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Monday, January 28, 2008

Respect paid to Japanese woman reaching South Pole on skis

A 40-year-old adventurer has become the first Japanese woman to ski to the South Pole, the Kyodo news agency reported Thursday. Sumiyo Tsuzuki reached the southernmost point of the planet at 1445 GMT Wednesday, members of her support team told Kyodo.

Tsuzuki had in May 1998 been the third Japanese woman to climb Mount Everest, and three years ago traversed Greenland by ski.

Having departed Japan for Chile in mid-November, Tsuzuki then left Hercules Inlet in Antarctica on November 28.

Travelling with three other men including a Briton and a Canadian tour guide, Tsuzuki then skied the around 1,100 kilometres to the South Pole, braving temperatures as low as 35 degrees below zero and wind speeds of over 46 kilometres per hour.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Snow Report

Hope you guys got the snow shoes out today!
no new snow over night and the rest of the week will be very little snow. But the good news is that at the end of the week the weather should get all freaky nasty and puke down! so hold on to those beer glasses at wild bills for a few nights and be ready for a nipples deep weekend!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Snow Report

Just to mix it up, the Niseko Webzine crew headed to Moiwa Resort again today! Anyone in the area should really think about taking the time to check it out. We have mentioned this before, a 4 hours lift ticket is about the equivilent to $25 bucks aussie bucks! It really is worth it!
A lot of people have asked, "how could it be good if it is such a small mountain?"
Well the simple answer is that you dont need a large area of terrain to be good terrain! It is about the quality not the quantity! Imagine the well know strawberry fields in Hanazono with a tenth of the the amount of people destroying your lines and multiple options when exit the chair lift!
We can only describe it as the most fun you can have with your pants on! Or if your into that type of thing ride with your pants off!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Snow Report

Today is not a first hand experienced snow report! We are sorry! After the Rusutsu mission we had nothing left in the tank to get back on the hill! Instead we relaxed in Onsens, drove to Otaru to catch a movie and indulge in the best sushi we have ever had!

From we hear it was a windy day to be on the mountain! The top lifts had to close and this caused a little congestion down on the lower lifts. If you wanted it but, the powder was still there! just took a little hiking and imagination on how to find it!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Snow Report

So the snow has not really stopped over the last few days and the legs and body are starting to get effected! So just to make sure the Niseko Webzine Crew hit Rusutsu Resort today!

All we can say was DAMN!! It was the goods for sure! It was well over balls deep all day long with no crowd to be seen! We thought for sure the Sapporo crowd would have made been the trip, but they didnt. A few of the staff from Niseko were spotted ripping it up in the trees and they had some pretty happy looking smiles sitting under their goggles!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Snow Report

So it looks like its about to be one like donkey kong! Tomorrow should be the day to be in Niseko, if you are in town, make sure you get your safety gear on and get to the Annupuri back bowls! They will be EPIC and the Niseko Webzine Crew will be chillen out there for sure!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Snow Report

After the night session last night there would have only been only another 10 or so cm fall between 9pm and 8am. Only 10cm? is it really worth getting out of bed for?? hahhhahaha hell yer!!!

The groomers had been out in the early hours and converted the piste into work of art! It was like slipping into your favorite pair of old jeans that your girlfriend, wife or mum or always hounding you to throw out, but you hold onto them!

Off-piste was still very wind blown after the last few days, however, the snow always gets caught somewhere! If you know the gullies around the resort you would have had no trouble finding balls deep POW to play in and the Niseko Webzine crew had no trouble finding it! We attempted to get pics for you guys to check out, but due to the amount of snow you can not see a thing! Sorry!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Snow Report

Well this morning there was a massive amount of tourists around the village! The ground service providers must have their work cut out for them yesterday. The line up for the center 4 quad chair was almost to the road near the ticket office at one stage this morning!

When we checked our weather station this morning it showed us that it had snowed a little over night and was looking like it would continue to snow for the majority of the day. It is puking down now as i write this before we go for a night session!

We managed to get some quick pics today, finally!!! The conditions are not the best but it shows it is deep and that is all that matters!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Snow Report

An extremely windy day to be on the mountain! We braved the conditions for as long as our faces could withstand the wind burn, so it was not long before we were back enjoying a warm hot chocolate straight from the vending machine!

If you know where to look, you could escape the winds and enjoy the benefits of wind blown pockets of white gold!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Snow Report

Well after the last few days today was a little disappointing!

No new snow overnight that is worth measuring. However the groomers had been out during the early hours of the morning and turned the smashed powder into perfect corduroy! Another day to get into the park!

Tomorrow should bring some wild weather with high winds. We hope it will be followed by heavy snowfalls!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Snow Report

Well what can we say, the Niseko Webzine Crew had a lazy day today! We didnt get up the mountain at all! Our bodies this morning had been hit by a sumo a few times!

Reports from the guys that we have spoken with told us that it was another epic day!

20cm approx fell in the village overnight was the report from our very highly sophisticatedly technically advanced weather report system. We will reveal the system to the world soon!

Old School Outwear Compition

Hi to all the Niseko Webzine readers!!

We hope you have been out on the hill in the last few days and been ripping the powder to shreds!!!Over the last few days we have seen some very impressive old school outswear combinations on the hill, so we have decided to start a little photo comp!

Whoever can snap a quick pic of an impressive old school outwear combo will win endless amounts of praise from the Niseko Webzine community! At the end of the season the entire Niseko Webzine community will be asked to vote on a winner, who ever has the most votes wins!!

Place your photo's on the Niseko Webzine Facebook gruop , you will have to join the group if you have not already (see the Facebook icon on the right side of the page)!!! Under the discussion board you will see the header "Old School Outwear Compition". That is the place to post this years old school outwear fashions!!

So get out on the hill and start snapping those pics and post em up! Lets see what old school fashions are rocking the hill this season!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Lessons - Who To Use?

We have had a few people ask us in the village who to go to for lessons. So we thought it would be best if we let everyone know before they get here so they get the best instructors!

In our our eyes, the choice is easy! We recommend using Pro-Powder!Trever and his crew provide world class ski and snowboard lessons, you are guaranteed that all his instructors are qualified!!!

Unlike a few other companies in the area! You will be ripping the powder up like a pro in no time!

Check them out - www.pro-powder.com

Snow Report

We retired last night after a long day thinking that we would sleep in today, after all it was not snowing when we called it a night! Until some idiot (you know who you are) woke everyone up around 1.30 AM to tell us that it was humping down with snow! The alarm clocks got quickly changed for an early wake up, again! When will it stop!! March sometime maybe? hahaha

The morning woke and it had continued to snow all night by the look of the amount of snow keeping our car in the garage for an extra 30min until we got it dug out! Anyone now a snow clearer that will work for empty beer cans??

Screw the story! You just want the snow report?
All we have to say is:

SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!!

The resort had bogus reports of 10cm, in the village we thought 15-20cm and on the mountain it was a well over balls deep, id almost give the nipple deep rating!! Almost!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Snow Report

Waking up to sunshine and blue skyes is not really what you come to Niseko for and this morning was one of those days!

The Niseko Webzine crew thought they would make the most of it and get up on the hill anyway, the options were to get the backcountry gear out and head to the peak or a few of the other top secret spots around the area or get the short sticks out and make our way to the park; today the park won the Janken (Japanese version of paper, rock, siccors) match this morning to the delight of the lazy part of the crew that dont like strapping on the snow shoes!

It was a perfect day for the park, the groomers had been out and the jumps were looking good, rails looked pimped, the snow was fast and still soft to make those f"#$ ups a little softer on our quickly aging body!

After a few hours of getting back into the spin of things in the park, the weather turned back to Niseko style! It was PUKING down again!

Back to our humble abode to watch some crazey Japanese TV and eat ice cream while the snow gods got their funk on! A few hours later and nearly 20cms of fresh in a few hours the weather cleared and it was time to get on the mountain for an arvo/night session!

GOOD TIMES!!!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Snow Report

It is on again!!

Another solid snowfall overnight has left us with some work to do this morning to get the car out, it looked like between 20 - 30 cm again and still snowing.

We really need to apologise to your readers, we originally planned to take more photos for our snow report, you know what they say, a picture is worth one thousand words, or something like that. We will try a lot harder for the rest of the season to make this happen!! If anyone has any pics they would like to contribute to the reports, please email them in to us at nisekowebzine@gmail.com with the date and the location or resort if you do not want to give away your secrets!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

An epic day to be on the Mountain! If you missed it, GOOD!!! MORE FRESH LINES FOR THE NISEKO WEBZINE CREW!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA

It started to snow in the early hours of the morning and puked down for the majority of the day! Reports of 10cm by some are totaly rediculas! We measured about a foot of snow when clearing the driveway this morning to get the car out and another solid 20 or cm at night to get the car back in!!!!! Should have got a higher 4wd!

You could ski or ride anywhere today and have a sick day! Make sure you have the face mask on and light lenses in the goggles as the light was flat for most of the day. If you suffer from motion sickness try using rose lenses as they seem to reduce the effects. We recommend Electric Goggles! You get a free rose lense!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Only a very light sprinkle of fresh snow overnight but today was a perfect sunny day to be on the mountain! With great visibility and low winds, the pick spots were Moiwa, Rusutsu, in Niseko the out of bounds areas were very popular as the areas were very stable. Please remember to carry all the right equipment when you go to these areas. The other spot to be was in the park. It is still early in the season so the parks are not up to full size yet, however the park in Hanazono is coming together nicely. In our opinion the best rail in the area is in Annupuri, check it out!

Consider today the calm before the storm! We hope you got out there and worked on the goggle tan, you may not have another opportunity for a few months!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Snow Report

20 cm of new snow fell overnight. It was not enough to completely cover the tracks from yesterday however. With high winds ripping across the mountain, many of the higher lift were on stand-by to close for the day, giving the off piste areas like strawberries time to recover and fill in as it continued to snow consistently for the majority of the day.

With the weekend crowd arriving tomorrow it is expected to be a busy day on the mountain. Avoid the main areas and the peak times around the Gondola and center 4 if possible.

If winds are high the places to check out will be Rusutsu due to the great tree skiing and the large resort area always makes the weekend crowds seem a lot smaller then in Niseko.

Get Your Shit Together For Niseko

With a lot of quickly growing companies based year round in Niseko and some just for winter, there is one company in particular that stands out to the Niseko Webzine crew that really needs to pull their public image into shape for the local community in some respects. This particular company has done a great deal for the area, for example, they bring a lot of tourist dollars to the town and of course the local economy is healthier for it! However, they do a few things that have upset the Niseko Webzine crew in the last week.

Firstly their mountain guides at in the firing line. They were seen guiding a group of approximately 8 egger skiers and snowboarders around the mountain, this of course is great to show them around, but at the time they were taking them straight down directly under a lift line, so what is wrong with that? Well, after the mountain orientation is over those 8 guests will assume that this is ok and continue to ride and ski under the lifts for the rest of their holiday, if they get away with it!

In Niseko, it is a request of the resort that you do not ski or snowboard under a lift, to the point that the resort will take your lift pass if you are a repeat offender in a dangerous area! But why? In Niseko this is extremely dangerous; with the high snow fall the area can receive in a short time period, it can bring the heads of skiers and snowboarders in contact with dangling skis and boards from the passing lift above!

"So how did you get injured on your snow holiday to Niseko?"
"I got a ski to the head because I thought it was ok to ride under the lifts!"

Due to the lack of respect or education the mountain guide has of the rules of the resort, you will look like an idiot to your friends!

Secondly and lastly (for the moment), the fools that you have behind the wheel of some of those work pick ups really need to be pulled into line! After a long day on the mountain the Niseko Webzine crew were taking a short walk up to Lawsons to grap a few snacks to get ready for the afternoon of not knowing what to do, when around the corner came a vehicle at excessive speed sideways!! After some quick Chuck Norris like evasive actions, we had managed to jumped out of the way and into the snow bank to avoid being clipped by this work pick up!!! At the time the driver and the passenger thought it was a great by the look on their faces, massive grins and laughing!! Just so everyone knows, I'm all for drifting action, but there is a time and a place!! The narrow streets of Niseko are NOT the place!!

To finish our experience with this company for the day, we had to avoid being run into by them again, this time we were driving. They decided that they would back out onto the street without checking for other traffic, hold on, sorry, my mistake!!!! They could not check for traffic as their rear window was totally covered with snow! A good sign that it has been snowing! But have some concern for the rest of the community! What if little Jonny was walking up the street to go to Lawsons at this time and got backed over while on his school holidays in snow paradise??

I know it is all "what if"!! But they should not need an accident like this to happen before they get their shit together for the community they live in!!!

So who are they? Well they are sk#@#$an.com

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Snow Report

With not a lot of new snow falling overnight, the key to a good day was who you were riding with and where you looked! With all lifts open and many of the gates to the out of bounds areas open, there was plenty of opportunities to be balls deep in fresh untouched POW!!!
The pick of places were the back bowls of Annupuri with some super deep and untouched areas that would the most seasoned professionals needing to change their underwear! The other pick spot was either side of the Mt. Moiwa peak! Moiwa would have to be the best value for money to POW ratio on the planet!! Approximately $25(AU, for all the ozzies) you can get a 4 hour lift ticket. You will feel like you have the resort to you, your buds and the lifties!! Great spot to get those perfect photos to show all your friends at home what the Niseko area has to offer!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Snow Report

Another 15 cm last night to top up yesterdays snowfall did not go astray!
With snow still falling tomorrow and the next few days should be epic times! The weather patterns expected to hold over the next few days with more snow falling.

Make sure the skis are fat and the boards are long!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Snow Report

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Well it was a great start to the new year with 20cm of the white stuff falling from yesterday afternoon to this morning.

Even with the new snowfall, please be carefull!! under the fresh snow is a bullet proof layer of hard/compact snow and ice from the poor conditions over the last week! With the low pressure system trying to strenghthen, we should see the temps dropping and more snow starting to fall! Then we will be back on track for the rest of the season!

You should also note that avalanche warnings are in place for areas at the base of any valleys! Please be carefull and make sure you have the right safety gear!!

New Years Celebration Hirafu Style

A few pics from the New Year celebration on the mountain.
It is always a great show, live Jpop band, fireworks, sake, deep fried food, skiers with fire torchers coming down the hill and snow falling!
You will not find a better combination! Sorry I did't get more photos to do it justice!