Niseko 2011

Written by Mr Lee MacMaster
Ski-Trip Coordinator

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to write this final blog entry for our recent Joeys Japan Ski Trip. As you will have picked up by now from reading the other blog entries during our time in Japan and directly from the boys who attended the trip, we had the most amazing time in Japan and for many of us the skiing, snowboarding and culture of Japan is very much embedded in our hearts now.

The journey to Japan began twelve months ago when I approached Mr Ross Tarlinton our Headmaster about another overseas ski trip for the boys at Joeys. Mr Tarlinton was open to the idea and from this point I pursued some quotes for our proposed trip. Having skied myself in Niseko in 2005 helped me feel a certain affinity with the area, and knowing the quality of the snow conditions and the ski terrain, I knew we were on a winner if we could pull it all together.

Early in my investigations a current parent of Joeys boys, Catherine Mancuso from CCM Travel at Crows Nest came in with a great quote for our travel. Catherine worked her travel magic behind the scenes and the quote was accepted by the College. We advertised the trip to all boys and parents and from this point the level of interest among the boys and parents grew rapidly and our numbers increased from week to week. Our target of 30 boys was easily reached and our final quota of 33 boys and 4 staff was perfect for our travel and accommodation requirements in Japan. I wish to sincerely thank Catherine from her expertise in arranging the travel requirements for our trip and her willingness to listen to our needs and respond in such a positive way. Working together with the ground operators in Japan, Travelplan, our Joeys Ski Trip was superbly organised.

It is important to thank Mr Tarlinton and the College Executive for their support in running ski adventures like this one. As we all know, skiing / snowboarding are quite dangerous activities. To allow trips like this to take place means accepting the risks involved. It also means allowing the boys to grow as young men and develop a keen sense of responsibility. I am sure Mr Tarlinton sees the great advantages gained by allowing these trips to take place for our Joeys boys. I sincerely thank him for placing trust in me and my fellow teachers to care and guide the boys throughout the trip.

Joeys Ski Trips do not take place without the support of teachers willing to accompany the boys. I have been extremely fortunate to find three other staff members to accompany me on these trips who are wonderful men, great mentors to the boys, keen skiers (excellent skiers!) and willing to give their precious time to be with the boys. My sincere thanks to Danny Sidgreaves, Mark Conlon and Andrew Drewitt-Smith for their outstanding contribution to the Japan Ski Trip. I could not have run this trip without their great support and expertise in a range of areas. We have formed a great team and certainly enjoy skiing with each other! We are not as fast as the boys, but we are competitive!

The previous blog entries, the videos and the photos from each day in Japan certainly depict our amazing trip. My thanks to Danny for his endless hours getting the blog prepared each day, and to the staff and students for taking some amazing photos on the slopes and in the village around Niseko. We have some great memories of our trip, and I for one will always look back on the blog for constant reminders of the great time we all enjoyed in Japan.

The overriding reason for organising ski trips like this for the boys is to take them away from their ‘comfort zones’ – away from their families, away from their normal surroundings and away from their usual pre-occupations and into quite challenging environments. I encourage at the outset that all the boys to take on the challenges of travel and the alpine environment and terrain. For me personally, it is great to see how well so many of the boys adapt to life away from home in sometimes cold and wild environments. I wish to congratulate the boys who took on these responsibilities and grew as young men throughout our trip to Japan. To the few that struggled to keep pace and found life tough in these conditions, I urge them to learn from their experiences and grow in taking on responsibility.

A few more thanks are in order – thank you to the parents and carers who supported their sons to take part in this trip. Your contributions are greatly appreciated and I hope your son has thanked you more than once for allowing them to take place in this amazing experience.

Thanks to our hosts in Japan at Pension Berg in Niseko – we were spoilt with our meals and their willingness to assist us wherever possible – ‘arigato gozaimasu’ (thank you very much) to Miwa, Mako and their family and staff.

Thanks to the boys who took part in the trip and who in most situations throughout the trip were respectful, considerate and responsible. It is a privilege to take groups of students away – you learn so much about each boy.  Thanks to each boy for taking on the challenges – they are all better young men for the experiences they have had on this trip.

Finally, the most common question asked towards the end of the ski trip was, “When and where is the next Joeys ski trip?” At this stage nothing is planned for July 2011 and some preliminary ideas are being considered for January 2012. Mr Tarlinton needs to be consulted in the first instance and then I will be better able to answer this question. Stay tuned!

Photo 1: Andy Cooper (Year 11) and Louis Collins (Year 8) wait for the shuttle bus to take them to Niseko Village

Photo 2: Will O’Connell (Year 8), Daniel Calvetti (Year 9), Harry Dodd (Year 8), Jackson Haynes (Year 8), Jordan Lewis (Year 7), Dom Maurici (Year 8) and Ben Sutherland (Year 8) have a break from the slopes at lunch time.

Photo 3: James Costigan (Year 10), Nick Chow (Year 10), Tom Mencinsky (Year 10), Paul Fortuin (Year 10), Andrew Mulligan (Year 10), Hayden L’Estange (Year 10), Lachlan Rush (Year 10) and Kieran Tate (Year 10).

Photo 4: The staff take a bit of a break from the slopes.

Photo 5: Just one of so many beautiful scenes in Niseko.

Photo 6: Our whole group together outside out lodge before farewelling Niseko.

Well it has been nothing short of a fantastic week, however, as they say, all good things must come to an end. Today we said farewell to Niseko – an amazing part of the world which has given us all memories that will last a lifetime.

A slightly later start to the day was appreciated by everyone and this was followed by a clean-up of the rooms, some shopping and then a short presentation to our lodge hosts. We were fortunate to have a souvenir store next door to our lodge which ensured that everyone had the opportunity to pick up a small bit of memorabilia before heading home.

The trip home was always going to be a long one. Two hours on the bus, two hours on a domestic flight and then another nine and a half hours on the flight into Sydney. Unsurprisingly, each of these legs was pretty quiet as boys slept and no doubt dreamt of the incredible experiences that they had had during the previous week. I don’t think that the sleeping was limited to just the boys and it seemed that most of our group had the week catch up with them. It really is wonderful to see a group of 33 boys exhausted … the result of getting out on the slopes for seven days straight and have the time of their life!

The trip itself actually provided some amazing sights. In particular, the scenery on the bus trip from Niseko to Sapporo was nothing short of beautiful. The lakes along the road were a sight to see and if you check out the photos in the gallery for Day 9 you will see what I am talking about.

Our reception in Sydney was warm – in more ways than one way. Walking into the humidity of Sydney was a little strange and a sudden wake-up call from a superb week which many could only have dreamt of. There is no doubt that it is always nice to be home … having said that … I don’t think there would be a boy or staff member in our group who wouldn’t head back to Niseko tomorrow if the opportunity arose. It was an awesome experience which has armed all the boys with many great memories and stories.

Photo 1: Jacob Boyd-Skinner (Year 12) presents a card and gift to our hosts Miwa and Mako.

Photo 2: Dom Maurici (Year 8), Clinton Slater (Year 11), Sean Fagan (Year 10), James Costigan (Year 10), Alex Bellato (Year 11) and Kieran Tate (Year 10) prepare for the bus trip.

Photo 3: The amazing view on our trip back to Sapporo.

Written by Mr Mark Conlon

You would think after five days of solid skiing, interest would wane a little and the boys would get sick of skiing in the best conditions that they have ever skied in. Wrong. When I hit the slopes at 11 am there was only six sets of skis in the ski room, just about all the boys were out there and it was snowing heavily as predicted by our weather guru Mr Conlon (1 out of 6 ain’t bad for a geography teacher out of area).

After 12 noon roll call a number of boys headed over to a specially made jump area, renamed Joeys Hill, to practice some air and get a few shots. After this, the boys spread out over the resort, but after yesterdays blue-bird day (Sun and blue skies), it was back to snow and plenty of it so we were restricted to Grand Hirafu and Hanazano as the high lifts were on hold due to strong winds.

To give you some idea of the amount of snow Niseko gets, the average annual snowfall is about 15 metres. So far in the last two weeks they have had four and half metres and it is still snowing. Check out the photo of how they remove some of the excess snow that builds up around the streets of the village. By comparison a good year at Perisher blue might be 2 metres total. Last July when we were at Falls Creek we were skiing on 20cm of natural snow and 60cm of man made snow.

We were again treated to a traditional Japanese meal this evening and most of the boys enjoyed their first experience of eating raw fish. The verdict was positive although some weakened and threw theirs in their hot pot to cook a little.

It was nice to have a positive report from our host Miwa on the boys behaviour and manners around the pension  and from one of the Joeys parents who is over here with his family, who observed the boys dining at the “all you can eat buffet” yesterday where he commented on their excellent behaviour and manners. It doesn’t matter where you are, there always seems to be someone watching and observing, so to all the boys over at Niseko Village, you did Joeys proud, well done.

One day on the snow to go and we hope to have a first for a Joeys ski trip – helmet cam, so stayed tuned.

Photo 1: Jack Cullen (Year 10) prepares for a day on the slopes.

Photo 2: It takes more than a shovel to clear the snow around this place.

Photo 3: Louis Collins (Year 8) flies through the air.

Before reading todays blog … take a peek at the video below which is a brief summary of our first first day here in Niseko.

Click here to view the video

There is nothing else that can be said about our first day on the snow here in Niseko … just incredible!

We awoke to a very white morning and once again there had been plenty of snow overnight. It is always a good sign when the first thing that you seen when you look outside is people in the street shovelling snow off their roof.

Breakfast was in good proportions, however, and possibly for the first time in a long time, the boys appeared less interested in what they were eating and more interested in the day ahead.

The first day on the snow is always a tough start as equipment needs to be picked up, rules and thorough guidelines need to be communicated and this is all before you even get on the slopes. As a general comment – the acquisition of gear went very smoothly. James Costigan (Year 10) was a little anxious at first when one of his Apres boots didn’t fit. This was certainly confusing as the other was very snug. Once he realised that the paper needed to be taken out before wearing it, all was good! At the same time as James was coming to terms with his boots, Sean Fagan (Year 10) had the attention of all the staff at “Larry Adler” who simply could not find a boot that would fit him! Before too long though, all the  boys were on the slopes and the fun really began!

Mr MacMaster had prepared the boys for a low visibility day which is always important for them to know how to deal with. As luck had it, however, visibility was quite good which allowed us to view some of the incredible runs as we were in the ski lifts up the slopes.

While some boys had lessons, others got straight into exploring and boy was there a lot to explore across the expansive terrain. There were runs to suit boys of all standards and they were given a tremendous workout throughout the day.

There were plenty of stacks – which is more than expected on the first day – and age wasn’t a factor in who toppled over. Whether it be Will O’Connell ( Year 8 ) who attempted to ski down the slopes backwards, or Mr Conlon who face planted himself into the snow, the slopes certainly had their challenges. As did the chairlifts, as Hayden L’Estrange (Year 10) discovered as he crashed upon exiting the chair lift, only to kick Ski Lift Patrol in the head by accident when she tried to assist him!

The powder is something that is often spoken about when people discuss skiing in Japan. We certainly weren’t let down and at different stages of the day, many of the boys got the full experience of skiing in powder and the difficulties skiing in it and, as Jack Cullen (Year 10) discovered back at our lodge this evening … getting out of it!

As boys arrived back throughout the late afternoon it was fantastic to hear the stories of what had been going on during the day. There is no doubt that they had an awesome time on the slopes and with six days of skiing still up their sleeves, they had every reason to be on a high.

Upon arrival back, the boys made the most of the Onsen in the bathroom which certainly removed any chill from the body and had boys walking out relaxed, fresh and very content with the day past.

Dinner this evening was put on for us by the owners of our lodge and it was a Japanese meal. We really were treated to a feast. It was certainly different to our usual western meals but full of flavour and there plenty of it! It is not every day that you sit down to a meal where all 37 people have their own boiler in front of them reading to crack eggs and continue the cooking themselves. Jordan Lewis (Year 7) has certainly been a huge help so far as he speaks fluent Japanese. As the owners of our lodge don’t speak English, Jordan was able to translate to us all what each of the items of food was and how to prepare and eat them. All in all … a superb experience and a scrumptious meal!

Despite sore legs, tight muscles and a bit of fatigue to go with it, many of the boys took the opportunity to head out for some night skiing. Once again, the experience was incredible. Yes it was cold … but when you are skiing the snow that is here in Japan … you can put up with a bit of cool weather!

And so the head hits the pillow this evening after a very exciting first day on the slopes. It would be hard to imagine things getting better, however, there is just that feeling in the air that the best is still to come! We are certainly looking forward to it!

Photo 1: Chris Cooper (Year 10) and Alex Maurici (Year 10) before hitting the slopes.

Photo 2: A great view of the powder as we head up the chair-lifts.

Photo 3: James Costigan (Year 10) and Nick Chow (Year 10) just before starting for the day.

Photo 4: The boys prepare to get stuck into their Japanese dinner.

The long awaited day finally arrived this morning and we all gathered at Sydney airport bright and early. Despite tired eyes, there was certainly the feeling of anticipation as we said our good-byes and headed through customs.

Our flight schedule with JAL ran pretty close to spot on time and by 9:30am we were in the air headed for Tokyo Narita. The flight time was just short of ten hours which seemed to go pretty quickly – I suspect as a result of the need for sleep, the entertainment system but most of all the excitement of where we were heading.

A quick transfer in Tokyo had us go through customs and take an opportunity to top up our stomachs with some genuine Japanese cuisine before boarding a domestic flight to Sapporo Chitose. Again the flight, only two hours this time, was handled relatively easily – no thanks to the in-flight music selections available!

Our landing in Sapporo left us in no doubt about what this trip was going to be like. As our plane taxied towards the terminal we were treated to light snow and a view of the airport covered in fresh powder. It really was a sight to see and if this was two hours away from the slopes … how good was the skiing and boarding going to be?!

Once in the terminal we located our tour guide and took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat. We still had a two hour bus trip to go so needed some lining in the stomach. The ‘fast food’ burger joint was anything but fast, however it served its purpose and filled us up.

Although the bus trip to Niseko was in the dark of night, we started to get a real taste of what was ahead during the coming week. We had a clear sky for much of the way and couldn’t help but notice the depth of snow – literally metres – that lined the streets.

And so we have arrived at our accommodation here at the base of the ski slopes. To be honest, it is hard to give much feedback as everyone was pretty keen to hit the sack and get a good nights sleep. It was a long day of traveling – 17 hours in total and a little more for some. There is no doubt however, that it was well worth it. Tomorrow we will see Niseko in all its glory as we get out on the slopes and the adventure really begins!

Photo 1: Henry Dowding (Year 10) with his fluffy duck,catching up on some sleep.

Photo 2: The view from the bus on our trip from Sapporo to Niseko.

Photo 3: What we saw this evening when we looked out our accommodation window.

It is now literally only days before we head up to Niseko and I must say, it is impossible not to get excited! It is hard to believe (as many of us sit in the hot sun of New South Wales) that very shortly we will be in temperatures well below zero degrees!

Checking out the snow reports from Niseko really gets the heart pumping as the snow fall is already at amounts we don’t see in Australia. I would strongly recommend checking out the link to The Daily Flake which I have put in the menu on the right of this page.

Whether a beginner, intermediate or advanced skier/boarder, it is hard not to start imagining oneself out on the slopes and making the most of the awesome powder that Niseko is renowned for! What an opportunity!!! Hopefully all the boys are starting to think ‘winter’ and preparing themselves for what will be a great trip!

I suspect that there is still some preparations left for the boys before we head off and hopefully the details in the pages of this blog-site are useful in the final preparations.

A reminder to all that it is really important for everyone to be punctual on the morning of our departure. All boys need to be at the International Terminal 1 check-in counters by 6:45am and they need to be wearing a neat shirt and either black or blue jeans. They should also have with them in their hand luggage a jumper or fleece.

Well … keep preparing and we looking forward to seeing you at the airport – very very soon!