Snow was waiting for us!

We finally got our car. And what a car it is! I always dreamt about driving a Delica, but I have honestly never thought about driving such a pimp one! Some work was done to build a bed in and we are now all set to hit the road!!!

Before leaving our cozy little cabin, we invited JS L'Heureux, an expat from Quebec working this winter as a lead guide for Black Diamond Tours for some homemade Okonomiaki, our favorite typical dish.

With not much new snow and not being much a groomer fan, we headed out to Mt. Shiribetsu close to Niseko for a backcountry run. Even if the snow on the ground was not able to cover all the 'Sassa' (the green leaves sticking out of the ground), we were still able to get some really nice turns in! The bottom was rather soft and we had about a foot of fresh on top!

Some new snow brought us back to the resort hoping to get some decent turns! The 20cm that fell overnight certainly soften up the conditions, but I was really hoping for more!

We went to the backside of Annuupuri (Mountain on which Niseko resorts are located) for a run I have never done. After putting our skins on in the backcountry in some kinds of stormy weather, we started skinning up. The weather just get worst and worst. Since a fatality happen 2 days ago around the area we were skiing and a little slab was forming as we were getting higher, we stopped our ascension short from the summit. Nevertheless, we still got some really nice deep and soft turns.

On our first night sleeping in the van, as usually, we had slightly opened the windows. The following morning brought us a storm inside the van!!!

After 20 minutes of cleaning inside, we stepped out of the van and realized there was about 1.5 feet of fresh on the ground! We, as you can certainly imagine, rushed ourselves to Niseko to hit this massive storm that was still in full effect!

We rode inbounds and were able to get steady faceshots runs after runs! We skied until 16h30 in a storm that was continuously filling up our tracks!

We were quite glad to have been able to ski this storm that was easing up!

After spending the night in a closed window van, we woked up with a foot of new overnight snow on the ground. The no brainer was to go back to the hill as it was snowing at about 10cm an hour in some points! We tried Niseko Hirafu as a stomping ground for this storm. The first few runs were nice with not many people on the slopes. It soon began to be crowded. The base of Niseko Hirafu is the closest to much of the bars and the accommodation avalaible, it for sure attracts the tourist! The peak gates remained closed all day and we ski the glades that didn't get too much tracked. In fact, we were able to get some really nice deep and soft turns again all day.

At the time of writing, it is still snowing out there and it looks again promising for tomorrow!

From Niseko, your powder reporter!
evans

World ski tour 2011

I'm back again for another winter full of adventures and powder turns!!!

Winter has taken some time to settle in Quebec. While Western Canada and USA were getting hammered by one of the best start ever, we were getting hitted by major rainfall. My training for the season has started quite soon as I was quite motivated by the upcoming season. It included the typical bedroom training and hiking my local mountain, Mont-Sainte-Anne.

I also did my yearly pilmgrinage to the Santa Claus day at Le Massif where, one day a year about a thousand of people gather dress as Santa to fund Dr Clown foundation.

I have also been fairly buzy writing article this fall and getting some of my story published.




I am also quite glad to have been able to hook up sponsor by Outdoor Research, Scarpa, Gregory, Leki, Darn Tough and IO-Bio.

This winter is going not to feature a winter long roadtrip but a winter long journey around the world.

First stop: Japan!

Even if la Nina brough a crazy good start to North America, canned coffee, ramen soup, heated toilet seat and cheap sushi has brought me back on the island. I will stay in Japan until the 21st. I will then fly back home to Montreal to catch up with my Dad for a 4 weeks trip to India where we will go skiing in Gulmarg. On my way back, I will stop in Eastern Europe, where I will be joined by my friends for 2 weeks and by Amelie for another 2 weeks.

We landed on the 30th after having to change flights because New York airport was disfunctionnal because of a snowstorm. 15 hours after we left Montreal, we finally arrived in Tokyo, where Amelie and I were to spend New Year.

After wandering around the city and enjoying what really looked like an asleep giant, we move towards Zojoji Temple where a celebration was held to celebrate the end of 2010. It was not the biggest thrill ever to witness 3000 balloons fliying off, but still quite nice to live. We didn't party much since we were quite tired and jetlagged from our trip.

On the New Year, we travelled to Hokkaido and then to Niseko.

I was quite happy to meet with Clayton again at the Black Diamond Lodge. He is the only one able to get me a van in Japan at a decent price! Since the car we were to use was not ready, he let us stay in a nice cozy cabin next to his main lodge.

Unfortunately for us, the snowbanks looked hard and much smaller than what we expected. From last year experience, there is about a meter less snow on the ground.

The conditions were not that hard, but we can definitively use more snow!

There is some snow in the forecast in a few days so hopefully, it will be dump up to Hokkaido's reputation!   

Beginning the 6th winter of Snowchasing!
evans