I know that some of you crazy cats are considering climbing glaciers and doing other gnarly stuff to get your late season snow fixes but for me, the season is over. I have moved away from Niigata to Tokyo. I have a new job and lots on my plate. So until Kagura opens back up in November or December, I will have to content myself by injuring myself on my skateboard.
I thought that this would be a good time, with the 2013/2014 season fresh in our minds to talk about out most memorable days, trips, experiences and what not from this season. When was it? Where was it? What made it stand out?
Snow wise, it was a bit of a strange season indeed. In Shibata, I was getting around on my bicycle most of the winter... something that in previous years was unthinkable between late December and March. Still, the mountains around got a decent amount of snow and I think in general there were a lot more people than previous years. Perhaps that was the influence of the olymypics and the exploits of local hero, Ayumu Hirano.
So I will start.
The best two days of the season for me were on the 18th/19th of February．As many of you probably remember that was just after the massive snow storm that paralyzed the Kanto area, left people stranded in their cars and generally wreaked havoc in a lot of areas not prepared to deal with that kind of winterish action .
I had seen the snow forecasts and booked myself onto a bus tour leaving Niigata City, going to Maiko for the Sunday, Feb 16th. While the southern areas were getting hammered, in kaetsu we were only getting a sprinkling. Then, while watching the snow chaos on the TV, feeling a mix of sympathy and selfish excitement, I got an email on Saturday afternoon telling me the tour was cancelled because of the snow. A nice apologetic lady from the company called me later that evening to make sure I had seen the email and explained that their buses were stranded in various places and they just couldn't run the tour. I got off the phone with her and did the most logical thing in the circumstances, rebooked for the next tour two days later.
On Monday, I got a carbon copy of the same email that the tour was cancelled, 大雪の影響で. I was a bit surprised because the snow had let up and where I was in Shibata, the weather was downright pleasant.
Then, a phone call came that evening and I was ready for the same message as last time. However, the apologetic lady was apologising and telling me that the cancellation was cancelled, and that buses from Niigata would be running but all of the buses from Tokyo etc. were cancelled. Bonus.
So, I got off the bus the next morning and made a dash for Okusoechi bowl. I got up there by about 9;30 or 10:00am. With a lot of roads still closed, trains delayed etc. there were only a few people and a few tracks when I got there, even at that time. The snow was thigh deep on the slopes and past waist deep in places in the trees. I was choking on the stuff. I guess I lapped it for about 2 or 3 hours before going to explore elsewhere. A great day with deep snow, miniscule crowd and the extra surprise of having my hopes dashed for a second time only to be resurrected.
The next day I had a great mellow ski closer to home at Budoh. There was about 10-20cm of fresh on top of the groomers, deep stuff everywhere else, blue skies, almost no wind and about 15 people on the whole hill including my party of three. I was sore and slow from the big day before but it was such a nice day to be on the mountain, only with people I like. I think I have written it before but I will say it again, Budoh has the BEST shokudo of all ski-jos in Japan. Free coffee on weekdays and all you can eat pickles with homemade tasting food everyday.
Well, other than when I fell of the cliff (detailed in another thread), which I would rather forget, I am pretty sure those are my most memorable days of the season.
Let's have some stories....
