Living in Aomori and having Hakkoda in our backyard is a wonderful blessing. Before coming to Japan, I knew absolutely nothing about northern Japan's snow condition and when I arrived I knew I landed in heaven. POWDER HEAVEN!
This year's highlight has to be the hike up Takada Odake. The weather was pristine, the snow was fantastic, and the time...just perfect. All of us, Nao, Eiko, Mitsuru, Brian, and I were so stoked when we arrived at the destination and got our packs ready in the morning. There's not many days of blue skies in winter and when there is there is no better way to spend a day at the mountain. We arrived about 8:30am and sorted our gear and made our first steps about 9:00am.
This was my first time hiking and I kept thinking, "Man am I really doing this? This is sooooo cool." In my backpack I had my nothing but my camera, my snowboard jacket, and 2 onigiris. I was wearing a fleece jacket, but during the hike I got so hot I decided to take it off and wrap it around my board. I hiked the entire duration in my long sleeve undershirt and t-shirt.
After a long hot and sweaty 3 hour hike, we finally reached our destination. Magical!! It was a moment I will never forget for as long as I live. Until that day, I've never seen the top of a snow covered mountain without riding a chairlift or gondola.....something man made invented to cheat nature and make life easier on us humans. This day, I fully understood what it meant to "earn your turns." The ride down felt like it lasted maybe mere 30 seconds. I was haulin' ballz!!! It was the fastest I've ever gone on a snowboard. Faster than any of the boarder x event I've been in. The adrenaline rushes to your head and all you can think about is going fast and making HUUUUUGE turns!
Living in Aomori and having Hakkoda in our backyard is a wonderful blessing. Before coming to Japan, I knew absolutely nothing about northern Japan's snow condition and when I arrived I knew I landed in heaven. POWDER HEAVEN!
This year's highlight has to be the hike up Takada Odake. The weather was pristine, the snow was fantastic, and the time...just perfect. All of us, Nao, Eiko, Mitsuru, Brian, and I were so stoked when we arrived at the destination and got our packs ready in the morning. There's not many days of blue skies in winter and when there is there is no better way to spend a day at the mountain. We arrived about 8:30am and sorted our gear and made our first steps about 9:00am.
This was my first time hiking and I kept thinking, "Man am I really doing this? This is sooooo cool." In my backpack I had my nothing but my camera, my snowboard jacket, and 2 onigiris. I was wearing a fleece jacket, but during the hike I got so hot I decided to take it off and wrap it around my board. I hiked the entire duration in my long sleeve undershirt and t-shirt.
After a long hot and sweaty 3 hour hike, we finally reached our destination. Magical!! It was a moment I will never forget for as long as I live. Until that day, I've never seen the top of a snow covered mountain without riding a chairlift or gondola.....something man made invented to cheat nature and make life easier on us humans. This day, I fully understood what it meant to "earn your turns." The ride down felt like it lasted maybe mere 30 seconds. I was haulin' ballz!!! It was the fastest I've ever gone on a snowboard. Faster than any of the boarder x event I've been in. The adrenaline rushes to your head and all you can think about is going fast and making HUUUUUGE turns!
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