More Snow in Niseko

It continued snowing throughout the night and it continued snowing when I woke this morning. If anything it had increased. But snow have never stopped me before 🙂

At 8:30 I was one of the first in line for the gondola. 10 minutes later I arrived in the first gondola at the end station. Surprise, surprise… It was snowing here as well.

It was supposed to be groomed slopes but it was crazy much snow everywhere. Knee deep. In some places as deep as up to the waist. It was actually difficult snowboarding because in some places the slope was not steep enough to compensate for all the snow.

After a few runs the snowing picked up, and so did the wind. It was like snowboarding in milk. White everywhere. No visibility. I had no idea if I was going up or down. And then WHOMP! Stuck in waist deep powder snow.


This is usually a groomed slope.

Off with the snowboard. Slowly trying to walk to a place where I could snowboard again. Resting for a while under a big tree, away from the wind. Ice in my nose. Cannot see more than a few meters. So much FUN 😀

When I got back around 11:30 I decided to call it for the day. Have an early lunch and then hit the hot bath when it opened at 13:00. If I was lucky maybe I could be alone in the bath with a chance to take some pictures.

And I was lucky. A few minutes before 13:00 I was allowed in as the firt guest. Nobody there. So I quickly went to the outside hot bath to take some photos and video.

Now I am clean, happy and tired. Sitting in the library reading, updating the blog, and waiting for the bus to pick me up at 16:00.

In summary, I have to say that this has been the best snowboarding experience in my life. I got two beautiful days with blue sky and some great back country snowboarding in powder snow. Then three days of poor visibility, but yesterday and early today was crazy fun with all the powder snow pouring down. Making it like back country all over. So much fun 😀

Snow Keeps Falling…

The rest of the day continued as it had started. With snow, snow and then some more snow. Sometimes the visibility was zero but most of the time it was just poor. But the big difference was the snow. Everywhere. A lot of it.

I went up to as far the lifts could take me. But I could not see anything on my way down. Suddenly, though the slope looked flat, I just dropped a half meter.



Once I had recovered I continued and went in to a really nice powder snow area. The snow had drifted and for a while I was going through snow up to the middle of my thighs, and splashing up on my torso and head (picture below is further down and taken during the few minutes the sun could be seen).

It continued like that the whole day. In many places the snow was knee deep. And though it got a bit bumpy it was soft bumps. Just had to use the legs as a damper. Like back country in the slopes 🙂 Why does a little bit of snow make you so stupidly happy?



At some times I just turned off the slope and into the woods and it was pure joy. Soft powdery snow that just felt like if you were riding a warm knife through butter rather than riding a board (OK, maybe a stupid comparison but I don’t care on a day like this ;-)).

Now I am just back from the hot bath. I am feeling quite happy and tired. Just waiting for the restaurants to open. I think I am being lazy today again so I just stay at the hotel. Probably try the same as yesterday, An-Non, but maybe just order a few dishes less today.

[update] I did not really manage to order less today. First I had buri (yellowtail) sashimi. Then wagyu kalbi (tender beef) with some salad. Finally I ended the dinner with grilled salmon. I am a Swede after all 😉

Now I am almost as full as yesterday and I am on my bed thinking if I should call for massage as I did yesterday. It was really good for my butt and my legs that had gone a bit stiff. But even though I have been riding the board in deep snow the whole day my butt and legs feel much better than yesterday.

35 cm!

What a difference a night makes. 35 cm of difference. It is like powder paradise everywhere 🙂

I am in for a quick and early lunch before hitting the slopes again. Hopefully when the rest are taking a rest 😉

Snow Keeps Falling…

Woke up to a grey sky today. Still I was waiting for the gondola to open at 8:30. Though today I took it much slower than yesterday. The grey sky made it almost impossible to see any contrasts in the slopes.

So I went easy on the snowboarding. Took my time in the short lines for the lifts. Taken some time to get my board strapped on. So I did not go to the peak today. Though I went to the gate to read the conditions in the back country. As yesterday it was written in Japanese, English, and Swedish :-O

Though the peak gate opened around 9:30 it did not seem worth it to climb for 20 minutes into the clouds and have no view as payment for it. Then go in quite steep slopes with poor visibility. Besides, there were almost no untouched areas left yesterday. New snow please 🙂

Instead of going to the peak I found an ungroomed slope lower down. You had to climb up a short slope from the end station of one of the lifts. That and a sign saying “Experts Only” may have been the reason why it was empty from people. I went halfway down zigzagging between trees and stopped for a rest. While I was sitting in the snow just enjoying the silence and the nature, a white bunny came jumping. About 10 meters from where I was sitting. Paying no attention to me it continued down the slope and disappeared. High point of the day 🙂

I also had time to stop for hot chocolate at a cafe in the slopes. And a lunch. There was no possibility to forget the lunch today. In the afternoon it started to snow more and more. By 15:30 I was in taking a hot bath, and though the bath had a roof some snow drifted in under it and landed on top of my head. It was a strange but quite nice feeling.

Dinner I had at one of the restaurants at the hotel. Today i had Japanese dishes. Too much of it. Usually I am with Chie and maybe some additional friends so we can order a lot and share. I ordered salad, pickled vegetables, grilled pork and vegetable tempura. Each dish enough for a person.

Now I am full. Just laying on the bed waiting for my stomach to get flat enough for me to sleep on it. And it is still snowing 🙂

On Top of the World

I know what it sounds like, the title, but that is how it felt like today. I have had one of my best ski days ever, and now I am dead tired sitting in front of the fire in the hotel lounge with a stupid grin on my face 😀

I started the day with breakfast at 7. At 8:30 I was oneof the first to get on the gondola. Doing some warmup runs in the Niseko Village slopes first and then climbing the Mt. Niseko An’nupuri peak for some great back country runs.

From the peak it was steep and quite many had run there since the last heavy snow but I was able to find some magical places with pure powder. The video is taken from the peak. About 5 seconds in you can see some nice areas to the right and further down. I had to ride the ridge to get there but it was definitely worth it.

Once I got to where I wanted to start from I took a rest to drink. And to take some photos.

As mentioned, now I am tired. Have just eaten an late lunch/early dinner. I was so caught up in the snowboarding an the beautiful nature that I forgot all about lunch 🙂

The only thing left to do is to take a hot bath. Maybe I will watch a movie on my iPad too and then read some before going to bed. I hope you have had as good a day as I had today 🙂