The XC Skiing thread

[vertical_doug]

I've skied this place since 1990. You are also seeing the climate change effects here. More mid-winter rain events, less snowfall overall and greater variability.

The season is also substantially shorter according to my friends.

[72gmc]

I've skied this place since 1990. You are also seeing the climate change effects here. More mid-winter rain events, less snowfall overall and greater variability.

The season is also substantially shorter according to my friends.

A friend of mine knows people with homes on Hokkaido, so it seems he's there every winter for an extended stay. I am jealous.

[vertical_doug]

The triangle pyramid is Hakuba Yari Peak, the next peak to right is Shakushi and the final peak is the larger pyramid which is the third to the right. Shirouma (white horse mountain). Shirouma is actually the tallest of the peaks, and is face of this mountain that the white horse appears during snow melt giving Hakuba it's name.




The twih is Kashimayari, and the large buttress is Goryutake.
If you look at the ridgeline, you can see all the snowboard tracks of people who drop of the mountain into the side country.



Off in the distance, you see a flat set of peaks directly under the jet in the sky. That is Yatsugadake- (8 Peak mountain). According to legend, Yatsugatake was once higher than Mount Fuji, but Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of Mount Fuji, tore it down out of jealousy, leaving the collection of peaks that exists today.

[vertical_doug]

Hakuba Cortina before the snow, then it started snowing.
vIGfNhTh.jpg

Then we ran into a Kamoshika (type of Capricorn or antelope) in the mountain woods.





The little black round thing is my daughter's boyfriends head as he storms the pow between us and the kamoshika which is by the tree.

[vertical_doug]

I better give my daughter equal billing....
The nice thing about Cortina is the tree skiing is very well laid out. It is a bit like a Japanese version of Jay Peak.

A real Gem. The whole tree skiing thing was pushed by a local Canadian in Hakuba back in the early 2000's by the name of Dave Enright. The guy has earned his due.



He still runs a guide service and avalanche training courses in the area. So if you are ever in Hakuba and want to ski the backcountry, he is your point of call.

The forecast was for heavy snow in the early morning, but this morning there was only a few flakes. As my daughter said, 'Total Fail'. But it started dumping around 10 and the afternoon was total stoke.

[72gmc]

Love it, Doug. Thank you.

I follow Taisuke0822 on Instagram because he posts nice footage and pictures of free skiing in Japan. To my eye it looks similar to what you’re riding.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CowgB...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[vertical_doug]

Love it, Doug. Thank you.

I follow Taisuke0822 on Instagram because he posts nice footage and pictures of free skiing in Japan. To my eye it looks similar to what you’re riding.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CowgB...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

The whole backside of Japan is snow country. The mountain ridge that goes down the middle of the country acts like a huge snow fence.
There is a mountain 1.5 hrs from Tokyo called Tanigawadake with a small resort called Tenjindaira. We called this broomhilda's mountain because it was always cloudy and snowy.
Craig Kelly and the other Burton Pros use to come out to ride there and were always blown away by the powder.

The snow in Niseko is better but I think the terrain is boring. If you come skiing to Japan, come last week of Jan/first of Feb and hit Hakuba, Shiga, Nozawa, and you have enough terrain.



This is snowboard maker based in Niseko and he makes some of the coolest powder boards.
This is their trip in Hakuba.

[vertical_doug]

With the yen < 130, lift tickets 6000 yen or less, and the japanese lodging hasn't adjusted prices up, you can probably fly to Japan, ski two weeks, and it will be much cheaper than the American West or Europe (But Europe snow usually sucks so who cares)

I'd say it is even cheaper than staying at Spruce Lodge in Stowe for a week and skiing too if you are in NYC.

Just book flights early for next year.

[72gmc]

Jessie’s interview is at 2:40.

[spopepro]

Damn… World Cup tickets sold out like immediately. I was planning on heading to MN to see it, but apparently needed to be refreshing when it went live yesterday.

Now have to figure out if I want to go bad enough to travel to volunteer… probably not tbh, but maybe.

[vertical_doug]

I thought I'd move weird ski weather warming events from the Mikaela thread back to the old ski thread.



https://www.powder.com/trending-news...ts-down-safety

Almost funny, the start of the season in the Northeast was looking good, and then the rain storm.

The same thing has also happened in Japan. Hakuba was open and skiing top to bottom at 47, when unseasonably warm weather + rainstorm drenched the place.
We even had a mudslide up by the Ski Jumps.

The low temp was 49 F which is 25 degrees above normal.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/soci...231216-156171/

[72gmc]

I'm not even looking at PNW snow reports until the weekend.

And spopepro, the idea of volunteering at the World Cup in MN sounds awesome to me. I'd for sure look into it if I was within a reasonable distance.

[caleb]

I thought I'd move weird ski weather warming events from the Mikaela thread back to the old ski thread.

We've got zero snow in Minneapolis right now, and it's currently 40 degrees and sunny. Christmas Eve is supposed to be upper 40s and raining.

I skied our local hamster loop of manmade snow the other day, but I struggle to get motivated by that experience.

Fingers crossed that we have good snow for the World Cup. I'm sure we can make enough for the course almost no matter the weather, but it would be a real bummer to have a white ribbon running around bare dirt.

[72gmc]

Spoke with a work friend who just returned from a second annual trip to Whistler. She said it was the same dates, last year to this year, and a +50 degree Fahrenheit difference. I know Whistler often gets even weirder weather than the rest of the PNW, but still, my everyday optimism is being tested!

[htwoopup]

60 some odd miles of trails which are for hiking/ xc/ fatbike/ snowshoe etc.

Women’s World Cup a couple of weeks ago at the local hill.

Our lake is frozen but not walkable or hockey-able.

And this is beyond trying of the everyday optimism….

[htwoopup]

Umm, it’s December 25th and it is Quebec…this is not pretty….

[j44ke]

Finally had a chance to catch up on a bit of xc ski racing. Watched the Tour de Ski series. Jess Diggins won for the 2nd (?) time in her career. And on the final stage - a 10km with a super-hard hill climb at the end - Sophia Laukli won after coming in 3rd last year, beating none other than Heidi Weng by a decent margin. Must have been a pretty satisfying win as she stayed patient all the way up and then blew Weng's doors off in the final stretch.

[72gmc]

Yes! That’s 2 for Jessie, the first was a COVID-affected field (no Norwegians) but you can only race the people who line up. She has really improved her classic technique by all evidence.

BTW Jessie’s book is in the classifieds, in the get-it-for-a-donation section.

[caleb]

Hardly any natural snow on the ground, but the World Cup course is coming along nicely. They were still blowing snow on to one of the major climbs, but the other one was open over the weekend.

[fmbp]

Hardly any natural snow on the ground, but the World Cup course is coming along nicely. They were still blowing snow on to one of the major climbs, but the other one was open over the weekend.

I have skied that loop 9 trillion times this year. At least we have manmade . . . for now.