Spring is just around the corner but there is still plenty going on in Niseko and the March calendar is filling up.  

Check your diary for these events and happenings.

6 March  SLOPE Style Contest at Hanazono

7 March  Namara Ippatsu Air Competition at Grand Hirafu

Fireworks weekends at Grand Hirafu on 6^th, 13^th, 20^th and 27^th of March

Niseko Annupuri Festival at Annupuri – 13^th, 14^th, 20 – 22^nd March

20 – 22^nd march – The North Face event at Niseko Village

22nd KUTCHAN YUKITOPIA FESTIVAL
20 – 21 FEBRUARY 2010

The annual Yukitopia Festival is held at the Kutchan Chuo Park (just behind the Kutchan Public Hall).
Various events include the wedding at the snow chapel, Nabe cooking contest, treasure hunt in the snow, snowball fighting, flea market, food stand and best of all the snow slide with lots of fun and laughter for all ages. Here is the event schedule for Yukitopia 2010.

２月２０日（土） Saturday 20th Feb 2010
10:00 to 18:00　巨大雪ダルマ・子ども滑り台・小雪像 — Giant Snow Man / Kids Slide / Miniature Snow Sculptures
10:20 to 10:30　羊蹄太鼓演奏 — Yohtei Taiko Drumming Performance
10:30 to 11:00　開祭式、もちまき — Opening Ceremony, Rice Cake Giveaway
10:30 to 17:30　屋台村 — Festival Food and Game Stalls
10:30 to 17:00　フリーマーケット（文化福祉センター内） — Flea Market (At Kutchan Culture and Welfare Center)
11:30 onwards　鍋大賞コンクール — Nabe Hot Pot Competition - Lunch Event
11:00 to 11:15　ダンスパフォーマンス — Dance Performance
12:00 to 13:30　雪合戦（高校生以上） — Snowball Fighting Competition (High School and Adults)
13:00 to 14:00　雪中ボブスレーゲーム — Bobsleigh Games
13:00 to 17:00　雪中キャンプデモンストレーション — Snow Camping Demonstration
13:00 to 15:00　芸能鑑賞と文化の体験（文化福祉センター内） — Live Performance Cultural Experience (At Kutchan Culture and Welfare Center)
14:00 to 15:30　雪合戦（小・中学生） — Snowball Fighting Competition (Elementary and Junior High)
15:30 to 16:30　ストラックアウトin雪トピア — Struck Out in Yukitopia
16:00 onwards　鍋大賞コンクール — Nabe Hot Pot Competition - Dinner Event
16:30 to 18:00　シーニックナイトライブ＆キャンドル点灯 — Scenic Night Live & Candle Lights
16:30 to （予定） 雪上ウェディングin Yukitopia♪　 — Snow Wedding in Yukitopia

２月２１日（日） Sunday 21st Feb 2010
10:00 to 16:00　巨大雪ダルマ・子ども滑り台・小雪像 — Giant Snow Man / Kids Slide / Miniature Snow Sculptures
10:00 to 15:30　屋台村、フリーマーケット — Festival Stalls
10:00 to 11:30　どこまでとばせるでShow — Gumboot Kick Competition
10:00 to 14:00　ペイントボール大会 — Paintball Tournament
11:30 to 12:00　ウルトラマンゼロ　ショー　 — Ultraman Zero Stage Show
12:30 to 13:15　雪中宝さがし — Snow Treasure Hunt
13:15 to 14:30　激走！水面滑走トライアル — “Ski Across Water” Trials
14:30 to 15:00　ウルトラマンゼロ　ショー — Ultraman Zero Stage Show
15:15 to 16:00　抽選会 — Lucky Dip

It is official, the Flake Film Fest will be back in Niseko for its ninth year. Exact screening dates are still up in the air but look for these unique grassroots films to hit town in the first week of March. Like culture but have no attention span? No problem, these short films of all genres weigh in at under 8 minutes a piece.

http://snowymountains.org.au/flakefilmfestival.html

Visitors to Furano in Jan and Feb will be glad to hear that the Saturday Night Live Cultural Performances are back! Here is the schedule:

23rd Jan: Poetry & Calligraphy, Hyottoko Dance, Japanese Folk Tales

6th Feb: Shakuhachi (Flute) and Guitar, Shishimai (Lion Dance), Traditional Dance

13 Feb: Traditional Dance, Koto (Japanese Harp), Heso Odori (Belly Button Dance)

20 Feb: Traditional Dance, Poetry & Calligraphy, Yosakoi Dance

27 Feb: Traditional Music, Traditional Dance, Japanese Folk Tales

This year the cultural performances will be held inside the Kitanomine Gondola terminal, just across the street from Fresh Powder! Hope to see you there…

The next morning: we are reminded of Furano’s characteristic blue sky mornings. Pretty hard to resist hiking up. Kei from Furano Snow School is talking a walk to look at the accumulation by the top of the quad station.

The 10 cm is sticking to the hill, showing that earth temperatures have reached freezing.

This goes under the “only in Japan” department.

The "Segway Ski" enables skiing on flat dry surfaces like concrete.

This fancy set of kicks features auto-balancing technology similar to the Segway. Hopefully they will have it perfected by May in time for the snow melt!

Check out Engaget’s article on the technology at work.

This just in from our friends at Kuro-Dake… things are looking good for their plans to open on Nov 6, once again aiming to be Japan’s first ski lift in operation for the season. They are reporting 40 cm accumulation at their base with temperatures locked below freezing at the base station (1100 m ASL). This picture from their staff says it all:

Kuro-dake Base Station, 2 Nov 2009: 40 cm!

Stani, living in Furano’s sister city of Schladming, Austria just sent these amazing photos of an early snow season. They have over 120 snow guns at Schladming but it looks like they only needed a few of them to complete this picture…

Check out the discussion and more amazing photos on ski.com.au.

Great news for international visitors to the Furano ski resort: Furano finally gets its dedicated English-language snowsport school, Furano Snow School. Best of all, the school will be located in the Kitanomine Gondola Terminal, just 30 m from our front door.

Repeat visitors to Furano will find many of their favorite English-speaking instructors such as Kei and Meg putting their skills to full use in English-only lessons. Furano Snow School also offers the resort’s first and only dedicated English group lessons. These are a great and economical way to improve your technique and make new friends on the way.

The private lesson program has also been fully overhauled to cater to overseas visitors. Among other things, the starting times are now flexible, allowing you to have the first shot at fresh powder with your coach or spend an hour or two warming up on your own first.

Meg leads the way for an anxious first time skiier using the "Magic Carpet" conveyor lift.

Last but not least, we are now able to offer discounts for multi-day private and group lessons. If you have already booked a stay at Fresh Powder, please contact us to reserve your lessons in advance. You may also contact Furano Snow School directly through their website for bookings.

From first-timers to experts looking to improve their enjoyment of Furano’s amazing slopes, the Furano Snow School is a great way to get the most out of your holiday.

Just in case you are wondering how we are doing for the purple stuff. Note this is taken in Kitanomine township, you will find varying conditions throughout the Furano area. A major factor is the specific variety of lavender that has been planted, blooming times range anywhere from late June clear through to September.

Some days it is rather hard to find a blogworthy topic. Today is not one such day.

Introducing Furano Parkside Chalet’s American-style BBQ. I will let the photos do the speaking.

FLAME ON! This unit has heavy cast-iron, adjustable diffusers for maximum grilling satisfaction.

Hiro is grillin' and chillin' Hokkaido style. Note the teppan on the left and the California grill on the right... two handed action for pros like Hiro only!

Bobby Flay wishes he could get onions as phat as in Furano. On the left hand side we have a big pile of Hokkaido's definitive summer dish, Genghis Khan lamb and veggies.

Dessert anyone? The cherry tree in our private garden is ripe for the picking (so to speak)

… on a bicycle, of course. (Contrary to popular belief, the slopes are “only” snow-covered for about 6 months of the year.) Mountain Biking is somewhat of a new sport to Furano, with a number of single-track courses being developed over the last two years. Most of the hack-and-slash has been done by local backcountry guide, Chuck Olbery. The work has paid off, as Chuck now has the admirable job of shredding slopes year-round.

There is a 10% discount promotion for Fresh Powder blog readers, so if you book in advance, please be sure to mention our blog to receive the discount. Click here to visit MTB Hokkaido.

A new beginners’ course is also being opened by the City’s international tourism development project, and will be located in the scenic hills near the Furano Wine Factory.

Here are a few pics courtesey of Chuck and the Hung family, some of this summer’s first to try the trails. Trails range from broken country to fully-paved downhill paths.

The past few days of clear weather have finally coaxed some of the local varieties of lavender into bloom. Today was a real scorcher (for us) topping out at 29 degrees. It was a perfect chance to test out the new air conditioners that we just installed in all top floor apartment bedrooms.

Anyway enough with the chat and on with the flowers! Here is an update from the Kitanomine lavender park, just around the corner.

As usual, Farm Tomita is the place to be when it comes to lavender. It’s just 15 minutes from here but I still somehow haven’t managed to get out myself. Fortunately Farm Tomita has a webcam.

Baseball is tremendously popular in Japan. (Even readers from the more civilized parts of the world may have heard that Japan handed the USA their @sses in the first ever World Baseball Classic, then went on to win again in 2009.) Springtime in Furano is characterized by melting snow, blooming flowers, and the “ka-chinnnggg!” of aluminum baseball bats.

Once the snow is off the ground it's PLAY BALL!

We stopped by one of the many local melon farms this afternoon. You may have heard that Furano melon is #1 in Hokkaido (#2 if you consider the bankrupt municipality of Yuubari to be a valid brand name. OUCH!)

Here’s a look inside the greenhouses to see some of the more interesting angles of melon production. Thanks to our guides Mrs. Sakaguchi and Natsumi.

Another hike up Kitanomine in spring and another new friend!

Living in a ski resort year-round makes one into quite the snow snob. Some of our staff can only be tempted outdoors by the very best conditions — either waist-deep February fluff, or the amazing crowd-free blue-sky spring skiing we see in late March to early April.

Today is one such day, no winds and crystal-clear skies offering an amazing view from the top of the Ropeway. If you can get out on a weekday, the complete absence of people on the slopes only helps to further reinforce the delusion that we actually own the ski resort.

Spring skiing is open until the end of the “Golden Week” holiday in early May, in both Furano and Niseko.

The Warren Smith Ski Academy has a full report of their tour of Hokkaido, including Niseko, Furano, and Kamui areas. Check out Warren Smith’s blog here.

Warren Smith Neck-deep in Furano