Goodbye Hokkaido

After three days of snowboarding on the western side of Hokkaido, we headed east, to the less touristy side. Our first spot was a small mountain called Kamui. The best part of this mountain was the complete lack of lines. In fact, there were so few people that we often had wide open runs all to ourselves. Although the powder was spectacular, even the on piste runs were great. The only real problem was that accessing some of the best powder required a long traverse back out. This was such a calf burner for me and quad burner for Howard that we had to stop for lunch while the skiers (and other snowboarder) went for one shot try at it. We did give it one more run after lunch but somehow the traverse got even longer so we called it a day soon thereafter.

Before returning to our hotel, we stopped for a sake tasting. We tried a wide variety of sweet and dry sakes, including an award winning variety. While my palette is not accustomed to sake, even I could recognize the superiority of the winning variety.

Our next two days were spent at Furano. We were supposed to go to another resort but the high winds caused us to seek shelter in the trees at Furano. I was finally able to use my powder board (although, I'm sure in the States I would have used it for all the days in equivalent conditions). The snow at Furano was truly epic. Waist deep in parts, light and fluffy. And I should know since I didn't a lot of time sitting, rolling over, and struggling to stand up in the deep snow.

Once the sun went down and we worked out way to the base though, it was frigid. So much so, I got a little frostbite on my cheek (don't worry, it didn't turn black and fall off) and we could see our breaths in the car ride for, what seemed like hours, but was probably only fifteen minutes.

Our second day at Furano wasn't nearly as fun as the first. The snow seemed heavier, as did my legs. The fatigue of six straight, full days of snowboarding was hitting me hard. I was feeling pretty good after lunch until we did our second run and realized that my legs had turned to jello. Everyone was done for at this point so we called it a day on the earlier side and headed back to the hotel.

Both Dan and I had hoped that or early finish would be rewarded with a pre-dinner massage but nothing was available. Instead I spent nearly an hour at the onsen, touring the hot pools, cold pools, steam room and sauna.

We celebrated the end to our successful your with a sukiyaki dinner as a group before heading back to the hotel to pack and prepare for the second half of our trip.