LinkUp Blog: Trip

2017年9月3日日曜日

9 Reasons that explain the popularity of skiing in Japan (Vol 54)

Skiing down between trees. This is what represents skiing in Japan

This story is written by Yuji Akiyama who works as a Ski/Hiking Guide in Japan and Canada.

In this topic, we will discover the myth hidden underneath the popularity of skiing in Japan.

Before jumping into the topic, let me explain my background a bit. I spend most of winters as a Ski Patrol and Guide in the Canadian Rockies. Yet my guiding areas aren't limited to the Rockies. Occasionally, I took Canadian ski groups to Japan as a Guide. Last winter, I got an opportunity to visit Japan about a month from the middle of January so I worked as a Backcountry Ski Guide there. There was quite a high demand of guiding during the time, so I ended up carrying out three separate ski trips. Duration of each trip was 7 days long. Since there was a large number of inquiries and because of the time restriction, I couldn't take all groups. Instead, I introduced my Guide friends that I put trust to them.

The picture below explains everything about the popularity of skiing in Japan

I was the only Japanese at this Ramen Restaurant (Myokou, Hokkaido, Japan)

Getting back to the main topic and here are 9 reasons of what made skiing/snowboarding in Japan so popular.

1 Cultural Experience

Lots of people like to make their way to Kyoto and Asakusa to check out shrines and temples.

Take a break from skiing and recharge your body and soul at shrine

Tasting at Sake Brewery

2 Japan is generally a safe country

Also what you need to be careful is that in Japan there is zero-alcohol tolerance so even after a glass of beer you can't drive. Not only that but there are a lot of rules/regulations that make Japan as a safe country

3 It's very clean even in the cities

People often get impressed by little amount of garbage found on the street in even cities

4 Lift tickets are way cheaper than ones in North America

When I first moved to the Rockie and checked the price of lift at a local ski resort, my eyes popped out at the price...

5 There are a lot of backcountry routes which are accessible through lifts

Both in Nagano(Japan Alps) and Hokkaido, there are many backcountry areas that can be accessed by taking ski lifts

6 High snow precipitation

It's not unusual to have more than 50 cm of snow an overnight which welcomes your next morning with fresh pile of powder snow

Powder snow paradise at Mt. Asahi

7. Difference in vegetation

In North America, coniferous trees occupy most of the mountain areas. These trees grow in dense and lower part of trees are still covered with branches which make skiing through them challenging. On the other hand, deciduous trees which cover most of the mountain areas in Japan keep good distances between each other. This provides an open view and easir ride through trees.

Different terrain views await you

8. If you don't mind walking further distance, powder snow is guaranteed

Even when ski resorts get busy, if you are willing to walk further distance you can find fresh snow just for you

9. If you don't speak Japanese, it's Okay, I got you.

One of the pros of hiring a Japanese Ski Guide is they can not only navigate you through mountains as a Guide but also they can guarantee your trip to be incredible and memorable ones.

Shinkansen (Bullet Train) This is one of the must items you need to try out in Japan

Japanese style BBQ using charcoal

Strolling and feel the character of Japanese ski town

Lounge around at a hotel with Yukata (Traditional Japanese clothes) on

Incredible ice formations

Sake Brewery

You can't leave Japan without trying fresh Sushi

Japanese style bar

Did I drink too much Sake!?

If you are brave and want to try true Japanese foods. There is Natto (Fermented soy beans)

Tonight's beds for 3 (Sleeping on the floor)

Snowy but beautiful moment

Gorgeous day walking up past the tree limits

Even monkeys want to take a nice relaxing bath

POWDER SNOW!

Some ski resort open at night as well

Or you can enjoy beer, sake, and highball at hotel

Varieties of chocolate to pick from

If you would like to know anything about skiing trips in Japan

or any upcoming ski tour info. Feel free to message us!!

Thanks for reading.

Translated by Yumiko Mori

2017年8月2日水曜日

Vol.81 ~English Version~Ofuyu Shore sea kayak trip

It's been a while. Finally got to work on an English version. The first story is from Hoshino.

The summer is always hot anywhere. The northernmost part of Japan where I live (Hokkaido) is also not an exception. It hit past 30 ℃ for a couple of days in a row.

This story is about my very first sea kayaking trip. (Usually, I write about mountain related adventures but this time it's about water sports) As you all know, Japan is surrounded by ocean so why don't we take an advantage of its location?

This time I went to Hokkaido Ishikari area, Ofuyu Kaigan (Kaigan=Coast) that has the red circle on the map above. There is Mashike Sanchi (Sanchi=Mountain regions) nearby and has heavy snow in winter seasons. The highest mountain in the area, Shyokanbetsu Take (Take=Mountain) is popular for the blossoming of flowers in summers and backcountry skiing in winter.

The route we took was about 20 km, an overnight trip from Mashike chou(Chou=town) to Chiyoshibetsu.
As you can see the red lines above, the short line is Day 1 and the longer one is Day 2.You might get an impression that we didn't make much progression on Day 1. Let me tell you, there is a good reason for that.

The ocean was surging on day 1. It seemed to be still manageable so we left the shore with a certain degree of confidence. I need to note that I was impressed by the amount of load that can be into our kayak.

The continuous waves and winds were hitting against our boat. Combined with my inexperience made our journey become super slow. All factors made both suffer from horrible seasick and we agreed on landing at the nearest spot.

There were several times that I found promising shores but when we got closer, we saw reefs blocking our ways. With a few discouragements, we finally got to a point when we were almost surfing on the boat. Finally, we arrived at the shore but another big wave came towards us. We held onto the boat so tight so it wouldn't be washed away. At the same time, we were throwing all our stuff onto the shore then holding the boat upside down to drain water. This absolute craziness completely allowed us to forget about horrible seasick. Looking back now, it must have been the funniest scene from other people's eyes but at that moment we were just dead serious.

The shore didn't have sand and instead, there were full of stones. The stones caused a few punctures on our kayak but other than that everything else seemed to be good. We started a fire and warmed up our freezing body.

Grilling with a beer. There were so many floating wood pieces which saved time and made the whole process a lot easier.

Sunset in the ocean

Our hotel for the night. With a little bit of creativity, you can still sleep comfortably.

The day 2. Although the sky wasn't in our favour, the wave got way calmer.

Also, I need to mention that this boat was built by a partner on this trip. He said he bought drawings online and made this based on them. He also told me about the regulation for a kayak that we can't build more than one boat from a single drawing. Knowing that this is the only boat in the world made this trip extra special and at the same time I can't help but feel an admiration of this guy who casually say that he built it.

Even though there was a little wave along the way, it wasn't like yesterday and sailing went very smoothly. We spotted a few caves along the way that we could go inside with a boat but we skipped checking out for this time.