Blog #16 - the final one!
January 24th
Hey all…Dr Dre here for the Last time.
I’m sitting here all alone no campers to keep me company while writing this :(.
We had an early wake up at 6.30am to make sure everyone was ready for the massive trek back to Australia. Everyone did their last minute packing, cramming last minute items into their bags. Once everyone was packed and all the bags were put in the bus we headed upstairs to eat the very last cooked breakfast at Moiwa. Then it was all hugs and handshakes as all the campers parted ways with the coaches. What a sad moment…. Once the bus was out of site we went inside to check out the rooms! Parents if cleaning their rooms is as much of a task for you as it was for us, I truly feel sorry for you!
Campers thank you for another great year on the Super Camp. All the coaches are stoked to have coached and shared this experience with you. We are stoked to have made make some great new friends along the way! We hope you had the time of your live and we get to see you all again next year on the Super Camp Japan 2010/2011!
Drizzle, Loose Andy, Professor Nu, Mort Armadillo and of course The Godfather Nick F-J. A very special thanks to Jenny and Mark from Moiwa lodge and all the staff: Antja, Richie, Ellie-Mae and Ned (Mark and Janny’s kids) Christy, Photographer Harry and Filmer extraordinaire…Webbie. (hope your arm gets better soon mate!) Thanks also to Zac for all your help.
It’s at this point that we would also like to thank the corporate guys who value what we do: K2 SKIS and K2 SNOWBOARDS, 3CS Outerwear, NEFF, SANDBOX, GRENADE, PERISHER WINTER SPORTS AND TEAM BULLER.
Thank you everyone for your support and to all the campers...where gonna miss ya…
Saturday 23rd of January
Dr Nuinstein Reporting
Today, Star day 41, the last and final day here in Niseko Hokkaido...
Sorry been watching star-trek, today was not the final of the campers stay in Japan, but however it was there last day riding, so we chose to make the most of it and it was an early rise, and we kicked it straight over to Hanazono, and began to cut laps of the park.
After a few laps in the park the Snowboarders decided that they desired that natural terrain, soft powder snow and pillow lines so they decided to ride Strawberry Fields and went to drops some sweet lines, shout out goes to Benny and Shaun who both managed to land clean drops, and Shaun also managed to stomp his first back 360 off the biggest jump in the park. Mark found a sweet tree to slide and executed his signature frontboard.
The skiers decided that there were still some tricks they wanted to stomp in the park.
Max was throwing front flips left right and centre (mostly centre) in the park, Jake was hitting the big jumps and spinning 360s, Charlie Chuz Wuzza McMahon was doing massive 5s over the jumps and he wasn’t the only one, with Doug, but not Dougie fresh, Dougie C hes thuggen, also throwing massive 5s, landing them and riding out ever so clean. Ryley and Ollie were again at, it with Ryley spinning both way switch 360s.
Tonight we had awards for the Campers
Most Dedicated: Jake McDonald
Most Progressive Skier: Ryley Lucas
Most Improved Skier: Charlie McMahon
Andy Walker here with the lucky last report for the Shred Stick Riders.
Well it was the last day of the camp and the campers went out for one last dig. We had fun cutting laps of the proggressioning park Hanazono. All the crew stepped up with every one going for bigger spins than they had ever done before and hitting all the scary features. A big well done to Cozy and Tom who hit the big boy jump. And to Sean of the Dead who had a good dig at a front side spin off the big fella. J was really showing his pipe skills boosting out.
Something really clicked in the last two weeks, here at the camp we have created shredding monsters, they all hold there own with the big boys and have a style to match – this is seen in Bailey and Ben awesomely.
With a really filling good-bye dinner we handed out the awards. Most improved went to Bailey for really coming of age as a shredder, Biggest Charger went to Little Big man Tom who always gets it done and MVP went to Young Ben who did is one of the best all rounder’s around.
Mort and I are really impressed with the level of progression and even though you drive us mad We are going to miss you little buggers and hope you all come back to The Camp and keep progressing and having fun through out your riding career. You’re all shredders
So go out and ride hard.
Peace
(Loose) Andy Walker
22nd January 2010
-Mark Amadio
Off down to Hanazono for another day of shredding the gnar and with only 2 riding days left the hammer was out. The Snowboard crew started the day with a couple of hot-laps of “strawberries.” Resident photographer Hazza and film guru Webby were on hand to capture all the events of today and beef up our dvd parts.
The freeeiding sessions have changed alot since our first week a distant 6 weeks ago. The skill and creativity in picking a line and destroying it is unbelievable. Both Andy (Loose) and myself have been blown away by the boys and their commitment, and there level of riding is proof.
The Arvo session was at the Fu park, everyone got involved and ran laps of it till 4pm when they kicked us out.
Big shout out to Tommy who tried his first switch backside 180 today on the top jump of Hanazono park- that’s all 4 180s to take back with him!!
Ben who is charging the big line at Hanazono, one of the most stylish methods since Terje. Cozzie for stepping up his rail combos including board-sliding the flat-down hybrid. Baliey for his commitment to spinning. Front 3’s and 5’s a little polishing and they will be better than the coaches!
January 22, 2010
Dr Dre reporting for the skiers!
We awoke to a large amount of fresh snow, but being the second last day on snow everyone wanted to make the most of the Park, so straight over to Hanazono for a full day of park.
We arrived and it was still dumping snow, we headed up the quad and down the run to discover the half pipe was finally open for business! We were all stoked to finally hit it after watching it get built for weeks. For never hitting a pipe Charlie was killing it boosting massive airs, Ollie and Ryley was throwing spins, Jake was impressing everyone with his “alley-oops’ in the pipe, Doug was making everyone laugh just cruising around with his jacket open and max was practicing his front flips on the booters. For the amount of snow coming down the day’s session was surprisingly fun. Everyone going massive and getting tech on the rails. Let’s hope tomorrows even bigger!
After skiing we headed to Kutchan for the last time they will shop there on The Camp 09/10, then headed home and started to organize bags and gear for the big pack up tomorrow night!
21st of January HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!!!!
Dhanu Sherpa and Andy Walker here with you today to bring you all the days details
After a sweet park day yesterday we were all keen to back it up, so we headed straight to Hanazono Ski Resort to hit up the terrain park.
How ever things didn’t pan out just as we expected as the snow was super slow today, so with race tucks we sent ourselves into the jumps all morning, not to say we didn’t get things done, with Charlie landing sweet 5s off the last jump, and Jake showing us how to grease a down bar.
Despite our race tucks and 300 meter drop ins to make the jump we grew a bit tired of these desperate methods to get out tricks down, so after a group consensus it was decided that the afternoons activity would be a spot of shopping in Kutchan, where I managed after 6 weeks to find the idea piece of material to cover my fezz, anyway after the excited burned out about my buy, we headed home for a movie, then a bit of video analysis.
The snowboarders stayed to Jib the Hanazono Bus feature, pretty fun and great for progression. Rule of thumb for everyone was to spin all 4 ways, from there it got a bit more technical with Tom throwing down front 1 to switch 5-0 and Sean doing cab 1 to pretzel off then again the other way. Hazza the Camera man gave us some gangster throwdowns as well. Ben and Ben where all about the switch on switch of jib tricks also
Next up Onsen time! By the time we left it was snowing pretty heaving as the night set in, and when we arrived it was absolutely dumping, so we all jumped in and sat in the steamy water, it was soo relaxing and some even say “It was the second best Onsen I’ve ever had”-Andre Bennett
Anyway Dinners up, and it smells good...
After a real great pasta dinner we all went riding, with snowfall all day and few people around the hill was looking awesome and full of freshes. It was a little chilli up top – minus 14!!! Before wind chill!!! We headed down the hill KABOOTZING (spraying) each other and randoms. That was great fun and all caught on film by trusty Camera man Webby. After hitting some tree lines and drops in blackness it was time to go. The crew got their skateboard style on snowboarding down the street dodging tourists and popping off everything and anything. It was a unique jib experience.
After night shred we where all pretty tired had some more of Jennys Birthday Cake and went to bed ready to rock out tomorrow.
Peace
20th of January 2010
G day everyone its Andy Walker here with you weekly Wednesday report.
The kids woke up after a big late night session on the backyard quarter pipe and stall were they jibbed up a storm, “old Ben showed how it was done. Today was a day that started off grey and unseasonal drizzly day, however by all accounts turned into one of the most fun days of the season. We where then joined by guest coach Australian snowboarding Tech Nine superstar Lucas McGrath!!!
We headed to Hanzono park where Lucas ohed and arrred the riders with his skills. The crew quickly got to work nailing there tricks. Tom showed that he is on his way to nailing all four 1s nailing front 1, Cab 1, Back 1. Most of the camp is now hitting the big bertha jumps, well done to young Ben who was landing back seat all the time at start of camp and now takes on anything.
Cosi Tom and I went to work on their jib skills, Cosi learnt board slide switch out and Tom got front boards. We then went to the big bus feature where we learnt how to do le disco down the Bus. Cosi unfortunately took the slip out to face and retired to a bloody nose. Tom got it and then went to front 1 on switch 5 – O.
After a bit of pizza we went to Hirafu Park which has sick flow and lots of pop. Bailey and Cosi and Tom sent it big showing Niseko how stomping big grabs are done. They are dominating the scene. Coach Mark was charging through with Lucas boning and grabbing big on train runs, the also pushed progression with a Varity of jib changes. Shaun and Young Ben went big spinning off the last jump sending it deep. We retired late in the day to a big meal and watched the days shredding on the big screen.
PS Happy Birthday Jenny!!!!!
Dr Dre for the skizzlers.
The crew was up till bed time last night hitting the Quarter Pipe we built out the back of Moiwa Lodge. Everyone was on fire with their tricks with Jake, Jay and Ryley was sliding the wooden bench jib with style while Ollie, Sean, Cozzie and Max were getting innovative trying new tricks. Best trick goes to Ollie and Max, with Ollie using maxes skis as an extension to the quarter pipe!
In the morning we were back to the regular old 8am wake up, 9am in the vans after a few days on a different program.
We headed straight to Hanazono in hopes of an epic day and an epic day we got! Despite the first rain of the season everyone was super excited for a park day! The weather and snow was just like Australia so nobody had any excuse not to throw down. Max, Ollie, Charles and Doug were throwing smooth 360s off all the jumps, Ryley was throwing massive 720s and Jake was working on style and grabs in his 360s.
A sweet day was had by all, riding till the day’s end. A good night’s sleep is in need for another sweet day in the park tomorrow!
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Blog #15
(Gallery 19)
19th January 2009
The Mort & Driz Show
Chise Napori day trip. The camp crew ventured to a place today that you wont find on any niseko tour map or ski mag. Chise Napori is a army training facility ski slope featuring one lift that accesses some of the funnest terrain in the area.
First lines were some warm up trees pretty mellow but bouncy fun, they exited at the onsen at the bottom. This onsen was unlike any other we had experienced. Instantly the smell of rotton egg gas (aka sulphur) hit you causing some campers and coaches with weaker stomachs to drop to there knees.
For the rest of the session we hit the skiers right ridge. Endless drops and cornuses were destroyed camp Filmer Webby and Photographer Hazza were right in the thick of it ,capturing some baller shots for the camp DVD.
Some of the finer moments of today: Ben- Method drop to photographer near miss. Everyone is ok and the camera got dried out. Good shot but!
The Godfather of the camp Nick-franklin Jones, monster gap drop. Wow, still got it and showing the young bucks how its done.
Tommy getting wicked with some tame dogs (nollie front flip)
Ollie 180 off cornice lading switch in knee deep pow and riding out switch, ahhh son.
Max with Allissa Camplin front flips are always a crowd pleaser.
Shhhhhh don’t tell anyone bout this place its our little secret, defenantly one of the funner days of the camp.
January 17th
Dhanu Sherpa here to bring you all the details of the day.
Today was a rest day, so the campers had scored a sleep in. Despite the fact that all the campers have been riding for the past five days straight, everyone was still itching to clip into their skis, strap on their board and slide around on the white stuff, so after a crew was assembled we decided to dig out the rail, that was once again blanketed in snow, and turn it into a down rail.
Mark, ( Dilo, Dills, Mort, Montgomery, Mortholomew, Mortaloo) directed the operation and made a rail setup so perfect, that would make any member of the Hanazono terrain park crew froth harder than Bronzen after finding out you can get PX12 patterned curtains off ebay.
After a session leading well into the afternoon, which we saw an array of tricks thrown down, Jake got back on the steel horse to ride it smoothly after it bucked him off a few times, Baily showed us how to do textbook Frontboards, while Tommy, also managed to get off some Frontboards on the down bar, and last but not least, Mark showed everyone just why they call him Mark Frontboard Amadilo and nailed some switch Frontboards.
Next up, everyone , pulled a chair, got their blankets settled into their favourite bean bags, for an afternoon screening of Refresh, Level One’s latest ski movie, after this the general consensus was that the pool would be a suitable activity before dinner. We were very lucky tonight as the pool was almost empty, so we hosted a mini Olympics, well a few swimming races really, but hey. These Olympics saw Dre and Shaun emerge as the winners, in a dead heat in their final race.
Then it was back to Moiwa Lodge for Dinner for an amazing fried chicken done up by Jenny and the kind kitchen staff, perfect fuel for Booter day tomorrow,
stay tuned for all the juicy details
Im old greeeeg
Fin
16th Jan 2009
Comp Day 2.0 Mort and Dre
Today was hanozono comp day featuring big air. The weather like any comp was filthy with wind and heavy snow, never the less the group charged.
After we got our bibs we headed up to the top of the course, the amount of snow on the run was phenomenal! Ankle deep on piste over hip deep off piste. We were getting face shots on the way to the jump! Skiers were up first with Ryley charging throwing massive 720’s and Ollie making us laugh bailing after 1 run to escape the fogged goggles and wild weather. The snow kept hammering down and we kept charging unfortunately none of us getting through to the finals.
The crew that wasn’t in the comp was taking advantage of the powder snow over in strawberry fields. Pillow lines and powder drops were on the cards with our crew battling the burton team riders and filmers for the premo spots. Some really good footage got taken in this session a big thanks to the camps professional filmer webby who braved the cold and got the goods.
Happy Birthday Zac and Dhanu!!!!!
15 Jan
Today we awoke to another overnight blessing of powder, so jumped in the vans without a second glance at Moiwa lodge and headed straight to Higashiama ski resort.
The skiers headed straight up the gondola and bombed down the top of the mountain as quick as possible to go to all the sweet drops, hidden lower down the mountain.
The biggest air today goes to Max who did a massive drop off a pillow, followed by Charlie and Ryley who also had good landings into the fresh stuff!
Another stand out was Ollie who learned butter 360s off the cat-track into the powder.
It sure was a progressive morning, so to reward ourselves we decided to go have a late afternoon lunch buffet yet again at the Hilton Hotel, which was amazing, Calamari being the choice entrée, not to mention the curry and rice, and Spaghetti, and don’t even get me started on desert, Pancotta’s and Brownies, it was hard to leave! Very hard.
After our well deserved lunch we headed back up the gondola to cut some final afternoon laps where Jake McDonald amazed us all as he started to throw front flips of the cat track, an amazing effort from 14 year old jake, Skier of the day for sure! and with more snow forecasted there will be more to come.
Here’s what the snowboarders made of today:
Pow was on the menu there sir, and served up plenty. The snowboard crew banged out solid lines at “gash” frothing at the bit.
Tommy threw his first tame-dog which is a nollie front flip for any of you who arnt kool. Bailey was also getting in the mix with front flips off cat tracks. Jay gets our rider of the day for cab 180 off the death gap, which is no mean feat cause its freaking huge.
Fingers crossed for another tomorrow.
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Blog #14
(Gallery 17 & Rusutsu)
12 Jan 2010
Rusutsu Day Trip
-Mort and driz
With an early start and 6:30am brekky it was always gunna be a long but epic day. The crew headed to the other side of Mt Yotei where the resort of Rusutsu was. To our amazement the sun came out to reveal that this was going to be one of the better days of the camp so far.
Def not disappointed!!!! Punching lines in the trees and was on the cards early with bottomless stashes to be found. The ski crew sessioned a solid cliff getting some baller footage... Snowboard crew then found some log jibs and pillows to send so much fun.
The arvo was spent on the opposite side of the resort, loose Andy ran a backcountry exposition which had smiles all round.
After a huge day of snow sliding we checked out the impressive base area. This consisted of “Disney land” styled cafes, shops, themed ride and we were blown away by the weirdness.
Rusutsu def lived up to the hype.
11th of Jan
Aloha world, Its Andy and Dhanu with the news of today.
With the bones creaking and the muscles burning The Camp had a day off. So after a morning of cleaning rooms and doing laundry the crew ticked off a must do in Japan. We went to Sushi!!!
The campers dug in trying all sorts food including purple fish on rice and raw fish egg rolls. Everyone at up and enjoyed with some sour looks the exotic food
After our lunch, we headed to the Gym on the otherside of Kutchan, the gym was so much fun, we kicked it off with Skiers Vs Snowboarders in a good old fashion game of dodgeball. The first game was dominated by the snowboarders, with it coming down to Tommy and Dre, the second round was won by the skiers, then the snowboarders went on to win their second match, but the next game the skiers matched them, so the final game, the decider was an epic battle, which saw the skiers emerge victorias!
After sweating it out at dodgeball we moved over to the other court in the complex, where we tried our luck at Badminton and Pingpong, where Mark showed us just why he is the ping pong king, not to mention Jake who was also very pingpong compatible. Badminton was interesting, as we all seemed to go through multiple shuttlecocks, but this didn’t stop us, as we slowly learned the art of the game, and Doug proved to us that he was the king of this sport.
After a break for drinks and to rest our bodies we decided to finish up our session with a game of indoor soccer, deciding that it was a bit old fashion having skiers V snowboarders we all mixed it up into two even teams and went at it!
It was such a close game, with Dre’s team just managing to get a goal off at the last minute of play, while Christians team let one slip through the net.
I don’t think everyone planned on doing so much running and have so much fun at the same time on a rest day, 930pm and the campers seem to be slipping off to bed already, for the early outing, Ruzitzu day trip!
All the details tomorrow
Stay fresh Jindabyne
10th January 2010
Dr Drizzle signing in for day 29 of 43 for the 09/10 Super Camp Japan!
We awoke to a fresh 25cms of light, fluffy powder snow and at 9.00am we left the lodge, our destination, Strawberry Fields. Everyone was keen to punch big lines with Jake flying down faster than a speeding bullet, Ryley, Ollie and Christian AKA Ricky Martin Scoping the whole area for the biggest and best lines and Max and Charlie taking on some big cliffs, however Charlie decided to take on a tree and came off 2nd best which sadly ended his runs for the day.
After lunch half the crew went and skied the “Waterfall” gate and half skied a hidden stash of the lightest now I have ever skied behind the half pipe on our way to the terrain park. The terrain park was fun with fresh landings off to the sides of the jumps, a rebuild on the bottom jump making it into a big 40footer and a new c-rail at the bottom of the park.
On the way home we decided to stop at a store on the side of the road in the middle of a forest with a massive ice cream cone out the front and we found an awesome little gelato shop with cheap ice creams! After that we headed to Sakomart to stock up on junk food and then home to relax and to get ready for the day off tomorrow!
9th of January 2010
Heya Andy Walker back with the shred news that was today.
This morning we said good bye to Gus, Sam and Justin, they were on the four week program and unfortunately due to flights were unable to extend their stay. We had fun with you boys and your style and ability improved loads. Well done to Justin in particular who in My books gets the punter to pro award with a huge increase in his shredding ability.
We have been riding park every day now for about 1.5 weeks now, this is good because it allows the campers to hone their skills. Today it all came together like everyone had a light bulb go off. Tom was going big steezy and deep with his front side spins and is now starting his back sides. Sean is progressing as well hitting his biggest park - a 45 step down. His spins are looking great as the photos will tell. Coach Mark was trying to impress the local ladies spinning all 4 ways with everything up to a 7. Young Ben found his pop really getting some amps up on the jumps. Old Ben is getting technical with switch carves and strait airs. Well done to Cozy also who is looking balanced in the air with his improved stance and steez. Also well done to Bailey who is improving enormously on his spins with his line and speed, also props to the man for the big ollies over the fences and guinea pigging the largest jump in the park.
Todays photos are thanks to Pat our new camera man.
Today the skiers also farewelled three of their finest Declan (DEHECKERSS) Victoria (Vicco) and Pat (Big unit) it was an emotional morning as we hate goodbyes here at the camp but afterwards we kicked it into gear heading straight to Hanozono Park for another Jump session. Shoutouts go out to Jake and Doug who both practiced their 360’s in the revamped park. It was good to see the park has been rebuilt and now holds bigger features to help our progression over the coming weeks as everyone has been moving so fast and is eager to try their tricks on some bigger features, and with a snow storm expected to move in over the next few days, there is sure to be even more features to come, not to mention the awesome natural terrain that awaits us in strawberry fields forever..
Tonight we saw the final round of the pool comp played, with an epic battle between kids and staff, with Dhanu and Zac taking out the championship leaving Christian and Jake for the silver, better luck next time guys.
With all the forecasted snow over the coming week, a Rizitzue day trip looks like its on the cards, stayed tuned for details folks
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Blog #13
(see galley #15)
8th of Jan, 2010
Titties and Mort here,
The crew ventured to Hanazono today for the most epic park sesh so far. The sun came out today inspiring some progressive tricks been thrown down. Dress up was the flavour of the day with Cozzie (Jordan) getting his hesh on with some spray on tight jeans and leather jacket, a real nima jamarli. Little Tommy on the other hand went the opposite steezing out some XXXL gangster steez, with Chris Bradshaw in mind. Both of these not only look but also inspired the riders to throw down like the pros.
Other moments of today worth noting Sam aka Titties coming out of his riding shell and throwing last day hammers including the most banged out nose blunts I’ve ever seen. Such a good way to end his camp for 2010.
Sean dug deep to learn his first spins with grabs, backside 180 Indy- the lady-killer. Benny continued to impress with his unstoppable methods- base graphics anyone?
Loose Andy ran a backcountry exhibition in the afternoon exploring the Hokkaido off-piste from all accounts they got their beard on and shredded the gnar.
Dinners on, we’re having burgers and chips so peace out homies…
Yo yo yo Dre the Dawg Father here for the skiers!
What a day! Defiantly topped the list as the most progressive day in the park so far!
First up we headed over to Hanazono and got straight into the jumps! Being the last day for the 4 weekers they were keen to throw down and nail their tricks before they left. Declan was super keen to finally land a 360 getting soooo close in the dying minutes of the last run, Victoria showed us how to slide the flat box with style, Bronson was coming off switch from the box with ease and working on his 360s, Pat was charging all day as usual, going big off the jumps and Ben threw his first front flip! The last of his goals for the camp! After a small afternoon session on the rails, we drove the drive home for the last time for Declan, Victoria, Pat and Ben. Thanks guys for an awesome time riding!
After dinner we had the final of the 1st Annual Moiwa Lodge Pool Comp with the challengers being the team of Dhanu and Zac Vs Bronsen and Christian. The winners and taking the prize of 3 free items from the Moiwa snack bar and bragging rights for life being Dhanu and Zac! Congratulations boys!
Thanks for a great camp 4 weekers and we will surly miss you deeply!
7th of January 2010
Well if it is not Andy Walker here with daily report
After a big night on the hill The Camp awoke to clear and calm skies. With a sense of motivation we were on the hill and in the park early. This is when tragedy struck Pat who had just learned corked 5s and 7s caught an edge on a freak layer of ice that froze over night on a down rail. So with coach Mark helping our man out Pat went to hospital.
The Shred possie lapped the park a couple of times stomping their tricks. We then went over to a new park that has been built in front of Hanazono. The video camera was wipped out and the crew praticed a few of their old trick before landing new ones. Big props to Sean and Bailey who showed us how switch backsides and cab 1s are done. Well done to “young” Ben who landed his FS 3. Justin continues to improve out of site landing spins and popping solid.
The skiers headed straight to the park as soon as they got off the lift, only to find it was closed, so after a few runs on the groomers, which proved to be an awesome warm up, we headed down to the lower rail park, where Ryley showed us what a “hippie killer” was and Declan and Pat threw down some 180s riding out clean. After this rail session we went to check out if the jumps were open yet, and just as we hoped they were!
The park was pretty firm today, so it was a good idea to take it easy, and just perfect tricks rather than trying to learn new spins ones until conditions are ideal, so everyone just focused on putting style into their 180s and 360s or learning new grabs in their spins. After a successful morning session of jumping and grinding it was decided that lunch was in order.
After a nice lunch break and the boys trying to chat Samara the blond entertainer we went for Afternoon park laps. The park has grown in size considerably and it is great to see the campers progressing with the features. The boys charged in and on film we captured all their tricks. Well done again to Sean who went for his first Back 3, Baily who is going for his spins with more speed so he can land bigger and deeper and to Cosi who showed us how to boost the spine jump. Tom is ripping as well getting much more consistent not letting size or age count as he charges in to the jumps, he always gets a clap from the Japanese.
We returned with every one talking about the sick park session we had to find Pat alive. He has a hurt shoulder but will be OK, he did say the highlight of the hospital was meeting his female translator Coky, he said he put a good effort in but to no avail.
All tired out and itching for more looks like another early night, and with the forecast for more snow in the days to come could mean that the Hannozono Halfpipe that has been shaped and pushed up for the last week might make its début!
Stay tuned!
6th of January 2010
Yo Yo Andy Walker here with the daily report... for the morning at least.
With the strongest winds of the trip and all the resorts closed the crew had a day of the hill. This did not mean chilling with our computers and DVDs. It meant that we where outside doing the practical component of our avalanche course.
With fearless leader in charge FJ we dug pits and learning about weak layers in the snow that cause the avalanches. The campers learned how to conduct shovel shear tests, Rouge block tests, compression test and burp tests, these are used in deciding if a rider should hit a slope or not. After a big morning of digging and digging we went up to Moiwa ski resort for some fried chicken.
Arvo sessions with Mort......
K-town skate park had a thrashing this arvo by the Camp crew, It took a few runs for everyone to adjust to the indoor skate format and find their skate feet again, but after that the session heated up. It was a real fun little facility with a mini ramp area and bowl section.
Half way through the session the word went out that the skate park owner/operator threw down a mean taco. So being the adventurous people we are we had our first Japanese taco, sounds weird huh?!! It was amazing. After we setteled our munchies the skate sesh was back on. Had an inspiring and innovative mini ramp battle going on between the campers with photos and footage the winner at the end of the day...
Will def make this skate park a weekly event!!!
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Blog #12
(GALLERIES 13 & 14)
5th of January 2010
Drizzel Bennett and Mort Amadio
Back Country Booter Day 2.0
Today the crew ventured into the Moiwa Back country to build and hit our very own movie style back country booter. The day started with a one way ride up the Moiwa double chair then we made our way to the secret location.
Just like a well oiled machine everyone quickly moved into action. Some cut blocks to build the jump, others shifted tonnes of snow and importantly some crew dialled in the in-run.
After all our hard but soon to be rewarding work we stoped to eat lunch. During this time some tricks were discussed and the general talk up of what was going to happen in the arvo session. Our first volunteer to guinea Pig the jump was Jordan (cozzie). With Nervs high it was a good start with only a short miss judgment leading in a slight crash.
To all coaches and local on lookers amazement the camp crew were really coming to life. Some of the stand out moments. Tommy front flip indy grabs were almost coming around, such a big trick for a little dude. Ollie corked sevens smooth as eggs, Pat corked 5 indys, Big Doug with some really good digs and exploration of off axis spins, riley, corked 7 stomped every time, bailey with some layed out back flips a real crowd pleaser to end the day.
With so much footage and funny moments from the days video analaysis was so good we did it twice. Tricks were paused and broken apart both for technical feedback and also amusment.
Cant wait to go back country again.
4th of January 2010
Andy Walker here with the shred report.
Today was a pretty cool day; we got to the park early and started doing laps. The crew dialed their speed to the bigger jumps and quickly grew confidence.?It was great to see?all the coaching paying off. Mark and I are cracking the whip on the team and working them hard
Jay has stepped it up doing cab and front 1s on the largest jump and grabbing on his front threes. Tom is really powering in to the jumps going for bigger spins and making the sweet spot of the landings with ease. Cozy rocked out, he was dressed as his favorite pro snowboarder Nina with tight jeans and leather jacket for 4 runs until he went inside wet and cold. Old?Ben and young Ben are shredding hard, they have improved loads in style. The same goes for Justin who has gone from knock knees and bending over when he rides to charging pow and bombing into jumps. Welcome back to Sean who had no problem going for the big tricks after spraining his ankle.
In the afternoon I took the powder hungry for some secret spot shredding. I gave them a push getting them all to charge down lines no stops. We dodged?jibbed and tapped trees, dropped pillow lines and charged off cliffs ranging from the small to the large. The crew came out with big smiles saying they never rode so hard and that it was one of there favorite sessions yet! To all the mums and dads back home, watch out this kids know how to send it so you will have to work hard to keep up with them!!!
Today the skiers also headed straight out to the park,apon arrival at Hannozono.we split into 2 groups where Benny, Ryley, Ollie, Christian and Charlie went with Dhanu to work on their jumping skills, and Decklin, Victoria, Pat, Max, Jake and Dougie teamed up with Dre to work on their rail skills.
Today Christian was crowned “the switch king” as he was nailing all his switch tricks and is looking really good for switch 5s in the coming days, Benny worked on both his switch 360s and straight 360s and manage to land almost every one! Well done Benny! Ryley stepped things up by landing switch 5s for the first time after working on switch 360s for the last few days. Ollie was looking stylish as always getting tail grabs in his 360s along with Christian and Ollie learning new grabs in their 360s, shout out to Charlie who did both switch 5 and straight 5 well done buddy!
The Grindbar group also managed to learn some tricks, with Dre teaching Decklin and Victoria how to land off the rail and ride out smoothly, along with Jake who was landing off the rails switch with ease. Dougie was getting tech, throwing massive 270s onto the flat box, and Max was also pushing it, learning switch ups on the flat box, and apart from charging down powder and dropping lines on the upper mountain, Pat could also be seen greasing the rails looking like he has been doing it for years.
The level of progression among both the Skiers and Snowboarding has been very impressive, and with only more days of skiing and snowboarding to come, we can only expect more,
until next time... we love you St Louis
3rd January 2010
-Mark Amadio
We woke to a still blue bird morning after almost 4 days straight of blizzard conditions. The Froth level was noticeably high at brekky as we planned our day.
The ‘Gash” was hit up early with freeeriding the ambition. Thats what we got. The crew hiked the peak and got to hit a fresh face, instantly tracking out the lot. Our ‘rent-a-crowd then ventured on to do a couple of hits of the gondy to round out a epic session.
The arvo was spent down at the Hanazono stomping-ground terrain park. New jumps were the highlight of the arvo. An extra 10ft were added to each jump giving the crew more room to throw down their stunts.
Pool comp is on tonight at moiwa lodge, let the heckling begin!!!!
-Dre the Dogg Father
The skiers were stoked to finally see the sun after days of storms. With a few centimetres of fresh on the ground we knew exactly where we wanted to go! The “Gash” or “Higashiama” in Japanese terms was first on the list! Riding the gondy up we noticed how delicious the peak was looking in the sun so we opted out of the usual runs and took the single seater chair (with no safety bar and very little hold you on) up to the peak. Much to Doug E Freshes dislike we hiked up as high as the ropes would let so we could get the freshest tracks. Awesome turns were seen from Jake and Declan!
Once we tracked that out we did a couple of laps of the regular runs then headed over to Hanazono for lunch and an afternoon park shred.The park had had a rebuild over night with all the jumps getting a bit more boot on them and an extra 10 foot added to each of them, which hyped up every one to throw their tricks much bigger! Benny was working on cleaning up and grabbing his 360s, Declan was working on 180s and sliding the flat box, Victoria was sliding the flat box like a pro, Jake mastered his position in the air and Max was increasing the amount of grabs he has now mastered.
After dinner the first round of the First Annual Moiwa Lodge Pool Competition or “FAMLPC” was held with the teams of Doug and Cozzy, Max and Charlie, Ryley and Sean, Christian and Bronsen, Mort and Richie, Dhanu and Zac, Loose Andy and Declan and wild cards Ben and Ben going through to round 2! Congratulations you all are so close to winning the ultimate prize which hasn’t been decided yet!
Let’s hope tomorrow we get some more sun!
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Blog #12
Saturday the 2nd of January
Hello and welcome to the show, I’m Dhanu Sherpa your host with the most.
This morning we awoke to snow snow and more snow, as it has been snowing non-stop since New Year’s Eve, through our rest day and all of last night. The exits were snowed in, the backyard Rail was long gone, buried under its new arriving white blanket of snow, and the vans struggled to make it out onto the main road, to some and most people, not the ideal start to the morning, but for the 30 Australian skiers and snowboarders living in greater Moiwa, this was none other than another perfect way to start the day.
So it was very fast paced around the lodge this morning as everyone sped to get ready, chew down on some corn flakes, make lunch, or look for that odd glove that the washing machine was accused but innocent until proven guilty had eaten. And not long after the hustle we were all loaded up in the vans and in the mighty duck formation headed toward Grand Hirafu Ski Resort. “Don’t open the doors until we stop” It was hard holding back some of the campers as we rolled into the carpark, and soon after we had all buckled up, strapped up and clicked in and headed down to the lift to find one thing that we had not expected, as the campers stood there in shock, something had not gone our way....
Despite the technological advances of the Japanese, from heated toilet seats to barcode readers on your phone, the chair lifts here are not built as in Australia, the States or Europe, and are not built for wind. There was only a slight breeze in the air, as we stood discussing the chairs stationary position, but up the top of the peak it would surely be blowing a gale, however, just because the peak chairs were not open did not mean we could not ski, and we made our way to the lower chairs jumped on and started riding.
Straight off the chair Pat Arundel had hiked up a section of the run and other began to follow, he had found a sick line and charged down it, smashing through powder, pillows, and anything else that stood in his way, and everyone else was soon to follow, Jay was seen airing off a pillow doing massive Melon grabs, and Ollie looking like he could go backwards as easily as forwards, throwing 180s left right and centre.
After the skiers and snowboarders charged this little section of terrain under the 2 seater chair, as the day went on we saw more tricks, with Jake joining the 180 group and was skiing switch like a pro, and Shaun showing us some of the biggest powder slashes I’ve seen.
Although powder snow is so much fun and despite being so soft, it is quite a workout to ride, and can take every ounce of strength out of you just to stay on your feet sometimes, so as the campers grew tired as the lines got tracked out, it seemed like the perfect timing as the line started to built up down the bottom of the 2 seater chair as it became the hotspot of Hirafu, and as the day was still young we all had a vote to decided what we wanted to do for the rest of it, and it was decided, there would be 3 groups.
Group 1 (Team awesome) With Dre and Myself, decided that a swim was in order, so we kicked it back to Moiwa Lodge to change into something more appropriate for swimming where we lead the team back to Hirafu to the swimming pool. This swimming pool was pretty neat, it’s a 25meter pool with 5 lanes, two open for those who wanted to get serious and do some fast laps, and the other 3 lanes were open to just have a splash and play around, but it got better, as there was a spa and sauna we could use down the end of the pool along with another play area around the end.
Congratulations to Ryley who proved to be the fastest fish in the pond, and will have to try and defend his title next time round as it was a close one.
Group 2 The Junkyard Jibbers, led by Mark decided after riding pow for the morning they would mix things up by going and getting their grind on, in Kutchan, armed with a van full of shovels and keen jibbers it was not long before they had spotted a feature out, and old dumpster covered in snow, to some just junk but to Mark it was perfect, and soon everyone was getting tech and sliding their hearts away, throwing down, looking very smooth, shout out to Pat who did some sweet front boards, along with Bailey who also to get a frontboard, yeah boys!
Group 3 led by Andy Walker had decided that both group 1 and 2 were both out of their minds and a little line at the bottom of the chair and sore legs at the end of the day was a small compromise to pay to keep riding all this snow we have had over the past few days, and went searching deeping into the trees to find powder that was still untracked.
My sources tell me that Jake was seen skiing backwards more than he was riding forwards, and Gus and Charlie decided to mix things up by doing the old switch-a-roo and was Gus tried his luck at skiing and Charlie aspired to do some sweet frontboards, Victoria and ben decided that they were going to stick to skiing not too keen on become a “knuckle dragger”
So after an expected twist in our perfect day, we didn’t let it ruin it our and went to have and even better one! And now we all sit in lodge, watching the latest snowboard films, laying down some games of pool and discussing what one food we would eat for the rest of our life if we had to chose, Fruit surprisingly being a prime candidate
We can expect more fresh snow for tomorrow as it been snowing non stop tonight and looks like it will continue throughout the night and only hope tomorrow with be as much fun as today.
Today was our last Day with Conrad and Bryce as they head to the Mammoth Mountain Camp in California, have a safe flight boys and an awesome time.
The way it is Saturday this is Dhanu Sherpa...... Goodnight
1st January 2010!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Dr Dre here for the first report of 2010! What a night it was welcoming in the New Year with games, a ski and snowboard movie marathon, punch, food and even an Onsen. Once the New Year was welcomed in it wasn’t long before the tired team headed to bed for a good night’s sleep.
For the first day of the year we had a chill day, with a big sleep in. Breakfast was served around eleven before more games of Monopoly, Uno, Pool and a round of equipment checking. After dinner it was time for riding and we went over to Hirafu for a night riding session. It was the start of a storm on the 1st of this new year so the powder was deep. It’s a truly unique experience skiing powder snow at night in Japan…almost magical! Jake (AKA Bronson) was riding “sick” skiing switch like a pro and throwing clean 180s, Bailey was riding steeps and charging big lines and did a sweet bomb drop! Declan was also charging, stopping only to find his ski after having a bit of a stack in the powder. Jay had the same problem, not losing his board but having to unstrapped his board as he was buried so deep in the new snow.
The night went on until the last ride was call so we headed home were Jenny had dessert left from dinner ready to go. After munching the pudding down is wasn’t long before we all crashed again ready for a good nights sleep so we can get up early and make the most of the powder tomorrow morning.
Until next time I’m Dr Dre, have a good day.
Thursday 31th of December
Mark Amadilo & Dhanu Sherpa here
Hanazono rail jam.
The first competition day of the camp and what a good way to start. With an early rise for 8am bib collection the crew the then headed up for warm up runs dialing in all there tricks we were practicing in the days previous.
It was a solid warm up and we could see all riders really shake off their early morning nervs. First snowboard heat started at 11am, with everyone finding their groove. Bailey was exciting the announcer for the comp with a huge gap to 50-50. Pat was also revving up the audience with a crowd pleasing 50-50 to tame dog. The stand out rider for the comp has to go to Tommy, with his hammer of a trick 50-50 front one out on the giant down flat down. For his efforts he was named best grommy and got some free product of the organisers at the presentation.
Both Andy and myself were stocked with how everyone competed, being only one division both for men and groms they really held there own against the locals. Defiantly the start of big competition careers for these up incoming riders.
The Skiers were also keen to compete, with Bryce, Ollie, Ryley, Charlie, Christian and myself all entering. The “Jam” style format meant that everyone got in as many hits as possible in the 45 minutes we had, and overall impression was the judging factor.
The Japanese riders probably weren’t expecting that a group of 7 Australians would rock up and steal the show, but even still, the level of riding in from both the campers and the other entrants was very high, and there was alot of tricks that went down.
Ollie was killing it with 450s off both features in the course, along with Ryley who did a sweet switch grind to 270 out of the box, Charlie did some sweet 270s off the first rail also, and Christian was the only rider who had the courage to hit the down rail, Bryce was another who skied well all day, making it to the finals and then taking out the comp as well! Nice one.
Good work everyone, but I think the real winner today was freestyle alpine Skiing and from everyone in the camp house we hope you have a happy new year!
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BLOG #11
Wednesday 30th of December
Hey folks, Its Andy Walker here with the daily report.
Today was a real fun day, it did not snow last night so the park was in excellent shape with a nice fast and firm groom. The jumps have been getting a little bigger every day so the campers have been sending it a large. I don’t know what was in the water but today all the boys where going for it today.
Today the skiers started up in one big group, straight into the terrain park. Riding as one big group is fun because it give everyone a chance to check out everyone else’s riding who aren’t in the same groups, it also helps because everyone pushes each other, so it was no wonder why the progression was so good today. We practiced unnatural spins today, and after a few pointers everyone picked it up pretty quick, and before we knew it we saw 360s and even an attempt at a 5, shout out goes to Ryley who was looking stylish in the air, managing to sneak in a grab, and Ben who also got some nice switch 180s. Everyone rode really well and with a successful morning of jumps we went to slide some rails in preparation for the rail completion tomorrow.
Just to name a few the stand outs here were Bryce who managed to get switch onto the down flat down, along with pretzels and some nice switch ups, Decklin was also charging give it a go and managing to get some good grinds in.
Ollie was once again killing it on the rails looking so smooth, along with Victoria and Pat who both managed to do some grinds to come out switch which was very impressive.It looks like the locals will have some tough competition tomorrow!
I saw little Tommy floating front side 1s of his toes all the way to the bottom of the first jumps landing. Pat and Gus have progressed enormously going for Cab 5s and switch jib tricks, we are slowing them down a little however making sure they get all four 3s and that they are grabbing for style on their spins. Justin and Sam are looking more gangster than pro snowboarder MFM with thier line and length off the jumps. Cosi continued to work on his front sides and his 180s are looking prime too. Big “woop woop” to Jay who’s style is looking way better now he bends his knees on his tricks, he also learnt BS 3s today so woo woo.
After lunch we split into 2 groups. Mark took the campers who are going in tomorrow’s rail comp to work hard on their tricks. Good luck guys. The competition looks good but I’m sure we will represent. My picks are Pat and Jay to show how it’s done Aussie style. The set up is an up rail to the choice of three features: a down bar, a flat bar with a 10ft drop and a 25ft down flat down
My crew which consisted of Sam, Cosi and I went off to find natural features in the powder. It was an awesome shred. We found fallen over trees, pillow lines and drops. The great thing about Japan is with so much snow free riding becomes its own park session and really brings out the creativity in the riders. I’m a bit mean and make the guys hike to get to a cool line or feature but its always worth it and the guys come out with smiles on the face. Check the photos.
See you everyone hope you all are having going to have a safe and fun NYE!
Tuesday 29 December
-Mark Amadio
Our first real assault on strawberry fields, a free riding Mecca situated in Hanazono. The crew charged the challenging and playful terrain popping off every pillow and fallen over tree they could find.
Once tracked it was time to move on and cut a couple of park laps. Cozzie (Jordan) threw his first front- side three off the first park jump amping up the whole crew. Ben followed suit and it was on! Justin has to get the improvement award with his charge and worry later attitude.
After some eats the snowboard crew split for the arvo sesh. Andy’s (Loose) crew punched out multiple parks laps with technique and style in mind. And the rest session the NYE comp set up, dialling in some tricks before the big night under lights. Tommy was impressing the locals with some baller down flat down efforts. Also Big Gus was killing it with some new tech combos on the competition feature. Bailey has really settled into the snowboard crew with a Huge gap to 5050 on the Down flat down, second day riding for his Japan 09 -what!!????
Crew is frothing to get after it tomorrow. Peace
-Dr Dre
As the boarders did, us skiers headed straight to strawberry fields, however with Nick (Frank) FJ’s old man wisdom on our side, we headed straight to a section of strawberry fields called blueberry fields! There was a total abundance of rock drops and cliffs and sweet lines to drop. Pat was going big off every drop, new kid on the block Benny was throwing 360s off cliffs, Max was showing us what style is looking ever so smooth off the drops, and Jake, Declan and Victoria were working on their technique on some steep lines!
After lunch we got straight into the park. Dhanu’s group learnt the secrets to switch jumping, Declan worked on his box sliding skills, Benny and Max were starting to put grabs into their 360s and Doug E Fresh astounded the whole park throwing massive 540s! It was truly an amazing sight!
Dhanu and his crew meanwhile we’re down the bottom of the hill practicing their runs for the rail jam on New Year’s Eve, with everyone throwing down big tricks it’s hard to say who will take out the comp.
After skiing we gathered important supplies such as chips and chocolate then headed back to the Big house for a pizza dinner, some video analysis and a movie!
All in all a good day!
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BLOG #10
28 December - Look mum I'm on the internet!
Dhanu Sherpa here
Today we awoke to a slightly warmer day, which was a nice change, more like a spring morning then then wintery blasts of snow we have been getting throughout the last weeks, and with a warm night also this meant that the roads weren’t completely covered in snow, so the campers scored an extra half hour before we left, to chill out, watch their favourite ski and snowboard segments to get amped up for the day ahead.
A short time after we arrived at Hannozono, we wasted no time as it was straight out of the vans and into the terrain park, and today we were in luck as the terrain park had an overnight makeover. We rolled in to find that they had pushed a few of the jumps up, making them bigger, which made it alot easier for everyone to layout their tricks, with the extra time to get that grab or poke their board, hold the shifty, everyone was super stoked. And after hitting the newly renovated jumps we were still in for another surprise as there was a 20ft spine jump waiting for us at the bottom of the jump line.
The boarders broke into 2 groups. Marks crew hiked the jib line and filmed their tricks. Big props to Pat who is perfecting his spins on and off the rails, Ben who is just looking so steazy and Cosi who was was popping great and looking good until he caught his toe edge on the down box, how i don’t know...“Yer buddy stack of the day”. My crew worked on their spins and jumping , everyone is looking comfortable on the jumps and ready to take their skills to bigger features. Sam stepped it up today after his “big “ crash with some front side spins . Welcome back to camper Bailey, he has some skills so we will be expecting big things from him.
The skiers took full advantage of the park and worked on their jumps for the morning. Yet again there were standouts today. Christian seems to of mastered his switch 360s even chucking in a grab for extra style points, Ryley was again charging throwing down 360s and mixing it up by learning a new grabs in them as well, Brice was spotted doing some unnatural 180s both straight and switch, making it look like he’s been doing them for years! It was Ben’s first day today on snow since arrival and he got straight into it, getting straight into the terrain park and hitting all the jumps and even going massive on the spine a great effort for the first day.
After a morning of jumping it seemed it was too good to be true as some darker clouds rolled in so did the wind and snow. So we moved down the mountain to work on some rails, where there was an array tricks thrown down, with Jake getting sideways on the flat and down box and Ollie and Conrad throwing 270s on and off the boxes as well as snowboarder Jay who showed how the lip slides are done, Victoria mixed it up by hitting the jump line next to the boxes and rails, and sliding them, not to mention everyone else who rode super hard on the rails, and after a solid session, with the wind really picking up and bring the snow and those icy temperatures that we are used to back, it was a good sign of another snow dump coming our way.
So with the wind in our face and the snow in our hair we jumped in the vans and headed back to Moiwa lodge, where those who hadn’t got enough of the rails in the park, didn’t get down their trick or just wanted to have a fun slide headed out to the front of the lodge where they hit the rail there, and perfected their tricks from the day.
Stay tuned, the Hanazono rail comp is on new year’s eve, and The Camp has stacked the competition with our riders. So lets see what happens on the day.
Another big day, and with no doubt another big one to follow its off to bed.
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BLOG #9
27th December 2009
- Hey all Andre Bennett checking in for Sunday the 27th
So for the first time this camp the coaches were woken up by a camper rather than the usual routine of us waking them up. I was fast asleep when suddenly I awoke to the sound of banging footsteps and then the massive body that is Pat landed on me with an almighty thud yelling wake up wake up its morning.
Thanks Pat!
We started our day off with an industry seminar run by the coaches. Our aim was to get across our knowledge of the industry and give the campers tips and tricks that they would not find anywhere else to get them to the level of skiing they wish to be. Everyone soaked in what the coaches had to offer which was a great sight.
After a fried chicken Moiwa lunch we jumped in the vans and cruised on over to Hanazono were we all got on ski doos! That’s right ski doo’s! It was a struggle to keep 22 over excited campers away from the sleds, the Japanese ski doo guys were freaking out. Aussies are totally wild compared to Japanese people. Stand out Sled dogs were Snowboard coach Mark, Skier Pat and Ryley all who almost lapped the field!
After Sledding we headed to Kutchan for some afternoon shopping and everyone’s favorite custard fish. I love every time we walk into the custard fish store the staff there always throw about 20 more on the cooker to accommodate us.
After a quick stop off in Hirafu we headed back home and relaxed for the end of what was an eventful day off!
26th December 2009
- Mark Amadio
Today the crew headed down to Hanazono and had the ballerest park day so far. Everyone had their own bag of tricks they wanted to work on, and throughout the day they were slowly getting crossed off the “to do” list.
Among today’s stand outs were, Gus with the most lofty Backside 3’s, Pat’s FS 540’s where coming around like never before, Jack steeped up the wow factor with some super quick BS 5’s, a good way for him to end his Japan camp for 09 as he’s leaving 2morow. Ben is one of those dark horses of the camp snowboard crew, quietly chipping away learning a new trick and steping up and delivering, nice MFM front one bruva!!
The old garbage bag of ice came out 2nite as the crew ice minor bumps and bruises that come with this level of riding, we all look forward to a day off tomorrow, getting our redneck on with some sledding!! Brooooooom brooooooom
Hey hey everybody! Dre checking in for the skiers today!
After a BIG clean up of all the rooms and cars we headed over to Hanazono and went straight to the Stomping Grounds terrain park and began throwing down immediately. Today was defiantly the most progressive day for all the skiers on the camp so far with every one stepping up and landing some super duper clean tricks.
Christian’s switch 360’s were looking super steezy by the end of the day, Ollie, Charlie and Ryley’s 360s were looking smooooooooth , Declan was mastering the art known as “poping” which in parental terms it translates to jumping a particular way and Bronsen (AKA Jake) was getting his 360s ready to add grabs!
As with the snowboarders the skiers had to pull out the ice packs for shin bang, sore knees and all sorts of bumps and bruises after skiing to soothe the pain! I think it shows how hard these guys are working and you all deserve the day off tomorrow! Yewwwwwwwwwww bring on the sleds!
P.S. Happy Birthday Cozzy!!
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BLOG #8 Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heya All,
Merry Christmas from Andy Walker and Dhanu Sherpa
Had a fantastic start to the day, waking up to a Christmas morning with the brightest of blue bird mornings. After a sleep in that the campers well deserved after riding hard all week, the coaches drove to the Hanazono resort, which has the terrain park where we started to cut laps.
The park crew mixed it up by building a third jump and moving the jibs down the hill. We started the session working on every ones “pop” and adding new grabs to the riders bag of tricks. After these warm up laps the throw down began with Coach Mark throwing some back to back fives. This was followed by camp winner Jack who kept working on his back 5s and front 3s. Props to Sean who went big on floaty Front 1s and Cab 1s, the style is really coming along. Gus continued to work on his back side spins and had a go of the camera filming the biggest over shoot of the day. Pat sent it with his front 5s, back 3s and regular 270s and Cab 270s front boards onto the urban down box.
The skiers also threw down some tricks, as the sun was out and the park was pristine and hardly anyone was in it, we wasted no time and everyone was quick to use this opportunity to learn some new tricks. Christian was working on his switch 180s along with Ryley, both looking awesome, Charlie stood out as well stomping switch 3s with ease. More standouts included, Decklin who learned 180s and then could be stopped, doing them everywhere he could along with Doug who threw perfect 360s all day long. Cutting fast park laps can tire you out pretty quick, so Pat decided that a quick fix for this was to change course and ride through the trees off to the side of the park, along with strawberry fields, and much to our disbelief he still managed to find fresh untracked powder through the trees and 2:30 in the afternoon!
After Focusing on jumps for the morning we moved on to the rails, further down the run. The stand outs here were Jake, who seems to have mastered his grinding skills on the box, coming out switch multiple times with ease, along with Ollie who got tech with some pretzels before we retired and drove to Kutchan for a quick stop then it was home for some video analysis, and to the mouthing smell of a roast wafting through the house.
After the skiers finished up and made their way home we weren’t far to follow as we finished the day by riding some pow at out wide at strawberry. The area is sick with loads of drops. Big props to Ben and Tom who spun front side off a few drops, good to see the park tricks being bought into the free riding. Shout out to Justin and “Old” Ben are shedding harder and really improving their style, it is also good to see Jay stepping it up spinning of the jumps. Last but not least is Sam who stomped his front 1s before having to take it easy with edge catch of the day.
The highlight of the day however was the massive roast for Christmas dinner, a big thank you to the lodge staff, I went to bed with my belly exploding. Thanks to my Chris-kindle for the gum boots and the Chuck Norris DVD. I feel safer at The Camp now because nothing get pass Chuck Norris
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BLOG #7
Thursday 24th December 2009
Mark Amadio
Christmas eve park day. Do I really need to say any more? The snowboard crew cruised over the Hanazono where they posted up for the rest of the day to session the park.
To our amazement there was a new jump, which instantly raised the froth factor to 9! We started with straight airs promoting gangster pop, which Jay and Jordan started pushing each other in. The bidness end of the day brought out the big spins, with Jack throwing some smooth Backside 540s and Gus almost stomping his first Back 3.
Rail techness for the day has to go to pat with effortless fs 270’s on, and Ben for some solid Nose presses.
All in all, the Hanazono Park is really feeling like ours (with only a handful of locals actually riding it.) I’m excited to see the amplitude and progression go to next level in the next few sessions.
-Dre Bennett
Ahoy from the skiers! We heard a rumour about town about a terrain park that had been set up in Hirafu. So being the intelligent skiers that we are we decided to go suss it out! It turned out to be a super fun mini park that catered for the needs of everyone in the group.
Declan and Victoria (AKA Veronica) worked on sliding the flat box – both nailing it can I add, Conrad, Bryce, Christian and Charlie all got super tech on the rail, Doug E Fresh, Ollie, Ryley, Charlie and Bryce all were throwing front and back flips on the top jump and Pat and Jake(AKA Bronsen) were catching some massive air. All in all it was a super productive session.
For lunch we headed to my favourite place to eat! ACE HILL!!! Oh how I have craved their sweet sweet fried chicken. So anyway we headed to Ace Hill and found they removed fried chicken from the menu! So after lunch I decided we shant eat there again! Ha!
So after lunch and after I stopped crying about fried chicken we headed over to Hanazono and shredded the park there for a few hours, then jumped into the vans and went to Kutchan for some supplies (mainly the 100yen custard fish they sell at Max Value!). After everyone had their custard fish we headed back home for a relaxing Christmas Eve!
Merry Christmas everyone!
See gallery #7
23rd DECEMBER
Mort and Dr Dre
Sapporo day trip.
Everyone was pumped to finally escape Niseko and venture to international travel hub commonly known as Sapporo, (Sapporo translates in English to be “Fuchsia Pink shower curtain”)
First stop was a long overdue trip to McDonalds. Everyone took full advantage of the situation at hand and stocked up on their Macca’s fix for the next month. All coaching staff was amazed at how much food went down per-camper, we believe the store may have been eaten out of the days stocks. Mc pork, Prawn and teriyaki chicken burgers were among the weird Japanese selections.
Our next venue was “Round one” an indoor amusement centre. Japanese people really go to the next level in their gaming. Dance Dance Revolution, Car games and the crazy Frog game (which by the way gave our fearless leader poor Old Nick FJ a terrifying nightmare) were among the popular choices. (For your information we had to dig out Nick’s favourite soft toy Peter Rabbit to comfort him after his nightmare)
Our final stop was like nothing anyone expected or experienced before. Mundai, possibly the world’s largest 2nd hand store, packed to the brim full of little treasures. Last minute Kris Kringle shopping was a must for those that hadn’t bought presents for their KK yet. The Store has everything! It was crazy, there is clothes, movies, snow gear, instruments, models, jewellery, electronics, trading cards, sporting goods, books, music, shoes and even its own mini gaming area. It’s safe to say lots of awesome bargains were found and everyone was stoked at their time in Mundai.
After a long tiering day on the town, the long drive home was a good chance to wind down, crank some beats & soak up the Japanese country side. Everyone was ready for bed early and ready for another day on the hill tomorrow!
See gallery #6
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BLOG #6
22 December 2009
G Day Readers,
Andy Walker and Dhanu Sherpa here
Today was back country booter day!!!! This is when we go into the mountains behind Moiwa the local resort and build some massive jumps into the deep pow and tell the campers to have a “good Aussie dig”.
We arrived at the sight and with an army of diggers we set up two forty foot jumps. The campers took their first nervous and not so nervous hit of the jump. After landing and crashing in the soft stuff every ones confidence grew.
From here on it was on with all campers and coaches charging at speed into the jumps. All day we witnessed 3s, 5s, 7s, 9s and 10s as well as some big corked out spins and double back flips. All the action was caught on film. We left the sight all tired but stocked on the massive level of progression that all the campers gained today.
Shout outs go to; Bryce and Conrad both throwing their bodies on the line attempting doublebacks,
along with Olly and Ryley both throwing sick cork 7s and Shaun’s dedication to his jumps as he never stopped hiking all day, and Gus finishing the session up with a sweet backflip.
Tomorrows plan is a Sapporro trip! Stayed tuned folks!
See gallery #5
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BLOG #5
21 December 2009
Mark Amadio
Our first bad weather day since the beginning of the camp. Everyone noticed that the weather was angry when we woke to a dark still morning. Heading to the Gash for some first tracks off the gondola the wind picked up heaps.
We smashed out one quick run of fresh before the resort was closed due to high winds. With spirits still high the snowboard crew then drove to the next resort Hanazono only to be called by the ski van half way and told that it was also shut.
All campers regathered at home had some lunch and cruised over to the Hilton, and hit up there activity centre. It proved to be an awesome place to blow off some energy with a jumping castle/diving board set up, which was great for hucking flips off. We also had a mega game of “tug of war, Skiers vs Snowboarders! Which ended in a draw due to the rope being snapped in half on the deciding game.
The day rounded out with after diner rail dig out, everyone braving the cold and dark to dig out and re-sculpt our front yard terrain park. Could of stayed out there all night!!!
Who new bad weather could be this good!!
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BLOG #4
Sunday 20th of December 2009
Ben Threlfall
Week 1 has passed now with huge snowfalls almost everyday! This morning we sent off to Higashiyama nice and early to ride some fresh pow…. again! We headed off the main tracks and found some sick pillow lines which everyone sent it off coming out the bottom covered in snow!
Then we went for lunch at Hanazono and rode the terrain park there in the afternoon. It was our first day riding the park, and with only a few features just been set up everyone went hard hitting them all. Some standout’s were when little Tommy sent it off the kicker going huge with an Indy grab and rode away clean, and Jack landing his first front 360 this trip.
All in all everyone’s having an awesome time here and with 5 more weeks to go its only going to get better!
Sunday 20th of December 2009
Conrad Lucas
As the week one came to a closing the skiers decided it would be appropriate to start kicking right in to gear. With all skiers frothing from our mouths after being witness to the champagne snow clouds that loomed above, it was inevidable that today was going to be a good day. The day began slashing powder turns through out the famous gullies in Higashiyama, where we all got the chance to enjoy a real taste of some challenging terrain. With Dhanu and Dre leading the charge, it allowed some of the younger riders to strut their stuff with Ryley and Max showing the older campers how its done by launching some big cliffs.
As the morning came to a close, word had escaped that the infamous Hanozano terrain park had just been opened for season 09/010. With this in mind it gave all the campers the opportunity to have a break from the barrage of snowfall and hone in on some park skills. The prospect of a terrain park had been cleary missed as ollie immures and Bryce Lewis showed they were ready to get back in to it by throwing down some technical manouvors on the impressive features the ‘Hano’ park had to offer. It is fair to say that by the end of the day the campers had earnt the well deserved chicken feast served up by Janny, Yukari and the rest of the wonderful kitchen staff, and with todays activities in our arsenal, only exited campers are left ready to jump in to the coming 5 weeks of fun!
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BLOG #3 - Rest Day
Saturday 19th Of December
What up Jindabyne:
Today the skiers and snowboarders had a well deserved sleep in, after skiing and riding hard all week, it was decided that today would be a good day to have a break, rest the legs relax around the lodge play some Jenga, pool, and all things good.
After a morning of relaxing we decided to hit the road and head to Kutchan for some lunch and some shopping.
Most of the coaches and campers went to the noodle bar to feed, but for those who wanted to save money or craved fried chicken, or maybe just like making a meal out of the snacks a super market can offer headed across the parking lot where fish shaped custard filled pancakes awaited.
After everyone finished their desired meals it we heading to Home-AK for all you hardward needs, this Japanese Big W or Wallmart, has just about anything you need, from $2 beanies to bamboo pants for the new age castaway, there’s something for everyone folks, and some campers managed to pick up some great bargains, with the stand out being Jake who managed to find some bags of Milo that we have all wanted ever since arriving.
Then it was back into the van into down town Kutchan, for some more shopping, where Pat managed to score a cheap face mask, and the shop keeper insisted on giving us an array of myspace stickers as a thanks for stopping by gift.
Then it was back to Rhythm Ski and Snowboard shop for some last shopping before night started to set in so we convoyed it back to Moiwa Lodge where Sushi awaited us.
After the delicious dinner had settled in, we decided to head down to an Onsen,
this natural hot spring was the so relaxing and was the perfect way to finish off our rest day
With everyone well rested and rearing to go, we’re sure to be in for another big day of skiing and boarding.
I'm Ron Burgundy stay classy San Diego
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BLOG #2
16th December
Dhanu Sherpa
Today we awoke to find another over night dump of powdery snow, so it was another early get up and we hurried up the hill to get first tracks at “Gash” ski resort.
The Skiers and Snowboarders decided to ride in one big group today which was awesome, and gave everyone a chance to check out each others skills and tricks as we all powered down the mountain, getting in as many Gondala laps as possible.
As the day went on so did the snow, and we found some of our tracks being almost covered after just only one run! So it meant we could continue charging without having to worry about our runs getting tracked out.
Ryle and Pat out of the skiers charged today as well as Christian who did a huge air of a cliff, but this was not gone unmatched as Shaun and Ben found a new run none of us had discovered yet and lead us down at full speed.
After Riding hard all morning it was hard to gone on without a full belly even though it was temping just to keep charging, so we headed over to Annapuri ski resort in search of some long deserved lunch.
Today’s favourite seemed to be the Fried Chicken, which proved to be good fuel for the afternoon, as we got back out there and started to ski Annapuri.
As the snow steadied falling into the afternoon we decided to split up, as riding with a big group when it wasn’t snowing really heavy meant our runs did get tracked out pretty fast.
The Snowboarders went on to find some steeping terrain, while the skiers went in search for some powder stashes in the trees for some last runs before meeting up with everyone at the bottom and convoying it back to Moiwa Lodge to look forward to another hearty meal, and no doubt another big day ahead of them.
Keep it real Jindabyne
This is Dhanu Sherpa Goodnight!
Thursday 17 December
Mark Armadilo
We all thought it couldn’t come much deeper than the day before, but it just did! By the look of our vans in the morning, all campers and coaches knew today would be something special.
The morning was spent at what’s now known as “the Gash” a thousand gondola laps where taken without a track in sight. Everyone was smiling like a cat in a fish shop.
We all Sessioned some pillow drops starting at 5-10ft, then moving to bigger ones as the session got a little competitive, but in the good way! Props have to go to Angus and Ben for sending it to the bottom, Pat for stomping everything first try with a special mention for Tommy hitting terrain far beyond his age and stature.
The arvo was rounded out at grand Hirafu with some really challenging lines. Finish that all off with a Moiwa lodge jib session out front and the end to a solid day shredding the gnar.
Dhanu Sherpa here signing in:
This morning we awoke to yet another dump of snow, so we all chowed down on big breakfast and headed to “The Gash”.
Today was less windy then yesterday which meant the gondola went faster which meant more laps and more pow!
We started off with a few mellow runs warming up, before working on our switch (backward) skiing,
everyone seemed to catch on really quick, and after only a few tips we could already see the difference! After that it was back to bombing lines at the top of the mountain.
Dre managed to find a cool cliff at the bottom of an untouched powder run, and everyone gave it a go, well done to Charlie who managed to stomp all of his jumps, along with Ryle who did a massive 180 off it. After the cliff was bombed out we went searching for some more untracked terrain and Pat found some nice pillow lines above the cat track. With all of us charging down this run it too got tracked out pretty fast as well. So after we were all worn out, and after a quick stop a Rhythm we made our way back to Moiwa Lodge. After snowing all day we were all surprised to find there was a break in the snow fall and even a bit of light that shined through the clouds, so we decided to take full advantage of it and have a session on the rail and jump in front of Moiwa lodge before heading inside for dinner and tucking into a tasty Chicken Teriyaki.
With more snow predicted and no doubt another big day ahead of us, looks like an early night
Stay real Jindabyne, Dhanu
Friday 18th Dec 09
Dr Dre - Ski Coach.
We all awoke at 7.00am to a sunny powder morning which was a real mood booster! Everyone was so stoked to hit the hill. We could finally see where we were going, and were able to explore new areas and find some big cliffs. Dre and Dhanu both took big spills in the same area. Pat was charging all day taking on some big lines. Jake (AKA Bronsen) was stoked on trying out some fatter skis and was killing it. Bryce tried a Lincoln loop into the powder. Everyone put in a solid day and is looking forward to their day off tomorrow in Kutchan!
Well done skiers!
Dr Dre - Representin Ivanhoe since 88'
Hey Hey its Andy Walker here giving the daily report.
After a big breakfast the coaches and campers walked out to a rare treat in Hokkaido Japan – A blue bird powder day!!!! This dose of vitamin D saw the motivation levels rise and with beats pumping we drove to ski resort: “The Gash”.
After a quick warm lap we hiked into newly opened terrain where we rode kilometres of untracked powder. The campers developing skills really shone through as each camper charged with confidence, this was seen particularly well with all snowboarders stepping up and hitting the “big drop” – a 25 ft cliff. Props to Tom the pocket rocket sending it with the largest Indy of the day.
In the afternoon the snowboarders went to Grand Hirafu where we split into groups. My crew which consisted of Tom, Sam, Justin, Cozy and Ben worked hard on technique and applied it to shredding the resort at speed. The afternoon ended with Cozy and I doing a special mission to hit a 15 foot Hollywood drop under the chair. I’m happy to say we stomped it and rode away bombing the deep stuff.
The day ended with Angus beef burgers and video analysis where the campers watched the days shred and got pointers in what to work on. After 6 days of riding hard we have a day off tomorrow where we will go into town and check out the Japanese seen so till next time stay safe.
PS Miss you Lisa
Blog #2 photos up here on Monday!
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BLOG #1
Sunday 13th of December, 2009
Andy Walker
HEY ALL!!!
The Camp has had an awesome start. There is plenty of snow on the ground and Moiwa Lodge is looking awesome. I arrived on Thursday and met the other coaches, all a bunch of great motivated guys. We spent Friday morning prepping for the campers arrival and the afternoon SHREDDING!!! The resort is looking great with good early cover and plenty of hits available to dial our tricks in.
Yesterday we picked up the campers from the Airport, where they quickly bonded and started making friends. With the IPODs pounding the crew drove back to the lodge – where the travel quickly caught up with the jet lag.
Today we prepped the campers for the days riding ahead. Passes where picked up, riding goals set, equipment checked. Late afternoon saw us travel into town for some shopping where campers met the locals and picked up some essential outfits for the snow.
Everyone is really excited to ride tomorrow it has been snowing all day, what better way to start shredding Japan than on a POW DAY!!!!!
Monday 14th December
Mark Amadilo
First day of riding couldn’t come soon enough. Everyone woke for an early breakfast and then threw on the outerwear in anticipation of our first taste of Japanese powder.
Not one person was disappointed! It Snowed all day and we all took advantage of the early season stashes. Our first session was out at Hirafu, then we made our way to Hanozono, where we managed to stay together and explore the resort as a 25 person ‘rat pack’.
Lunch was over at An'nupuri where we had our afternoon session. The teams then split into Skiing and snowboarding with more terrain to explore.
The end to a massive first day… can’t wait for more!!!! PS its dumping outside.
Tuesday 15th December
Dr Dre Bennett
We were stoked for our second day on snow! Our skiing legs were back and we were firing on all cylinders.
All night long the snow gods blessed us with a big dump so we took full advantage of it with a 7.00 wake up and 8.00 on the hill. We headed straight to Higashiyama where all the untracked powder is. Everyone was amazed at the volume of snow that had fallen with everyone making the most of their first Japan powder experience. Notable achievements were the front and back flips thrown by some of the campers!
After lunch we split up into 2 groups, one to hit the rail back at Moiwa Lodge and one to keep skiing Annupuri powder!
All I can say is today was just a taste of what’s to come on the Super Camp 09/10!
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