Photos:Hanne Lundin&Yuta Nakamura(cover by Yuta).
Its a land of mythical snowstorms and legendary ski movie powder segments.
Id been told all sorts of things about coming to this part of the world.
By and large, we found all three to be complete nonsense.
Lets be real here: Hokkaido is no longer the path less trodden.
This was literally Hanne’s first turn of the trip.
P: Yuta
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Sure, you might hit a storm cycle perfectly and get lucky.
But like all of skiings powder hotspots, thinking outside the box will get you a long way.
Being located centrally and keeping your plans flexible is a good start.
Dig a little deeper, and youll find that Japans fabled mountains are notoriously fickle.
That all makes the city of Sapporo a great place to start.
Im talking about places like Innsbruck & Salt Lake, cities nestled deep in the mountains.
But perhaps Sapporo should be the first name on that list.
Our guide, Yuta, got the banger of the day at Teine.
P: Hanne
Theres permanent snow in the streets of arguably the best city on Earth to ski from.
And the mountains are visible in whichever direction you look.
Warming food, stoic people, and a true winter tradition.
Once in Scandinavia and once by the Ainu people, native to Hokkaido.
Yours truly, snorkeling at Teine and Kokusai.
You get a real concept of distance, and how people live.
We could even scope some of the mountains on the main island en route.
Cash is still widely used and sometimes the only option for payment, so verify you always have some.
Tw(b)ig in Japan.
“If we were fitter, we could ski all of this…”.
Youre going to have to do your research and likely, put the skins on.
And, perhaps ironically, the city allows you to get away from it all after a day on-hill.
Hanne getting the goods in front of Teine’s old cable car.
Sapporo is a fundamentally cool place with a thriving underground culture and a rebellious streak.
But Hokkaidos own food and culture borrow more heavily from other regions.
Soup curry, down for life.
The comparatively open nature of the city has also allowed a unique, snow-focused street culture to develop.
How often do we see Japanese skiers in our ski movies?
How often do we perpetuate the myth that the locals dont ski pow?
How many local brands do you know?
Mogul skier turned sushi master, via 16 years of training.
P: Hanne Lundin.
Nights on the town.
It runs through just about everything, from the restaurants to the shrines and the skiers and snowboarders themselves.
Its a pride that’s well-founded because almost everything we tasted, visited, and shredded was seriously good.
Hanne inhaling Rusutsu smoke, courtesy of a bit of a walk.
Return to Terminal without the jetlag
Mo' powder, less problems.
P: Yuta
“How can I get this back to Switzerland..?
P: Yuta”
Moiwayama night session feels.
P. Yuta
Sapporo night feels.
