This past Christmas Caitlin surprised me with an amazing gift of a guys weekend in Japan. I had no idea it was coming. Her and a few of the other wives here planned for 4 guys to go away for Lunar Break to Niseko Japan. The group consisted of John, Chris, Andy and myself, Chris had been last year and raved about how great the skiing was. The ladys had arranged for everything from flights, to pickup, hotel, rentals absolutely everything. So when it was time to go all I had to do was pack and get on a plane.

We flew into Sapporo Japan and then had a driver take us about 2hrs north to Niseko. We arrived late the first night with snow coming down from the time the plane landed. So by the time we woke up the following morning it was full of fresh powder. This was the case every morning we were there, which meant poor picture taking conditions but awesome snowboarding conditions. 

The days consisted of getting up early having a big breakfast then hitting the slopes until we could go no longer. Once we got back to the hotel we would have a drink or two then find some food and finish off the night in an Onsen the Japanese version of bathes and an outside hot tub. As you can tell I was indulging in the best that Japan had to offer and loving it.

The two top moments of the weekend in terms of skiing were as follows. The first one was when I bit it and flipped head over heals and somersaulted down the hill in powder so deep it felt like a huge pillow bed. Once I stopped rolling I looked up to see Andy doing the same, once he came to a stop next to me we both couldn’t stop laughing, as we were laughing at each other we looked up to see Chris coming down in the same fashion. It felt like being a kid in the snow again and just enjoying it more than we usually do as adults. 

The second memory was when the weather allowed them to open up the top of the mountain. John and got in the back of the line for the hike but but as people were moving too slowly John slid to the right and started to hoof it to the top on the less beaten path. The excitement and knowledge of John pushing ahead of me kept me moving and passing the rest of the skiers and snowboarders. By the time we got to the traverse we were probably the 5th and 6th people going across. As I cut down the mountain I got the first tracks and felt like I was in one of the old snowboard magazines I looked at in middle school. The powder was so deep and as I cut I was able to put my hand out and drag it across a pristine piece of the mountain. I couldn’t help but yell out of sheer excitement, this was met by the yells of others coming down after me who were having the same mystical experience. Definitely one of the best runs of my life if not the best.

We didn’t get many pictures but Andy was willing to take is camera out one day and grabbed a couple of pictures which I have to thank him for.