The Perfect Day

My last full day in Furano and it couldn't have been any more perfect. Knee deep fresh snow overnight, so Lee and I drove up and got stuck into it. A few great runs down the groomers and I got really floaty on my short board, so much fun! Then Lee took me through a tree run I'd been meaning to do since I got there but hadn't been too sure of the exit. First run in was a bit of a shocker as I lost his trail and thought I'd ended up stuck in the gully. No walking though, stoked! The second time through I hit a hidden tree stump early on and did the full cartwheel! Once again my luck held out and I rolled away unhurt. The rest of the run I felt a lot better and tackled a nice little chute in between two trees that bumped my confidence up a bit.

Lee had to go back to work, so we headed to the bottom of the ropeway and finished the session with a high five. It's coming back with a vengeance I tell ya! I was all set to do some runs on my own but as I picked up my board and got in line I saw Miwa up ahead and caught up with her. We played around on the groomers on the Furano side practicing flatground tricks and I was COMPLETELY shown up every time. She makes everything look so easy! I dropped off into a short untracked section that was about knee deep in between two trails and she followed me in. I rode out, turned and waited but couldn't see any sign of anyone else coming through. Then a little snow-covered head pops up out of a crash-hole, classic. She couldn't have been any more covered in snow! A high-five as she rode past (see? it's back) meant everything was okay!

Miwa had to leave so we took the ropeway up to access the traverse to the other side. At the top Joel & Angus were waiting as they'd seen me earlier and I got a friendly glove in the face from about 5 metres away. Perfect timing again. I felt more like a local on this little mountain in Japan than I ever have on any of the hills back home. I wish I could just randomly bump into friends like this when I'm snowboarding back in NZ. No complicated organising things by text message, no strict planning on where & when we'll be having lunch, just taking things as they come and everything works out. Joel, Angus & I lapped up the last of the fresh stuff on the groomers and got a couple of good runs down the section that they re-groom at 1pm. Fresh corduroy in the afternoon - other mountains needs to follow this trend. I managed to cleanly land a few of the little flatground tricks I'd been practicing, and on the way down I ran through my checklist of 'things to do on the mountain before I leave' and it was all done, so that was it. Took one last run (without calling it!) just taking everything in, and then said goodbye to Furano for the second (but not the last) time.

That night the "make Love san feel like a local" theme continued. Even a few of the Japanese staff from North Country turned up at Bocco for a drink, and I found out that apparently they had a nickname for me, something like "little smiling guy" which I reckon suits me pretty well. Another fun night, until I had to say all my goodbyes. Still, I kept up appearances for the sake of my nickname: Lee, Me (slightly drunk & needing a haircut), and Nobuo (the owner of Bocco)

Home to bed at 2ish for a 6am start. Goodbye Furano, see you again as soon as I can!