We didn’t really want to leave Nozawa Onsen. With its winding streets, quaint little Japanese shops, amazing food and locals, not to mention the 60cm of the lightest driest pow I have ever skied. But it was time to move on to one of my favorite places in the world to ski Myokokogen. I have been here twice before and have never failed to ski epic pow in Myoko. The first time I came, 4 years ago, I was shooting for the book Snow Search Japan, and we only came across one other Westerner. As we drove in, the clear skies turned dark and it started to snow. It didnt stop for 4 days. I have never, ever, in all my puff seen so much snow.
Downtown Myoko Akakura
We stayed in the small town of Akaura Onsen, which is at the base of one of the many ski areas on Mt Myoko. This place is just magical. With a real small ski town feel, we were so exited to explore the main street, with its shops, small hotels and Izakayas (bar/restaurant) along with the Skate Bar (amazing locals bar with an actual skate ramp inside!), which we drank more than a few sake’s on our last night. After exploring Akakura Kanko ski area the first day in the dumping snow we were told by the locals that it was forecast to snow a meter over night. Early to bed and a broken nights sleep with constant checks on the snow progression, we woke to hear the news that it had snowed 1.5m at Seke Onsen, the smallest of Myoko’s ski areas.
The drive to Seki Onsen
Excited to get there we gobbled down our breakfast and we drove the 1/2 hr journey to Seki Onsen in my friend Amy Shimizu’s (of the Myoko tourism board) tiny 660cc Japanese car. It was an intense journey for us Westerners as the snow was so thick and deep, we could hardly see a thing. Amy didn’t bat an eyelid as the teacup car we were in revved like a lawnmower and ploughed its way up to Seke Onsen. We passed locals going to work, children going to school, all like normal. If this much snow fell at home the whole place would grind to a stand still!
Life goes on in Myoko, even when 1.5m of snow falls in 6 hrs
We got to Seki Onsen to find the chair lift being dug out by local snowboarders, keen as us to get the lift running. There are two chair lifts at this small club field like ski area. The vibe is truly Japanese and local. We were the only ones there for a start until a few other local shredders turned up to enjoy the 1.5m of fresh.
Digging out the lift
Butterflies grew in my stomach as we were the first on the chair lift. How was I going to ski this much snow? Would I sink!? We dropped in and sure enough, came to a complete stop. Words came out of my mouth that I thought I would never say ‘there is just too much snow!’ Those first few runs where very challenging. If you couldnt follow someones tracks to get some speed you would soon find yourself bogged up to your waist. It was totally exhausting getting going again and the last thing you wanted to do was fall over, as it was such a huge physical challenge to stand up again. We skied in pairs making sure that your buddy could dig you out if you got into trouble. This, combined with dumping snow and flat light, made it completely impossible to take photographs.
We gave a hand to the locals to dig out the top one man chair lift so we could experience the top half, and slightly steeper part of the ski field. It took us a good hour and a half to dig it out! When they cranked it up people one by one jumped on with their skis in their hands. This was because there was so much snow your feet were dragging along through it! Seki Onsen is just a magical place, a true slice of Japanese skiing, unspoilt by western influences and totally laid back…
Neil Kerr of NZ Skier Magazine rides the one man chair at Seki Onsen
It snowed all day. And all night, again. The next day we skied Akakura Onsen again with a further 1m of fresh snow. How is that possible, 1m on top of the 1.5m from yesterday?? In Myoko, its possible, man it snows in this place. After a few of the deepest runs of my life, down the piste I may add, yes ON THE PISTE! we started to venture into the trees. Again using tracks to get enough speed before ducking off to get insane face shots. You know that snow you see in ski movies, and dream about one day skiing? This was it. I was in it.
Again shooting photos posed a huge difficulties. The skiers had to start way above you to get enough speed to make a decent turn. Shouting up through the silent trees, DUMPING with snow. ‘Turn by that tree…!!’ ‘What tree?!’ ‘the one in front of me! to the left!’ ‘But I cant see you!’ ‘Just ski towards my voice!’… All the while my camera gear was taking a pounding in the snow, under my self made weather pouch, made out of an F-Stop Gear waterproof bag (time to make some weather shields F-stop? although my Satori bag kept my gear dry as a bone!). The skier would come towards me and I would struggle to see them in the cloud of smoke that engulfed them as soon as they moved. I found it extremely hard to focus on the moving subject as there was just so much snow in the air and on the ground. All was white… In the white room doesn’t even get close. None the less I managed to get a few deep photos and skied the pow of my dreams. All in all an epic day!
Julia Atkinson: Can you say WHITEROOM???
On our last afternoon, Amy took me and Jase around a part of town where the locals live. This was a real eye opener to see how locals cope with this amount of snow. I asked Amy if this was normal. We had had close to 4 meters of snow in 3 days. She said yes, Myoko does get this much snow, but not usually all at once. She said she couldnt remember a time where it snowed this much all at once, not for about 14 years. We truly were experiencing something phenomenal. She explained how the locals constantly battle against the ever falling snow, shoveling, using the Onsen water to melt it to keep on top of the ever mounting piles. Even the elderly are out there shoveling snow. It was incredible to see them at it.
Amy chatted to this lady. She is 70 years old, and out in her snow shoes clearing a path from her home.
Carry on like normal
Clearing snow from a roof. Amy tells me how dangerous this can be and men are killed some years doing this job.
This was taken from our hotel window. This poor man had been clearing snow from this roof since we arrived. Fighting a loosing battle?
Myoko
Amy explains how localized the snow is. Mt Myoko stands at 2,454m and is the biggest volcanic mountain around, thus being a magnet for snow. On average they get 13m a winter. It was totally mind blowing. All night there were snow graders working, they cleared snow round the clock. The bus picked us up at 8am the following morning to take us to Tokyo airport, back to NZ and summer time. It was still dumping with snow and I wondered how we were ever going to leave. The roads were caked white, thick with snow. None the less our mini bus was there on time, and whisked us away from Myoko as quickly as the snow fell. On reaching Nagano, only an hr away, we truly saw how localized our storm was. There was very little snow on the ground… It was hard to picture being back in Central Otago, dry warm summer time when standing waiting for our bus, but in less than 24 hrs we were back in NZ.
Myoko, I love you and I will be back. MASSIVE thanks to Amy and Shiro Shimizu, my good friends of Myoko. I will be back!!