New Expansion
NOW OPEN FOR THE 18/19 SEASON "ITS A GAME CHANGER FOR MT. SPOKANE"
"ITS LIKE A WHOLE NEW SKI AREA"
Freeride Media
flight had actually landed. I have never seen so many people in one line all waiting to reschedule flights; the whole town of Sandpoint could have been in that line trying to get to Sapporo. There has got to be a better way, we all thought, we’re never going to get there waiting in this line! So we started to throw out ideas. My brilliant wife heard a rumor about a train. We had nothing to lose at this point, so we bailed for the Tokyo train station. Navigating the crowded Tokyo subway system with ski bags was an adventure all by itself. They were literally stuffing people into the subway car in order to shut the doors. I’ve never felt like a sardine in a can before that moment. Somehow we were able to purchase the last few tickets available and we were off on a bullet train flying at over 100 miles an hour through beautiful Japan. After a few really close transfers, trading a bullet train for old wooden seats, and about 14 hours, we woke up to snow white. The whole city of Sapporo was buried in snow with more falling. Finally we grabbed the transport up to the resort town of Nesiko. The falling snowflakes were the size of pingpong balls. On the way, the banks were so high, it was like traveling through a tunnel of snow. When we arrived at the hotel, we downed some coffee and jumped in our ski gear to hit the slopes — after three exhausting days of travel! On the lift at Moiwa Ski Resort, we were all smiles, discussing which run we should take first. We heard the sacred trees were the place to ski. Our first run was perfectly gladed. Turn after turn it was over-the-head deep, basically skiing by braille, hoping to not hit a tree. I couldn’t stop laughing! Is this some kind of joke?!
This winter enjoy
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new runs
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acres of scenic new terrain Bottomless snow in Japan. On the chairlift ride back up, we could have been an advertisement for your local dentist with our big powder-eating smiles. We forgot all about our crazy travels. The rest of the day it was snowing hard with free refills. That night we met up with my friend Andy of Soul Powder Guide, who was our ski guide for the rest of the week. He and his wife took us to this small famous Japanese restaurant. His wife is from Japan, so she ordered some traditional dishes, along with some questionable ones. From cow tongue to fish pancakes our bellies were full and spirits were high after numerous bottles of sake. The week didn’t let up — it just kept on snowing. Every day Andy took us to different ski resort. Moiwa, Niseko Village, Kiroro Snow World, Niseko Annupuri, Kokusai, Rusutsu and night skiing at Grand Hirafu. We skied so much powder it was a blur. The sun did come out for an hour that week when we were skiing in Annunpuri. I finally got some blue sky powder shots and it felt good to have some sun warm the face. My favorite resort was in Rusutsu. The trees turn into mushrooms, the pitch was steeper and the snow was bottomless. The whole week was like being in a snow globe and someone just kept on shaking it. Welcome to JaPow! n Howard Stoddard has traveled the world in search of powder and epic photos. He once owned the Alaska Backcountry Adventures heli operation and now splits his time between Sandpoint and Driggs, Idaho.
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JANUARY 2019 SNOWLANDER 5