Signing off for 2005 and wishing you a successful and happy 2006 with some photos taken from the hotel window during a five-day return to Mt. Annupuri in Niseko.
Posted by Setsunai at December 27, 2005 9:02 AMYou don't say...
I spent a summer in Niseko a few years back working as a river guide for SAS in Hirafu. Lots of rafting, hiking, and mountain biking up that way, I loved my stay up there.
Thanks for the reminder...
Skiing, Tom? I had a week up there a couple of years ago but the snow was lame. The day before we left about 2 feet of powder fell which was just ironic. Looks like there's good snow there now though.
Posted by: Biffa at December 28, 2005 2:38 AM | Permalink to CommentSnow was great, Luke. Very powdery. But there were some fairly hectic blizzard conditions (not nice getting lost in a whiteout on skis) and temperatures in the minus 10s up near the top of the mountain. I suppose you can't have it both ways.
Posted by: Setsunai at December 28, 2005 1:23 PM | Permalink to Commentthose first two shots were shot through fences or some sort of window, by any chance?...a faint pattern there, nice nonetheless, exp. the first one. the cold must have been pointing you in an abstract direction :)
ps. I thought only Aussies went to Niseko :)
Posted by: Kurt at January 3, 2006 4:18 PM | Permalink to CommentRight on both counts. They were taken through a window with a mesh layer outside it, which is making the pattern. The cold was certainly limiting my mobility.
As for Aussies and Niseko, it's quite the melting pot up there. There were times the Japanese in the scene were well outnumbered.
Posted by: Setsunai at January 4, 2006 9:36 AM | Permalink to Comment