Today I returned home after 5 days of snowboarding in Niseko, or Annupuri to be more accurate. It is a great place for skiing and snowboarding, especially if you like a lot of snow, backcountry and powder.

This year they have had more than 13.5 meters of snow in Niseko. At the top they had 4 meters in the slopes. The snow is dry and it is almost always perfect conditions in the slopes. But even though the snow is good in the slopes it is the backcountry snowboarding that is amazing. Easy access directly from the slopes, and very liberate rules. Also, every day they provide detailed snow information and avalanche risk evaluation.

Most of the days I snowboarded backcountry, with my beacon on, and my probe, shovel, and first aid kit in the backpack. And made sure to stay away from the high risk areas. Even though Niseko is a popular place there is not many people in the slopes, and even less so in the backcountry. But still, at the end of a day many lines have been made 🙂

It was great. And just a crazy good feeling to be out in the snow, in the fresh air with fresh white snow everywhere. Sometimes I just stopped and sat in the snow watching, listening to some birds tweeting (the real kind and not the digital version we humans do 😉 in the trees.