My best turns of the season. Day two at Cortina, Japan.
A little system blew through Cortina after our first day of riding so we decided to go back for seconds the next day. Our tracks had blown in for the most part but the freezing level rose and the traverse from the backside started to get noticeably heavier. After lunch in the gigantic hotel at the base we made our way back out and dropped off the frontside into the trees just out of visibility from the chair lifts. If we were caught skiing this are we would’ve most likely had our passes taken again. An infinite field of fresh, light snow through typical Japan trees with the added thrill of not being seen made for my most enjoyable day of the season so far. Japan has the goods, I will definitely be going back next year!
Cortina Resort Pow Poachers.
On the third day we hopped on a bus for half an hour to another resort called Cortina. When I arrived in the parking lot at the base of the hill the first thing I noticed was a massive hotel hovering high above the ski lifts. Skiing at this place was like something out of my dreams. Two chair lifts going straight up the mountain and a traverse at the top that you can drop in on either side. We spent the morning shooting in the trees off the backside of the resort. There were maybe two locals that ski’d this area, the rest of the people stuck to the groomers and mogul runs (this made for never ending powderific lines for our lucky group of foreigners).
Blue sky, bomb drops and big flakes. Hakuba day two.
Day two we went back to Happo resort and we were lucky enough to score some more tickets despite our reputation as outlaws from the previous day. Bryn and I did a tour of the resort (this time staying mostly on marked runs). Before lunch we scoped some water dams that were made of big pieces of stone. We made a trip back to the lodge to grab the lighting equipment and headed back one of the dams. I sessioned it as a bomb drop for awhile and after about to tries it started snowing big flakes. The anticipation of powder made my sesh much more enjoyable and the Bryn’s pictures are amazing.
Spring snow, ski patrol and sirens. Day one in Hakuba.
Our gang arrived at around 2 in the morning at the Morino Lodge in Hakuba after a 4 hour bus ride from Tokyo. In the morning I was glad to learn that the mountain was a 5 minute walk from where we were staying. After a light breakfast we made our way down some switchbacks from the lodge to the base of Happo Mountain. The light was good but it clearly hadn’t snowed in a couple of days and warm temperatures made for some slushy snow. Our crew took about three runs to scope the mountain and look for some good areas to shoot. We ended up skiing a run called Onigiri (named after the triangular rice snacks) that was apparently closed. Near the top we heard a voice come over a loudspeaker and by the time we reached the bottom of the run the local ski patrol were arriving on a snowmobile complete with sirens and a flashing red light. They explained that the run we had ski’d was in plain view of their patrol hut and that it was a permanently closed area. They took our day passes and we had to ski down the mountain. After a little reflection on the walk home we realized that we’d have to be very stealth on our trip if we expected to ski full days. Time for some ninja missions.
Heading back East, far East that is.
Well, I just got the call that I’ll be heading back to Asia this season. This time around I’ll be skiing in Japan! Couldn’t be more excited to check out some new terrain and eat some authentic sushi, yummm.
