Backcountry Skiing the Daisetsuzan National Park - Hokkaido

The snow stopped coming in mid February, the sun showed up and we had blue bird days for longer than I can remember. To get good snow we had to hike further and higher - we called it the Month of Missions. We had to figure out ways to entertain ourselves, so we hiked, skied the sea in Shakotan, used snowmobiles to access peaks that were too far to skin, hiked peaks just off road passes and hit Kurodake opening day on March 1st for some sweet powder. Truly, a Month of Missions.

Shakotan

The peak you see in the distance was our objective

What's a sledding day without a breakdown? We abandoned one sled and used a rope to tow each other on skis

Lake Toya

Andrew working out the best route to the peak - we skied both sides off the peak

Orofuretogedake - great line

Kurodake opening day

The line

Mitch, always at the front

Vince dropping in