Winter sports are not particularly exotic in Japan, but a popular sport. The country offers ideal conditions for this. The country is criss-crossed by mountains and is so hilly and mountainous that only just under 30% of the land is flat enough to be built on. This is where the cities are concentrated, where people live in dense crowds.
From Zao, the Shinkansen, Japan's high-speed express train, quickly takes us to the north coast of the main island of Honshu, more precisely to Hachinoe, from where we want to take the ferry to Hokkaido the next morning. Our Japanese friend Yasu, who unfortunately couldn't come with us because he is "too busy", as is the case with most Japanese, warns us of an approaching storm and says that if the ferry sails at all, the swell will be unbearable. But the weather is calm and the ferry transports us relaxed and on schedule to Tomakomai and we use the trip for a long soak in the onboard onsen. In fact, there is even one on the ferry - unfortunately not with fresh sulphur water, but still 43 degrees warm. When the ferry docks, a heavy snowstorm starts and when we pick up our rental car, it is already completely covered in snow. Fortunately, we have opted for a model with four-wheel drive. We still don't know what to expect that night?
The snowstorm quickly develops into the strongest storm of this winter and the roads are covered in deep snow in no time at all. At walking pace, we fight our way meter by meter towards Kiroro, a journey that normally takes around two hours. The journey becomes a battle with the snow, the road and the traffic jams that quickly form. It takes us three hours to cover the first four kilometers and even after that we don't really make any progress. The pass to Kiroro is so snow-covered that only a narrow rut in the middle of the road leads through the deep, fresh snow. It has to be said that the road itself has been cut almost four meters deep into the snowy landscape and is completely blocked in some places by cornices. Time and again, vehicles get stuck in the snow cornices and together with those who are still stuck, we push and shovel the vehicles free again. Only with a lot of luck do we manage to reach Satoshi, our friend and guide in Kiroro, at three in the morning after almost nine hours of driving. We see the Ratapu Lodge sign at the side of the road, but the entrance is completely blown over by snow. I call Satoshi and he sleepily replies that we should just drive the last two hundred meters back along the road to the lodge - after all, he had cleared everything for us four hours ago. I explain to him that there is no longer an entrance. Drowsy, he finally comes out of the dark, accompanied by the loud roar of the snow blower, and cuts a small gap in the snow wall so that we can at least park our car. We see on the news the next morning that we were really lucky to have arrived at all. Many roads are so blocked by snow that the emergency services were only able to free the cars and their occupants from the snow in the morning. All flights to and from Hokkaido are also canceled and our Japanese friends Mabo and Gori, who we were supposed to meet today, are unable to come. The weather forecast doesn't look any better for the next day either and we're on our own for the time being.
But this snowstorm is our good fortune, because after all, we came to Japan for the famous powder snow. And it's now so deep that we're up to our waists in deep snow as we powder through the birch forest. The mountains in Japan are usually completely covered in birch trees and the special thing here is that you ski off-piste through the relatively extensive forests in deep snow. It keeps snowing and snowing and by the next day another 60 cm of snow has fallen. There can't really be too much snow for deep snow skiing, but in places we sink in up to our necks and it's almost impossible to get through. We were almost drowning in snow.
This is how we imagined it! And the fact that the sun only makes an appearance from time to time, probably just to draw in fresh, moist air for new snow clouds to throw the snow out of the sky again, doesn't bother us in the slightest. The powder is so fresh and cold that we buy face masks. Not just because of the cold, but also because the fine snow dust makes breathing difficult?
Another special feature in Japan is floodlit skiing. Not only is the lower flat lift equipped with a few lamps, as we know it from home, but often half the ski area is illuminated and the lifts are open until nine in the evening. On days with very heavy snowfall, the fun really starts here in the evening. During the day, visibility is often limited by the snowstorm and it is only in the dark with floodlights that the contrasts of the terrain become visible so that you can ski properly. The floodlights spread far beyond the official pistes so that you can still see off-piste really well. And powder skiing in the birch forest in the yellowish light of the floodlights is a completely new, unprecedented experience. Cold, hungry and frozen through, we head straight from the slopes to an onsen. Here in Hokkaido, where the hot volcanic water is everywhere, the natural pools are usually outside and you sit surrounded by snow walls in sulphur water at over 40 degrees, still dreaming of the butter-soft turns in the bottomless powder snow and already looking forward to the good food that is already waiting. After the strenuous powder runs, we usually treat ourselves to delicious "ramen" for refreshment. "Ramen" are Japanese noodle soups with chicken or seafood and vegetables, which are freshly prepared in special ramen restaurants and served in large stoneware bowls.
