Photo TR: Hokkaido 1/12-1/27

[benk]

After getting skunked for the past 4-5 seasons in the PNW we decided to trade Juneuary for Japanuary and travel to Hokkaido for two weeks. This was our first trip to Japan but thanks to many TR's and SnowJapan forums we were able to make the most of it. We planned one week in Niseko, a couple travel days in Sapporo, 4 days of touring in Daisetsuzan National Park, and 2 days in Furano.




Complete set of trip photo can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benjami...7632746414270/

01/11-01/12: Travel day


arriving at BDL


Our first two days in Niseko it snowed 30-40cm overnight and was bluebird during the day
01/13-01/14


The third day Niseko only received 10cm's overnight and was still sunny so we followed Clayton's advice and took the BDL van an hour north to the smaller, less crowded resort, Kiroro. It was dumping here, waist deep and all the fun tree jibs you see in the movies.






When we returned to Niseko, it was snowing heavily and didn't let up until the following morning. The skies cleared, the backbowls opened and I had some of the best runs of my life. It was too good to stop and take pictures, luckily we had GoPros.
01/16


01/17 Night Skiing:






Grand Hirafu Village


We finished the Niseko portion of the trip at Rusutsu via BDL Van, by this point I had put down the camera in favor of skiing.

After 7 straight days of skiing we took some travel days to explore Sapporo before heading up to Tokachidake Kamihoroso Onsen

01/19-01/21


Sapporo Brewery




Ramen Alley


01/22:
Took the Chuo bus from Sapporo Station to Furano and had a pre-arranged bus from Tokachidake Kamihoroso Onsen pick us up from Furano Station. There's also a scheduled bus from Kamifurano Station that runs three times a day but with 3 bags each it would've been a tight fit on a public bus.

There are two lodges open year round at Tokachidake, Tokachidake Ryounkaku and Tokachidake Kamihoroso. Both have great onsens with views of the surrounding peaks but we found Kamihoroso to be a bit cleaner and updated. The staff spoke very little English but we got by with hand gestures and google translator. Our reservation only included breakfast and dinner but every morning they had a packaged lunch waiting for us along with ice cream bars when we returned from skiing. We couldn't believe how well they treated us here.

The night we arrived the moon was almost full so we went for a sunset tour.






The next day we headed up into the alpine. The clouds lifted throughout the day and temps stayed around 0-10F.
01/23










Tokachidake Ryounkaku Onsen in the distance


Dropping down to Tokachidake Kamihoroso Onsen




Our third day at the lodge we decided to head up Furanodake, the main peak overlooking Tokachidake. The trailhead is aprrox. a mile down the road from Tokachidake Onsen. From here, you cross a creek and take one of the many skin tracks up the ridge line staying mostly lookers right.
01/24










Coming off Furanodake we followed a guided groups tracks from the day before. There are many closed out lines coming off the top so we chose carefully. Following a couple tracks, we had knee-deep powder all the way to the creek bottom where we traversed out to meet up with the road that took us back up to Tokachidake.





A look back on Furanodake. We skinned the ridge lookers right and skied the prominent ridge lookers left before dropping down one of the chutes lookers bottom right of the photo.


No pictures were taken at Furano, just some video which is still in the works.

Sapporo Station

[rushbikes]

SICK photos bud! Hopping on a plane to Niseko for 5 days at the end of this week. Curious, how did you guys find your way around the backcountry? Did you have a guide or just wing it? What was the avy risk like? Any advice for a first timer in Niseko? Psyched!

[jSki]

Japan TR of the year! Amazing photos and skiing.

[RootSkier]

Amazing. Can you estimate the cost of that trip?

[smmokan]

That looks fucking awesome. Great TR, and great pictures.

[PowTron]

Pretty...fucking...rad.

Well done and jealous as hell.

ps) Nice Caylor stoke

[DeathVan]

Hell Yeah !

[rushbikes]

Amazing. Can you estimate the cost of that trip?

Just got done w the logistics traveling from the Eastern US and it's running us just shy of $3k per person for 6 days in Niseko and 3 days in Tokyo, all in. I imagine there are cheaper lodging options, but we couldn't find a good way around the $1k r/t flt from NYC to Tokyo and $150 r/t from Tokyo to Hokkaido on JetStar. Transportation is the bulk of our cost. You'll probably save a few hundred if you're flying from the west coast.

[benk]

SICK photos bud! Hopping on a plane to Niseko for 5 days at the end of this week. Curious, how did you guys find your way around the backcountry? Did you have a guide or just wing it? What was the avy risk like? Any advice for a first timer in Niseko? Psyched!

Jealous! Can't wait to go back. We went unguided in the BC, we were lucky enough to have good visibility the first couple days of everywhere we went so were able to get our bearings. We also researched many videos and TR's to get an idea of what was at Tokachidake. We did consult Hokkaido Powder guides before going to Tokachidake but they were out of our budget. We didn't see any instabilities, some slough but the snow is so light you hardly notice it. Glide cracks were a big concern at Furano and Niseko though.

Amazing. Can you estimate the cost of that trip?

2-3000usd with CC points being used for airfare

[SKIORFORGETIT]

wow

looks unreal

[9922]

WOW, what fantastic TR. Great photos.

Very jealous; some will say they hate you.

[supermodel159]

Excellent photos!

[pogs4ever]

lol i just friended you on facebook the other day.

fucking amazing shots. night session shot takes it.

[Mike Pow]

Most excellent.

Great pics.

And great to see you got the goods.

[shroom]

daaaannngg

[bostonjohn]

Looks like an awesome trip....GOOD WORK

[STLHD]

Awesome shots. That was one of the best TRs I've read/seen yet.

[M_R]

FKNA!! shit now I'm thinking Japan vs. west coast for my annual escape from my east coast doldrums.

[grskier]

Wow, that looks like an amazing trip! nice shots, very quality stoke on both sides of the lens.

[TDhMike]

Those first couple pics of you guys bombing out of the trees are so awesome. Great TR, makes me want to go.

[Angle Parking]

Great pics. Always wanted to ski Japan. You mentioned going Kiroro to avoid the crowds. Can I infer that Japanese resorts are busy?

[PlayItLeo]

Amazing. I'm so jealous it hurts.

[BFD]

good call staying here Tokachidake Kamihoroso. We spent a week there I think it was $40 a day per person. Kind of felt like a seniors home at first but they treated us right and great value. Would of been nice if someone there spoke English so you could know what the hell you were eating for breakfast. Nice trip.

[TahoeJ]

Now I remember why I like to come here. Damn, that was good.

[noparking]

looks amazing