Our first couple of shred days in Niseko has taken place at Annapuri and Moiwa ski areas, right up street from the rental house. The snow was already good, but we've been lucky (so far) to receive some additional centimeters of fresh during the evening. This translates into early gondola rides for some speed laps through the knee-deep pow, followed by accessing the backcountry through a number of designated gates. One beautiful aspect of the gondola ride is the vending options as you walk up to the lift station...hot coffee in a can for the lift ride? Why not?

Over the past couple of years, Japanese ski areas have completely embraced the fact that snowboarders and skiers want to ride trees and backcountry areas. Less than a decade ago, it was still frowned upon to leave the groomed runs in search of fresh snow through the trees and off piste. This old school way of thinking has changed so visitors and locals alike can enjoy more of the mountain, but they ask that you don't duck ropes and use the gates. Fine by us.

After a few hours of hiking, riding and shooting, we find ourselves at one of the numerous on-hill restaurants. I mention this because the food selection and ordering process is somewhat unique. You look over this big picture board of noodle based meals, cross reference the assigned number to each plate, put you money in the machine, then deliver the ticket to the cook. Five minutes later you got yourself a tasty bowl of udon noodle with tempura...make sure you bus your table though, common courtesy. 

After these tasty afternoon treats, we've been hot lapping a few more choice areas, getting back to the house, chilling out for a minute, then heading back up for some night riding. Another great thing about Niseko is the ample amount of lighted ski trails and chairlifts running well into the evening. We like that. Blotto

Factoid: The Niseko area is comprised of seven ski resorts accessible by one lift ticket, totaling 2191 kms of skiable terrain, not including backcountry.

We got into the house and started checking out the place...and in typical Japanese fashion, there was a couple of radical features I had to talk about. First is the cutlery drawer...yea, you have your spoons, knives and forks...but over here you also get the chopsticks standard issue, so fresh.

You ever roll up to the front door of any given rental location and you can't see the lock well enough to make a smooth entry? Well, with the keys to this pad you also get a sweet LED light attached to the keyring...extra fresh.

Third, and definitely not last is the super duper toilet. Japan takes their bathroom duties really serious, so they've built themselves some mighty technical thrones. This might sound made up, but I'm telling you, it's next level over here! When you walk into the bathroom, the lid raises up for you, the seat itself is heated and if you have the extra deluxe model, music of your choice pops on. After completion of any said maneuvers, you have your choice of small, regular or auto flush, multiple bidet options for a man and a woman, plus the fan inside the toilet. Bathroom breaks made easy and comfortable in Japan! All things feeling fresh!

Beyond my favorite items here in the Annapuri chalet, there's plenty of room for the crew, some nice views out the windows and a sweet kitchen. I'll hit y'all back soon with a mountain report...thanks for checking in. Blotto

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

After Jack and I checked our baggage onto the next flight, we made our way through security, grabbed some fine Japanese chow mein and traded travel stories from the past couple of weeks. Jack had been touring through Europe with Mikkel attending a couple of contests and photo shoots. Jack, the fine filmer and editor that he is, had plenty of comedic edits to show me along with his stories. Good times.

As we're waiting in the boarding area, two more peeps from our crew showed up...Tom and Corey. They were fresh off international flights as well...Corey came in from Seattle, while Tom flew from Asia (he was working on an editorial piece about snowboarding in Turkey, which is considered part of the Asian territory). We exchanged a few more stories before they called us for boarding.

A quick 90-minute flight landed us in Sapporo where we were greeted by Keegan, Neil and Yui. Those three were already adjusted to the Japanese time zone, while the four of us were completed sacked out from so much travel and international date line crossing. But the funny thing is, once you reach your destination, that fourth wind kicks in and you're wide awake and stoked! 

After claiming all our bags, we loaded them in the van and made the two-hour drive into Niseko...but not before a cople of stops to pick up our first of many fine Japanese treats. I'll check back in from the house and post some pics of our scene. Cheers, Blotto

All photos © Blotto Photto 2010

My next mission is on the North Island of Japan (commonly referred to as Hokkaido) for an editorial shoot with Snowboarder Magazine. Editor, writer and overall epic dude Tom Monterosso has assembled the crew of Mikkel Bang, Jack Mitrani and Keegan Valaika to come and check out this zone made famous by it’s yearly snowfall amounts (lots of it!).

Our homebase is called Niseko, one of Japan’s most recognized snowboarding destinations due to the readily available lift serviced mountains, night riding, hiking and good vibes. We’ll have one week to check out as many spots as possible and document whatever we happen to ride within those zones.

I finished up the shoot in Big Bear on Friday afternoon, made it to LA that evening in preparation for my Saturday morning flight from LAX to Tokyo-Narita Airport. This pacific crossing would involve passing over the international date line, moving 17 hours into the future while flying in the airplane for 11 hours and 21 minutes. I try to book a window seat because the views over Alaska, Siberia and Northern Japan are usually fabulous. AK and Japan weren’t visible this flight, but checking out a bluebird day in the desolate lands of Siberia was cool! I wonder if we’ll book a photo shoot there?

After landing at Tokyo-Narita Airport, I found Jack in the customs line; we cleared our arrival paperwork, grabbed the bags, rechecked them with ANA Airlines and got ready for the next flight to Sapporo. I’ll post some more pics from our travel to the North Island tomorrow. Blotto

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

Two and a half days of shooting and filming on-hill during the day, while hanging around the rental house cooking and filling in a few scrapbook pages during the evening.

Once again, Bear Mountain hooked up the custom features for the team riders to get gnarly on and secure a few film shots and some choice stills. Big thanks go out to Dan, Clayton, Greg and crew for taking care of the obstacles proper! You guys rule! And thanks to the girls for grinding out the snowboarding maneuvers sun-up to sundown.

With the Bear Mountain shoot wrapped up, I’m off to LAX to catch a flight over to Japan for the next mission. I’ll check back in ASAP. Blotto.

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

The Bear shoot is underway and one of the best things about these three days is hanging with my photo and filming colleagues. The esteemed Tim Manning, who filmed most of Standard Films TB movies and the past five Burton projects. Canadian superhero Aaron Leyland, who at anytime could set down the video camera and be one of snowboarding's best photographers. Last, but definitely not least, is photography legend Jeff Curtes, the guy who laid the groundwork for everything we're able to achieve in snowboard photography to this day. 

We have 72 hours to capture as many shots of the Burton Women's Team as possible, but more importantly we're going to use just about every minute to talk among ourselves about new cameras and shooting techniques. The kind of stuff that is 100% boring to the common man, but if you're into photography and filming, you just can't get enough information from your fellow workman.

I'll post some pics from the shoot once we're done talking about ISO ratings, the green laser and storage space. Cheers, Blotto

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

With the AK mission wrapped up, it was time to make our way out of Haines and back into the Lower 48. Seeing how we had one heck of a time getting to Haines, we decided to avoid some potential hangups and take the sureshot route into Juneau: the ferry. Four hours of mellow waters and scenic mountains delivered us on time for the dinner reservation at Travelodge.

Morning rolled around, the Alaska Airlines Seattle flight was on-time, and before we knew it, Mads and I touched down in Washington State. Mads was headed to Tahoe, I was headed to Los Angeles. Overall, the mission out of AK was so much easier than the way in...but that's how the cookie crumbles as they say.

I landed at LAX, picked up Kelly and we made our way Northeast into the San Bernardino Mountains. This next mission is in Big Bear for a photo shoot with the Burton Women's Team. I'll check back in soon with some details and photos. Cheers, Blotto

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray 2010

The early bird mission was scheduled and the weather cooperated! With a sunrise departure from the airport, we entered the mountains around the same time as the Northeast facing snow was gaining light. With our spots already picked out, we simply dropped the riders at the top, placed the filmer and myself in our locations and started shooting. Mads and Sammy were able to handle eight runs by the time noon rolled around...at 12:30, the weather front had arrived and started to engulf the southern end of the range, so we packed up and got out. Hopefully this fresh storm will produce plenty of new snow for all to enjoy in the coming days...Blotto.

All images © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

On day two we continued our journey into different areas of these gigantic mountains. With the sun still hanging low on the horizon, the good light is passing over the best snow very quickly (mid-winter characteristic). It’s been key to pick a zone, move efficiently, grab a shot or two, then move onto the next. We’re still in the process of figuring out exactly where our top picks will be once this approaching storm moves in, and then out.

At the very least, the snow has been great for blower turns and general snowboarding tactics including cliff drops, airs and mini lines. We’ll be back in the bird first thing tomorrow morning; I’ll post some images from our sunrise start. Cheers, Blotto.

All photo © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

We awoke on Friday morning to clearing skies and the call from our guide Will that we’d be entering the mountain zones today…finally! After a week’s worth of travel, waiting, training and going through our gear a dozen times, it was time to peep the alpine.

By no means was it bluebird, but the cloud layers were slowly moving up valley, opening up the lower range where we’re stationed. We loaded up the rental, drove up to the airport, weighed in and waited for Steve to land. After a quick refuel, it was off into the wild mountains of AK.

About 20cms (8 inches) of new snow had fallen over the past couple of days…not as much as we hoped, but still plenty to make it work. We took the first run on a north-east facing slope and it was all time! The quality turns in the fresh snow felt like way more than eight inches, so we slashed it up top to bottom, big smiles all around. After a few more runs on some different aspects and areas, we had a good handle on stability and the best places to be at certain times of the day.

For the most part, the new snow is bonding well with the previous layer, so we’re feeling aight in the avy department. This doesn’t mean it’s all good, we’re still on high alert and have all safety measures on point all the time.

After a good day of scouting, we’re prepped and ready to go for the filming days starting tomorrow. Thanks for checking in, Blotto.

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

Day two of our safety meetings was a visit to the helicopter we’ll be flying with to access the alpine. Seaba’s machine of choice for the 2010 season is a Eurocopter B2. Our crew has flown in similar aircraft as this, so most of the information was good review.

More importantly, we dialed in all the specific needs to use the heli as a follow cam to document Mads and Sammy. Travis and I figured out where we’ll be situated behind the pilot’s seat, where to anchor the harness and so on. A convenient design on this B2 is the rear doors slide, so we don’t have to remove them to start shooting from the heli. This will save us a ton of hassle (and time) once we’re in the field. Another perk is the pilot’s door remains in place and closed so he can stay warm, which translate to a happy pilot.

I’ll hit y’all back once the weather clears and we get into the alpine. Cheers, Blotto

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010

Our guide Will stopped by the house to go over our safety equipment and avalanche scenarios. An educational three hours of beacon tests, multiple person finds, crevasse rescue techniques, all kinds of super good information to hear and then work on. Any backcountry mission, no matter how big or small, should only be taken on if your gear is in order and your techniques in practice. Stay safe y’all. Blotto

The Seaba crew scooped us up in the airport, threw the bags in the van and we were off to start our Fort Seward Livin. Haines was built up around 1900 as a military establishment, so there’s an entire street of officer’s quarters, something like ten houses. Nowadays they’re rented out to town folk and visitors. Each unit is split into a duplex and features two complete houses on each side, one upstairs, and one downstairs.

The heli operation offers these to their guests as an alternative to the hotel rooms...we were like "sign us up!" Any 'at-home' qualities you can jedi into your travel is worthy…living room, separate bedrooms, laundry, home cooking. We have a safety meeting to attend tomorrow before accessing the mountains. I’ll try to post some useful info and pics for y’all. Blotto

All photos © Dean Blotto Gray / Blotto Photto 2010