It was already announced last week, and so the start of spring actually drove us north to Furano and Kurodake. An arduous journey that we didn't regret.
Monday was a continuation of the great Sunday with lots of good snow far away from the slopes. However, the rising temperatures didn't promise much good.
Tuesday and Wednesday were two days of planning for our trip to the far north of Japan. In the meantime, my colleagues went on a few tours and reported on everything from not so good to super good.
Thursday at an ungodly 5am, it was time to start the journey to Hokkaido. First, a 3.5-hour drive to Niigata, where we loaded our car plus five passengers onto the ferry. Then 18 hours on the ferry, which you can only survive by sleeping a lot, drinking lots of beer and watching good movies on your laptop. Arrival at 4am and straight on to the Furano ski resort, where we made our first powder turns shortly after 8am. We went straight back to Furano on Saturday as there was still so much untracked, super light snow. The snow here in the north is definitely the best you can find.
We treated ourselves to a bit of luxury and booked into the ski in ski out Prince Hotel. Brilliant hotel, definitely the most comfortable bed since Christmas with a cozy comforter like at home, a breakfast buffet that couldn't be bigger, and the gondola right outside the door. If you ever come here, you should definitely ask for a package deal at the Prince Hotel. They offer deals that not even a cheap hostel can match. For less than 70 euros, you can get a ski pass, one night in a double room, free access to the onsen, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, free internet, free shuttle service from the airport, etc. and much more. It sounds like an advertisement, but it just has to be mentioned... It was brilliant value for money like nowhere else.
On Sunday, we drove to Kurodake, just under three hours away. An area that is better known for summer tourism, but is said to be a dream for freeriders. We can't say for sure, as we found very little snow and the entire snow cover consisted of sugar-like snow, making any downhill skiing almost impossible. It was a total washout, but we could see the potential of the resort. Let's put it on the list for next year and then test it again.
The coming days promise powder snow, at least in small quantities and with a bit of luck a bit more of it. We'll stay in Hokkaido for another week and head to a few familiar areas, but also a few new ones.
Country and people
On last week's questions
CharlyBrown: There are significantly fewer tourists in Japan than a year ago. Fukushima is a disaster for tourism. Hokkaido in particular is suffering from up to 50% fewer tourists. The media disaster hype is responsible for the decline. This is because Hokkaido is very far away from the nuclear power plant and the readings are lower than ever before, or at least not higher than usual. Next year it should get better again. The areas that are closer to the nuclear power plant are really badly affected and are struggling with the threat of bankruptcy.
Knut Romantic love stories: It would be nice, nothing is going on here, nothing at all and Japanese women are not exactly relaxed when it comes to vacation flirting. Marriage is more likely... J
Tobi: Cool interview with Miles Clark! There will be some more pictures with him in week 10. We were out in the snow together again in Hokkaido.
If you have any further questions, just write...
