Honeymoon! New Zealand and Fiji, Dec 17 - Jan 1 2015-16

Snowboard Japan Jan 9-15, 2015

I believe the phrase, "A trip of a lifetime" is used too often when describing an experience. It implies that we should only experience such things once in our lives and be satisfied knowing it was a once in a lifetime deal. For the 4 men on this trip, there is no doubt in our minds that we have found our muse to fill our lives with as many adventures as possible united by our shared interest in skiing and snowboarding. When I look back I hope our trip to Japan was the first, but certainly not the last story to tell.

For the short version of the story, Jon put together a quick video of all the highlights.

VIDEO

For the full story.. read on.

Our group consisted of (pictured from left to right) myself (Kevin Ings), Jon Bender, Justin Masunaga, and Kent Venook. Some of us were previously friends, fraternity brothers, coworkers, but ultimately we shared the desire to seek out the best snow in the world, experience a new culture and have as much fun as possible in the process.

We traveled separately arriving from San Diego, San Francisco area, and Singapore. Our final airline destination was New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan. Through our private tour group, we had a bus service from the airport to our first home for the week, Niseko. Jon, Kent, and Justin had arrived on Saturday and had a extra day of skiing/snowboarding on Sunday while I traveled. They got their ski legs under them in the extreme powder conditions and learned quickly it was something we had never experienced before. 

Unfortunately, that excitement led to a miscue and Justin charged what appeared to be a mid level drop into powder and it ended up being much bigger than anyone suspected. He tweaked his knee and there was concern of his status moving forward for the rest of the trip. While he was a champ for the rest of the trip after getting a knee brace, he had to be cautious for the duration. Judging by the picture below it didn't stop him much, as this was just two days later...

For me, the trip had just begun.

Sunday, January 11th, 2015

I met up with the crew on Sunday around 6pm and we headed to our lodge for the first night. We stayed at a place called "Pension Banff". We later learned "Pensions," in Japan, refer to smaller family owned bed and breakfast style lodging in which some or all of your meals are included. It was a small 4 bedroom lodge and as in almost all places in Japan, it's shoes off when you get in the door, especially when using the restroom. Jon would be dissapointed if I didn't mention the electronic heated toilet seats and various other features offered. After getting settled, we headed to the local town of Niseko to rent gear and find some local eats. We found a seafood style restaurant and had some of the freshest and traditional seafood you can find. Highlights include slow cooked raw scallops, salmon sashimi, crab legs, and fresh clams. After that it was home to bed to get up early for our first real day.

Monday, January 12th, 2015

Woke up at 7am and we were greeted by our guide for the week, Hayden Buck from Black Diamond Tours. Originally from Canada, Hayden lived in Japan for about 8 years, mainly in Sapporo, and now resides in Munich. We couldn't have asked for a better guide. Not only did he know the terrain, the surrounding area, and speak the local language, he was just one of the boys and we are happy to call him a friend.

After discussing the options for the day, we settled on the mountain of Rusutsu which was about a 20 minute drive from the lodge. There was a light, but steady snow for the entire day and Rusutsu did not disappoint in introducing us to the deep powder of Japan. The snow was incredible and we hit it hard all morning. Lunch on the mountain in Japan is definitely different from back home and we all enjoyed the local Rusutsu Pork Curry.

The afternoon was even more epic. Hayden went back to the car and got us packs with avalanche gear consisting of a beacon, snow shovel and probe. From there we took a lift and then had our first boot pack hike of the trip up the backside of a ridge a few hundred feet up. The hike took about 15 minutes and the final view from the top left us speechless (photo below). We stared down at deep, untouched snow and 1 by 1 took the decent. You couldn't pay us to wipe the smile and snow off our face. We were hooked on finding more fresh lines. 

You may notice Justin is not in the picture.. His knee was bothering him, but don't worry we found him about half an hour later...

After a full day on the slopes in Rusutsu, we headed back to Banff, but not before a pit stop. We stopped just to get gas, but a local street vendor was selling Yakitori, traditional Japanese style kebabs fresh off the grill. Simple, but incredible taste.

For dinner, Hayden recommended a local spot, JYU, which specialized in Okonomiyaki, described to us as a fully loaded Japanese pancake topped with all sorts of fresh vegetables and either meat or seafood. Each table had a grill plate that the Okonomiyaki cooked on right in front of you as you sat on the floor. Day 1 was in the books and we headed home to get some sleep.

Tuesday, January 13th, 2015

We woke up early, had breakfast, packed all our gear, and loaded the car since we would be heading to Furano at the end of the day. It was a short drive to the mountain of Moiwa where we got first chair at 9:30. Moiwa was a very small resort with only 2 chairs servicing the whole mountain, but plenty of terrain to fill a day. In fact we only used 1 chair all day and did several shorter boot pack hikes to explore the whole mountain. Again, the conditions were awesome and we were able to get fresh tracks all over.

We broke for lunch and Justin packed it in for the day since he was still being cautious with his knee. For the first time we loaded our packs with snow shoes and Hayden grabbed his split board and skins. After a ride on the chair to the top, we traversed to the base of where we would start our hike. The goal was to hike high enough on the backside that we could board down to a local Onsen (Japanese natural hot springs) on the other side of the mountain. The hike took about 45 minutes and due to the wind blown snow conditions, we decided not to hike as high as we had planned. We could still get to where we needed to go from there so we strapped in and had a sweet powder bowl ride, road the street edge, and literally rode up to the front door of the Goshiki Onsen.

Hayden explained the proper etiquette and left us to enjoy the relaxing hot springs. We posted up in a bath outside and came to the realization that it was going to be hard to end a day of snowboarding any other way after that. We piled in the car and had a long drive to Furano ahead. We had to just eat a snack dinner on the road because of the weather we were behind schedule. If you have never seen Japanese snacks, they can sometimes look like food from another planet. Bender grabbed a bag of what looked like possibly cheese flavored funyons. After we all tasted them, Hayden laughed and told us they were in fact “spicy tuna egg” flavored and to be honest, they were damn good. 

The drive was taking a long time and we all were getting restless when I noticed Hayden kept looking up the hillside as we went around the mountain turns. Due to the massive amount of snow around the mountain streets in Japan, there are avalanche barriers that are basically angled gates that allow for the build up of snow so it doesn’t all slide to the street. Or for a snowboard bro, a perfectly shaped knuckle to drop off. It’s 9pm and Hayden pulls over and just says “this is it” and we throw on our gear. It wasn’t long before Hayden had made a boot pack half way up the hill just above the lowest barrier. Bender was the first to hit it, followed by Justin on skis (photo below) and myself. 

We had new life and the last hour of the drive seemed quick. We checked in to the Pension Lavender and went straight to bed.

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

Up early and great breakfast as usual at the Lodge. It hadn’t snowed for a couple days near Furano so Hayden recommended we take a longer drive to a mountain called Asahidake.

Even the drive itself was awesome.

Asahidake is the tallest mountain in all of Hokkaido and is officially an active volcano, evident by the various steam pockets in the valley below the main peak. We got there around 10:15am and loved the vibe; very few cars in the parking lot, tons of snow, and only 1 tram that serviced the entire mountain of endless possibilities. We geared up and loaded the tram which came every 20 minutes.

Any doubt that we had picked the wrong place to ride was erased when we looked over and saw pro snowboarder Kevin Pearce. This was the first, but not the last Pro rider we would see over the next few days. We got to chat for a bit, took a picture and then left him to enjoy his day as we unloaded the tram.

It is picturesque when you walk off the tram and hard to describe how incredible it was. When you arrive at the top of the tram, you are still just at the base of the main summit, but we will save those details for Thursday.

Our day consisted of several shorter boot pack hikes, traverses, and at times getting slightly lost due to low visibility, but the rewards were some of the best so far. The powder was some of the best, the fact that there are no “runs” meant fresh tracks for everyone, and the terrain was setup for some nice drops. Over the course of the day we ran into a few other Burton riders, some with full film equipment, and others just enjoying a beer and the powder of Japan. Enjoy the photos!

After another long day of riding in the books, it was Onsen time. Hayden led us to a more high-end place at a local hotel. At the entrance to the hotel was an Ice Bar made completely of, you guessed it, ice. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open but we were able to sneak in and check it out. Of course, as we are checking in for the Onsen even more pro riders come through the hotel, but at this point it almost was expected. This place had both hot and cold tubs, private tubs, indoor and outdoor hot springs and arguably the best part, free popsicles.

After another relaxing session we hit the road to go to an authentic sushi spot Hayden recommended called Toriton. On the way we stopped at a cool place that has drinkable spring water flowing fresh out of the rocks to fill our water supply for the next day.

Toriton took about an hour to get to, but was well worth it. The setup of the restaurant was 4-6 sushi chef’s in the center of a circular bar with a conveyor belt and as they place small plates of 2-4 pieces of sashimi or sushi on the rotating belt, customers just grab the plates they want. At the end of the meal, the bill is added by counting the total number of plates and their color (different colors meant different prices). You could also order special requests and lightly seared tuna was the favorite of the night. The most unique award goes to a roll with crab brains which was one of those close your eyes and eat it experiences, but it was damn good. We ate like kings and had a rough count of about 50 plates for the table.

After dinner Hayden brought us to a local snowboard shop with the plan just to “look around.” It was an impressive shop and even had a skate park in the back. As a collector of watches I bought a Japanese watch and turned the corner to see the boys looking at boards. Kent was holding something I had only seen glimpses of earlier that day. It looked more like a surfboard than and snowboard with a split fish tail on one end, and a long, wide tip at the other. The board is called a “Gentemstick” and is hand-made by a local designer named Taro Tamai. Designed specifically for the deep powder of Japan, it was not just a board; it was a piece of art and history. If there was ever a place to ride a board like that, it was on this trip and after a little chat with the store owner, Kent bought his piece of history.

Excited for the next day, we left the shop and headed back to the hotel to crash. We knew we needed to get some sleep. In the morning, we were going to hike the tallest mountain in Hokkaido.

Thursday, January 15th, 2015

This was the earliest morning of the trip and for good reason. The plan was to be out the door at 7:15 to drive back to Asahidake so we could start our hike to the summit. We stopped at the spring to get fresh water and got to the resort around 9. For the hike we grabbed snacks, and per Hayden’s recommendation a certain Japanese energy drink that he told us to save.

We rode the tram to the top, walked out to clear sunny skies, and immediately started the change over to snow shoes for the boarders and skins for the skiers. The visibility and weather was perfect in front of us, but clouds were looming behind us so there was no time to waste. 

You didn't have to get too far up to be consumed with the sulfur smell of the open steam geysers. The hike was slow and methodical near the bottom as the powder was deep.

As we got toward the mid section, the wind created a hard pack that made it much easier to climb. We were constantly going through phases of hot and cold as the wind was inconsistent. About half way, we stopped to enjoy the sights, have a quick snack, and throw back the medicine bottle looking energy drink.

It definitely helped for the final push, especially to remain focused at some of the icy spots near the top. After a sketchy section with only room enough to put one foot in front of the other, we reached a false summit and again stopped to just soak it in. At this point we were already above the clouds in every direction. We started the final climb to the top and with snow shoes the boarders could pretty much walk straight up the face.

After around 2 hours and 40 minutes, we reached the summit. The elevation at the summit is around 2291m (7516ft) which is about 700m (2300ft) from the top of the tram where we started. I will let the pictures describe what is easily one of the greatest sights I have ever seen. This was also the first time we had a complete group picture since there was a father and son at the top willing to take our photo.

As you can probably imagine it was pretty damn cold at the top, so we didn't stay for long. We swapped out our shoes for our boards and rode along a ridge to scout out a place to drop into the crater. It was hard and icy at the top, but as we got lower the conditions improved. Hayden found our spot and told us to go 1 by 1 to avoid the chances of a slide. The area was wide enough that we all got fresh tracks even with big sweeping turns. We had been using the phase “earn your turns” all week, and this was the ultimate reward. 

Due to the shape of the crater and the wind path, we hit a mid-section of hard ice and rock that was unexpected. Unfortunately it took its toll, gashing a chunk out of Hayden’s split board and sent Justin with too much speed over a bed of rocks that caused him to re-aggravate his knee. It took a while to regroup and we had another good section of powder turns before one last flat path out past the open geysers.

Justin was able to make it down enough to get him a ride down the tram, but he was in quite a bit of pain. The rest of us took a nice cruise down to the bottom and at this point it was already close to 2pm. 

We had a quick bite to eat, got some ice for Justin and it looked like everyone was done for the day. Hayden asked if anyone was up for one last run, and I figured my legs could handle one more, but I was the only one. I borrowed Kent’s Getemstick for the final run and had a blast cruising down the powder. Sore and tired we piled in the car to head to the closest Onsen. We went back to the same spot as the day before and saw the pro riders again. For dinner that night, Hayden recommended a local curry spot called Yuiga Dixon. It was a very small family owned place and the food was just what we needed after a long day.

This was the first night we got back to the hotel and didn't go right to bed. Hayden met us back at our lodge for a beer by the fire and we recapped the climb and exchanged photos. Needless to say we were wiped out, so we didn't stay up long and decided we would sleep in a bit and hit the local mountain, Furano, in the morning.

Friday, January 16th, 2015

After 4 days, our bodies were definitely feeling the grind. It still hadn’t snowed much in the area, but we wanted a change of scenery so we went to the local mountain of Furano. Considering the hike the day before and the fact that Justin re-injured his knee the plan was just to take it easy, do some minor exploring but mostly hit up the groomers and chill. This resort also had a tram, but was a more typical mountain with chair lifts and guided runs. After a few runs Hayden got a call from another guide saying that if we just signed a waiver, we could go out of bounds at this mountain which was rare. It was difficult to get to some of the off trail terrain because of the amount of small trees and Hayden led the way taking out branches in the process. You could tell everyone's legs were sore from the day before so we broke early for a break. Bender and I took one extra run in the afternoon, but we planned to leave some extra time to jump some avalanche barriers in the daylight.

We loaded in the car and after about a 30 minute drive we found a spot with a set of 5-6 barriers in a row with enough landing in between. We boot packed it to the top, found our line and Hayden, Bender and I hit the barriers. Kent decided to take advantage of how high we climbed and took a nice powder run down to the street. After that we piled in the car and headed for the big city of Sapporo. We stayed at a more modern hotel and took a quick break before walking down the street to find a Ramen place for dinner Hayden had picked out. The place was called Ebisoba and it was perfect. It could seat around 20 people around a bar and the turnover was quick, but the food was hearty and delicious.

After dinner we took a walk around downtown Sapporo. We stopped in a small bar to have a drink to wind down the day and I got to teach the bartender how to make a White Russian. We considered staying out longer, but since Saturday was our last day to ski, we packed it in for the night.

Saturday, January 17th, 2015

Breakfast as usually around 7:15 and in the morning we made the decision to take a longer drive to a mountain called Sapporo Kokusai since the snow was supposedly better. It was definitely the biggest and most "typical" mountain we had been to, but Hayden was quick to point out even with the crowds, the locals tend to stay on the groomers so we should have fresh tracks all to ourselves. We did laps on the Gondola all day and the snow was some of the best of the trip. The runs were long, easy to get to and not long into the day it started snowing. It snowed.. a lot. By the afternoon, it was snowing so much that by the time you took a lap, your original tracks were completely filled in.

Knowing it was the last day, and the quality of snow, we just had a quick snack lunch and headed back out. The last couple runs were the perfect exclamation point on the trip. Spirits were high and we all felt like kids out there in our first snow.

We left the mountain around 4 and hit some bad traffic due to the snow and got back around 6:30. For dinner we wanted to go out on top and Justin had mentioned the idea of Shabu Shabu. If you don't know, Shabu Shabu is a Japanese style fondue where you cook your own food fresh in a hot pot at the table. We went big and ordered all you can eat Japanese beef and all you could drink. Surprisingly, it was the first time on the trip we had Sake. Our 90 minutes of unlimited food flew by as we got plate after plate of beef. Happy and full, we left and met up with some of the other Black Diamond tour groups at a bar called Azumasi. We bar hopped a bit and then ended up at a place, believe it or not, called Booty. Hayden knew the bartender and the owner. We got to sit with the owner and learned that he started out as a DJ from France and came to own this club in Japan. If anything it inspired me to keep travelling and explore all of the opportunities life presents. Kent and Justin went home early and after a few more drinks, Hayden, Bender and I walked home too. It was only a matter of time before someone jumped in the snow...

We got back to the hotel and passed out.

Sunday, January 18th, 2015

Well, the trip was at its end, but not without a little more excitement. Hungover, we made it down to breakfast and then packed up to check out. Luckily Hayden had a new set of clients to pick up at the airport so he offered to give us a ride. Traffic was really bad and we almost didn't make it to the airport in time. In fact, we had to get out of the car early, run through the airport, and even take a hilarious cart ride through the airport. Call it fortunate at the time that all of the flights out of New Chitose were delayed so we had a moment to say goodbye. Bender and I ended up getting delayed for about 7 hours in the airport, but made it to Beijing that night. It took a lot of effort and help from another person in our situation to get flights for the following day arranged and a hotel room for the night. In the morning we got back to the airport, and somehow it all worked out. Luckily Jon and I were together through it all and we said our final goodbye in Beijing. I boarded the flight for LA and headed home.

My closing thoughts.. honestly just a huge thank you to Hayden and Black Diamond Tours. I know that for Justin, Kent, Jon, and me this is only the beginning.