July 21 2008
New for the 08/09 season is the eBest of Hokkaidof Backcountry Week. Over 8 days we will take you first to Daisetsuzan National Park to experience some of the lightest snow in the world. Live volcanoes and famous therapeutic hot springs are a feature of the park. Then we finish in Niseko where the 16 meter snow accumulations and tree skiing are world famous. For more information click here
April 24 2008
In late February we were privileged to guide the snowboard crew from Red Bull which included Zach Leach, Heikki Sorsa, Pat Moore and Shaun White. We didnft know what hit us for the next few days as they all possessed b.b guns and there were pellets being fired everywhere. I got used to wearing sunglasses inside, for safety reasons.
We were based in Ryounkaku hot springs lodge in the Tokachidake area of Daisetsuzan National park. The guys were stoked with the area and found a lot of features that they could work with. They hadnft known before that such a place existed in Hokkaido with plenty of alpine terrain. The theme for the next five days was eairf and getting plenty of it, from cliffs, drops to tree-rides. Pat and Heiki took their first proper backcountry hike to the steeps of Mt Furano and negotiated a steep tree line down with multiple drops.
We took two side trips, first to Furano Ski Resort where we were given free access to the off-piste areas and were accompanied by the head of the ski patrol there. It was a privilege that could have only happened with the depth of talent in the crew. Shaun was a particular hit with the kids who jostled to get his autograph. Another day we were out at Asahidake which is a volcano and serviced by one gondola in the northern part of the national park. We were competing with two other film crews there but managed to get some good shots.
The last night the boys partied hard to celebrate before traveling on to Niseko the next day, each with a lot of good memories of riding.
See the photos Big in Japan photogallery from Red Bull Snowboarding
See the video Red Bull Big in Japan from Red Bull Snowboarding
