A British Ski Instructor Challenges the Japanese System by Arnie Wilson
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Warren Smith's Ski Academy is well-known in the Alps, particularly in Verbier, Switzerland, where Smith lives with his Scottish fiancée Melody Sky, a professional photographer and film maker. The Ski Academy organises a number of events, most famously the Verbier Ride, an annual tournament at which young Turks on skis are locked in fierce freestyle combat on steep cliff faces.
Smith and Sky have now set their sights on establishing a powder camp in Furano next winter. Furano is nicknamed "the belly button of Hokkaido" because of its central position in a wide, flat valley in the centre of the island, and has magnificent views of Daisetsuzan-Kokuritsukoen, Japan's largest national park. The name means Great Snowy Mountain, an apt description of the 15 peaks of more than 2000 metres. In the local Ainu language the name translates to "playground of the gods".
Their plans for the powder camp have hit some problems, not because there is a lack of powder - snow blowing in from Siberia in huge quantities means that Hokkaido is swamped with it every winter. But because in many resorts in Japan, no one is allowed to ski in it.
The Japanese paranoia about off-piste skiing is neatly illustrated by the most challenging "in bounds" run in Furano - Kuma Otoshi (roughly translated as Bear Drop), at the top of the Kitanomine Gondola. It's a long, rugged off-piste run which will shake you about but makes a welcome change from the groomed runs to which the vast majority of skiers and snowboarders are normally confined. But, they can only ski it for 10 minutes, at special times, twice a day.
"I thinkit’s called that because it's so steep that even a bear would tumble down the hill" says James Mutter, a Canadian employed by the regional tourism association to look after us. "When they open the run for a 10-minute period, one patroller sits at the top of the ridge and another sits over to the left where the fracture points are. They count all the skiers and make sure everyone makes it off the run. If there were to be an avalanche, the patrol would have a good idea of how many people were caught and be able to offer immediate assistance."
While skiing off-piste is largely taboo a few Hokkaido resorts have embraced the roller-coaster powder culture, such as Niseko which has been transformed by Australians and Americans determined to ski among the trees. So too is Hokkaido's highest peak, Asahidake, where for 2,800 yen for day pass and the services of a guide like Chuck Olbery from Hokkaido Powder Guides you can ski off-piste on the flanks of a volcano with steaming fumeroles. But Furano is very much old school and a much more difficult to crack.
When we arrived, accompanied by an intrigued Hokkaido TV crew who followed us for two days, we too found the most exciting parts of Furano's playground – deep-snow skiing in the trees – were off limits. We were told we could ski the back-country behind the ski area, not run by the resort, but only if we reported to the local police station and spent an hour or more filling in forms. We didn't have time.
So we remained obediently on piste before flying back to mainland Honshu to explore Kyoto, the wonderful old imperial capital, where Peter MacIntosh, a former Canadian soccer player who married a Geisha, organises Geisha parties. During dinner we were enthralled by the unusual opportunity of being pampered by these doll-like and ever attentive hostesses topping up our glasses of warm sake and cooking our fish on hot stones - a rare, surreal and even sensual experience not to be missed if you ever get the chance. The dinner ended with the three Geishas performing a programme of Japanese folk songs and dance accompanied by a three-string cat-gut guitar.
Returning to Furano, I discovered Smith and Sky, after an initial setback, had some surprising success in breaking down the off-piste barriers.
"At first we were in big trouble" says Sky. "The ski patrol were standing there waiting for us. They asked us if we knew we were skiing in a 'strictly out of bounds' area [and] warned us they'd confiscate our lift passes next time."
But after using considerable charm, Smith and Sky were allowed to access the slopes at the back of the ski area where they intend to set up the powder camps this winter.
"We didn't actually have to go to the police station in person in the end, but we did have to fill in forms with our names and addresses, details on what safety equipment we had, whether we had avalanche tranceivers or not, if we had radios and if so what frequency they were on, and even what emergency food we had. "
After showing their permits to the mountain patrol they were escorted to the barrier that fences off the back-country at the top lift. After waiting 10 minutes to make sure nobody followed Smith and Sky they were free to ski.
"It was amazing. Nobody had been there. It had dumped a good 50cm of snow and we had masses of terrain to play with. It was the best snow I think both of us had ever skied", Sky remarks.
This is certainly progress at the heart of Japan's "thou shalt not ski off-piste" mentality and the arrival of the Warren Smith Ski Academy bandwagon next winter will probably add considerably to that momentum.