We went this morning and met up with the owner of the pension where Ben, Phego and Scotty were staying last year - an absolutely beautiful Japanese man who ran up and hugged us when we showed up. The tragety last year really affected him massively also - he was out searching at all hours of the day and he was really glad to see us back today. He took us to the spot where Scott was found and once we got there, we stood for a long time taking it in - it was a very emotional moment and there was nothing to say but take in this pristine white valley which was the place that held him in the final moments of his life. Very powerful emotions for us all and many thoughts for everyone back home on this day who we know would be thinking of Scotty.
Ben said some beautiful words (best speech he has ever given for the record) which brought us all to tears and we spent a long time standing and just letting the feelings of the last year flow by and remembering the amazing guy that he was. To all those people who may read this and spent thier own time today remembering Scott, we were thinking of you all. It was good to go back to that spot and try and get some understanding (if there ever will be "understanding") around the events of that night.
Last night we went out and had a beautiful meal and toasted the anniversary and visited Wild Bills for a drink in his name - crazy mixed emotions for us all to be there a year later.
On a slightly lighter note, last night we also found a bar made entirely of ice and drank some cocktails out of ice cups - really really cool experience to say the least. We do have some pics but they are stuck on the camera cos some fool forgot to pack the cable!
It snowed quite heavily yesterday and really dumped down today all day, so the days have been filled on the slopes in deep powder snow, which was absolutely amazing and if there is anyone who is into snowboarding or skiing - get over here if you can.
We took a visit to a small snow resort called Moiwa (http://www.niseko-moiwa.jp/english/index.html) which is a few kms from Grand Hirafu which is the main village in Niseko area. It was an awesome little resort and a bit of a break from the crowds as there was only about 15 people skiing the resort all day, it felt like a ghost town with absolutely no-one there and so much snow to go around - absolutely awesome.
Anyway, we took the gopro cam and strapped it to Ben's sizable head to get some footage. Here is a VERY dodgy 5 minute video which has a little snapshot of our apartment followed by an on-board view of a backcountry tree run in Moiwa. We had wanted to put a bit more love into it to make it less jerky and better, but we wanted to get this up before the end of the day so it will have to make do!
Doodles&BB - Niseko Japan 0001 from Will Johnston on Vimeo.
Its been actually quite warm over the last few days sitting around -8 to -10C, but today on the mountain the wind was up so wind chill was around -15 to -20 or so! Colder days are forecast so we better rug up!
So much to put up here and the fatigue is kicking in as we type! We took a trip into the local main town called Kutchan to stock up on yen and cheap food (mainly noodles - gonna be sick of them after this trip :)). We had got an insider tip about a bar that had a home built skatepark in it - so we decided to check it out - totally wicked - Briz could use one of these :) - check out the pics below for a sneak peek.
Anyway, time to say sayonara - we will be getting some more pics and footage over the next few days so will be trying to get it up soon.
We are thinking of you all and hope everyone is taking care of each other!
Peace and Love
Doodles and Boos Boos.
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