Family Skiing at Niseko

Our daughter and son-in-law in Hong Kong have skied at Niseko over the last several years and we were thrilled to be invited, although a little concerned about such a drastic change of climate for us.  Antigua lays at 17 degrees North latitude and Niseko at 42 degrees North. Brrrrr!

The ski complex, now a combination of three separate ski areas, Annupuri, Grand Hirafu, and Hanazono, is situated in the lower portion of Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. Numbing cold wind sweeps down from Siberia to the north and picks up moisture as it crosses the Sea of Japan, where it then dumps mind-boggling amounts of dry powder snow on the volcanic peaks. We had heard tales of chest-deep powder from our daughter and wanted to check it out for ourselves.

Meryl and Quinn spending some quiet time together.

Conner, in one of his rare quiet modes. Otherwise is balls-out, full tilt boogie.

More important than the skiing, however, was the opportunity to visit with our two grandchildren, Quinn, age 3 ½ and Conner, 16 months.  We could hear the pitter-pater of little feet as we awoke from a very sound sleep and saw Quinn peaking through the door. She’s always very shy when she first sees us during our six-month hiatuses, but soon she was jumping on the bed and talking a blue-streak, more the Quinn we know. Melba, Christa’s helper, already had Conner up and was feeding him breakfast, which he didn’t seem to want to disturb (he has a very healthy appetite) to say “good morning” to Mimi and Poppa (what the grand kids call us).

Soon Nash and Christa were up, with Christa mapping out the logistics of a complicated day ahead. We would take the bus over to the north most ski area, Hanazono, get Quinn in an all-day ski school, then get a tour of the mountain. Nash and his buddies Christian and new bride Pau (from Hong Kong) and Chad (a college buddy now an attorney with the Air Force in Okinawa) would hike up the mountain and go off-piste skiing, meeting us later in the day.

For us, used to getting up in the morning and putting on shorts and flip-flops, getting into the layers for thermal underwear, sweaters, ski pants, and parkas was quite the ordeal. We felt like penguins about to venture forth in Antarctica.

Quinn perfecting the "french fries" ski position.

Quinn was so bundled up we could barely recognize her. Nevertheless we watched as our breath condensed in the cold Arctic air and were glad to get on the warm bus.  As Quinn was signed in for ski school, Meryl and I got fitted for rental skis and met Christa outside the modernistic lodge. We watched Quinn’s lesson for awhile, where the ski instructors made analogies to the “pizza” wedge shape of your skis for going slow and the french fry configuration for going fast. Funny to hear instructors yelling out “pizza, pizza” as little 3-year-olds went whizzing by.

Going up the modern high-speed chairs, we marveled at the size of the ski area. From the top, on a clear day, I’m sure you could see Russia. Turn around southeast you see the towering presence of the dormant volcano, Mt. Yotei, a ski destination for more adventurous skiers. I always judge a mountain by how consistent the slope of the runs are, and Hanazono had some nice face skiing but also the boring flatter sections. The real appeal of Niseko is skiing in the trees, but today there just wasn’t enough fresh snow, just that boring beautiful blue ski and sunshine (unusually for Niseko).

Christa and Meryl with Mt. Yotei in the background.

Christa took us all over the mountain. She’s certainly her mother’s daughter with a very fast and strong ski style. I’m always amazed how quickly skiing comes back to us. Meryl and I originally met when we were both ski instructors in Seattle and we’ve skied our whole lives. With age, however, I think we’re starting to lose the magic of skiing and preferring to ski on only “perfect days.” We’ve spent enough time in the freezing rain of the Cascades on marginal days paying $60 a ticket to really enjoy skiing like when we were young.

Some people think of the Japanese as being very quiet and retrospect . . . not at a ski area where they have a raucous good time.

We took an early lunch to check on Quinn and partake of the excellent food at the ski lodge. We ran into Nash and his friends and heard of their adventures. I chose a huge bowl of curry rice and tonkatsu, while Meryl had her favorite ramen noodle bowl. The quantities of food where amazing, maybe to satisfy the appetites of the hoards of Australians who’ve found they don’t have to travel all the way to Whistler to get great skiing. Yes, Niseko has been discovered.

After skiing we collected Quinn from the ski school and made our way back to the Gondola Chalets where we had drinks and snacks, and then walked down to a uniquely Japanese institution, the onsen. With a very nondescript entrance, you pay, grab a few beers from the beer dispensing machines, and then go into either the men’s/women’s side where you disrobe and sit on little white plastic stools and clean yourself using a handheld shower. There is a volcanic-feed hot water pool carved out of rock on the inside, full of boisterous Australians, respectful Japanese, and a smattering of Americans all drinking beer and relaxing. Later we went to the outside onsen, a little larger and surrounded with snow-covered rock walls. It was close quarters but very relaxing after a long day of skiing.

Christa and Nash love to dine out, and even more they love exotic restaurants and food. I wish I remember the name of the restaurant, but we entered a private room and sat Japanese style around a very large, but low table. The table had sand-covered inserts in front of each person with a little mini BBQ set up between two bricks with a metal grate. On the left of each person was a large tray of raw meats, fish, scallops, and vegetables. It was up to you to BBQ your food to your own taste. Wonderful meal but we were wiped out by the long day. Tough to hang with a bunch of 30-year-olds.

The Nash-Webber clan gearing up for some serious snow play.

Quinn and Conner in a race to the death.

Christa chasing Conner through the snow caves. He's a fast little guy.

Hoping the kids are all pooped out from playing in the snow, but knowing that they aren't.

On Friday the 14th we had a lay day and took the kids to the Kid’s Snow Play park where they had a great time playing in the snow caves and sledding down the “bobsled runs.” We also went to a nearby hotel where they had a great indoor pool and hot tubs and swam some laps and just relaxed, then down to an Australian pub for a good old American-style hamburgers. It was both Valentines Day and Nash’s birthday so we baby sat and they had a rare date night without the kids.

Nash and Christa doing some off-piste skiing.

Nash, Christa, and Chad in the back country.

Christa hitting some nice deep powder coming off Mt. Yotei.

On our last day of skiing Nash, Christa and Chad got up early for an attempt on Mr. Yotei. They had tried for several years to climb up but the conditions were never right. We were surprised to see them at the Hanazono lodge later in day when we came in for a warm up and hot cocoa. Apparently the conditions continued to deteriorate as they approached the summit, with Christa worried about being thrown about by the strong winds. With a wise decision they decided to call it a day and ski down the mountain on their fat skis.

The good part is Nash and I got to pull Quinn out of ski school and take her up the chair for some real skiing. Now I don’t know about you, but a 3-year-old who can ski a chair run is a pretty big deal to me. Not to Quinn. She took it all in stride and skiing down in perfect pizza and french fries style. Those two runs with Quinn were the highlight of the trip for me.

I had to laugh as Quinn skied her way through a class of 16-year-old male Japanese students, all with the same parka, pants, googles, and skis; and skiing with military precision. I can’t image what they thought of this little tyke decked out in bright pink and purple charging her way down the hill.

On Sunday the 16th we packed up and took a family van with the whole clan down the airport at Sapporo.  This time we were early for our Vanilla (another discount airline) flight to Osaka and then on to Hong Kong. Christa and family took a later flight on Cathay direct to Hong Kong, a good choice given the limited patience of two tired kids after a long ski vacation.