Powder and the Peak

The start of the climb to the peak

At last it snowed again and fresh powder was to be found within the resort and as usual even more outside the resort.

We never got any really ‘big’ dumps. Sure we got 40-50cms over a 24 hour period a couple of times and although we heard the stories of others getting chest deep powder at Rusutsu resort one day, we never got more than crutch deep during February.

Not complaining, I skied more untracked powder here than in any other resort.

If you were willing to climb and hunt for it you could get untracked powder 5 days after the last fall of snow. We know because we discovered where to go to get an almost unending supply of freshies.

I once counted 1130 steps from the top of the single chair (The Parrot Perch) to the peak but the number of steps anyone would take varied depending upon whose foot steps you followed.

Amazingly the slope was groomed right to the top of the peak

The long line of ants climbing the boot pack. A good aerobic work-out. Steep at first then lessening towards to summit.

Even days after a snowfall there were still fresh lines

I must admit that I have never been so spoilt before. Like many others around me, you would start questioning whether it was worthwhile going out on the slopes on those days when there was no new snow and the out-of-bounds really was out-of-bounds.

Although very well groomed, the on piste skiing was very ordinary at Niseko Hirafu and did not offer a lot of variety. Australians go to Niseko to ski and board powder. This meant skiing the trees within the resort of climbing some or all of the peak out of the resort.

We found kilometres of freshies from the top of the peak and more kilometres of traversing to get back to the resort.

As you would expect, there were spectacular views from the peak - weather permitting. More often than not the visibility and wind at the summit were not as friendly as you would like and the conditions could change inside 15 minutes.
Looking east towards the village and Mt Yotei	Looking west you could see the Sea of Japan only a few kilometres away

Of course the rewards from climbing to the top made it well worthwhile and whoever starts up a concession stand at the top selling food and drink will make a killing. 

Return to the resort via public roads

Four of us did make the mistake, early in our peak adventures, of missing the traverse back to the resort and ended up walking and skiing for several extra kilometres along public roads to get back to the resort. This was a mistake we never made a second time especially after being berated by the local police for what I can only imagine was skiing on public roads (but that’s only my guess at what they were saying - and they weren’t laughing).

And there were other hazards returning from the peak via the Golf Course, especially after a fresh fall of snow. Memories of that James Bond movie and the snowplough crossed our minds as we decided to take to the bank and keep off the road.