@Guernseyfreerider, those chutes in Teine are magnificent: never skied such deep, safe snow in as steep a pitch. It seems to stick like glue but so light at the same time.
Almost as good as the couple of inches of snow we had over night
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Guernseyfreerider wrote:
@mooney058, did you use Asahikawa as a base? Thinking of staying there next year
Did use Asahikawa for the first 3 nights. Excellent place for smaller resorts like Kamui and Pippu or for Asahidake. I did not drove to Asahidake from Asahikawa. Instead stayed the last 2 nights at K’s house hostel 1km away from Asahidake gondola. Would possibly do the same. It is circa 40 min from Asahikawa but if it snows, driving is interesting… mostly the visibility bit.
Flying into/from Asahikawa was brilliant - much less people, less hassle.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Sun 28-01-24 5:53; edited 1 time in total
Still tons of fresh in the Swamp Forest if you have skins to get out
Next line
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
BobinCH wrote:
mooney058 wrote:
Instead stayed the last 2 nights at K’s house hostel 1km away from Asahidake gondola.
Staying there tonight. Where’s the best place to get food locally?
No food localy - there is a mini shop inside the hostel (open till 19.30), full kitchen available to cook your own stuff. Instant noodles, canned sardines, rice, etc.
Lunch at the bottom station. Possibly could have some food from the ground floor snack place at the gondola station and reheat it at K’s. Otherwise 7eleven at Higashikawa.
Thought of checking nearby hotels but survived with basic options available at K’s.
After all it is free
After all it is free
On my last morning yestarday(?) went for a short walk to check a mini shrine. Thought google played a trick on me. Then finally saw the shrine
Last edited by After all it is free on Sun 28-01-24 6:08; edited 1 time in total
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@mooney058, thanks. Is the mini shop or gondola snack place better stocked?
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Mini shop has frozen food as well that you can cook a real meal from. Gondola snack place on the ground floor was my lazy solution - just get some fried chicken etc, reheat at K’s and pair with chips/crisps and beer from wending machines. Still can’t believe - beer is 1.5-2 EUR in such places!
Edit - mini market is DIY dinner, while gondola snack place is reheated takeaway. Different approaches
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
mooney058 wrote:
Mini shop has frozen food as well that you can cook a real meal from. Gondola snack place on the ground floor was my lazy solution - just get some fried chicken etc, reheat at K’s and pair with chips/crisps and beer from wending machines. Still can’t believe - beer is 1.5-2 EUR in such places!
Edit - mini market is DIY dinner, while gondola snack place is reheated takeaway. Different approaches
Thanks. That’s perfect
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
mooney058 wrote:
On my last morning yestarday(?) went for a short walk to check a mini shrine. Thought google played a trick on me. Then finally saw the shrine
Shrine to the snow god?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@Gored, quite possible
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Guernseyfreerider, damn! Love Teine but never had great snow! Always the dream. And you got it! Those chutes/paths under old station are mega! I was the only skier in here a fortnight or so ago/mid-week. Re Asahidake, use OMO7 Asahikawa as the base for this. Ace hotel and not expensive. Free wax bar, free bus from here each morning for Pippu, Kamui or Asahidake. You can stay at Asahidake but v little at base, and it's so wind/weather affected you're taking a real chance on no lift/just touring in the wind.
Completely over did it on day 1 (just stuck to groomers)… yah know when you have new boots & your trying to break them in? 5 beers at lunch & still in pain. Boots 1 gored 0
Huge blisters to lance & pick away skin. On the plus - accommodation is fantastic. Checking the daily rate for the suite they gave us is 260,000 yen per night. Almost as much per night that I paid for the week! I think agoda dropped a clanger. I mean I've saved over £20k if going by ticket price for flights & hotel
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Patched up my kit and went for a walk up to Asahi-dake, the highest mountain / volcano in Hokkaido. Skied back down into the crater - didn’t warm me up much!!!
Patched up my kit and went for a walk up to Asahi-dake, the highest mountain / volcano in Hokkaido. Skied back down into the crater - didn’t warm me up much!!!
If you need a challenge - next time bring a harness and you can tow me uphill. That would be good for a warm-up!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Gored, except for the organised ski tour days the average price for accom I paid last two week were circa 50 quid a night is Asahikawa, Furano, Asahidake Onsen
@mooney058, wind was fine but it was farkin cold up there!!! And quite a sporting skin on the powder boards across the wind scoured top section. Everyone ditched their skis and went full crampon mode except me and 2 lovely young Swiss ladies from Zurich
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
mooney058 wrote:
@Gored, except for the organised ski tour days the average price for accom I paid last two week were circa 50 quid a night is Asahikawa, Furano, Asahidake Onsen
That K House was fab. Great onsen, good company and well equipped shop and kitchen. Even cooked myself up a local venison stir fry!
After all it is free
After all it is free
@BobinCH, well done on getting to the top! Food looks great too - pity missed your company, would have offered half of my reheated chicken for half of your venison.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
mooney058 wrote:
@Gored, except for the organised ski tour days the average price for accom I paid last two week were circa 50 quid a night is Asahikawa, Furano, Asahidake Onsen
TBH that does not surprise me. Niseko is a money trap. Having been in Tokyo, which you would expect to be a bit more expensive is 1/2 the price!
Im stuck with groomers. She has completely lost her bottle. Hard to understand how far she has regressed after her injury last year. I dont want to wander the mountain on my own or leave her on her own, so now stuck with best to make do. I will say the Taj is probably the best naan bread ive ever had! Hopefully night skiing on empty slopes will get her out of her refusal to turn regression.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Can you share with us which hotels/guest houses you have stayed at. It looks like K's House Hostel and OMO7 Asahikawa. Any others?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Loved OMO7 earlier this month. Cheap price, good room and great breakfast...
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
wiigman wrote:
@Guernseyfreerider, damn! Love Teine but never had great snow! Always the dream. And you got it! Those chutes/paths under old station are mega! I was the only skier in here a fortnight or so ago/mid-week. Re Asahidake, use OMO7 Asahikawa as the base for this. Ace hotel and not expensive. Free wax bar, free bus from here each morning for Pippu, Kamui or Asahidake. You can stay at Asahidake but v little at base, and it's so wind/weather affected you're taking a real chance on no lift/just touring in the wind.
Also got dust on crust in the Teine chute despite having toured up to it due to closed lifts. Surely it must get tracked out quickly being so easy to access when the top lift is open?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Not stopped snowing for last 2 days.
I quite like the lifts run 8am to 7.30pm - no rush to get up the mountain unless you a want first tracks. Conditions are no worse at 6pm than they are at 10am.
Had to call it early yesterday after catching an edge & hearing a pop with a burning sensation on the outside of my knee. Also cracked the top sheet (again!) on my board, so no idea what exactly happened!
Everything is stable enough, just a bit of stiffness & a limp, but Ive taken a rest day today as a precaution & got on the inflammation pills.
Will try a bit tomorrow as it’s my last day. If Im not feeling it, then it’s probably time for retirement & investigate sno bikes & where they can be used! Annoyingly I bought new boots for this trip - so only used a few days! If I do carry on, then I’ll probably need to buy a new board now….
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
So many snowboarders!!!
To the left of the slope I saw a girl take put her board face down & as she went to step on it to rebind, it flew off the side down into the trees.
I tried to help, but there was way of knowing where it went. No idea how that panned out. She did ask if I thought the shop would charge her for losing it. Yep. Hope you took out insurance! Nothing more I could do to help.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Tokyo getting slammed at the moment. Supposedly tumping it down & my flight for Sapporo is at risk!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Gored, my last trip the cancelled the later flights of of the Sapporo. We headed to the airport early and JAL put us on an earlier flight. Might be worth thinking about?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@rogg, ATM Tokyo is getting battered until lunchtime. So earlier flight is likely to be filled with today’s stragglers who’s flight was canned. Looking at the news, City seems to be rain mostly, but lots of cancellations anyway.
I guess whatever hit tokyo, I guess is whatever came from Hokkaido. Weather apps said snow Wed & Thurs & TBH it did not stop snowing until last night UK time (this morning here!)
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Gored wrote:
Tokyo getting slammed at the moment. Supposedly tumping it down & my flight for Sapporo is at risk!
The chute directly under the old station was amazing, 40+ degrees and absolutely loaded with snow, face shots all the way down and no one on it.
Do you mean literally directly under the cables of the old lift? Isn't there a cliff band in the way towards the top of that chute?
My photo from a few days ago, sorry for low res:
I would advise great caution for anyone venturing under the old cable car, I had a sticky situation around there myself last year.
@BobinCH, my experience re. Teine is that the obvious clear chutes do get tracked out pretty quickly (like within an hour or so), but it's usually significantly less busy compared to other resorts like Furano, Rusutsu etc. Snow in the trees doesn't get tracked out quickly at all, but the trees are mostly pretty dense with lots of bushes etc.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Mike Pow wrote:
Gored wrote:
Tokyo getting slammed at the moment. Supposedly tumping it down & my flight for Sapporo is at risk!
Where you headed to on Hokkaido?
Been to niseko. Flight is from Sapporo - panic over, Haneda looks OK & despite the snow, it didnt really stick in the central areas of tokyo.
Tokyo getting slammed at the moment. Supposedly tumping it down & my flight for Sapporo is at risk!
Where you headed to on Hokkaido?
Been to niseko. Flight is from Sapporo - panic over, Haneda looks OK & despite the snow, it didnt really stick in the central areas of tokyo.
Shame
would have had a pint
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Mike Pow,
Oh well, flying home today.
Went to Pizzakaya (riponggi tokyo) last night. Few places that do GF for her.
Decent pizza, but 10 craft beers on tap & you can order a flite of 3 for 1800 yen.
Pizza was decent & the wings other people was eating looks good.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Just used a freezing cold toilet at Ruinettes. Miss those Japanese toilets so much
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
BobinCH wrote:
Just used a freezing cold toilet at Ruinettes. Miss those Japanese toilets so much
I’d settle just for a heated seat Amazon sell some self install ones.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I would also recommend Asahikawa as a base after having spent some nights here during this year's trip. I didn't stay at OMO7 mentioned above but stayed at a couple of business hotels near the main train station for around £40/night. No lack of options in the city centre. Parking seems to be around 600 Yen for 24 hours, quite a bit cheaper than central Sapporo. It's a small city, so driving from the centre out to the mountains is a lot quicker compared to Sapporo.
There's the nearby ski areas of Pippu, Kamui, Asahidake and Furano. Plus a lot of ski touring options within an hour's drive too (especially towards Horokanai, one of the coldest and snowiest places in Japan!).
Asahikawa snow and ice sculpture festival was fun, and much less hectic than the Sapporo one.
There's a bit of a heatwave going on right now, after a couple of weeks of cold and excellent snow - two consecutive low pressure systems are dragging up warm air from the south over the next week. Asahikawa reached 7C today (Sapporo at 9C), cue a lot of snow melt and flooding on the roads...!
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