Niseko, Japan March 12th day 2 of 4

So after my first day of skiing in two years and having a few drinks with locals and some Europeans, I woke up at 8, bought my 3 day all mountain pass for cheap ($180) , and was waiting in the lift line by 8:20. My legs were sore but the snow the previous night expected to be an inch turned out to be a foot of fresh pow. Even with the fresh snow the wait for the lift wasnt very line due to so many lifts covering the mountain and march being the " end " of the season for many people. Crazy thought with 12 feet of snow on the top of the mountain and around 4-5 feet towards the base. Made my first trip up the ace quad lift and took a right off the lift and found the entire ski field covered in fresh pow and some groomers covered with a few inches of snow. It started off a bit dark out but went back and forth between blue bird and snowsquall. After lapping the quad and single a few times, i made my way up the single to the peak and decided to hike to the peak. It took about 15 mins from the top of the Hirafu peak.
Beginning of the peak trail


Tried to take either video or pictures from the peak but there was almost no visibility, but I was glad to head into the bowl and find waist to chest deep powder with a steep enough face to ski through with no problems of slowing down. After a few minutes I made my way into the valley between Hanzono and Hirafu where i could get better pictures.
Marking at the peak


Valley between the two resorts



After I stopped for some food and beer, I made my way back up from the Hirafu single chair to the Niseko Village single chair so i could ski over to Annupuri and explore that peak for a bit.
Beautiful view of MT Yotei

The gondola in the bottom left of the picture services the Niseko Village area


Looking into the ski field between Hirafu and Niseko Village

Starting down the peak of Annupuri

Annupuri has some great cruisers but still maintains some amazing glades and steeps, heres looking down at the base area

I skied back over to Niseko Grand Hirafu after a few runs and dipped into the trees

After a few hours I headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit and came back out just before sunset and managed to get some good pics




I headed up the Hirafu gondola and lapped that and the ace quad for another hour or two before heading in for the night, i was exhausted so I opted for food and bed instead of going out


I opted for some roasted pork with fried rice and ramen at the ramen shop right around the corner from my hotel, they had a ton of options and the meal was inexpensive


after taking off my boots I stored my gear in the drying room, which is common for hotels to have here. It felt like it was almost 80-90 degrees inside, but to my surprise my boots were not wet inside like back home after a day of skiing. Heres what the drying room looks like with a interesting board on the rack inside.



also the board inside the hotel to show everyone where you're from in the world

Japow!!  Nice....

patchrick09 wrote

Any idea what the English name for those trees are?

When I'm a grown-up, I hope to ski in Japan.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

 

When I'm a grown-up, I hope to ski in Japan.

Wait, what??? There's a place you haven't skied??

Wicked cool JaPOW

they are called Miharashi trees

are you skiing without poles?

patchrick09 wrote

Tried to take either video or pictures from the peak but there was almost no visibility, but I was glad to head into the bowl and find waist to chest deep powder with a steep enough face to ski through with no problems of slowing down.

patchrick awesome. How was it to ski for the first time in two years?

How is Asia treating you?

Some very cool photos in that report.