Our group of six arrived in Japan in three waves dictated by various obligations and vacation hour limits. I was fortunate to third wheel with Noelle and Leo as the earliest to arrive. We drove down from Reno on a Friday night, kickstarting our culinary adventure with Leo's mother at a phenomenal dumpling house as an early celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year.

The following morning Jeff kindly shuttled the three of us and our many large pieces of luggage to the airport. Noelle was still suffering mightily from a lingering bout with the flu, but morale was high as we scuttled onto our ZipAir flight to Tokyo. Eleven hours later we touched down outside the world's largest city, weary but excited. After collecting our bags, playing a brief round of Mario Party, and dealing with a chaotic check-in process for our connecting flight, we were seated and buckled up on our way north to the island of Hokkaido. By the time we landed and grabbed our rental van, a Toyota Noah, we had been travelling for almost 24 hours. Fat, soft flakes of falling snow provided a proper welcome as I piloted Noah northeast, accustoming myself to driving on the left side of the road in a blizzard and with a strong desire to sleep.

It took little time for us to pass out in our adorable little AirBnB in the centrally located town of Asahikawa. Morning brought with it unbridled excitement to explore our surroundings, and after a frigid stop at the local 7/11 (a whole different experience in Japan) we were on our way to find some pow.

2024 Backcountry Ski Season "Awards"

Spring Powder in the Great Basin

Some Unusual Skiing

Skiing in Death Valley National Park

Japan Part II

Ski Season Whiplash