Niseko, the snowland

Watching so much old HK movies lately..

harupi Tenki

Morning

And yeah, sliding is always as FUN even so. 

harupi Tenki

Morning~

(The above picture is taken previously and not today. But it’s gonna be whiter and fluffier today! haha)

Morning morning

Going to have my first ride on a snowmobile today

Been cancelled all the time due to the weather, pray that this won’t be one of those! 

Looking forward~ hoho 

On this mountain, obviously there are a lot of tracks and runs for sliders 
 
All tracks leading to 4 different resorts 

GREEN ——  beginner
RED ——  intermediate

I’ve ski pass only for the Grand Hirafu area, so, I wish to at least to explore all the runs on the right side of the mountain completely   

The very first one that I went on my 2nd lesson was the Ace Family Pair Lift at Hirafu Area, the gateway to the easiest track but on the lift, it was really pretty with pine trees on both side 
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This is from the top of Hanazono Quad Lift #1.

And,

I love  views from lifts at Hanazono tooJust keep reminds me of the very beautiful Chinese Ink Art~

Now, here’s the part that I want to keep in record

The tracks that I’ve EXPLORED so far
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Went on Family course on my 2nd lesson, up to Green course and Sennoki course on my 3rd lesson..

3rd lesson was unbelievable..

I mean, I’ve never skied before in my whole life until now I had 2 lessons and out of a sudden, going so high up the mountain on my 3rd lesson

Moreover, on the day I did not wear warm enough, the day has to be so WINDY and extremely COLD 

Hot Chocolate there is creeeeaaamyyyy though~ 

On Hanazono area..

The first time went up without an instructor..but with Yapi 

Yapi is about my level..not as dependable on ski-ing part  but with him, I feel easy and eased 

Before we gone up there, heard one thing about Hanazono is, even the beginner course is hard..steep slope and narrow.. which is the SILVER DREAM course.

But c’mon, they’re for beginners, it won’t be that badand we just went up without a second thought..

All the way up to Lift #2, slide down back to the base of Lift #2 and up again by Lift #2, is the tiny track where we practice and warming up..

That slide is not even considered as a track..too tiny..too easy..

Think that’s just a meeting point from other tracks..

The tiny slide. Flat, huh  Though tiny we still did a few runs one up and down Lift #2..to gain more confidence before going all the way down the steep slope of Silver Dream..

The starting wasn’t that bad..

View from Silver Dream~

Nice here, but this is where I stood for like 15 mins without moving

Can you imagine, normal skiers slide down Silver Dream in 5 mins and I stood there frozen for 15 mins

WHY

Coz I was startled seeing a cliff in front of me!.. so did Yasu..

Other slide passed up and off to the cliff…

Okay, seeing them slide down swingingly confirmed me that that is not a cliff, just a very steep slope…for us at least 

It still look impossible for us to go down that steep..

Yapi: Let’s walk back up to the mountain..we can go down by the ski lift..

Me: Noooooo! Going up the mountain on a ski is dreadful. And I think that’s a really long way to go back up!

Yapi: Then lets just take off our ski and walk down!!

Me: Hmm… not sure whether this is a good idea or not. Walking down doesn’t seem to be an easy task too.. 

Yapi: Hmm…><

Me: >< (Shouting help~) (T-T)

Until a few kids slide down towards us with an instructor..

Me: How are we suppose to go down this slope?

Instructor: Just go slow and by making big big turns with snow plow~

Instructor to kids: C’mon guys let’s go!

1 kid to me: Turn and down! Watch me! WATCH ME~! 

Me: Oh..(>.<)

And they went off swingingly down the hill…

Whereas Yasu and I had no choice but to go down as slow as we can..

and ended up with Jack and Jill down the hill tragic..

Doesn’t look that bad in pics, but it was scary when you’re still a beginner trying to go down with no skills 

Wow..a beginner up on the hill in STORM…

Strong winds..

Freezing cold..

Can’t see a thing..

Like this, like what I said, imagine Silent Hill…

(This pic is on the road not on the mountain, don’t ever think that I was able to take pics in a storm..)

There’s no way we wanna slide down Silver Dream in a STORM.

Even on a clear blue sky, it was hard enough

Wanted to go down by the ski lift and the lift is CLOSED due to the STORM   

Then, the lift guy was kind enough and advised us to go down on the Holiday Course leading to Hirafu area.

He recommended that it is easier..

So off we went without any other option.. *freezing cold*

It was indeed not as killing as Silver Dream..

Only that I got really freaked out at the entrance to Holiday Course..

Steep, can’t see what’s down there, wind blowing so strong..

Yapi went first and disappeared into the foggy stuffs..

I look back, there was no one..and I can’t see Yapi no more in front..

Wind blowing sounded scary when you are standing alone up in a mountain, in a storm, and and especially not being able to see.. 

But, this is where I felt the mountain.

I felt the mountain is living.

I felt the nature, the trees, the wind, the air.

I felt like as if the mountain is whispering. *It’s TRUE*

This is the first time I felt so much on a mountain

To tell the truth, I was not extremely scared of the storm, 

I was in fact felt in-love with the mountain  

But I only hate them making my look a disaster..
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Face after the storm…

SO UGLY.. Like nenek like nanny..

Round nose big lips..

Face all numbed and I’m still do not know why I got that wrinkle lines on my face every time I came back from ski..

Two colors from the freezing cold air  Not sun burn, should be wind-burn or cold-burn..

Luckily it get back to normal after a while.. 

Yeah, never ever underestimate a mountain even if it is a resort mountain.

Mountain is dangerous if we do not obey the mountains’ rules 

We were lucky that the storm that we caught in was still bearable, but you’d never when you’ll catch a big big big one that might send you up to heaven or down to hell..

Storm was scary but I kinda enjoyed the experience all the same. 

Beginner still shall play safe on a clear and bright day~ I s’ppose 

For Niseko’s level, it’s a warmer day, feeling nice day~

Very foggy~~ but light winds with very soft powder made it the best day ever 

Anyway, I’m still maybe wanna post it on my blog even though there’s no point posting a weather report after the day.

Just wanna have them recorded on my blog 

Today’s Snow Report (16 Jan 2010)