Friday 13th Jan
Group arrival day
We had to head from Otaru to Chitose to pick up the new guests. We had two groups coming in; one with Cynthia and then my group. Most of the guests were from Colorado (10 out of the 12) and then we had 2 guys from California. My group consisted of 3 return guests from the previous season and 3 first time visitors. Everyone in my group had met each other before so it was a nice easy introduction.
We also had another guide, Jeremy from Big Sky, MT coming along to shadow before he started with his group from Ireland for session 2. Jeremy is a splitboard guide and I had worked with him in Gulmarg, India before. I was excited to show him around Hokkaido. Francisco was also with us as he was coming to Furano for a couple of days. 3 of the guys were arriving late as they couldn’t meet the pickup in time, so they hired a private van to take them up to Furano. We would meet them there. It was about a 3 hour drive to Furano and it was dark by the time we got in.
Saturday 14th Jan
Furano ski around day
It was the first day with my new group. Everyone was from Colorado and we had done our avalanche training day in Loveland before we went to Japan, so we were straight into the skiing. It was a lovely sunny day, so we had great views from the top after we top the Furano cable car and then the double chair to the high point.
From there we went straight to the Premium Zone and hiked to the top. It’s a little quicker from the Furano side, definitely a lower angle hike at least compared to the Kitanomine side. The snow was pretty tracked up but we found some nice pockets here and there, but we skied it mostly to orientate the group. From there we skied all the way down to the Kitanomine side and then headed back up for a run out the gate near the top of the gondola. Here the snow was much better, hardly anyone had been in there and we found plenty of untouched snow. We skied a couple of laps in this zone.
Then we headed back up to the Premium Zone but this time, dropped down the backside of it. We were able to get several really good turns in before traversing right back to the bootpack. That was some of the best skiing of the day. We skied the Premium Zone again and then did a couple of groomer laps from the top to the bottom. It was a nice way to start the day, hopefully we would get some fresh snow soon but nothing was on the immediate horizon…….. at least if it's not snowing and it's sunny, you get the views! Not a bad trade-off.....
The crew! From left to right; Jeremy, Jen, Steve, Dave, Amir, Chris and Gordon.
Gordon up high, checking out the view down to Furano town and the Daisetsuzan national park with it's active volcanoes. We would ski there a couple of days later.
Top of the Premium Zone, getting ready to drop in. Volcanoes in the background.
Dave at the top of the hike! Easy for him coming from the higher altitude of Denver.
Gordon sampling the goods outside the ski area near the top of the Kitanomine gondola.
Chris, good times in Furano!
- Matt
Group arrival day
We had to head from Otaru to Chitose to pick up the new guests. We had two groups coming in; one with Cynthia and then my group. Most of the guests were from Colorado (10 out of the 12) and then we had 2 guys from California. My group consisted of 3 return guests from the previous season and 3 first time visitors. Everyone in my group had met each other before so it was a nice easy introduction.
We also had another guide, Jeremy from Big Sky, MT coming along to shadow before he started with his group from Ireland for session 2. Jeremy is a splitboard guide and I had worked with him in Gulmarg, India before. I was excited to show him around Hokkaido. Francisco was also with us as he was coming to Furano for a couple of days. 3 of the guys were arriving late as they couldn’t meet the pickup in time, so they hired a private van to take them up to Furano. We would meet them there. It was about a 3 hour drive to Furano and it was dark by the time we got in.
Saturday 14th Jan
Furano ski around day
It was the first day with my new group. Everyone was from Colorado and we had done our avalanche training day in Loveland before we went to Japan, so we were straight into the skiing. It was a lovely sunny day, so we had great views from the top after we top the Furano cable car and then the double chair to the high point.
From there we went straight to the Premium Zone and hiked to the top. It’s a little quicker from the Furano side, definitely a lower angle hike at least compared to the Kitanomine side. The snow was pretty tracked up but we found some nice pockets here and there, but we skied it mostly to orientate the group. From there we skied all the way down to the Kitanomine side and then headed back up for a run out the gate near the top of the gondola. Here the snow was much better, hardly anyone had been in there and we found plenty of untouched snow. We skied a couple of laps in this zone.
Then we headed back up to the Premium Zone but this time, dropped down the backside of it. We were able to get several really good turns in before traversing right back to the bootpack. That was some of the best skiing of the day. We skied the Premium Zone again and then did a couple of groomer laps from the top to the bottom. It was a nice way to start the day, hopefully we would get some fresh snow soon but nothing was on the immediate horizon…….. at least if it's not snowing and it's sunny, you get the views! Not a bad trade-off.....
The crew! From left to right; Jeremy, Jen, Steve, Dave, Amir, Chris and Gordon.
Gordon up high, checking out the view down to Furano town and the Daisetsuzan national park with it's active volcanoes. We would ski there a couple of days later.
Top of the Premium Zone, getting ready to drop in. Volcanoes in the background.
Dave at the top of the hike! Easy for him coming from the higher altitude of Denver.
Gordon sampling the goods outside the ski area near the top of the Kitanomine gondola.
Chris, good times in Furano!
- Matt