In January 2019 I made my fourth trip to Myoko, Japan with my younger brother, Michael. He wanted to return and experience it on skis.
I was looking forward to skiing with Charlie, having previously skied with him in Myoko and Falls Creek. We had five days together, a rest day and then three more days with Sam. I was a bit apprehensive to ski with Sam having not skied with him before but it was enlightening to know Sam, that he’d been taught by Charlie and each instructor teaches something new. We worked well as a team.
There are many resorts to explore in the varied conditions. I’d skied the convenience of Akukura Kanko being right near our hotel, Suginohara with its long and wide runs, and Ilinotara with its beautiful trees. It was a first to ski the fancy new Arai, and the large Tangrem and Madarao.
There was so much powder. It was too deep to ski with outriggers so we instead enjoyed going in and out of the powder. We ended up getting stuck six (6) times just on the first day. Five (5) times before lunch. We’d go into the powder, it would be above my head, loose speed and come to a stop. Charlie and Michael would have to make tracks to enable us to ski out.
We needed a snorkel. No joke.
Charlie messaged his fiancée and Myoko Snowsports colleague, Nikki, to order a snorkel. She thought we were joking. We weren’t joking. A hot pink snorkel was ordered from Amazon Japan with next day delivery.
The second day was still very powdery. The snorkel hadn’t yet arrived but we couldn’t resist the powder. We went in deep without enough speed and was stuck on our first run. I was buried and started to push the soft powdery snow away. It took quite a while to get out. We learnt to lean back to prevent the front from sinking and stopping us. We also gathered more speed and used tracks.
We headed to Arai with our snorkel, Dave and his camera. It was needed as we went in and out of powder. We also needed proof that we weren’t joking and actually had a snorkel.
The snow continued to fall most days and nights. We enjoyed working on my independence with loose bucketing and tethering on groomed runs on bluebird days too.
At the end of each day I was covered in snow with every gap filled. I would get quite cold from being wet. It was all worth it to look like a snowman. It was so much fun!
Published on the DWA website, 4 February 2019
Kate Swain 