To get to Niseko and the Niseko United ski area on Mt. Niseko-Annupuri, we flew from Bozeman to Denver to Tokyo (Narita) to Sendai and finally to Sapporo. Denver to Tokyo is about 12 hours. We left Denver at noon on Thursday (or should have, but we were flying United) and landed in Tokyo at 4 pm on Friday, having slept some, eaten three meals, and watched several movies. Our flight leaving Tokyo was also delayed, much to our surprise as we had heard quite a bit about Japanese efficiency. In our experience, this cultural trait was trumped by the involvement of airlines. It was snowing in in Sendai when we arrived and we were rushed to our next gate to make sure we made our connection. We shouldn't have worried because that flight was also delayed. While in the air, they threatened to divert the plane due to weather in Sapporo. It was snowing even harder in Sapporo when we finally arrived at about 10 pm after 24 hours of traveling. Mercifully, the taxi driver recognized the name of our hotel and we managed to fit our ski bag into a tiny taxi. We rode in a daze to our hotel and admired the size of the snowbanks along the road.
Katie doing some last minute preparation for our trip in Denver.
We slept like the dead but woke up early to eat and return to the airport to catch our bus to Niseko. The skies cleared as day broke and by the time our bus left, all the clouds were gone. We arrived in Niseko in the afternoon. We checked into our bed & breakfast, or Japanese equivalent thereof, in Annupuri and immediately went skiing, eager to explore the mountain in sunny conditions. It was clear that the skiing had been quite good earlier in the day, but by late afternoon everything was tracked out and skied off.
The next morning, it began snowing lightly as we ate breakfast. Then it started snowing harder. By then time we began our short walk to the Annupuri base, it was dumping. By the time we got on the lift, it had stopped snowing. A few brief snow showers came through in the morning, but that was it. It remained warm and sunny for the next 5 days until we left. So much for skiing powder in Japan. The snow at the south-facing Annupuri and Niseko areas rapidly turned to slop. We found decent snow at higher elevations and north-facing aspects at the Hanazono area. We jokingly wagered on how much snow had fallen at Bridger Bowl since we had left. Katie said 3 feet, I said 5. The snow report revealed the truth - 4 feet. Such is life.
I won't go on and on about the injustice of it all but I won't sugar coat it either, it stung to travel halfway around the world for crappy skiing. But in the grand scheme of things, it was still an amazing trip and so the next two posts about our trip will be more upbeat.
Jet lagged in Sapporo.
Lots of snow on the way to Niseko.
View of Mt. Yotei on our first day.
I won't go on and on about the injustice of it all but I won't sugar coat it either, it stung to travel halfway around the world for crappy skiing. But in the grand scheme of things, it was still an amazing trip and so the next two posts about our trip will be more upbeat.
Into each life, a little bit of snow must fall.
Katie skis the trees.
Skiing off the summit, Mt. Yotei in the background. We saw a lot of Mt. Yotei. So will you.
View of Mt. Yotei!
View off the summit of Mt. Niseko, looking the other, non-Mt. Yotei direction. That's the Sea of Japan in the background.
Little monument-y thing on the summit, plus Mt. Yotei!
Evidence that it does, in fact, snow a lot in Niseko.
Now we're getting artistic. Is that Mt. Yotei?
One more of Mt. Yotei.
Did you ever see that old SNL sketch where Tom Hanks plays a guy with no short term memory? And he's on a game show with celebrity guest Tony Randall, and he keeps saying, "Hey, Tony Randall!"?No? Never mind. (And yes, the selective desaturation is a joke.)
So Niseko has some funky, sketchy single chair lifts.
Skiing the slush.
Katie at sunset.
Sunrise on our last day. It had snowed a tiny bit. A dusting, really.
No comments:
Post a Comment