There was supposed to be some precipitation of some kind overnight on Thursday, but not a whole bunch came to pass. It was my last riding opportunity on this trip, so I bit the bullet and headed out – albeit late – for the bus terminal. I generally avoid the later buses because the subway rides over to the bus terminal get progressively more crowded as the school and work rush kicks in. At least this time I was encapsulated in schoolgirls instead of tobacco-stink oyaji on the tight train. I got my dirtbag feed bag from 7-11 – a coffee, an Aquarius, and three onigiri – and headed up to Oodori and crossed the street to the terminal. I was early, but inside was crowded, so I waited out by the platforms and watched the clockwork comings and goings of both scheduled long-haul buses and city buses. My bus arrived, and with one couple, the bus started out on the journey to Kokusai. A significant number of people got on at JR Sapporo, but other than around three or so, the remainder were Korean tourists, all reeking of the requisite tourist fare, “Ghengis Khan”, the mutton yakiniku that all local and foreign guidebooks demand of visitors to Sapporo. A note to those of you who haven’t experienced this stuff yet – go at the end of your trip, since even if you put your jacket in the plastic bags that many places provide, the stink will transfer off your clothes afterwards and you’ll end up smelling like a barbecue joint for the remainder of your trip.
Threading up the Asarigawa valley past the dam and snowsheds, there was no sign of new snow since heading down this way on Thursday evening. The gelande base was again hard, and the gondola ride up revealed areas of the lower run scraped down to dirty snow and little plants. Geared up with all the fluids and food for a full day of boarding, I fully intended on staying at the top and only traversing the krappy base once on the way home. Indeed there was no significant new snow on the mountain. The light flurry that fell thoughout Thursday continued sporadically Friday, but in diminishing amounts. City forecasts called for snow to eventually roll in later in the day, so I stuck it out hoping for the best. After sessioning a pair of sidecountry jumps until boredom set in and I eventually heelside lowsided onto the concrete hardpack groomer and put a dent in the back of my new helmet. I put another two clicks of foreward lean in the highbacks and practiced carving turns until my legs got burnt.
I took off my board and sat down by the slow pair base for lunch. Most dirtbags went down to the bottom and had their squirrel fare in the cafeteria or day lodge in warmth, but there was no way I was going down the krunk more times than necessary. The scenery was nice here at the lift base though, with the light flakes falling. Reinvigorated, I continued riding through the afternoon. Around 14:00, there was a sudden and noticable decrease in the user load. Could have been everyone leaving for the 15:00 bus, or maybe late lunch, but the population didn’t seem to come back up afterwards, so it probably wasn’t lunchtime. It would have been great riding with this few people if the conditions were epic and maybe if I wasn’t by myself, but this easily beat sitting at home eating shichimencho hands down. At 15:00 in the failing light, I bid the krunky gelande and familiar, friendly faces of the lifties goodbye and headed down the mountain until February.
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