evoTrip

Seki Onsen: a powder hound’s paradise

With winter quickly approaching, it’s difficult to keep my mind from wandering to the cold, adrenaline-filled adventures of the past. The first one that comes to mind is my 2018 trip to Japan. It’s a trip I’ll never forget.

After graduating from college in December of 2017, I had some tough decisions to make. I either had to leap headfirst into a grueling job search, or take some time of to pursue some life-long dreams. I chose the latter. It only took a few days of post-grad life for me to decide it was time to deplete my savings account and book a trip to Japan.

No shortage of Gyoza in Tokyo

I had developed an interest in Japan and Japanese culture from and early age. Combine this with my love of snowboarding and this trip seemed like the perfect way to reward myself for making it through college.

It turns out that Japan is one of the snowiest places on earth. Cold Siberian air picks up copious amounts of moisture from the Sea of Japan and dumps it in the form of cold powder on the mountains of Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan’s largest islands.

I decided to book my Japanese adventure through evo, a Seattle-based ski shop that started a travel program to offer ski trips around the globe. I purchased my first snowboard from evo and was always impressed with their sense of community and great products, so it was an easy choice.

All smiles at Seki Onsen with 60cm of fresh snow

I decided to go with evo’s week-long trip to Myoko Kogen, a small, lesser-traveled ski destination on Japan’s main island of Honshu. The resorts that surround Myoko Kogen boast some of the biggest snow totals on Honshu and I was confident we would find some deep snow on this trip.

The trip was booked and I was beyond excited for what was in store.

I arrived in Tokyo near the end of January 2018 and met my fellow evoTrippers at Tokyo Narita airport. We were exhausted after a long day of traveling, and loaded into a small van to make the 6 hour drive to Myoko Kogen from Tokyo. We arrived at Morino Lodge, our basecamp for the week, around 10pm and quickly got to bed before our first day of riding.

We spent our first day riding at Akakura Onsen, the resort closest to our lodge. A few inches of snow had fallen our first night so there were fun turns to be had. We spent the day lapping beautiful tree runs and cruising the mostly mellow terrain of Akakura. It was a great way for us to get our legs ready for what was to come.

After a great first day, we retreated to Morino Lodge for a little relaxation (yes, this included a dip in the Onsen located in the basement of the lodge). The forecast was calling for a few centimeters of snow to fall throughout the night, so I wasn’t expecting much as a drifted to sleep with snow slowly falling outside. When I woke the next morning, I looked out the window and saw that it was absolutely dumping.

A few centimeters had turned into what looked like 20. As I ate breakfast, the snow continued to stack up. The employees at Morino Lodge gave us some good news: we would be riding at a small, family-owned ski resort known as Seki Onsen. This resort was known for its microclimate that produced higher snow totals than other resorts in the area. The family at Seki Onsen sent a van to our lodge to pick us up and quickly informed us that the snow at their resort was waist deep. I couldn’t believe my ears. I had gone to bed with low expectations and was about to have one of the best days of my life.

Heavy snow before the lifts started spinning

When we arrived at Seki Onsen, we were joined by maybe 40 or 50 other skiers. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. The powder never ran out, we had bottomless turns all day long. Midway through the day, the resort opened up it’s single-scoop upper chairlift. Riding this chairlift was quite the experience. You had to take off your snowboard and throw yourself off the chair at the top of the route. This chair gave is access to a wide-open slope with endless face shots.

Over the next few days, we sampled some of the other resorts around the Myoko Kogen area, including Suginohara. The diversity of terrain and weather conditions lead to an exciting few days. The combination of deep snow and incredible culture made this trip to Japan unforgettable. Japan really felt like another world, with incredible food, sights, and sounds. I will definitely be back (hopefully this winter).

I highly recommend joining evo in Japan. It’s a trip you won’t regret. Check out their options here: https://www.evo.com/adventure-travel