Japan – Powder Days and Onsen Nights

Japan has been a trip I will never forget. The mountains of Hokkaido seem to have endless runs of powder skiing and pillow drops. The culture of Japan is a combination of ancient rituals infiltrated with western pop culture. As I boarded the plane in Jackson Hole, I was filled with anticipation and anxiety. Japan would be my first opportunity to see if I had what it would take to be part of ski movie. My confidence was high after returning home from Russia with a win under my belt. I may have been a little overconfident jumping into something I had never done before. I thought filming would be a lot like skiing in a competition; find a line, memorize it, and ski it.

I’ll never forget the pressure I felt the first night arriving to the small apartment of Niseiko. The Sweetgrass Team: Nick Waggonner, Ben Sturgulewski, Ian Hock, and Mike Brown had a lot of confidence in my ability without ever seeing me ski. I was overwhelmed with the pressure I felt to meet their expectations. My first day filming was with Nick. I followed him through the deep snow of Niseko to a zone he thought would be perfect for me. As we reached the top of the mountain, he pointed to a 20 foot cliff drop. “What do you think about that?” I didn’t want to disappoint him, so my first shot turned out to be a 20 foot drop. I stuck it and I’m pretty sure I was tight in the air. I spent the next four hours dropping every pillow and cliff in sight. I was feeling great and looked forward to seeing the footage. I still haven’t seen the footage, but apparently it didn’t look as good on film as it felt in real life. I was going to have to work a lot harder to get a shot in the Sweetgrass film.

Day 4 -Team Sweetgrass, as I like to call the boys, had spent the last month in Neseiko and were ready to check out some new areas. So at 4:30 in the morning we loaded the vans and headed north towards Furano.

The team was joined by Bubbles, a local snowboarding legend and Atsushi, one of the happiest Japanese snowboarders I have ever met. At 10:00 we pulled into a parking lot with ten foot snow banks and to my surprise a big red tram. The mountain looked promising and the tram meant I didn’t have to skin to the top of the mountain. Yahoo!

“Don’t forget to bring your skins,” Ben yells over his shoulder as we head for the tram. “What was I thinking?” Why would we want to use this big beautiful tram when we could skin. Luckily, we did purchase a one trip ticket to the top.

We were lucky and found a great zone filled with multiple pillow drops and pow lines.

As the sun began to set, the temperatures dropped quickly and we were running out of lines to ski. I headed down the slope in search of one last line to ski before the sun was gone. I found an incredible tree with a huge pillow of snow in the center of it’s branches. My original thought was to build a jump to launch myself onto the pillow and from the pillow out of the tree.

After building the jump, I couldn’t picture how I would actually get enough air to land on top of the pillow. I could only envision myself splatting into the middle pillow. We decided we could all use a little comic relief after working hard all day. So I decided to go for the splat move.

Beat from a long day of skiing, we headed back to our new house. To our surprise Bubbles and Atsushi prepared a Japanese dish for us.

Day 5 – We headed to a pillow zone Bubbles had found the day before. It was the first bluebird day I had seen since arriving in Japan. I was so excited to see the blue sky. We split into two crews: the Japanese riders in one and the girls in the other. Bubbles and Atsushi had lines to ride from scouting the previous day and were ready to shoot at first light. Ben, Ian, and Mike joined Bubbles and Atsushi. The girls team headed up the drainage in search of lines.

The morning skin was gorgeous. The mountains were blanketed in a fresh coat of snow and the view was amazing.

After the boys finished shooting the Japanese riders, Ben and Mike joined us and we spent the day skiing powder and pillow lines.

We had a successful day shooting and headed for the Onsen (hotspring/bath house). The Onsens are one of my favorite parts of Japan. The Island of Hokkaido is riddled with natural hot springs. The Japanese have been using the hot springs to bathe for hundreds of years. Before Japan was invaded by western culture, everyone would bathe together each night in the onsens. The Onsens are segregated by sex. Before you enter the soaking pools, you must wash yourself while sitting on a small stool with a small shower hose. It is very cool to see all women in a line sitting on their stools and scrubbing.

The Onsens are a great way to soothe your worked muscles after a hard day of skiing. They will put you right to sleep.

Day 6 – The crew split once again. The Japanese riders joined Ben on a scouting mission to Furano and the girls team headed back to Asahidake in hopes of skiing some longer lines above tree line. The weather forecast called for another bluebird day, but as we reached the top of the tram it was apparent that mother nature had her own ideas for the day. At the top of the tram there were multiple geysers and we decided to go check them out.

The clouds closed in quickly and visibility got worse. We headed for small cliff ban to try to add some color to our shots. We made the best of the day, but when the light is bad it is hard to make anything work.

Day 7 – Ben and the Japanese crew were happy to have found a cool zone in Furano. So at 5:30 in the morning we loaded the van and headed for a new zone. The sun was shining and Furano seemed promising.

When we arrived, Ben showed us the zone he had found. The lines looked great, but we were concerned with the quality and safety of the snow. I decided to join the Japanese riders and hike to the top of the peak to check it out. The hike took about 1.5 hours and by the time we reached the top, the clouds had moved in and the light was flat. I stayed at the top of the peak for a couple of hours in gail force winds hoping the light would change. I stayed until my entire core was frozen. I decided it wasn’t going to happen and headed back down to the crew. The girls had made the right decision by not heading up the peak and were able to get some really good shots. 

 

Day 8 – The day was spent scouting for lines to ski.  The weather was once again grey and not ideal for shooting.  It was not the most productive day, but there was a vending machine that sold hotdogs.

Day 9 – The snow in Furano had set up and a wind from China had blanketed the mountains in yellow sand. The girls decided it might be better to head back to Asahidake hoping for better snow. We found it!

Day 10 – The snow was great in Asahidake and we found some really cool lines to ski.

 

Day 11 – We are back in Kutchan and it is raining. I fly out tomorrow. As I pack my bags listening to the rain outside and reflect back on the trip, I am filled with highs and lows of emotions.  Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.  Team Sweetgrass is a group of incredibly motivated and talented individuals who have an eye for beauty in all of their shots.  I look forward to seeing the end result.  Track team Sweetgrass at www.sweetgrassproductions.wordpress.comI am looking forward to flying home to Jackson. My main focus for this winter is the Freeride World Tour. I will have a week to train hard before I head to Squaw Valley for the second stop of the Freeride World Tour.