The weather forecast was for a beautiful, if not a little too warm, spring day. Greg and Mari were up for a hike, so we decided on a close-to-home backyard ski tour up Teine Neopara.
We met up at the trailhead, and already the day was warming up. As we set off, a couple of other skiers were arriving. We were certainly not going to have the mountain to ourselves today.
Like usual, the route was well-trodden. We would follow skin tracks all the way to the summit today. We chatted as we hiked on autopilot.
It didn’t take long before we emerged from the thicker lower forest to the No. 3 and No. 2 slopes. Sapporo City sprawled out behind us. Up here, it was delightfully quiet, far away from the madding crowds of the metropolis.
The day just got warmer and warmer in the direct sun. In the shadows, however, there was a cold sun crust from yesterday. We were hoping we’d not suffer too much on the descent.
At the summit, we stopped in at the abandoned rest house for a quick break. I sent up the drone, capturing some shots of the Teine ski area to the west, and Sapporo City to the east. It’s at times like this we are reminded how lucky we are to live in Sapporo – a big city, but close to such amazing oudoors.
It was cold in the rest house, and we didn’t spend too long inside before getting back outside into the warm spring sun.
On the descent, we were either struggling with breakable crust in the shadows, or grippy warm snow in the sun. To be outside with those views though, made up for the average snow.
We blazed down the slopes, and soon made it to the forestry road. Instead of taking the skintrack down through the thickets, we skated and sped down the more circuitous, gradually descending but wider forestry road.
A grand short day out. Next time will be at a colder time of year!
