 Poster: A snowHead
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Mike Pow, Thanks. Good and useful stats.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Saturday 04 April through to Thursday 09 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
0cm in this time period at MQ
Significant melt at MQ during the longer, sunny days of Spring. I can start to see the path again.
But thankfully neglibile loss of snow on the mountain.
The corn cycle is well and truly in with great turns from the top of King 4 right back to the bottom of the Ace quad. Non-stop, wind on your face, no one around, not a cloud in the sky turns. Fabulous 
Hanazono and Niseko Village both closed on Sunday 05 April.
Both have aspirations to be Four Season destination resorts. Niseko Village has two seasons at the moment (winter and Summer) and Hanazono has one (winter).
Neither do or want to operate during the glorious month of April into early May. The perfect time for their future clientelle from SE Asia to experience a winter vacation. Quite possibly for the first time. And quite possibly the first time they would have seen snow.
The Easter holidays also fall during this time period.
Two words lazy and amateur.
And Tokyu by virtue of keeping Hirafu open doesn't escape my scorn.
Mid-week the Family Run and chair are closed. So too all of the lower King area and lifts.
The future of skiing is beginners and families and at the moment there is no dedicated, lift accessed beginner terrain where the majority of visitors to the Niseko Resort Area stay.
I feel sorry for snow schools like NBS who've made a commitment to stay open while others have closed up for the winter, and who have to provide a compromised service due to Tokyu's lack of vision and ineptitude.
And some days the grooming is woeful.
Sort it out guys. FFS
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Friday 10 April through to Tuesday 14 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
0cm in this time period at MQ
Sunny skies and great turns to be had for at least a couple of hours each day.
Longest period without any snowfall all season - 13 days.
Yotei on Friday hopefully.
Before the pow returns 
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Wednesday 15 April through to Sunday 14 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
0cm in this time period at MQ
A mixed Spring bag of cloudy grey skies, light rain, and sunshine these past 5 days.
Had some beautiful sunsets recently.
Moonrise above Mt An'nupuri from Goshiki Onsen
Spring melt at the foot of Mt Yotei
Sunset on Mt Yotei
The No Friends on a Corn Day TR
(actually, the No Friends Solo Up Yotei TR)
Thursday night was cold and clear, and Friday dawned sunny and cloudless.
I left the Hangetsu trailhead off Route 5 at 9:30 for the boot pack up the NW face of Mt Yotei. The walking was great with minimal breakage of the snow surface.
Caught up with a Japanese snowshoer from the Toyako region half way up the hill and we shared thoughts and stories over a break of plain white bread, chocolate and coke - him - and chocolate and water - me.
63 years old. I hope I'm able to still climb Yotei in 20 years.
Niseko Resort Area from the slopes of Mt Yotei
MY prize for the three hour bootpack was the north-facing dog leg gully that has tantalised me on every trip to Kutchan.
The entrance was rocky, wind blown and hard packed. Even at 12:30pm under sunny skies.
Looking back up about a quarter of the way down
If I said that the skiing was awesome I'd have a bigger nose than Pinocchio. Exciting and challenging yes. The fillings held though.
The snow finally softened and dodging embedded rocks and small rocks racing me down the gully aside, the skiing was fabulous.
The lower I got the steeper the sides of the natural half pipe created by many winters of avalanche and erosion became.
I was making huge GS turns 20-30 feet up the sides of the gully, when the 'Spidey Senses' started tingling. I could see the gully twisting and turning ahead of me, but something just didn't feel right.
Turning higher on the side of the gully I came to a stop with the tips of my skis just over the edge of a dry waterfall.
The snow had melted and broken away from the face of the waterfall exposing sasa, trees and rocks and a 30-40 ft vertical wall below me.
In the right conditions, a rock star could have launched into the abyss, stomped the landing, and skied the remainder of the gully.
These were not the right conditions and I was not that rock star.
I clicked out and climbed out of the gully. Once on top of the gully I clicked back in and followed the river course until it was safe to drop back in.
The line (the dry waterfall is three switchbacks from where I took this pic)
The pitch flattened out and I cruised the last couple of km through the forest until I reached the rice paddies in the valley floor.
Bidding a farmer a hearty 'konnichiwa' as I walked across his field to the road I had time to reflect on the line before the clouds rolled in.
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Monday 20 April through to Thursday 23 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
0cm in this time period at MQ
Monday was sunny and glorious with some great turns to be had top to bottom.
Tuesday cloudy, and yesterday it chucked it down.
Tokyu's decision to create a white ribbon of death down to the Alpen hotel has bitten them in the back bottom. Barely enough snow to ski back to the lift. Won't last another week.
The good news though is light flurries in the village, the freezing level dropping and 27cm forecast between Saturday night and Monday morning.
Watch this space
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Friday 24 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
0cm in the past 24hrs at MQ
Not strictly true. It got cold again and snowed but nothing settled.
Beautiful, crisp, sunny Spring morning and off to Kiroro to see if they can manage their snow better than the amateurs at Hirafu.
The answer, a resounding YES
Not a patch of brown to be seen on the groomed runs and most of the off-groomed was still skiable.
Great grooming on which to compare the three skis we demoed today:
Rossignol Radical Alpha Ti (124-70-112)
Head Supershape (121-66-108)
Atomic D2 Race SL (123-67-108)
All great skis, but the Atomics win hands down. Just confirmed what Ian and I felt the first time we demoed them at the start of the month.
Popped off the groomed and found 5cm of velvet powder on top of a creamy spring base. Fabulous.
Not all the lifts are running on week days but this was reflected in the JPY 2,300 ticket for 3 hrs of superb spring skiing.
Ian M skiing beside the waterfall that's appeared in the spring melt (not one of my better efforts)
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Saturday 25 April and Sunday 26 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
0cm in this time period at MQ
But it's been snowing since 11am and it's sticking.
Wet in the village, but hopefully some legit pow up top.
Tomorrow will be 6 months since I first clicked in for the season.
It was a bluebird powder day way back in late October, fingers crossed for the same tomorrow
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Monday 27 April 2009
Grand Hirafu, Niseko Resort Area
4cm in the past 24 hrs at MQ
Woke to clearish skies, a coating at MQ, and the promise of pow
Glen and I drove to the base of the Ace Quad to find that it was the only lift running in Hirafu.
The higher lifts were on hold and scheduled to run. Sometime. Maybe never 
So we got back in the car and drove to Kiroro instead.
Fortune favours the brave.
A foot of fresh in the car park, nobody on the hill and JPY 2,800 for a 5-hour ticket.
All the lifts we needed were running and there was heaps of legit, knee deep, light pow to play in.
Just Glen and I out playing, so a jabonk fest as far as the pics go
And then the sun started to come in and out. Tempting us.
We drove out of the car park under clear skies and through tracked, unmelted snow.
The stars are out, the air has cooled.
Hirafu or Kiroro tomorrow?
I'll sleep on it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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wowzer. Just read that entire thread start to finnish. Phenomenal. Hokkaido looks amazing. Is it possible to get teaching jobs in japan with CSIA lvl 2? Or do you need level 3. I want to be there so badly right now. Thanks for a fantastic thread!
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You know it makes sense.
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gdizzle, you can pick up jobs with CSIA L2.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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great! Would i need to learn some basic japanese?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Its been snowing in Japan!!
Where are you MIke Pow? Give us some of your awesome shots and a snow report!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wot he said ^^
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Weather yoyoing in Japan at the moment.
Warm one day, stormy the next.
Heading up to Niseko tomorrow. Report to follow.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Not there this winter unfortunately.
Home in Wales looking after my folks.
Skied the Brecon Beacons last Monday. TR to follow soonish. May be able to get up there today too.
Over to you Whitegold.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
| Heading up to Niseko tomorrow. Report to follow. |
Mike's set a high bar for the pics Whitegold, are you up to the challenge
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Mike Pow wrote: |
| Home in Wales looking after my folks. |
Hope everythings OK
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Thanks Mosha.
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FAQ
