Time to check back in with another blog post...... well the Pugski crew has been and gone, it was a really fun trip and it all went too quickly. I have just finished with my second group and now have a day off in Chitose. My final group arrives on the 7th Feb and then it's back on for another 12 days. My return to the US is not far away now, I'm leaving on the 18th Feb and just have 1 day back home in Denver before it's off to India......
I did find it a little hard to keep up with the blog during the Pugski trip so I decided to take some time off from writing with the second group. I do have plenty of photos and video's to share, so I will add that instead of a ton of writing. If my energy is up, I might try writing again for the 3rd session, but we'll see. Here's some of the highlights from session 2.
For this group, I had 4 people and they were all return guests and friends from previous trips. Gordon is a ski instructor from Telluride and he's done 2 sessions in India with me, 3 in Japan and 1 in Chile. Dave is another skier, but this time from Denver and he's done a trip to India with me and 2 trips to Japan. Jacques is a snowboarder from LA and has done 1 trip to Chile with me and Paul is an ex-patroller from Mt. Rose, Nevada and was on my first trip to Chile. It was a nice small group.
Jacques had arrived a few days early to Otaru and Paul was coming in late. Gordon and Dave met me in Chitose and I drove them to Otaru on day 1. Paul was taking a cab that night. Unfortunately Gordon's ski bag didn't arrive so he took the day off. Dave and I went skiing up at Tengu. We met this awesome little dude on the tram. Gotta love the 1 piece jacket/hood/goggles combo (and sweet Spiderman gloves!). Just when you think you've seen alot....
We had a great day skiing in Kokusai the next day with some awesome backcountry laps. There was no new snow in the forecast for the next day, so I put forward the idea of the magical mystery tour. There were a couple of resorts close to Otaru that I hadn't been to before that I was keen to explore. The guys were up for a new challenge so off we went. The first resort was Snow Cruise Onze, about 20 minutes north east on the coast road from Otaru.
The resort is pretty small with only 2 lifts and 180m vertical. It had some really nice trees at the top to the lookers left of the big lift (quad chair). We skied a few laps in there before the patrol caught up with a few of the guys and (apologetically) asked us to ski in them. Thankfully we only had a 2 hour ticket so we weren't missing out. Dave showing us some nifty moves!
Paul out the front of the main lodge. Inside the cafeteria they had a steak for only 1,000 JPY (around $9). The food was really good.
Even though it was a bit overcast, the views of the ocean and the Ishikari Bay were really good.
Tried to buy one of these crazy toys from the vending machine but sadly, it was not working. I've always wanted a "Palasite Creature" toy......
About 45 minutes further up the road was Bankei, the closest big ski resort to Sapporo. Unfortunately we did not like Bankei so much. The resort has a weird layout and it very busy. There are a few sections of trees but it is clearly signposted that they do not want you going into any of them.... Boo! Plus there are cat tracks running through most of the best ones that disrupt the flow and don't make for fun skiing. Oh well, can't win them all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
We did enjoy the rock music they played from the tours of the chairlifts. We had some AC/DC, The Rolling Stones and some other good bands. If I had to design a t-shirt it would read "Bankei: came for the skiing, stayed for the music!"
Only a few cm's in the forecast, but Kamui delivered the goods yet again! Dave scoping his line.
Paul enjoying being in the backcountry.
The crew, from left to right: Jacques, Dave, Paul, Gordon.
Jacques and I went to scope a different set of trees in the middle of the resort that I had not been into before. Turns out they were really good and were a nice find. Another half a point scored for Kamui.
Then we moved north to Furano. The sun was out so we decided to head to the Tokachi mountains and do some touring.
One of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. On a bluebird day, it is breathtaking.
Jacques practicing his kickturns on a steep face. He did great for his first time doing technical skinning.
Unfortunately a storm was brewing and we got shut down about an hour into our hike. The winds increased to gale force and we were nearly blown off our skis. We decided to get out of there but still enjoyed a nice run (albeit a short run) in some fresh wind-blown powder.
We met NBA legends Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mugsy Bogues out skiing one day...... Amazing who you bump into in Japan.
The Tokachi sneaky foxes! These two were unreal. When we were leaving, we came around a tight corner and then we saw the male sitting in the middle of the road. I slowed right down, expecting him to move. He did not. I honked my horn, but this time, he got up and started to move towards the wheels. I couldn't see him so I had to pull over into a little layby. As soon as I stopped, another smaller fox (assuming the female and his partner in crime) came running out and accosted us.They were very tame and obviously looking to be fed. We didn't feed them and took some photos and let them be. Amazing to get up so close to these beautiful creatures and amazing to witness their little act!
Beautiful animal..... in such good condition. Then we headed to a beautiful natural onsen in the forest. A great way to cap off the day.
Feeding ourselves at the sushi train in Furano.
Jacques tried valiantly to beat Gary's record of 25 plates of sushi and made it to 22. Great effort!
- Matt