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Powderlife Magazine - Issue 7

Sat, March 15th 2008 - Fri, March 28th 2008

Editor's note

  • siberian ducks seeking warmth of niseko
      March in Niseko is terrific. You can expect cheaper flights and accommodation, warmer temperatures and more blue-bird days. You can enjoy the parks at their best, it’s the best time to hi...

Niseko News

  • Niseko village mizunonosawa bombing ski cut
    Not to the Mizuno no Sawa (yet), but to the media. On February 29, Higashiyama resort hosted a demonstration to the press about the steps it has been taking to allow access into Mizuno no Sawa (the cl...
  • The Niseko Promotion Board (NPB) has asked Powderlife to produce a special edition to showcase the resort at international ski expos in 2008. The NPB is a non-profit organisation formed by business ow...

Irasshaimase

  • Mozart Cafe Izumikyo
    Mozart is a peaceful little café in Izumikyo Village, just outside Hirafu on the way to Kutchan. Its owner Akiko Shimono was introduced to Niseko more than 20 years ago by friends who invited her to g...
  • Pension Island Hirafu
    People who can read Japanese will know Pension Island, or Ai-land, is actually a very clever cross-lingual pun. When owners Yoshiyuki and Kazuko Ishikawa decided they had had enough of farming 15 year...
  • Milk kobo
    Every good entrepreneur recognises that a problem is an opportunity in disguise, and Higashiyama’s Milk Kobo is a great example. Dairy farming is one of Niseko’s biggest agricultural industries so it...
  • Ruhiel Gelato
    While a day on a cold mountain generally makes people envision the hot meal they’re going to have afterwards, there’s one gelato shop visitors to Niseko must visit. Ruhiel Gelato is located just outsi...

Features

  • lake toya
    One of Japan’s most spectacularly beautiful and admired landscapes is just an hour’s drive from Niseko on the far side of Mt Yotei. Lake Toya is an almost-circular volcanic caldera lake, 10km across a...

Page Seven

  • Snowed in house
    Niseko had its biggest one-day snowfall in six years last month. On February 24 a massive storm blew across the Sea of Japan and hammered the entire country and dumped 58cm on Niseko according to Kutc...
  • Yotei seen from Annupuri
    Niseko has been listed for the first time as one of the world’s top 10 ski resorts this season by the UK’s Association of Independent Tour Operators. British Columbia’s darling Whistler topped the lis...
  • Over the past 10 years Belgian beer bars have grown in popularity to the point where they are almost as common as Irish bars across the world. It seems every major city has one and now we’re lucky eno...
  • shiribetsu river rocks
    Those with a basic knowledge of the Japanese language will have noticed that Niseko is written in katakana, the Japanese alphabet used to write foreign words. ‘Niseko’ was the name originally given to...
  • Bilk beer
    “I’ve got an idea… how about we mix our surplus milk with beer and sell it.” The conversation may not have gone exactly like that, but whatever was said, the head honchos at Abashari Beer factory like...
  • Freeze TV recently rolled into Niseko to film for its popular magazine-style snowsports television series. Freeze TV screens on Fuel TV in the US and Australia with over 35 million subscribers world w...

In Focus

  • Swedish Niseko skier Par Dahlin
    Par is a well known Swedish skier and snowboarder who has been riding Mt Annupuri for more than 19 years, but still retains a zest for the sport like it was his first season. His long, blonde dreadloc...

Powder Tools

  • Vector Glide Genius snowboard
    Vector Glide only makes the best. Whether its skis, teles or boards this emerging boutique Japanese brand’s gear is all hand made in Niigata from only the finest of materials. Like the Burton Fish but...
  • patagonia down sweater jacket
    Layered until you can’t layer anymore and still cold? Try ditching the fleece under your shell and replacing it with the Patagonia Down Sweater. Stuffed with high-quality 800-fill goose down this will...
  • K2 Pontoons powder ski
    It has been said that you’re not a powder skier if your waist is under 100cm. The K2 Pontoon Alpine Ski pushes the envelope when it comes to powder ski innovation. K2’s powder rocker design uses an an...

Kutchan

  • Nami-chan Chi kutchan restaurant
    Would you leave the love of your life out in the cold? If you’re wondering why there’s a massive $20,000, 150 horsepower snowmobile inside the door of Kutchan izakaya Nami-chan Chi, it’s because it’s...

Real Estate News

  • Property buying and trading continues at Mt Annupuri’s little brother, Moiwa. The little two-lift ski resort, on a separate mountain altogether, bookends the Niseko United on its western side, beyond...
  • Apartments in Hirafu’s biggest ever development have been released for sale. Panorama Apartments - a 70-apartment, ski-in-ski-out development in the upper village below J-First Hotel and near the Gran...

Real Estate Articles

  • Mt Yotei from Izumikyo
    by Jason King President of Hokkaido Real Estate. From dinner parties in Hong Kong penthouses to lunch at the bistro in Thredbo, real estate and snow in Niseko are regular conversation topics. People’s...

Four Seasons

Last Word

  • Nathan Schmid
    By Nathan Schmid Tokyo-based personal trainer How many times do you hear it on the slopes, bars, restaurants and shops “My legs just couldn’t go any more, I had to call it a day.” Or “My first day I s...