show, you are obviously not part of the shit show.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennymac
I'm not going to win any friends explaining the issue in more detail, an issue I saw a thousand miles away from you, either you get it or don't and that's fine.
Not trying to post as an expert on Japan skiing scene - or even anything remotely close to one.
Just posting an anecdotal story that, as an N of 1, shows that you can spend money how you like and hire a guide and go to popular areas and still not be part of any shitshow - nor does your guided group automatically ruin it for others - locals or visitors.
We know that.
Japan is working on visa restrictions that would limit guiding by non-IFMGA guides. I have Japanese friends in the JMGA who are monitoring the process.
If this happens, guides like me (AMGA ski guide) would still have the option to enter on a working visa IF employed by a local company.
I’m completely on board with these possible changes.
Niseko 10 years ago was a joy to backcountry ski in, and now the local trade routes can be a stressful competition to give the client what they paid for and flew 12 hours to experience.
For those saying to go further afield- Guess what? Spots like Shiribetsu and Goshiki Onsen are incredible and that’s why they’ve gotten so popular.
For the majority of wankers, a two hour drive to bc ski is not realistic on a day trip, especially when they’ve already booked some dumb ass expensive dinner in town.
Bottom line -The government and local businesses need to step up and enforce the rules. We need to get these giant groups of middle aged Euros and Americans trudging around the BC out of here.
Smaller groups and Japanese centered will be the way forward.
I work for a large guide group in Niseko that is Japanese owned, but with only about 20-30% guides and employees who are Japanese.
The younger generation does have some interest in guiding, but it’s a bit limited to compared to the young folks from abroad.
Many complex issues centered around a somewhat limited resource that will be even harder to find as climate change ramps up.
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Cool to know Superior. IMO it means a lot coming from you.
My opinions mean mostly nothing, I've skied there only once.
So many of the westerner focused guiding companies in Japan seem to be hiring out people with no professional credentials to guide backcountry tours. My wife and I tried to hire a guide last minute in Central Hokkaido this year and most of what we found were people whose only training was AST or AIARE 2. We ended up finding an AMGA guide for a day, but it sounded like they were out there working with only a visitor visa.Quote:
Originally Posted by SUPERIOR
Gosh no, not me. Burton Global Team Rider Mark Sollors up at Kokusai last weekQuote:
Originally Posted by gaijin
Wait a goddamn hot-ten seconds.... that vid is a Burton-paid athlete in JP?
Glad I'm not the only one who won't get those minutes back