Winter 08/09
I have a wee dilemma on my hands here. There is this incredible place to ski that I discovered with friends and normally I would never make its whereabouts public on the World Wide Web. But, you see, this particular place is rather removed and the local people are crying out for visitors to kick start tourism again in this black listed part of the world. If you hadn’t guessed, it is Kashmir. But inside I’ll give you the finer details.
This was our last day skiing at Gulmarg this year. The conditions weren't especially inspiring, but the need to get out and get some blood pumping proved enough to get us onto the gondola. Hiking and traversing to this zone inspired even less inspiration than that which could be seen from the hotel. But, sure enough, our bet bet on decent snow came through and we enjoyed soft snow, and as this video more than conveys, a long, long fall line that is so representative of Gulmarg. There is always incredible vert no matter the snow.
VIO POV camera courtesy of Helmet Camera Central
A quick update on the last week. Lots of thoughts, photos, etc to come, but here is a POV vid from our trip.
Gulmarg has reveled itself to me far beyond my expectations. The last week has been blue skies and with the Avalanche Advisory at Low, we ventured a little further and were rewarded with 3 incredible descents, not to mention the epic descent the sun made, casting some of the most incredible light over the mountains and ourselves as it set.
The most commanding peak outside Kutchan, Yotei, allowed us to savor some pow on it's flanks.
It wasn't the deepest day of our stay in Niseko, but probably the most fun and most gratifying.
Yotei POV from Anthony Bonello on Vimeo.
VIO POV camera courtesy of Helmet Camera Central
Here is a little helmet cam edit from the last few days skiing here in Niseko. The snow isn't what Niseko is known for, which is to say deep, but the most significant things to note are the clear skies and visiblity.
Hirafu POV from Anthony Bonello on Vimeo.
Today we ski toured on the lower flanks of Yotei and it was probably our best day skiing here in Japan. Not becasue it was so deep, but the most fun and gratifying. Ill have a POV edit from today shortly. Hopefully...
VIO POV camera courtesy of Helmet Camera Central
This is what skiing in Niseko is all about, all the time.
One minute it is like this. (actually most of the time)
The next minute, quite literally, it can be like this...
But it is always deep.
Last night, and all of yesterday as a matter of fact was Stevie's 30th Birthday. The big dirty 30. It was a pretty mellow day. Stevie went with a film crew to the beach to maybe get some waves but it was too flat so they filmed the ocean and squid boats instead.
The skiing has settled down a little here in Niseko the last week after a furious start. We skied the remnants of the last system surrounding the hill, mostly touring off of Moiwa. I would go so far to claim that Moiwa accesses the most slackcountry terrain for such a small lift ever. At least in my experience. In comparison to the mega 3 of An'nupri, Niseko and Hirafu within a stones throw from Moiwa, Moiwa offers the best bang for your buck and the resort manager even invited us back to his place to his private onsen. Not as wierd as some of you might be smirking about. The Japanese are so generous and friendly that you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
We opened our powder account today at a small resort, Niseko-Moiwa. Lastnight brought a full 60cms of blower pow, but it was blown around by equally copious amounts of wind. The resort has 2 small lifts, one of which was closed. We paid our 350yen for a one lift and went and toured the steeped pitch we could find. We had the place to ourselves while people poled across the flats below. Backcountry quite literally in country. But a picture tells a thousand words and a short video a few more.
