Hokkaido

High winter in early winter, as proclaimed in PowderAlert #3, is standard for ski film producers. We are confronted with an avalanche of new films and movies, and try to keep ourselves above powder as best we can, and finally gain a clear view and new inspiration. We start with Antti Ollila, end with a podcast by Hugo Harrisson and in between you'll find a competition.

Today with a lot of Schwiizerdütsch in the avalanche expert interview at the SLF, a bit of French in the VLOG of a young freerider and the Far Eastern-Japanese flair of a Hokkaido commercial with extra JaPow. After all that, of course, we'll just share the replay of the FWT in Fieberbrunn, without spoilers.

Once again, the fine artistic alternative for video material is highlighted: vimeo. Not everything is free here, but certainly none of it is for nothing. Well, I still can't get around youtube completely. You can expect a nice mix of amateur recordings and philosophical works, and yes, you see right, we have Japow on offer!

The Jones Stormchaser Split is currently only available in a relatively short length and is therefore particularly interesting for smaller, lighter riders who are looking for a wide, maneuverable board. The shape of the nose is a matter of taste and takes some getting used to on the ascent.

Our roving ski-bum reporter Zach loves to spend his winters in Japan. Rishiri, the legendary volcanic island off Hokkaido, has been on his to-ski list for a long time. This year the time had finally come and the Gaijin crew made their tracks in the - would you believe it - fluffy powder on the spectacular Mount Rishiri.

Our third Conditions Reporter of the Week is Zach Paley, who is always reporting for us from the more remote corners of the world - sometimes in the form of powder-filled Japan CRs, sometimes with longer, personal travel stories from Lyngen, Argentina, or Kyrgyzstan.

A single photo had taken over our minds. It was an aerial view of an island in the deep blue Sea of Japan. At its center stands a lonely mountain with snow-covered slopes. Deep furrows carve out gullies, form wide slopes and gently run out towards the forested coast. We had to go there - to find out if it really exists.

Unlike Godzilla, who is from Japan and stands for the saying "It came from Japan", I took the opposite route and made my way to the land of the rising sun. Why Nippon? Not because of the sushi, but to beat our rather disappointing winter and ride some deep powder.

Last Monday, the chapter on how easy snow can be was rewritten, so to speak: Another day in Furano and knee-deep powder snow at its very best. The whole day alone in the ski resorts and no one to help track the fresh snow, that was quite a lot of work, but we enjoyed it immensely. The ski patrol didn't seem to take such a strict view of the whole thing and let us get on with it.

It was already announced last week, and so the start of spring actually drove us north to Furano and Kurodake. It was an arduous journey, but we didn't regret it.

As already mentioned, the cat and mouse game with the Ski-Patrol has become more difficult – and the cat has actually won again. The spoilsports from the Ski Patrol are now hiding and waiting for hours for mice if they have to. Very annoying as I can no longer ski in an entire ski area and I particularly like the forest runs there. According to unofficial sources, a previously liberal area even wants to ban and strictly control everything off-piste from next season. In many places in Japan, the people in charge simply don't understand what we freeriders want?