And goes on...

Quick snap from 7.30am this morning. Snow all night and now masses around. To the mountains we go, if we can get up there...

Big Snow Begun

The forecasters promised it, and it came. It was cold and overcast this morning with nothing on the ground in our car park. The snow began lightly at 7am and tried on and off to get going for a couple of hours before the heavens opened and the snow came hammering down.

We've shovelled the stairs a couple of times in the last four hours but it's now ankle deep in most places.

Tomorrow is going to be a beauty on the hill but so too is the party tonight in the bar. Decisions, decisions...

Suit of the Day

One of the beauties of holiday periods at any ski resort around the world is that the choice suits get their yearly airing. Spotting and recording these sitings is a pet hobby of ours and we love to share our discoveries. There was some stiff competition yesterday but we managed to narrow it down to one winner.

This particular ensemble won it for the garish mix of flouros as well as the great use of accessories. Bonus points were awarded for the use of a bum bag/fanny pack, retro race gloves and blade-like short skis - attention to detail is important in this category.

Fluoro is no longer the shoe-in it once was. It's been decidedly back in fashion over the last two seasons so the old retro combos don't stand out as much as they used to - something to bear in mind if you are intending on making our Top Ten for this winter.

If you see a contender this season send us a snapshot and we'll add it to the gallery.

You cannot be serious?

I'm not sure if this is an elaborate joke or a piece of art, but outside our lunch restaurant today someone had gone to the trouble of chaining up their snowblades.

If there is a blade klepto on the loose I really think we should take pity on the lunatic.

Boxing Day at Houdaigi

Beautiful day up the mountain today and hardly anyone around. Surprising given the fact it is a Saturday, but we're not complaining.

The groomed slopes are in good condition at the moment so we spent the day just blasting around.

The perfect way to recover from Christmas Day.

Dude, Where's My Car?

Blue skies today after the incessant snow of the last few days. A welcome break for some, as they get to start on the chore that is snow clearing. Something about snow on cars that really makes you realise how much has fallen. Some of the instructors up in Yuzawa snapped some good ones this morning.

That's quite a bit of extra weight on top and it's not uncommon in a big snow year to see cars that have been left for the season to have burst tyres and collapsed roofs.

Snow is dumping in Minakami!

The snow started falling in Minakami last Friday and has not relented! Last night we received another 60cm+ at the valley level (outside Canyons) and it is still snowing now.

The crew at Canyons have been in the bulldozer twice a day to keep the car park clear.....almost no time to make it up the mountain (there's always time ;)

The local ski resorts are all now working around the clock to keep up with the onslaught of the white gold. After some rigorous sampling of the resorts early season powder, the Canyons staff verdict is unanimous.....bi powder smiles all round!

The boyz have been out testing the new demo skis that are available to rent this season. As results are inconclusive so far, we are going to have to do a lot more testing, especially on the big powder days. It looks like we will also have some Surge powder boards from around xmas onwards. Reports to come....



If you want to keep up with the snow conditions in Minakami, check out the snow reports and weather page.

Daily pics also being uploded to the Canyons Facebook site.

The Snow Has Arrived - In Style

The forecast was spot on - snow, and plenty of it. We were over the other side of the hill for most of the day where the snow was falling too.

Apparently it started snowing at about 11 o'clock in Minakami and by 1 there was already 10cm. By the time we got back to base there was 30cms lying around - a very welcome sight.

Just in time for the resorts too who were all hoping to open this weekend.

Tenjin is probably the pick of the bunch, but both Houdaigi and Norn have limited openings on Saturday. Okutone have postponed their Saturday opening and are now aiming to be up and running by Sunday.

It looks as if there will be a bit more snow over the next couple of days too. We always like it when the season starts with a big one. It's arrived about a week early than last year, so we're taking that as a good sign.

Retro Uniform?

Seems I'm the only one excited about our new Teton Bros uniform. Craig and Brendan were only back a day before they had to head down to the second hand shop to see what treasures could be salvaged. It's an absolute goldmine of retro ski wear mistakes and they both managed to find some new gear to augment their already impressive collections of one-pieces.

Words fail me but it keeps them happy....

Demo Skis Arrive

Any day that the delivery guy turns up with ski-sized boxes is a good day for us. The demo gear arrived today having been sitting in the warehouse for the last few weeks waiting for the extra-wide brakes to arrive.

Plenty of cooing and ahhing at the unboxing, and I can guarantee that there are going to be some underhand tactics involved as everyone vies for the honour of being the first to ride these.

We have a pair of 168cm Atomic Snoop Daddy, a pair of 190cm Volkl Gotamas, and a pair of 184cm Amplid Cholesterone. You're going to want to be on one of these when the powder is dumping.

The Amplids have everyone here the most excited.

With a massive 126mm underfoot the graphics on the base say it all.

Bring on the first powder day!

Venison and the Psycho Chef

The 'phone rang this morning with an offer from one of the local hunters - were we interested in taking a deer off his hands that he'd bagged over the weekend? Never being ones to turn down a free feed we were happy to oblige. The kei truck was dispatched and came back with dinner.

Our deep freeze has been home to various kinds of Minakami wildlife over the years with bear, boar and deer all putting in an appearance. Anyone who was at the Minakami Reggae Snowsplash last year probably remembers the delicious venison curry that was being served.

Dex had some issues to work out and channeled it into tenderizing the meat. It's good to see someone enjoying their work but slightly disturbing when they enjoy it this much.

The sight of a manically grinning Dex armed with a bloody hacksaw is truly terrifying. The finished product after the butchering will hang for a while and then find its way into the pot.

Poor Bambi.

It's Snowing

It's snowing and has been all morning.

Tenjin has opened a lift up again having received 20cms of snow over the last few days and even Houdaigi has received a decent dusting. They're supposed to open on Saturday so the race is on. Check out their flash new webcams to see how they're doing - Houdaigi Webcams

Wii in the Bar

Continuing on with our "things to do when you're not on the slopes" series, a couple of weeks back we got a Nintendo Wii for the bar. Since then there has been pretty fierce competition over the sports game, and a definite drop in productivity. Nintendo 1 - Canyons 0.

One of our favourite features is to design your own character to use in the games. It's a lot more satisfying to have this personal touch, and there is definitely something to be said for conflict resolution when you get to pound your workmates' faces during the boxing game (and strut around triumphantly gloating afterwards.) Relationships have never been smoother with this pressure valve.

Any ideas who this is?

Rental Department sorted - now just need the snow.

It's currently hammering down with rain here. Can only hope that it is snow higher up as we're really looking forward to getting out on snow again. You can keep up-to-date with the weather in Minakami by checking our Snow Reports.

At least the lack of new snow has given us time to sort out all the rental gear that we've got for this season. It's all safely stashed in its new home and waiting the opening of the resorts so it can fulfill its raison d'etre.

There sure was a lot of it. It's pretty difficult to figure out how much of each size to stock to keep a lodge full of guests of varying sizes kitted out, but with some complex mathematical modelling applications and the power of the computers available these days.... we took a stab in dark and got 3 of everything.