31st March 2011
So here I am reporting from an aeroplane of all places. With 20 minutes left before I land in Calgary I was trying to think of ways to kill the time – so a blog seemed like the best idea. Sleeping would be ideal however it will be 2pm in the afternoon when I land, better to save all that tiredness to sync up with the Canadian time zone!! – Oh Joy! In the 10 days I was back in the UK I just managed to get the sleeping pattern back for there, now I need to re-adjust yet again! I hope I am ok for my exams. They start on the 4th April.
So I am currently going through that nervous/excited feeling of yet another adventure! This one in a new part of Canada – I have never been to the state of Alberta and am certainly looking forward to Snowboarding in the Rockies. I have exams in Lake Louise and Sunshine Villiage so I will get to see 2 amazing resorts. I am really looking forward to picturesque beauty and tranquillity for sure!!
I had to close the laptop down as the plane was landing. However to continue after landing, going through customs was not as painful as it normally is and Matt was there in his Toyota Corolla to pick me up. It was good to see him and I was so grateful for everything he was doing for me. It was amazing driving through from Calgary to Banff, I loved out of nowhere, the horizon changed from and before you knew it you could see this epic mountain range in front of you. It was truly beautiful. I tried to get pictures to capture the beauty but unfortunately they didn’t do it justice. Matt and I were catching up on the journey home and stopped off at Costco to do some shopping. I managed to organise a bank account card for my Canadian Savings Account and dumped a load of cash into the account so I wouldn’t have to carry it. I converted all of the yens I had saved from Japan into Canadian Dollars – there looks like there might be enough for me to survive but its going to be tough not earning in the mountains. Matt was telling me how slammed Norquay Mountain Ski School were, and suggested I could do a couple of hours of lessons for a free pass for the mountain. I gratefully accepted the offer so I could get some free snowboarding in and check out Norquay. I am up early tomorrow to start with the school. The thought of working for the school does amuse me a little given I know nothing about the mountain or the products the school sells etc... but it should work out.
When we arrived into Banff I settled into Matts lovely little place, we had some dinner and then went for a stroll around Banff town. It is a typical ski town and I absolutely love being back in the small Canadian ski town scene. It is soo nice to be around friendly people and just those who share the same passion as you!
As we were strolling through some of the shops, I bumped into a friend from Hemel Snowdome – Charlotte Kierle! It was so random I didnt even know she was here – we caught up and she seems to be living the dream in Canada doing winter after winter and just enjoying life – sounds familiar . It was great to see a friendly face for sure!
I met Matts lovely girlfriend Mandii in the evening after she finished work and we talked for a while about stuff and now after being awake for 24hrs I am tucked up in my little sofa bed just waiting to put my head down. I will report further later but for now its sleepy time.
Much love
Koo
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
The end of an Amazing Winter in Japan
21st March 2011
Here I am a week on from my last blog and I can safely say I didnt expect to be writing it from where I am currently sitting. I am back home in the UK having cut my trip short by 12 days. I was due to leave Japan on the 30th March and do some travelling from the 23rd to the 30th – however I changed my flights and departed Niseko on the 18th March.
I received calls and messages of concern from family and friends in regard to the Fukishima Nuclear Power plant leakage resulting from the Earthquake. Since the disaster the power plant was damaged and as a result there have been serious radiation leaks from the plant. A 30km radius around Fukishima has been evacuated and there has been all sorts of news regarding the rise in radiation levels.
Hearing this news on a daily basis and constantly receiving calls and messages of concern struck fear in the visitors to Japan. However we needed to bear in mind this was all happening on the South Island of Japan of Honshu not Hokkaido. The fear of radiation being sent our way via the wind was enough to convince people to leave early.
Cue the mass exodus of a lot of staff from the NBS Ski School. I didnt want to leave but saw it only fair given I had a lot of people worried for me at home to return – so here I am. I will work in reverse and tell you about my journey and then the few days leading up to me leaving as well as my overall thoughts on my winter in Japan .
So my journey was nothing short of painful! I did a lot of sleeping – it started from Niseko to Sapporo on a bus – no real dramas, and then the flight from Sapporo to Tokyo was also pretty painless. I transferred from Haneda airport to Narita International airport in Tokyo. It was in Tokyo I was expecting madness but it seemed like it was very much business as usual. I was expecting hazmat suits but though the radiation levels have increased slightly in Tokyo there was no panic as the levels are not at a point which could affect human health. People forget how dignified and proud Japanese people are, the press internationally seems to be blowing the problem massively out of proportion which as a result has meant people have left. The Japanese press cannot do that as it will cause widespread panic. I don’t think there is a need to either the situation is contained and being handled in the best way possible.
My transfer from airports was spent snoozing again. I arrived at Narita International and the airport was calm and steady – I got into my check in queue and got speaking to a couple from Dorking, their son lives in Tokyo and they were here on a visit. They mentioned to me that our flight was being re-routed through Hong Kong as the pilots were located there. This meant my journey was going to be a 5 hr flight from Tokyo to Honkers, then a 9 hr layover in Honkers before flying from there to London which is a 12 hr flight – total journey time 26 hrs – this wasn’t even including the journey I had made from Niseko to get to Narita Airport...
I got to a check in desk and weighed in my bags only to find my board bag was 30kg and my other bag was 18. The check in lady was nice and patient as I asked to move things from one bag to another to avoid the 6000 Yen charge for overweight baggage. I made one attempt and managed to get the 18k up to 23k (the limit) however my board bag was still 2 k over having re-weighed it. At this point the people in the check in queue were laughing at me as I was in my snowboard gear with my beanie over my eyes as I was frantically trying to make the bags lighter. I shifted more weight from my board bag to my carry on and managed to get it down to the 23k limit. When she said it was ok I cried out “YESS!!” and jumped in the air – she laughed and the entire queue behind me were all laughing and smiling! It was hilarity. As she finished up checking me in I gave her a hi5 to the amusement of the onlooking crowd and as I turned away I got a few smiles!
After checking in I made use of the 2000yen dinner voucher with a pretty mean feed consisting of Carbonara and fried chicken with naan – interesting but very satisfying combo for sure! The airline gave us a meal ticket to use in the departure area as the flight was meant to leave @ 11am but was rescheduled for 9pm. As I waited at my departure gate I was on the web killing time, as I was on skype another quake struck! It started small and I was like – ahh must be a plane landing but it got stronger and stronger to the point where I got up and got away from the window – so scary! It calmed down after a minute and the panic was over. I checked the web again for news of another quake and sure enough there was one that hit Tokyo at that moment 6.1 on the scale and shook up most of the buildings in Tokyo but luckily no damage was reported. An airport announcement came through saying the quake wasn’t going to affect the ongoing services of the airport and all flights were still all good!
A couple of hours before the flight was to take off I noticed a guy from Niseko sat a couple of chairs away from me. I hadn’t spoken to him in Niseko but we got chatting. Rob Buchanan was his name and he was a friend of Becs and he worked for Pro Powder this season. We had a good old chat about the snow and what our plans were and how our seasons were and it was good to have company for the journey.
We boarded the plane for our first flight to Hong Kong – 5 hrs and I pretty much slept through the entire journey! We arrived at Honkers for our 9 hr layover – NOT IDEAL. We got another meal voucher so we had some Ramen which was damn tasty. Honkers airport was pretty immaculate. It really gave a good impression to me of China however it didnt surprise me given economic powerhouse that is China.
Jumped on the plane to the uk from Hong Kong and with Rob pretty much out the whole trip I watched 4 movies – going the distance – a movie about long distance relationships it was rubbish – love and other drugs – also pretty crap, RED and Convicted – the best of which was convicted.
After the flight I was picked up by my happy father and taken home! Was an epic journey that started @ 9am Friday morning Japan time and finished 5pm at home in London on Sunday. 41 hrs in total – killer!
The days leading up to me leaving Japan were spent doing a little bit of work a lot of riding and a lot of eating. I had basically shopped for 3 weeks when in fact I only had 3 days left, because when I went shopping I thought I would be in Japan for a few more weeks. So Kimmy reaped the benefit of all this food and I ended up pretty much cooking for her each night before I left. As well as that she got lunch too and before I left she got all the leftovers – lucky girl!
The riding was fun I remember riding loads with Kim and did loads of fun freestyle riding, and my last day was spent riding with Teruko and her friend Yoku – Teruko wasn’t too happy with riding and wasn’t into it so I was determined to get her stoke factor back. We did a couple of runs down strawberry and blue berry fields and the hits were so much fun i was whooping away and teruko would follow my line hitting the stupid hits I was just having a great time. We went to the park and had loads of fun in the pipe and trying out tricks we knew how to do on newer features. I was spinning front 3’s of the 30ft kicker which was scary but once I understood how to do it it was fun! Teruko was trying new things and doing some super cool stuff – she definitely got her stoke back for sure. In the evening I rode with Manny and Kimmy and that too was a super fun time.
Summing up my winter, I have to say it was pretty incredible – there were ups and downs as there are in any season, however being in Japan the eutopia of powder snowboarding and being able to experience the snow I have ridden is something very special and I think I will take these memories to the grave with me. In terms of the snow school I couldn’t have worked with a better group of people and for a better school – NBS really take care of their staff and employ good people with amazing personalities. I lived in pretty much ski in ski out accommodation, we had a lot of people living together which led to quarrels and mess however on the whole it was a great place to be. Japan is the home of some of the most dignified, humble, honest, kindest people I have met. They make the place what it is and its this culture and behaviour I would like to keep with me as I move on to other places. I could go on and get really melodramatic but I wont – it might make me cry .
Top memories from the season
- Snowboarding the annapuri back bowls
- CAT Skiing with Kay
- Working in Rusutsu for a week
- Snowboarding in Moiwa cornice dropping
- The countless incredible Miharashi/Super Ridge/Strawberry fields/Gates powder runs
- The never ending game of horse with Mo
- Bec and I’s birthdays – the hangovers brutal
- Meeting Angela Ashby
- Riding gentemsticks
- Watching signatures the movie about Japanese pow riding
- January and March powder
- Back 1’s of a 40 ft kicker in Hano
- The numerous tree hits
- Watching j-crew kill it
- Trying to spread the art of jibbing
- Kimmys bail down the steep section on the backside of miharashi toward Rob Roy
- Kimmys tail spins and that day in the park and pipe with Kimatron
- Getting stuck in super ridge buried for ½ hr
- Tony’s 360 on his last day of riding
- Tony’s penguin slide on the garmish jib
- Becs 27 to face smash
- Toms mad butter box skills
Its been incredible – next stop Canada for exams – will keep you posted!
Much love people
Here I am a week on from my last blog and I can safely say I didnt expect to be writing it from where I am currently sitting. I am back home in the UK having cut my trip short by 12 days. I was due to leave Japan on the 30th March and do some travelling from the 23rd to the 30th – however I changed my flights and departed Niseko on the 18th March.
I received calls and messages of concern from family and friends in regard to the Fukishima Nuclear Power plant leakage resulting from the Earthquake. Since the disaster the power plant was damaged and as a result there have been serious radiation leaks from the plant. A 30km radius around Fukishima has been evacuated and there has been all sorts of news regarding the rise in radiation levels.
Hearing this news on a daily basis and constantly receiving calls and messages of concern struck fear in the visitors to Japan. However we needed to bear in mind this was all happening on the South Island of Japan of Honshu not Hokkaido. The fear of radiation being sent our way via the wind was enough to convince people to leave early.
Cue the mass exodus of a lot of staff from the NBS Ski School. I didnt want to leave but saw it only fair given I had a lot of people worried for me at home to return – so here I am. I will work in reverse and tell you about my journey and then the few days leading up to me leaving as well as my overall thoughts on my winter in Japan .
So my journey was nothing short of painful! I did a lot of sleeping – it started from Niseko to Sapporo on a bus – no real dramas, and then the flight from Sapporo to Tokyo was also pretty painless. I transferred from Haneda airport to Narita International airport in Tokyo. It was in Tokyo I was expecting madness but it seemed like it was very much business as usual. I was expecting hazmat suits but though the radiation levels have increased slightly in Tokyo there was no panic as the levels are not at a point which could affect human health. People forget how dignified and proud Japanese people are, the press internationally seems to be blowing the problem massively out of proportion which as a result has meant people have left. The Japanese press cannot do that as it will cause widespread panic. I don’t think there is a need to either the situation is contained and being handled in the best way possible.
My transfer from airports was spent snoozing again. I arrived at Narita International and the airport was calm and steady – I got into my check in queue and got speaking to a couple from Dorking, their son lives in Tokyo and they were here on a visit. They mentioned to me that our flight was being re-routed through Hong Kong as the pilots were located there. This meant my journey was going to be a 5 hr flight from Tokyo to Honkers, then a 9 hr layover in Honkers before flying from there to London which is a 12 hr flight – total journey time 26 hrs – this wasn’t even including the journey I had made from Niseko to get to Narita Airport...
I got to a check in desk and weighed in my bags only to find my board bag was 30kg and my other bag was 18. The check in lady was nice and patient as I asked to move things from one bag to another to avoid the 6000 Yen charge for overweight baggage. I made one attempt and managed to get the 18k up to 23k (the limit) however my board bag was still 2 k over having re-weighed it. At this point the people in the check in queue were laughing at me as I was in my snowboard gear with my beanie over my eyes as I was frantically trying to make the bags lighter. I shifted more weight from my board bag to my carry on and managed to get it down to the 23k limit. When she said it was ok I cried out “YESS!!” and jumped in the air – she laughed and the entire queue behind me were all laughing and smiling! It was hilarity. As she finished up checking me in I gave her a hi5 to the amusement of the onlooking crowd and as I turned away I got a few smiles!
After checking in I made use of the 2000yen dinner voucher with a pretty mean feed consisting of Carbonara and fried chicken with naan – interesting but very satisfying combo for sure! The airline gave us a meal ticket to use in the departure area as the flight was meant to leave @ 11am but was rescheduled for 9pm. As I waited at my departure gate I was on the web killing time, as I was on skype another quake struck! It started small and I was like – ahh must be a plane landing but it got stronger and stronger to the point where I got up and got away from the window – so scary! It calmed down after a minute and the panic was over. I checked the web again for news of another quake and sure enough there was one that hit Tokyo at that moment 6.1 on the scale and shook up most of the buildings in Tokyo but luckily no damage was reported. An airport announcement came through saying the quake wasn’t going to affect the ongoing services of the airport and all flights were still all good!
A couple of hours before the flight was to take off I noticed a guy from Niseko sat a couple of chairs away from me. I hadn’t spoken to him in Niseko but we got chatting. Rob Buchanan was his name and he was a friend of Becs and he worked for Pro Powder this season. We had a good old chat about the snow and what our plans were and how our seasons were and it was good to have company for the journey.
We boarded the plane for our first flight to Hong Kong – 5 hrs and I pretty much slept through the entire journey! We arrived at Honkers for our 9 hr layover – NOT IDEAL. We got another meal voucher so we had some Ramen which was damn tasty. Honkers airport was pretty immaculate. It really gave a good impression to me of China however it didnt surprise me given economic powerhouse that is China.
Jumped on the plane to the uk from Hong Kong and with Rob pretty much out the whole trip I watched 4 movies – going the distance – a movie about long distance relationships it was rubbish – love and other drugs – also pretty crap, RED and Convicted – the best of which was convicted.
After the flight I was picked up by my happy father and taken home! Was an epic journey that started @ 9am Friday morning Japan time and finished 5pm at home in London on Sunday. 41 hrs in total – killer!
The days leading up to me leaving Japan were spent doing a little bit of work a lot of riding and a lot of eating. I had basically shopped for 3 weeks when in fact I only had 3 days left, because when I went shopping I thought I would be in Japan for a few more weeks. So Kimmy reaped the benefit of all this food and I ended up pretty much cooking for her each night before I left. As well as that she got lunch too and before I left she got all the leftovers – lucky girl!
The riding was fun I remember riding loads with Kim and did loads of fun freestyle riding, and my last day was spent riding with Teruko and her friend Yoku – Teruko wasn’t too happy with riding and wasn’t into it so I was determined to get her stoke factor back. We did a couple of runs down strawberry and blue berry fields and the hits were so much fun i was whooping away and teruko would follow my line hitting the stupid hits I was just having a great time. We went to the park and had loads of fun in the pipe and trying out tricks we knew how to do on newer features. I was spinning front 3’s of the 30ft kicker which was scary but once I understood how to do it it was fun! Teruko was trying new things and doing some super cool stuff – she definitely got her stoke back for sure. In the evening I rode with Manny and Kimmy and that too was a super fun time.
Summing up my winter, I have to say it was pretty incredible – there were ups and downs as there are in any season, however being in Japan the eutopia of powder snowboarding and being able to experience the snow I have ridden is something very special and I think I will take these memories to the grave with me. In terms of the snow school I couldn’t have worked with a better group of people and for a better school – NBS really take care of their staff and employ good people with amazing personalities. I lived in pretty much ski in ski out accommodation, we had a lot of people living together which led to quarrels and mess however on the whole it was a great place to be. Japan is the home of some of the most dignified, humble, honest, kindest people I have met. They make the place what it is and its this culture and behaviour I would like to keep with me as I move on to other places. I could go on and get really melodramatic but I wont – it might make me cry .
Top memories from the season
- Snowboarding the annapuri back bowls
- CAT Skiing with Kay
- Working in Rusutsu for a week
- Snowboarding in Moiwa cornice dropping
- The countless incredible Miharashi/Super Ridge/Strawberry fields/Gates powder runs
- The never ending game of horse with Mo
- Bec and I’s birthdays – the hangovers brutal
- Meeting Angela Ashby
- Riding gentemsticks
- Watching signatures the movie about Japanese pow riding
- January and March powder
- Back 1’s of a 40 ft kicker in Hano
- The numerous tree hits
- Watching j-crew kill it
- Trying to spread the art of jibbing
- Kimmys bail down the steep section on the backside of miharashi toward Rob Roy
- Kimmys tail spins and that day in the park and pipe with Kimatron
- Getting stuck in super ridge buried for ½ hr
- Tony’s 360 on his last day of riding
- Tony’s penguin slide on the garmish jib
- Becs 27 to face smash
- Toms mad butter box skills
Its been incredible – next stop Canada for exams – will keep you posted!
Much love people
Monday, 14 March 2011
Disaster Strikes - Sad Times
14/03/2011
So here is another instalment of the madness that is my life here in Niseko Japan. I am currently in a 5 star hotel called the Vale lying on a bed next to bec farrar (just chilling by the way) on my laptop just relaxing. She basically won a competition at the beginning of the season for coming up with the best acronym for VBG. I wont tell as its not ideal for public exposure but it was worthy of the victory. The prize was a night in the Vale hotel which I am currently reaping the benefit of along with her. Its nice to be in a luxiourious place for sure!!
As I lye here I think about how recently I have been wrestling with my mind about what to do. IT has been causing me to feel so uneasy and stressed and is really affecting my mood – however the mountain seems to be the form of escapism I need. Its incredible! Over the last few days I have been more and more content with the idea that “everything will work out” and I am going to let my time run its course and not worry so much. I need to enjoy the here and now I am in Japan and it deserves my happiness.
Currently Japan is in devestation due to the recent Easthquake and Tsunami, as well as this a volcano has erupted today and nuclear reactors are melting down. Disaster after disaster has left coastal towns in ruins, people are missing or dead and the aftermath is devastating. I was in the lounge eating my lunch as the quake hit and even tho it was on the south island of Honshu and I am in Hokkaido – the north Island I felt the tremors. I immediately checked the news only to find out the Tsunami and Earthquake had devastated the north eastern coast of Southern Japan. The following day was a powder day on a Saturday, these days are normally relished by locals and travellers on a weekend trip, however when I went out at 8am to join the lift line, instead of the 100 people you would see excited and waiting for the lift to open, there were about 20 people all deadly silent. I was snowboarding and no one was on the hill. In any other circumstance this would be great because I was getting fresh lines and no one was around, but it was lonely – it almost felt like the mountain was mourning it was soo sad.
In terms of my time here socially I havent been upto much – I havent been going out in the evenings much just relaxing and getting ready for the following day of riding. That has pretty much taken priority over anything else just because the riding has been nothing short of epic. We have had SOOO much snow! Mo was a very lucky boy when he got here because he got an incredible amount of powder days mornings and evenings. When snow is like that you have to ride, you feel obliged to therefore you find yourself riding in the morning working and then riding in the evening. The fatigue and exhaustion kicks in but its a good feeling.
The powder riding has been soo deep and epic – it makes you realise why you are here in Japan! The unfortunate thing is I think I am some sort of super hero in the pow and end up going way harder than I should I have had a couple of serious tree knocks and an incident with a cornice that could have seriously damaged me.
The first of the tree incidents was snowboarding down the gates. Recently as there has been lots of snow I have discovered the gates – these are roped off areas where there is an opening into the backcountry of Niseko – there are expensive consequences if you need to be rescued in these areas and you should be wearing backcountry avalanche gear to be safe – but we assume if patrol are opening these gates then it should be safe enough right? Stupid really! Better to be safe than sorry! Basically out of gate 4 or 5 you can access some amazing fresh open snow terrain dropping into the hanazono area of Niseko! It is incredible. I was heading down a run on the gates going through amazing open trees and was snowboarding under a low lying tree branch and hit a bump just before the branch we elevated me up and i smashed my head on the thick branch hard enough to clothes line me to the floor – insane impact – so hard a mark was left on my helmet. I was lucky 1 I wasn’t elevated up to my eyes or face otherwise i would have seriously damaged myself! I was also thankful for my amazing helmet – had i not had that on I would have been knocked out cold and without Mo around me as we were riding I would have needed rescuing – it is so important to stay close to your friends when riding in those areas so straight after the incident i got up shook it off and looked for Mo – madness!
The second tree incident was in in the Super Ridge backside trees. It was fresh and fast and epic I was bouncing between powder tree turns going super fast, a turn bucked me too high and I couldn’t turn – I knew I was heading straight toward a tree full speed so just before I hit the tree I got into a recovery position on my board and smashed the hell out of my left hip/pelvis and bum i was down for a couple of mins screaming in pain, but it wore off and I ended up carry on riding. The pain was more bruising and soreness as opposed to any damage the next couple of days were sore sleeping and lying on my left bum cheek but its getting much better.
The cornice incident was stupid. I was riding with Mo on an epic pow day and we were lapping Gate 4 for some mad fresh open powder turns and on the laps I saw a friend from Demo rental shop called Tomas from France. We had always talked about riding together but never got round to it so we did a lap on Gate 4 – he made us traverse hard left right into the back country and before we knew it we didnt know where we were going – we decided to head back right and as we were traversing right without knowing it we were on top of a 25 ft cornice and were traversing lower and lower – Tomas and I went over the lip broke the top of the cornice and dropped 25 ft into powder – the first thing i did because i didnt realise what was happening was look up at the cornice and check to see if it was collapsing – luckily it didnt but I was so lucky. Mo followed up over the cornice with our guidance – only after did we realise how stupid that was! We could have been buried quite easily.
Mo has now left and had an epic time – I had a great time riding with him – such good memories shredding powder with him, watching him put in amazing turns and watching him progress with us was awesome. He is an amazing rider and I am eternally grateful for him introducing me to this sport! I find riding with him the collaborative learning and progression was amazing we both learnt tricks off each other, as well as new ones together. One more memorable run was playing horse – where you call a trick and both of you have to do it – we must have done about 20 tricks in a whole run exhausting but soo much fun! Amazing!
We managed to demo the Gentem sticks and they were incredible its like having a piece of art on ur feet! Amazing unfortunately it wasn’t a pow day but it was still pretty amazing – the boards epitomise the beauty of riding Japanese pow, we didnt have fresh snow but we took it through some soft chopped up deep snow and it just blasted through. I don’t think I was ready for it – it was soo lively! It was like a teenager about to get involved with a pornstar – just wasn’t ready to ride it – like I wasn’t ready to ride the Gentem – one day I feel like I will have done enough riding and achieved enough on my board to shred a gentem – amazing!
Another memorable riding day was with Kimmy today – it was raining in the morning and started snowing late morning. I met up with Kimmy for her 4 hr ride break at 12 and we had some amazing fresh wet heavy pow turns and she took my down runs I have never been down – its awesome to ride with people to learn new runs. But more importantly Kimmy is just awesome fun to ride with! We hit a cornice and it was the biggest she’d hit – I was so stoked to push her riding but at the same time keep it within her limits and progressive. I took her into the Kings Park for the first time this winter, and she killed it hit the first jump nose and tail slid the box and smashed up the flat down – she was super stoked as was I. Hit the 30ft and managed a front 3 indy and front 5! Was soo happy because its a big booter – landed clean with confidence too! Amazing! We hit the mini pipe and it was the first time I felt comfortable in the pipe getting air out of it! Amazing times!
Nothing really else to report – we had a end of season staff party however I was more interested in snowboarding the following day so I just ate the free food and left – it was fun – 80’s theme and I wore the most ridiculous outfit – pink velor track pants and a wifebeater – disgusting!
In the house a lot of people have moved out – with Mo leaving I had to vacate my room and am now living upstairs with Pablo – all good! Really enjoyed Mo’s company we had many good conversations about snowboarding – he described the personality traits I have that are reflected in my snowboarding include – power, determination, happiness and control – I couldn’t have put it better myself and it was 4 words which really helped me shape the way I should continue to ride! Gosh I love this sport its amazing!
Anyway I better get going – much love to all
So here is another instalment of the madness that is my life here in Niseko Japan. I am currently in a 5 star hotel called the Vale lying on a bed next to bec farrar (just chilling by the way) on my laptop just relaxing. She basically won a competition at the beginning of the season for coming up with the best acronym for VBG. I wont tell as its not ideal for public exposure but it was worthy of the victory. The prize was a night in the Vale hotel which I am currently reaping the benefit of along with her. Its nice to be in a luxiourious place for sure!!
As I lye here I think about how recently I have been wrestling with my mind about what to do. IT has been causing me to feel so uneasy and stressed and is really affecting my mood – however the mountain seems to be the form of escapism I need. Its incredible! Over the last few days I have been more and more content with the idea that “everything will work out” and I am going to let my time run its course and not worry so much. I need to enjoy the here and now I am in Japan and it deserves my happiness.
Currently Japan is in devestation due to the recent Easthquake and Tsunami, as well as this a volcano has erupted today and nuclear reactors are melting down. Disaster after disaster has left coastal towns in ruins, people are missing or dead and the aftermath is devastating. I was in the lounge eating my lunch as the quake hit and even tho it was on the south island of Honshu and I am in Hokkaido – the north Island I felt the tremors. I immediately checked the news only to find out the Tsunami and Earthquake had devastated the north eastern coast of Southern Japan. The following day was a powder day on a Saturday, these days are normally relished by locals and travellers on a weekend trip, however when I went out at 8am to join the lift line, instead of the 100 people you would see excited and waiting for the lift to open, there were about 20 people all deadly silent. I was snowboarding and no one was on the hill. In any other circumstance this would be great because I was getting fresh lines and no one was around, but it was lonely – it almost felt like the mountain was mourning it was soo sad.
In terms of my time here socially I havent been upto much – I havent been going out in the evenings much just relaxing and getting ready for the following day of riding. That has pretty much taken priority over anything else just because the riding has been nothing short of epic. We have had SOOO much snow! Mo was a very lucky boy when he got here because he got an incredible amount of powder days mornings and evenings. When snow is like that you have to ride, you feel obliged to therefore you find yourself riding in the morning working and then riding in the evening. The fatigue and exhaustion kicks in but its a good feeling.
The powder riding has been soo deep and epic – it makes you realise why you are here in Japan! The unfortunate thing is I think I am some sort of super hero in the pow and end up going way harder than I should I have had a couple of serious tree knocks and an incident with a cornice that could have seriously damaged me.
The first of the tree incidents was snowboarding down the gates. Recently as there has been lots of snow I have discovered the gates – these are roped off areas where there is an opening into the backcountry of Niseko – there are expensive consequences if you need to be rescued in these areas and you should be wearing backcountry avalanche gear to be safe – but we assume if patrol are opening these gates then it should be safe enough right? Stupid really! Better to be safe than sorry! Basically out of gate 4 or 5 you can access some amazing fresh open snow terrain dropping into the hanazono area of Niseko! It is incredible. I was heading down a run on the gates going through amazing open trees and was snowboarding under a low lying tree branch and hit a bump just before the branch we elevated me up and i smashed my head on the thick branch hard enough to clothes line me to the floor – insane impact – so hard a mark was left on my helmet. I was lucky 1 I wasn’t elevated up to my eyes or face otherwise i would have seriously damaged myself! I was also thankful for my amazing helmet – had i not had that on I would have been knocked out cold and without Mo around me as we were riding I would have needed rescuing – it is so important to stay close to your friends when riding in those areas so straight after the incident i got up shook it off and looked for Mo – madness!
The second tree incident was in in the Super Ridge backside trees. It was fresh and fast and epic I was bouncing between powder tree turns going super fast, a turn bucked me too high and I couldn’t turn – I knew I was heading straight toward a tree full speed so just before I hit the tree I got into a recovery position on my board and smashed the hell out of my left hip/pelvis and bum i was down for a couple of mins screaming in pain, but it wore off and I ended up carry on riding. The pain was more bruising and soreness as opposed to any damage the next couple of days were sore sleeping and lying on my left bum cheek but its getting much better.
The cornice incident was stupid. I was riding with Mo on an epic pow day and we were lapping Gate 4 for some mad fresh open powder turns and on the laps I saw a friend from Demo rental shop called Tomas from France. We had always talked about riding together but never got round to it so we did a lap on Gate 4 – he made us traverse hard left right into the back country and before we knew it we didnt know where we were going – we decided to head back right and as we were traversing right without knowing it we were on top of a 25 ft cornice and were traversing lower and lower – Tomas and I went over the lip broke the top of the cornice and dropped 25 ft into powder – the first thing i did because i didnt realise what was happening was look up at the cornice and check to see if it was collapsing – luckily it didnt but I was so lucky. Mo followed up over the cornice with our guidance – only after did we realise how stupid that was! We could have been buried quite easily.
Mo has now left and had an epic time – I had a great time riding with him – such good memories shredding powder with him, watching him put in amazing turns and watching him progress with us was awesome. He is an amazing rider and I am eternally grateful for him introducing me to this sport! I find riding with him the collaborative learning and progression was amazing we both learnt tricks off each other, as well as new ones together. One more memorable run was playing horse – where you call a trick and both of you have to do it – we must have done about 20 tricks in a whole run exhausting but soo much fun! Amazing!
We managed to demo the Gentem sticks and they were incredible its like having a piece of art on ur feet! Amazing unfortunately it wasn’t a pow day but it was still pretty amazing – the boards epitomise the beauty of riding Japanese pow, we didnt have fresh snow but we took it through some soft chopped up deep snow and it just blasted through. I don’t think I was ready for it – it was soo lively! It was like a teenager about to get involved with a pornstar – just wasn’t ready to ride it – like I wasn’t ready to ride the Gentem – one day I feel like I will have done enough riding and achieved enough on my board to shred a gentem – amazing!
Another memorable riding day was with Kimmy today – it was raining in the morning and started snowing late morning. I met up with Kimmy for her 4 hr ride break at 12 and we had some amazing fresh wet heavy pow turns and she took my down runs I have never been down – its awesome to ride with people to learn new runs. But more importantly Kimmy is just awesome fun to ride with! We hit a cornice and it was the biggest she’d hit – I was so stoked to push her riding but at the same time keep it within her limits and progressive. I took her into the Kings Park for the first time this winter, and she killed it hit the first jump nose and tail slid the box and smashed up the flat down – she was super stoked as was I. Hit the 30ft and managed a front 3 indy and front 5! Was soo happy because its a big booter – landed clean with confidence too! Amazing! We hit the mini pipe and it was the first time I felt comfortable in the pipe getting air out of it! Amazing times!
Nothing really else to report – we had a end of season staff party however I was more interested in snowboarding the following day so I just ate the free food and left – it was fun – 80’s theme and I wore the most ridiculous outfit – pink velor track pants and a wifebeater – disgusting!
In the house a lot of people have moved out – with Mo leaving I had to vacate my room and am now living upstairs with Pablo – all good! Really enjoyed Mo’s company we had many good conversations about snowboarding – he described the personality traits I have that are reflected in my snowboarding include – power, determination, happiness and control – I couldn’t have put it better myself and it was 4 words which really helped me shape the way I should continue to ride! Gosh I love this sport its amazing!
Anyway I better get going – much love to all
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
The beginning of the end
02/03/2011
Sooo a couple of weeks have passed and here is another instalment of my life and whats going on in Japan and how I am doing! I am currently listening to a bit of arctic monkeys in the lounge just thinking about the huge amount of spare time I am have been having on my hands and how I really need to get my arse in gear with keeping up to date with my blog as well as sorting out things post Japan. That’s right its the beginning of the end over here, we have had many departures over the last couple of weeks Dazza Wong, Jonny Whipp, Tony Hill, Jemima Twist, Kay Descaspar, Kave etc... a big crew have left and as a result the number of people in the house is less, so its quieter, less busy but definitely indicates that things are winding down. Definately sad times but you have to keep moving on .
Work has been pretty patchy things but where there is no work there is a mountain to snowboard. The most memorable lessons over the last couple of weeks was teaching a little 7 year old called Lucas, he could ripstick already so it was soo easy teaching him how to snowboard. He was such a good kid everything I taught he picked up so quickly. The other incredible thing about this kid was his hair – it was as long as mine – such a cool little dude!!!
The riding has been a lot of fun recently! Mo has arrived in town so we have been doing a few progression sessions and a lot of riding together its been good. I am feeling like over the last year a lot has come of my riding, I don’t think I am amazing or good in any sort of way but I feel like I have progressed and I am pretty happy with that.
I have had a lot on my mind recently I met someone I really liked and they left and I’ve been struggling to move on from it – they were only here for a week and we only spent a short amount of time together but it was nice, I don’t really want to go into it, but its something on my mind a lot – along with the fact that my journey is coming to an end. I need to get thinking about whats going to happen post Canada but I havent managed to come up with any answers- I am keeping all options open and going to have a bit of alone time in Canada to have a long hard think about it all.
I need to basically get my mind off these things as they are definitely affecting my mood, but I should really focus on enjoy the last few weeks of being here! My life is incredible out here and I need to appreciate what I have and what I am doing, instead of worry about things that haven’t...Let me fill you in on the wonderfulness of it all over the last couple of weeks.
We have been having a lot of going out leaving drinks recently, Key left on the 28th Feb and Tony today. Definately feels weird people leaving especially close friends like Chloe, Tony, Tom and Key leaving. But I am sure one day in the future I will get to see them all again! That’s the thing with winters, they always come to an end and people go their separate ways and you wont have that same crew together in one place again. Its pretty sad but its something I am sure after a lot of winters you accept, this is my fourth now so you would think I would be used to it and can get over it but its definitely still quite saddening.
We’ve had Becs 23rd birthday in the Ice Cage! She organised a really good party with a 2 hr Nomi Hodai (all you can drink) from 9pm to 11pm! I had work the next day so I have to stay relatively controlled with my drinking. I made sure I got my money’s worth but also didnt want to get to crazy. It was super fun the whole crew out and about celebrating and the venue was really cool. We were drinking drinks out of cups of ice and just having good times. The party moved onto Tamashi’s but I retired and left Blind Bec to her fun night! She was loving life and it was good to see.
The next adventure was the Toyota big air 2011 competition. Tony, Mo, Bec, Bjoern, Aimee, Lara, Andy & I as well as others decided to get on the bus and head down! Memories include the incredible food stands and stuffing my face with loads of Japanese treats when we arrived at the open air big air venue. The Japanese commentary was pretty awesome every time a entrant was from Japan there would be a massive introduction just to get the crowd going. The sad thing was by the Semi’s there was no Japanese Competitors left. There were some huge tricks being thrown down. Between heats there was always really tedious long intervals to cover the time the competitors were making it up the in ramp for the jump. We had to bear listening to Kreva a Japanese hip hop sensation for an hour and he was literally terrible. We were freezing and the intervals were getting longer and longer and we were getting crankier and crankier! It finally got to the final and it was Seb Toutant Vs Chas Gouldmond. Chas took it with a landed 12, for his final lap he tried a 14 and just missed it – pretty impressive backside spinning.
The only other real experiences have been a couple more hikes up the peak of Niseko and dropping into the Annapuri bowls, both times with Mo and one time with Tony and Bec. The time with Tony, Bec and Mo was the one that will stick in my mind. The journey, the event the end was all amazing. Just a very humbling experience. Makes you realise how amazing life can be, how lucky you are and made me realise why I was in Japan. The run down was steep and soft and so much fun! Exhileration beyond believe!
Today I have had no work despite being on rosta so after hiking the peak with Mo – equally as epic, we went for Mo’s first onsen experience at the Alpen Hotel and then to the Gentem stick shop! Gentem sticks are Japanese handmade bamboo snowboards made out of the greenest purest materials out of Niseko Hokkaido. They epitomise the pureness of Japanese powder riding in a snowboard. They look incredible and I want one – however the price tag is a little out of my range at the moment. Maybe one day when I am a millionaire.
That brings me up to me still in the lounge on the couch now listening to Roy Davis Jr – Gabriel (nothing like an old school garage tune to remind me of the youth)!
Much love people
Sooo a couple of weeks have passed and here is another instalment of my life and whats going on in Japan and how I am doing! I am currently listening to a bit of arctic monkeys in the lounge just thinking about the huge amount of spare time I am have been having on my hands and how I really need to get my arse in gear with keeping up to date with my blog as well as sorting out things post Japan. That’s right its the beginning of the end over here, we have had many departures over the last couple of weeks Dazza Wong, Jonny Whipp, Tony Hill, Jemima Twist, Kay Descaspar, Kave etc... a big crew have left and as a result the number of people in the house is less, so its quieter, less busy but definitely indicates that things are winding down. Definately sad times but you have to keep moving on .
Work has been pretty patchy things but where there is no work there is a mountain to snowboard. The most memorable lessons over the last couple of weeks was teaching a little 7 year old called Lucas, he could ripstick already so it was soo easy teaching him how to snowboard. He was such a good kid everything I taught he picked up so quickly. The other incredible thing about this kid was his hair – it was as long as mine – such a cool little dude!!!
The riding has been a lot of fun recently! Mo has arrived in town so we have been doing a few progression sessions and a lot of riding together its been good. I am feeling like over the last year a lot has come of my riding, I don’t think I am amazing or good in any sort of way but I feel like I have progressed and I am pretty happy with that.
I have had a lot on my mind recently I met someone I really liked and they left and I’ve been struggling to move on from it – they were only here for a week and we only spent a short amount of time together but it was nice, I don’t really want to go into it, but its something on my mind a lot – along with the fact that my journey is coming to an end. I need to get thinking about whats going to happen post Canada but I havent managed to come up with any answers- I am keeping all options open and going to have a bit of alone time in Canada to have a long hard think about it all.
I need to basically get my mind off these things as they are definitely affecting my mood, but I should really focus on enjoy the last few weeks of being here! My life is incredible out here and I need to appreciate what I have and what I am doing, instead of worry about things that haven’t...Let me fill you in on the wonderfulness of it all over the last couple of weeks.
We have been having a lot of going out leaving drinks recently, Key left on the 28th Feb and Tony today. Definately feels weird people leaving especially close friends like Chloe, Tony, Tom and Key leaving. But I am sure one day in the future I will get to see them all again! That’s the thing with winters, they always come to an end and people go their separate ways and you wont have that same crew together in one place again. Its pretty sad but its something I am sure after a lot of winters you accept, this is my fourth now so you would think I would be used to it and can get over it but its definitely still quite saddening.
We’ve had Becs 23rd birthday in the Ice Cage! She organised a really good party with a 2 hr Nomi Hodai (all you can drink) from 9pm to 11pm! I had work the next day so I have to stay relatively controlled with my drinking. I made sure I got my money’s worth but also didnt want to get to crazy. It was super fun the whole crew out and about celebrating and the venue was really cool. We were drinking drinks out of cups of ice and just having good times. The party moved onto Tamashi’s but I retired and left Blind Bec to her fun night! She was loving life and it was good to see.
The next adventure was the Toyota big air 2011 competition. Tony, Mo, Bec, Bjoern, Aimee, Lara, Andy & I as well as others decided to get on the bus and head down! Memories include the incredible food stands and stuffing my face with loads of Japanese treats when we arrived at the open air big air venue. The Japanese commentary was pretty awesome every time a entrant was from Japan there would be a massive introduction just to get the crowd going. The sad thing was by the Semi’s there was no Japanese Competitors left. There were some huge tricks being thrown down. Between heats there was always really tedious long intervals to cover the time the competitors were making it up the in ramp for the jump. We had to bear listening to Kreva a Japanese hip hop sensation for an hour and he was literally terrible. We were freezing and the intervals were getting longer and longer and we were getting crankier and crankier! It finally got to the final and it was Seb Toutant Vs Chas Gouldmond. Chas took it with a landed 12, for his final lap he tried a 14 and just missed it – pretty impressive backside spinning.
The only other real experiences have been a couple more hikes up the peak of Niseko and dropping into the Annapuri bowls, both times with Mo and one time with Tony and Bec. The time with Tony, Bec and Mo was the one that will stick in my mind. The journey, the event the end was all amazing. Just a very humbling experience. Makes you realise how amazing life can be, how lucky you are and made me realise why I was in Japan. The run down was steep and soft and so much fun! Exhileration beyond believe!
Today I have had no work despite being on rosta so after hiking the peak with Mo – equally as epic, we went for Mo’s first onsen experience at the Alpen Hotel and then to the Gentem stick shop! Gentem sticks are Japanese handmade bamboo snowboards made out of the greenest purest materials out of Niseko Hokkaido. They epitomise the pureness of Japanese powder riding in a snowboard. They look incredible and I want one – however the price tag is a little out of my range at the moment. Maybe one day when I am a millionaire.
That brings me up to me still in the lounge on the couch now listening to Roy Davis Jr – Gabriel (nothing like an old school garage tune to remind me of the youth)!
Much love people
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