Trip 2 - Mar 3rd - 18th 2007

It's an odd feeling standing in Cairns airport during the middle of an Aussie summer en route to Japan for the second RPS snowboarding tour. In 9 short hours i'll be swapping my boardies for a goose-down puffer jacket! Despite 20+ hours of travelling, the crew of Felicity, Trevor, Damo, Carts, Peter, Rikai and myself were itching to get on the snow. Despite only 5 hours of sleep, everyone fronted for early breakfast and we then bolted for the North Country Inn bus for our first day on the snow.

The mountain had been closed for 3 days due to strong winds and snow storms, so you can imagine how much snow had accumulated during that time! It was still dumping upon our arrival. The whole day was a blur and the temerature never got above -17°C. I never dreamed that snow could be so light. Everyone enjoyed a well earnt beer in the bus trip home.

Each evening the group would catch the courtesy bus into the town of Furano to explore the countless restaurants and bars. Those in the group who had never eaten true Japanese cuisine were certainly hooked by the trip's end.

The hospitality provided by Lee and his staff at North Country Inn was exceptional. Lee is a good o'l Melbourne boy and his intepreting skills were called upon many times. North Country is also one of the few hotel resorts that has it's own onsen (traditional Japanese bath). So it became a daily ritual to soak away the soreness in the outside onsen followed by a quick roll in the snow. You certainly know you're alive!

One of the many trip highlights was to the mountain of Asahidake, Hokkaido's highest mountain. The entire mountain is serviced by a cable car which allows you to access the boundless ridges, gullies, trees and drop-offs. Asahidake is a non-patrolled mountain and essentially 100% out of bounds, one massive playground.

Everyone marvelled at the dryness of the snow and the absolute perfection of the grooming. Being the start of spring, there was noticable lack of crowds and the feeling of freedom that was experienced every run was in stark contrast to your average day back in Australia.

Whilst Furano wasn't experiencing the 8m+ average snow depth, we were all stoked at the 2.5m on offer, especially since our trip did cop regular snowfalls which allowed everyone to get off-piste and into the trees.

On the final day, we were treated to a fresh, cold knee-deep dump. After a few first tracks down some main runs, we exercised our recently aquired local mountain knowledge (thanks to Lee) and exploited every stash we knew and more. An epic last day to end our adventure.

If Japan just experienced an average season by their standards, I can't wait to see what 2008 holds!


Cheers

Warwick Lee
Owner/Proprietor
RPS The Board Store

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