Sunday December 21st, 2008

Rain rain go away, come again another day (late APRIL!!!) . --

Yes that dredded R word has been used over this weekend, with rain falling late Saturday and into the evening.

Night operations began last night, so now the lights are on till 9pm every night of the week. The Kitanomine Zone has beginner night skiing (not yet open), but the real stuff is over in the Furano Zone.

This year the Onsen has been built right at the base of the night skiing lift so my suggestion is:

If there's no fresh snow on a given day, sleep in a bit in the hotel, enjoy the relaxing holiday experience Furano can bring...maybe come down for breakfast before 9am so you can get Gonzo's yummy eggs....then you can get that really full feeling that combined with a nice cup of coffee just puts you back over the edge to want to snooze off again till 11ish...

Then take the midday shuttle to the mountain, and you can ski all the way through till about 530pm. Night skiing starts at 4pm, so ski the Kitanomine Zone and the non-night skiing zone in Furano for 4 hours of the day, then head back to the night skiing areas.

Ski through till about 530, then head to the new Onsen, right there at the bottom of the Furano Zone! It's a brand new facility, but is awesome after a big day on the slopes. You can head in there, have a really relaxing bath, think about how awesome the turns have been that day....and then catch the 7pm shuttle back to North Country!....BLISS!

The mountain still is not fully operational. The Kitanomine Zone beginner runs are patchy, and volunteers have been shovelling snow into patches that aren't yet covered in an attempt to get it ready.

Kuma Stomp Time

Further up the mountain however, volunteers have also been working on Kuma Otoshi. This is a big big win for the skiing community. Every year locals, including ski patrol and resort staff, volunteer their time and stamp down Kuma.

For those of you who don't know what Kuma is, it's the steepest run on the mountain, and very prone to avalanches. Similar to the way some Colorado ski patrollers stomp their back-bowls for snow stability, the Furano Patrol and a group of volunteers to the same thing in the Kitanomine Zone on Kuma Otoshi.

Ski Patrol, Instructors and local volunteers gearing up to stomp down/compact Kuma

Being first tracks for the season, you can understand it was very hard work I'm sure, as each step was met with minimal resistance from the bamboo. On this peak is actually 2m high bamboo that folds over and flattens out under the weight of the snow.

The first of 3 laps

Oh I encourage you to look forward to Kuma opening to the public. This photo may not look steep, but in fact, Kuma is one of the best runs in Hokkaido on its day! Bring it on!!!!

Archives look back on the season and find yourself at North Country Inn Furano