Hokkaido 2010 Pt. II

Nothing like a little secrecy to keep the tourists away from the goods.

So, obviously I never got that down time I mentioned in my last post, had much better things to do than type more rubbish to brighten your day. The few days after that last post were fairly predictable, we rode the best snow ever (each day the snow seemed to get progressively lighter) until we couldn't any more, then soaked weary bodies and refueled with cold beer and convenience store fried chicken.

Japanese beer is awful, just ask the boys. Serious faces for serious businesses.

Backcountry Steve, (aka me) after a satisfying lap of box swizzle sticks in the park.

On our second last night we hooked up with Jake McCarthy for a couple of hours night shredding and Liam fired off a few rounds. We were really stoked to see Jake absolutely ripping, and charged up like we've never seen. Keep that shit up cuzzy! Big day on the hill, rode 10:00-20:30, stoking hard.

Aki and I coordinated our outfits. Aren't we cute.

Japanese woods are extremely considerate with their spacing, very inviting.

On LK's last night we went out for a slide and hooked up with my buddy Aki and his girl Naomi and thrashed it some more. We rode the very last chair for the night, of course scoring faceshots until the end. The trip was by far the best quality, and most consistent snow we'd ever scored in Hokkaido, the trip of our lives so far. No stress and no pressure (aside from Liam having us up at the crack of dawn every day, amping to get up the hill), just sending it every day and loving it.

There's a human photographer in there busting through whiteroom #659, LK very happy.

LK had all the bitches after him ey!

Liam and Mike bailed on the morning of the 4th, so Aki came to get me and we rolled over to Higashine for the day (which was epic, as expected) before heading back to Teine. The next couple of days riding there with Aki tour guiding were super fun. We scored good snow and got to hit some fun drops and natural hits.

The view from the top of Teine over Sapporo and the Japan Sea.

From the chair at Teine you can check the surf, only a 40 min drive away. Bit chilly though.

On my last day there, the wind was off the hook so the main quad lift was closed. Aki proposed a small hike, which turned into a 1 1/2 hour slog to the top of the hill followed by a run of untouched blower. Needless to say, those turns were the best I had there. They were a great couple of days riding with the local crew, and a really fun mountain! That's all for now, I'll be back at you really soon.

The crew after reaching the top of Tenei on foot. Amping for those turns (after a brief coma).

I got to check out the Sapporo Snow Festival again. It was really cold, really crowded and there were very impressive things made out of lots of snow.