New Board :D....

So today I got my new board for the coming winter season, the Capita Saturnia, stoked :) It looks RAD and feels real light looking forward to riding it, gonna save it for snow though but they will hopefully have it to test out at the board demo tomorrow night so I will get to try it out there :) A BIG thank you to Boarderline and Si for helping me get a hold of a board, really appreciate it :D

Here's  it already stickered up....

Sketchy....

So I've not drawn properly in a while now, I doodle and come up with crazy characters but have not drawn so spent the day yesterday drawing a couple of portraits of 2 rad bro's who snowboard and ski at the slope and give it to their parents who do so much for them in supporting them with what they do through their sports. Stoked with how they turned out :)

Fin Bremner

Keilan Bremner

Boarderline present - The Capita & Union Board Demo....

Boarderline have arranged for the dudes from Capita and Union bindings to head on up to Aberdeen Snowsports Centre this Wednesday to demo the boards and bindings they have to offer. Head on down to check them out and have a fun shred :)....

Poster Design....

So recently a good friend who works at the dryslope asked for my help in designing a poster for the new Winter Mountain School that they are going to be running throughout the winter as soon as the snow falls, here it is.... and if you want some lessons contact Aberdeen Snowsports Centre http://www.skiaberdeen.com/

Back on the board :D....

So it's been 8 weeks since I broke my collar bone and 8 weeks since I've been on my board.... Last night saw my return to dryslope riding. Weird it was.... but just rode a lil and hit the table top slow trying some grabs and front ones with like no air haha but I did do some 3's in the quarter pipe, sure not as big but it's a start, to be honest I would have been way more confident coming back from injury by being back on snow but that's just what I'm more used to now!!


Everyone was stoked to see me back on my board which was nice and supportive of the fact I needed to take it easy. I shadowed the kids club and helped out getting the opportunity to do some actual instructing although still all voluntary but I don't do it for the money just the love for it and seeing an improvement in peoples riding although would still be nice to get some work as we all need to make a living but oh well just need to keep doing what I do and see what happens!!


Still need to build up my fitness again but working on that, just need to keep getting stronger for the coming winter and really push my riding more than I ever have :)....

Tune stuck in my head....

So ever since a friend posted this song up on his facebook the other day I have fallen in love with it and can't stop listening to it and dreaming of flying away on a big jet plane for some more rad adventures :) But a month tomorrow I'll be heading to Tahoe so soon, soon I will be on that big Jet plane....

Sick comp idea....

Travis Rice has come up with a concept for a snowboard comp to find the best all round rider, a lot of work and planning has gone into it and it will be launching off in February next year. With an invited riders list of some of the most badass stylee legendary riders around it's sure to be epic, I look forward to seeing it :) Read the full story about it here....
http://espn.go.com/action/snowboarding/story/_/id/7266822/travis-rice-red-bull-present-supernatural-snowboarding-contest

The Rad Life....

Check out this blog, set up by a couple of dudes who shred at the local dryslope who are part of the uni crew. They've called it The Rad Life cause you know we all live a rad life and post up vids and random stuff they think is rad so if you want a bit more radness in your life check it out :)

http://www.theradlife.co.uk/

Vlog....

Grant Donald and Andy Foote.... 2 best friends.... one skier one boarder.... set out on a journey to entertain the masses.... hilarious on ski's/ board banter and off.... some insane skiing and snowboarding from both and guest appearances from friends.... seriously what more could you want from a blog.... watch and enjoy my friends and check out their other 3 vlogs as this one number 4 just dropped....

Park Dude for the day....

Wearing the the magical park crew sb pants on my last day of work, yeah they like clown pants but a rare sight seeing a girl in them, not sure the park guys were overly impressed, haha!! :) We got to dress as what we'd like to be when we're older and well who wouldn't want to be on the park crew really!! So I was rocking the learners slope with them on, the instructors giving me odd looks, haha and went for jib runs down it every so often, hehe....

RECOVERING....

So as always coming back from doing a season is hard as the boredom starts to set in as your used to working and riding every day in what is essentially this lil bubble you are in for however many months. You meet new people and make new friends who you will also miss too.


It was hard being back with a broken collar bone and felt helpless to an extent not being able to do much with one arm in a sling. Lucky having your mum around to help you, haha, thanks!! The first couple of weeks being the hardest with having trouble adjusting to this time zone therefore waking up at all hours of the morning wide awake and not being comfortable due to collar bone. Buuuut you soon adjust and even though this happened it has forced me to chill out and rest, I've not gone this long without doing sports or actively involved in stuff EVER!! So as you can imagine it has driven me crazy a lil just trying to find things to keep me amused. There's been a couple of snowboard comps at the dryslope that I've gone and watched, also have been allowed to shadow/ watch the kids club to get ideas on things/ techniques/ exercises for freestyle coaching and have enjoyed very much being down at the slope every Wednesday still surrounded by snow sports as if I'd not got to do that I dread to think my state of mind would be right now, haha!! I even had a 2 day first aid course to do, funny seeing peoples reactions to dealing with my shoulder when we had the different first aid scenarios to do and how they could move me etc but everyone understanding of it so all good :) I enjoy doing courses like that, check out Collective training who ran it, really the best outdoor first aid course I've been on where it's hands on doing stuff and not boring.... http://www.collectivetraining.co.uk/


After 4 weeks of healing and sling was off I decided it was time to go to a physio as had been trying to keep shoulder moving but was wary of what would actually help it. After a friend recommending the Spear physio at Aberdeen Sports Village I booked an appointment with physio Ruth and on getting exercises after one week I felt a huge difference it felt stronger and had way more movement, stoked. Exercises getting harder each week to push it and now my shoulder feels awesome, would really recommend these guys for physio they want to get you back doing sport, etc soon as and work wonders :)


Soooo excited to get back on my snowboard and surf board next week, stoked and going for first swim in a while tomo :)

Taking this time out has really made me step back and think about everything I've done over the last year, it's been a whirl wind ride of new countries/ experiences and a huge learning curve in your life, stepping out into the big bad amazing world by yourself, finding your way and somehow knowing no matter what everything will be alright and work out in the end. You just gotta go out there and live your dreams as you never know what is going to happen tomorrow, believe in yourself, doing what you love is not an escape route from growing up and getting a real job in fact you gain a lot more from these experiences and from the people you meet along the way, much more rewarding and humbling experience!! People may be jealous of what your doing but in fact it's just they are too scared to get out there and do it for themselves as it's really not that hard once you get out there!! I'm not gonna lie it was a scary thought on going to do all this myself but the people I met along the way were awesome and made it all the more easier for me, so to all of you out there, I thank you all for your friendship, your kindness and your awesome personalities who make each and every one of you unique and special :)

TUUUUXXXX....

Here's some photo's of me riding while doing my level 2 instructor out in Tux and a photo with some of the guys who were in my group celebrating on passing....

Dave, Paulo, Tom and I

Park Rat....

So Snow Park was the first to open with all it's man made snow, I went up there on opening day and then.... the next 5 days so 6 days in a row, haha!! 2 of these days I headed up with fellow Scottish shredder Claire Craig and her fellow Scottish mate Jamie Morris. Had a blast riding with them good fun :)

Cooool helmet Claire :)

Got some rad shots taken by Jamie, reminded you on riding in Scotland on a spring day with the lack of snow, haha.... only difference was the rad park!! :) Bluebird warm days and this was meant to be the start of their winter, crazy huh!! But that's what you get in an NZ winter lot's of sunny days coupled with some bad vis days. Check out the photo's, especially this hilarious one of me going off the jump with my hands in the air, the sequence of shots was hilarious as had my arms down then they went up then down again for landing, totally meant to be the starfish air fo sho, but really I was hailing to the snow gods to bring us lot's of snow, hehe!! Thank you for the shots Jamie :)

Praying to the snow gods :)

Rome Lo-Fi Review....

So I have been riding the Rome Lo-Fi board the last couple of years and LOVE it :D It is an awesome all round board, whether it be pow, piste, park, moguls, tree runs, rails it really is the best friend you could have strapped to your feet. It's traditional camber with a nice in between flex, not too stiff and not too soft. Solid for jumps while still flexy enough that you can butter and press whether riding along or on boxes/ rails. Real light with amazing ride ability for more high performance riding as in instructor courses, etc. Also a beast in the half pipe, as I say this board will do anything, wherever you take it on the mountain rest assured it will not hold you back :)


My 2 Lo-Fi's I've had so far have been ridden hard and have stood up well to the abuse sadly eventually coming to a gnarly end....


I learnt to backflip and rodeo on this board, eventually fully snapping the the tail off....

Annnnd this past season Lo-Fi did well to last me as long as it did with numerous cracks in the metal edges started to lift off the surface, came to a gnarly end on my last day in NZ on an encounter with a pesky rock blowing out part of the edge....

 


Hopefully I will be getting this years model of the board as as you can tell I'm super stoked on it but if not then I will try out something different!! Would def recommend this board teamed with the Rome Maddison bindings which are super comfortable and siiiick :)

Westbeach Comp....

So the following weekend after arriving back home in Aberdeen, I decided to head down to the dryslope for the day to watch the Westbeach comp. It was weird being a spectator for once but it was kinda nice seeing it from a different perspective for a change. I don't think it quite lived up to last years as was missing a lot of the big names that traveled up/ entered then although there were a lot of people i.e British team out in Hintertux for some early season training!! Buuuut the snowboarders and skiers didn't disappoint and some big tricks were being thrown down, Jesse going for the double front flip on snowboard and Grant Donald going for the double front flip on ski's landing it of course, keeping it G like the fly white guy that he is (and yes I just got the Offspring song stuck in your head, mwuhahahaha)

Mr Foote killing it

It was good seeing everyone since I got back I was briefly down on the Wed night for the Boarderline Burton and Forum board test so had seen some people then. There were a lot of local shredders entered in it which was awesome to see with wee Finlay Jacobs going huuuuge off the kicker doing big 720's real stoked to see the progression in everyones riding, especially Andy Foote killing it with flips and corked spins and some tech maneuvers on the boxes and rails, em yeah he's turned to the skinny side, almost as bad as the dark side but if he feels wearing skinny pants has influenced this new found super powers of gnarl and steeze then who am I to judge keep on rocking them!! Shout out also to Matt Gibson killing it for the old dude, haha, giving a master class in the art of tweak landing him in 3rd, woohoo :) Also to Kris Bell spinning and flipping his heart out keeping it cool ya know that's just how he rolls....

Lara - Method

4 girls were entered ripping it for the chicks, steezy tweeked out grabs being thrown down by Sophie Addison and a sweet smooth floaty back 3 by Lara Wood.... then disaster struck as quick as that.... looking like a stomped landed she buckled down and sat on the landing, uh oh, turns out she'd dislocated her knee on landing, it popped back in but still she was in a lot of pain, never good seeing someone injure themselves, especially someone you know:( She's doing some mean physio for now until the docs figure out what's up and the best way to proceed with Lara's recovery. Wishing her all the best for a speedy recovery so she will be back shredding like the steezy rail slayer that she is. Gutted for her with this happening so close to winter and not knowing how long she will be out for but she has family and friends looking out for her and has the right mentality of not getting frustrated at it all.

Will leave you with one of the photo's of the day, I'd say!!

The photo's I've used were taken by Eugene Mackie who was down watching, I hope things go good with your knee dude, will be stoked to see the day you are back on your ski's dude!!


Also check out the highlights edit, filmed and edited by Will Nangle....

More Snowboarding Videos

IIIINNNNJJJJJUUUURRRRYYYY AAAAHHHH!!!!

On my last day in NZ I was having an awesome time shredding with other lifties and friends who were up on a bluebird sunny day what more could you ask for. Warm up runs down Captains, fun fun fun until dun dun duuuuunnnnnn I span off something as I most always do buuuut a damn rock get's in the way of my board and busts out a lil bit of the metal edge, arrrrgggg. Although to be honest my board had done well to survive to the end of the season with countless cracks in the metal edges. Having to much fun to stop though I figure I can still ride on this even though there's this bit of metal edge sticking out I'll just punch it back in every so often, haha.... Yeah right.... we then head to the park, yuss, hmm on the boxes/ rails it seems ok, I straight air a jump with it and think hmm I shouldn't really hit jumps with it like this but fuck it that felt fine and it's my last day of shred, I was just flying around stoked in the zone where I'll go for anything so spinning should be all good too huh, nuh uh that would be a baaaad idea Natalie yes indeedy. So I guess you know where this is going.... I go for a back three off the jump the snow is super soft and slushy I go for the rotation I feel the edge of my board catch on the lip of the jump it sends me backwards, kinda upside down in the air with a fair bit to fall but can't do anything whoa shiiiiiiiiet so I tuck my head in to protect that and brace for impact :(


What happened next.... well I landed fully on my right shoulder it taking all the impact, I sit there for a second to do the body check and think I'm fine, get up ride a lil bit then think hmm maybe I should sit/ lie down. I'm not hurting anywhere but just have that feeling like somethings wrong, starting to feel a bit light headed probably in a bit of shock I guess. The others I was riding with come down to check on me, the park crew is heading up on the chair above us asking if we need ski patrol so they radio it in. Ski patrol thinks we're playing a prank on them cause he recognized we all work there and when he's proding at my shoulder I feel no pain weird, he moves my arm around and I can feel the clicking of my bones together fuuuuck I've broken my collar bone. I lie on a sled while the ski patroller ski's me down to the skidoe but rather than take me up the quickest route to base they fricken take me on a tour of the mountain going past all the bottom and tops of the lift stations, seriously don't know if they were taking the piss or what but wasn't the most enjoyable ride!!

Collar bone still not feeling sore but me feeling gutted as due to fly home the next day feeling sad already at leaving then this happening, everyone was gutted for me too and were sending their well wishes. I'd got a ride up with a fellow lifty Erin but wanted her to stay up and enjoy her last shred day so she took my board and helmet, etc and I managed to get a ride down to the medical centre in one of the work vans although we had to wait for it to fill up first. So I was dropped off and got seen to straight away and taken through for an x-ray where it was confirmed it was broken. I'd sent a text to my parents and to Ben thinking it ironic how his mate broke his collar bone on ben's last day riding and I broke mine on my last day!! I had to then wait a while for the doc to see me. It's a clean break, the bones are pretty far apart but he says they will heal together, I get a special sling for it and then walk home.


My house mates couldn't believe I'd done that on my last day, they were awesome about it though with James offering to help me pack if I needed but luckily I'd done it all already just had my board to pack away and riding gear. Although I was not looking forward to the 3 days traveling that awaited me, luckily it did not hurt was just pretty uncomfortable and no one was sitting next to me on most of the flights so all good.

We had a bbq that night and most of the lifties and some other people turned up so it was a packed house, I couldn't believe how many of them turned up but Anita had sent out a text as she arranged it. This really made my day and was stoked to see them all before I left. Although I did have to get my food cut up for me, haha!! It just made me realize how many friends I made this summer while in Wanaka and how I will miss them all very much it may have been a short season but an epic one it was, good good times :)


So the next day Dylan drove me to Queenstown airport and I left from there. What made the trip easier and put a smile on my face were the texts I got from people, it really is the best medicine having people around making you smile :) I'm a great believer in things happening for a reason and think it was just something that had to happen as a way of telling me to slow down and chill out for a bit, take a break from snowboarding and just rest after having ridden almost everyday for the last 5 months but really it's been the whole year!! We live and learn.

Early Lifts....

So when working as a lifty we would do some early starts, which meant getting picked up from the maintenance guys from your house around 5:20 am or 5:50 am due to the ski racers wanting on the mountain early to do their training!! We had the national teams from many European countries including the U.K and what they were most stoked on was the Austrian team there training too so basically once you were all set up it was just a case of sitting watching them by. I did not mind this just meant it was a longer day and you had to get up early but from my many years of lifeguarding I am used to early early morning starts like that!! Also the maintenance guys were awesome, a highlight of the day when they would come by the lift stations providing some excellent hilarious banter :)

Although one of them Nathan the gnarliest of them all injured himself like a month into the season or something.... He was riding snow park one day, stoked on the shred riding the jib line but the famous triple line of jumps were calling out to him, nathan NATHAN and he saw girls hitting it, haha so he gotta hit it up don't he, OOooo so that he did and after hitting the first jump a good few times and looking/ feeling comfortable on it he seemingly proclaimed if I land the first jump I'm going for the second which I think was either 40 or 45ft, land he did the first jump but no speed checks into the second the gnarler overshot the jump big time breaking both his wrists having to get them operated on and in double cast, oh boy and broken ribs me thinks if I remember rightly and probably some other injuries so that was him out for the season with his presence missed up at Cardies.


Ewan and Andy were another two, you could say they had some sort of bromance going on and these guys were awesome so funny a pleasure have met and work with them :D

Hintertux Review....

HINTERTUX, AUSTRIA

 In May this year (2011) I headed to Hintertux, Austria for the month to do some instructor courses. It is a glacier therefore accommodates for year round riding. Not knowing what to expect from riding a glacier I was pleasantly surprised on my first day of shred there finding good quality hard packed snow to ride on with wide open perfectly groomed pistes, stoked. It is bigger than I expected too with varied terrain and steepness throughout, offering some sick off piste riding too. For spring/ summer riding you really couldn’t beat it, bluebird hot and sunny days almost everyday a joy to be up there riding.

 Although weather up on a glacier is very unpredictable and it could be bluebird one day and the next dumping it down with snow in a total white out with fresh deep pow and yes that did happen and yes in May too, so insanely rad, haha!! As the month went on the days would get hotter therefore to get the best of the conditions especially for riding park you need to head up early as by early afternoon it is super slushy soft wet sticky slow, hmm I think I’ve covered all the descriptive words I could there, haha!!

With a park that boasts a Green, red and pro line of jumps (2 in a row for each) and an assortment of rails and boxes along with various other features it is a fun park to ride, easy to lap with a t-bar going up the side of it and a half pipe at the top of the park so it has everything covered.

If your into your mogul riding well you’ll find some decent ones to ride, even some big gnarly ones if that floats your boat, you will enjoy blasting down these, hehe!!

 There are only a few hotels in Tux with some other hotels/ housing nearby or some even opt to stay down in Mayrhoffen and driving/ get the bus up to Tux each day. There is a Gondola that takes you from here up to the base of the glacier and then there’s another 2 to get on to get you right to the top. So if you want a mellow spring/ summer shred with bluebird days and a rad park then I would recommend going here, good vibes on the mountain all round, with national teams from all over the world going there to train at various times of the year and a popular destination for instructor courses. With your typical apre ski back at the bottom end of the day, surrounded by the beautiful Austrian mountains/ scenery, what more could you ask for really!!

The Goodlife....

Check out this blog.... has been causing a stir as of late in the snowboard world but the good kind of stir. You will get a good read with each of Jonathan Weaver's posts from someone who knows this industry and what's going on in the world of snowboarding inside out....
http://www.the-goodlife.co.uk/

Random Saturdays....

So today I ventured to the beach to check out a surf comp being held there. The sun was out making it nice day for such an event. Waves there were but a tad bit gnarly, especially for some of the more novice surfers but a good turn out of surfers which was good to see.

 

I just got a new lens for my camera the other day as my other one the Automatic focus stopped working on it so thought I'd go for something better, wondered along the beach taking photo's and stoked with how they turned out!! After hanging around for a couple hours watching all I wanted to do was surf, grr so went home, haha. But soon soooon I will be back on my boards, oh how I cannot wait :)

Tonight there was also a lil exhibition of artwork all produced from a skate deck being shown at Boarderline's store at Transition extreme the local indoor skate park. Kaplank Kapow a rad online skate blog ran this last year for the first time and some unusual/ cool things people come up with, they call it shape. I went to check it out, a decent amount of people had got involved and produced some awesome designs, my favourite being Pinnochio. Check out Kaplank Kapow blog here and you will also see what Shape is all about by reading through some of their postings.... http://www.kaplankkapow.com/

 

Cardrona, NZ Review....

CARDRONA ALPINE RESORT, NEW ZEALAND

This summer I did my first season in New Zealand and I will definitely be back again for another one. Such a beautiful country, living in Wanaka I was surrounded by stunning scenery. You will see the most amazing sunrises and sunsets, also I have never seen so many stars in the sky as I saw there!!

 I was lucky enough to get a job as a liftie at Cardrona, meeting/ working with a bunch of rad individuals from all over the world, such a fun way to spend a season of working and riding. Cardrona is the family friendly mountain with a good mix of everything, good pisted runs with a decent sized park and off piste riding with the opportunity for some backcountry if that’s what you enjoy doing too.  NZ had one of their worst seasons snow wise this year but we made do with what we had and still had fun. You could spot lines that would be sick with more snow but you just gotta get creative with what you got!!

There are 4 chair lifts, 1 poma tow and 2 magic carpets to transport you up the mountain. They have Valley View which was newly opened this year and impressively managed to stay open until 2 weeks before the season ended, thanks to some snow making to cover up the thinning snow as Valley View is the lowest down runs on the mountain. Epic on a pow day though and since being opened proved popular not least because you could park your car there instead of driving all the way up the mountain but also due to it’s more challenging/ steeper terrain.

Now for the other main chiairs/ runs….

Captians has the most off piste to explore with some nice drops and mogul runs. It also has sick wide open groomed runs down, nothing better than being first to shred that fresh corduroy on a bluebird day. Another highlight is Captains Café where they are famous for the pizza serve there, mmmm pizza!! The only way back to base from Captains is by long flattish cat tracks so being on a board make sure you go into them with speed. Queenstown Return showcasing some stunning scenery as you ride, waddle, hop, ride some more across it!!

Photo - Karolien Schlambrouk

Whitestar is where you’ll see all the cool kids as yes you guessed it, it’s where you’ll find the park, with a couple of groomed runs down either side of the park and near the bottom some steeper sections all meeting at the bottom people like to go fast while adding in some fun jibbery trickery on the walls of snow at the sides where people track out natural hits/ jumps. In the park they have their pro line of 3 big jumps each one getting progressively bigger than the last with some bigger rails/ boxes on the run in to these. Right next to this is the rail/ box run which is changed and mixed about throughout the season offering something for everyone, a highlight this year being the Burton barrel at the top. Following all this were a 4^th and a 5^th jump smaller than their triple line of jumps with some more boxes/ rails thrown in. A real fun run whether hitting the park or not and would have to say it was my favourite.

 Mc Dougals has the reputation for having the slowest chair, especially because it is for the main green run of the mountain therefore the chair is slowed, stopped and started a lot due to the beginners coming from the learners slope and not knowing how to use a chair lift!! On this run you will find a baby park with some rollers/ jumps and some nice ride on rails/ boxes to learn on. There is some rad chutes to ride down on the off piste here with one small gnarly narrow one that just shoots you out, good fun. From Mc Dougals you can enter Skyline which is a cat track that will take you right back to base but if you venture off the side it has some real nice off piste especially on a powder day with some nice windlips forming that you can go big off!! You can also access their Olympic size half pipe from here which is perfectly shaped and cut pretty much every night as a lot of national teams come to train in it which is amazing to watch. There is now the Wells Platter poma tow going from the bottom of the half pipe to the top making hiking the pipe a thing of the past, and yes you guessed it it is named after the Wells bro’s who are a regular appearance at Cardies training in the pipe or park.

Last but not least as we all have to start somewhere is the Learners slope, this is usually taken over by the instructors but anyone is welcome to use it. There is a tiny slow magic carpet lower down for the lill lil kids who are learning to ski and further up there is what was new for this season a huuuuge long magic carpet, the slope being wide, flat and mellow, perfect for learning your first turns on.

Cardrona is effected by the wind a lot so there will be days when the lifts are effected by this but usually it is not too much of a problem and you can get bad days anywhere!! We had countless bluebird days throughout the season perfect for getting that mean goggle tan.

JAPOW Review....

NISEKO, JAPAN

Doing a season in Japan you don’t know what to expect, it is a foreign land with people who speak another language and have their own unique culture from anywhere else in the world. On arrival we spent a few days in Tokyo before heading up to the North Island of Hokkaido. Already within these first days you got a glimpse of the Japanese, mannerism, characteristics and traditions.

While in Niseko we stayed in Kutchan in a share house, which is around a 15 minute drive from the main mountain. We were happy we chose to stay here as you are surrounded by the Japanese locals and staying in the share house over the season were young Japanese snowboarders and felt like you were living more like them whereas the town of Hirafu which is at the mountains base is full of tourists and seasonaires meaning you could not really define it from any other resort town other than the Japanese food and people!! Also being in Kutchan we were 5 mins if that from the Loaf Lounge which has an indoor bowl and mini ramp where you can go skate, real cool place and good to hang out even if you don’t skate!!

Niseko consists of 4 resorts round the same mountain meaning you can access each by catching various chairs and riding to each so you could challenge yourself and ride all 4 in one day, each having their own unique charm….

HANAZONO….

Piste Map…. http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/map/hanazono.html

Is famous for Strawberry Fields, on a powder day it’s pillow lines galore with drops everywhere ranging in sizes. With Blueberry fields across the piste from it all amongst the trees, as yes if you love tree runs you will love Japan. Hanazono also has the biggest park with an FIS standard half pipe which is big and is the first feature followed by the jumps with an easy line and more intermediate line with a BIG jump at the end this is all followed by a mix of different rails and boxes so you can hit pipe, jumps and rails all in one run, sick and there’s a pretty fast chair that laps all of this!!

GRAND HIRAFU….

Piste Map…. http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/map/grand-hirafu.html

Is the main area of the mountain as at it’s base is the welcome centre and the main town of Hirafu, therefore in this area you will see the bulk of the instructors teaching and on a powder day this place will be the first to get tracked out. Although here you will find one of the steepest parts of the mountain to ride with some nice drops and on a pow day you’ll be in love with this area, across the other side there is Mihirashi where you get off at the top of the Gondola and hike up a little and oh boy a mix of open space and then amongst the trees much fun is to be had through the powder here J You will also find a park on this part of the mountain too with a mixture of jumps rails and boxes, the jumps are more table top ones here, with a smaller half pipe to the side.

NISEKO VILLAGE….

Piste Map…. http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/map/niseko-village.html

With some nice off piste and natural gully’s which are fun to play about in this can be a fun area to check out although we did not ride much here at, not that it’s bad but just has a long slow gondola to take you back up to the top!! It does have probably the most varied terrain to explore here and will always find something new. A highlight is the Hilton hotel at the bottom where they have an all you can eat buffet for a reasonable price. Also a free shuttle bus runs past the bottom of all the 4 areas of the mountain to take you back to Hirafu..

ANNUPURI….

Piste Map…. http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/map/annupuri.html

Is one of the quieter areas to ride. On a pow day I’d recommend going here, especially if the gates are open as the tree runs and gully that runs through there is amazing to ride, there was also this huge windlip that formed too. It also has wide open pistes with trees at the side that you can pop in and out whenever you fancy. They have a couple of decent sized jumps here and from what I saw just one rail but really there is so much fun natural terrain here you don’t need it!!

Moiwa is another mountain separate from the 4 resort mountain as mentioned above, that you can get a free shuttle bus too, you have to pay separately to ride this mountain, it is small but oh so awesome on a pow day. I had my best pow tree run here over the season, stoked. It also has a gate that when open will take you to some rad terrain and drops, a place to check out for sure and home of the gnarliest track through trees and gullies I have ever been through one of those where your almost holding your breath the whole way then phew we made it, haha!! Check it out here…. http://www.niseko-moiwa.jp/english/about/index.html

The peak is never open the day after heavy snow fall or during it for safety reasons and they are quite strict on this so you just gotta keep an eye out for it opening up and you will get one insanely awesome powdery head shots galore ride right to the bottom. It’s pow morning noon and night on a good day which is most and the piste runs have inches of white stuff to ride through too, ah it’s so so good.

Japan is all that you hear it to be and more, the pow really is that soft fluffy and falls in abundance. It has amazing tree runs with lot’s of natural drops and hits throughout ranging in size so no matter what level of snowboarder/ skier you are there will be something for you. There is nothing more magical than the night riding, especially when the snow is falling under the flood lit slopes with epic spays of snow looking even more epic while watching from the chair!! Wrap up warm though as it does get very cold!! :D and that’s JAPOW for ya….