Andrew “Wandy” Johnston started snowboarding as a child on a dry slope in Glasgow. He went on to spend six winters in the French Alps, learning to use his splitboard to access steeper and deeper lines in the Vanoise backcountry. On returning to the UK after a season in Hokkaido, Wandy waxed lyrical about Japan to his friends, who in 2024, after years of hearing about it, finally got organised to experience it for themselves.

 For the return to Japan, the team was carefully selected. “We had to be able to ensure that we could all live in a tiny wee campervan with our equipment and each other for 28 days without driving each other insane!” He was joined by friends Jenny, Bryce, and Grant, whom he had spent time with in the mountains in France. After returning to Scotland post-COVID, Jenny and Bryce settled in Glencoe and went on to hone their ski touring skills in the Scottish Highlands. Hardened by a childhood on the slopes of Glencoe, Grant spent his ski seasons enjoying quiet slopes in bad weather, or rising before the crowds to skin-up to mountain huts far from resort. “For someone who had only really skied in Scotland, it gives you a good baseline, low expectations,” says Grant. “Every day in France was a pow day for me.”

 The group were close friends, but they were about to get a whole lot closer. They chose a 2020 Toyota HiAce campervan as their trusty steed. A four-wheel drive, five-berth juggernaut that only once lost traction during the Siberian snowstorms they experienced on the road. “All of us have lived in campervans before and love the freedom they give you,” explains Grant. “It’s cheaper than your typical holiday let, and you can explore the country for what it is as opposed to just the touristy areas.”

The all-Scottish team were aligned on their goals for skiing in Japan too: to ski the best lines they could find, prioritise safe descents, and adapt their route as the weather and snow conditions dictated. “Our aim wasn't to take risks or push the limits of our skiing, but to take things slow. We wanted to soak up Japan's culture, find the snow, and ski as much of it as we could. We wanted to learn the terrain and the risks, and explore it all powered by our legs.”

Hokkaido is the second largest and northernmost island of Japan. Its combination of featherlight, dry snow, dreamy forest glades, and volcanic peaks have drawn skiers from around the world since the 1980s. The island is sparsely populated compared to other parts of Japan which adds to its wild feel. Thanks to cold air from Siberia crossing the Sea of Japan and meeting moisture along the way, the island experiences heavy snowfall, especially in areas like Niseko, Furano, and Sapporo, where the snow depth can reach several metres. 

The further away the team ventured from Hokkaido’s ski resorts though, the less accurate and available the avalanche forecasting would be. Although there are three public snow bulletins available (two covering Niseko and one for Furano) none of them are on par with the detail available on avalanche forecasts in Europe and Scotland.

“This meant we had to take a lot more care in our route planning and awareness of the snowpack,” says Bryce. “Dropping into a new area mid-winter will always put you on the back foot. You can read as many weather updates before departure as you like, but you’ll never really know what’s underfoot until you get there.”

On the 8^th of February they arrived in Sapporo airport. They picked up Russel (the campervan), familiarised themselves with their new home for a month, stocked up on supplies, and set up camp at Lake Shikotsuko. They would follow a figure of eight-like route around Hokkaido’s northern mountain ranges between Otaru, Sapporo, and Niseko. They found Hokkaido was well set up for people living the van life, with regular rest stops (Michinoeki’s) dotted all over the island where nobody seemed to mind them parking overnight.

For the first couple of days, they stuck to lower gradient zones where the chance of avalanches would be minimal even on a high risk day. “Every day we would look at maps and identify key places along our route to stop and discuss what we had noticed. We would note areas of avalanche terrain where we needed to be really switched on. During the day we would constantly be collecting mental data on how the snow was behaving, what the temperature was, what the sun was doing compared to the forecast, and where on the mountain issues might be,” says Bryce.

They quickly fell into a daily pattern, waking up at 6.45am, drinking a few rounds of teas and coffees, wolfing down porridge and egg-in-a-cup (a Scottish delicacy of boiled egg  mashed in a cup with butter), before getting ready for the day of touring. After a long day on the mountain they’d finish up with a trip to the local Onsen. “Onsen life was on par with the snowboarding as one of the reasons I wanted to go back to Japan,” says Wandy. “It’s so deep in Japanese culture to bathe in these incredible volcanic hot springs. It’s got a spiritual feel and they’re all over Hokkaido. We Onsened every day, sometimes twice! You come out feeling cleansed and just peaceful. No matter how hard a hike we had, we always knew the Onsen was waiting at the end of it.”

They experienced all weathers, from howling winds and zero vis on the summit of Chisenpuri (“it just reminded us of being on top of Cairngorm, back home in Scotland - the first section of skiing was similar too… Hard pack crust, uneven and icy.”), to crisp, sunny days lapping tree lines in deep snow on the northern shoulder on Mount Furano. They skied on eleven volcanoes (nine dormant and two active), holding their breath as they weaved around sulphur vents pumping out thick, egg-smelling gases, and skiing bottomless powder down gullies formed by lava flows. “It’s kind of hard to describe, you feel weightless when you’re riding down a gully full of pow. Believe it or not there is such a thing as too much snow!”

On their twentieth day in Japan, they made an attempt on Mount Yotei. A 1,898m dormant volcano, perfectly conical in shape with a large skiable crater at the summit, this was the team’s main objective for the trip.

“The weather was looking iffy,” remembers Jenny. “High winds but from an okay direction, maybe... It was a bit touch and go. We hadn't had the right conditions for it, but we only had a few more days left.”

The last of the safe gradient on their ascent was at about 1,300m. Beyond that, they had to cross into some serious avalanche terrain to make it to the lip of the crater. The wind had been high overnight blowing the snow into thick wind slab in some areas and scouring the mountain down to ice in others. Unknown to Jenny, Bryce had been planning for months to propose in the crater, so he was especially hopeful that somehow the stars would align. As they gained height however, the conditions underfoot began to change and signs of instability started to show.

“We moved around the mountain onto a different aspect but as we did so the wind slab started to appear. The wind had picked up and it was blowin’ a hoolie by this point. We weren’t in the best place to stop and discuss what to do next, so we moved along on to a safer aspect and from there we decided it was wise to turn back” says Bryce.

It was now or never for Bryce, who got down on one knee with his binding still in walk mode. With the wind, snow, and spindrift swirling around them he made his proposal, and she said yes!

At the same moment three skiers approached. They were shaken up. It transpired they had been in a big avalanche further up the mountain. The team reassured them that where they were on the mountain was safe and helped them to navigate a safe route back down. “We all skied down with very mixed feelings… Very happy about the engagement obviously, but sad that we didn't make it to the top, relieved we’d made the right decision, and satisfied with the confirmation of this correct decision. It’s so rare that your decision not to do something because of an assessed risk is proven correct,” says Wandy.

By this point in the trip the group had truly cemented themselves as a team. Decision-making was fluid and communication around risk assessments became more efficient. “We intentionally got in the habit where we were vocal about any thoughts that came into our head about route, the weather, or the ground conditions so that everyone was informed and able to put in their two pence worth.” Communication was key for both their missions on and off the mountain. While living in a small van with four people for a month presented its challenges and joys, they learned to give each other space when they needed it.

“We did also get some alone time while touring each day,” reflects Jenny. “We really fine-tuned our methods to stay out of each other's way during our chaotic morning routine. We worked together every second of every day and we laughed a lot.”

They spent the remainder of their trip freshly betrothed, enjoying the sites around Sapporo, catching up with some friends, drinking beer, eating ramen and hatching plans for the next adventure.

“This trip was a bit of a test. We dipped our toes in the pool of logistics, safety and planning that goes into long trips like this. We’re already looking at our maps again dreaming of bolder plans and new ideas - a few places that have been put in the hat are Kyrgyzstan, the extremely remote island of Jan Mayen, and the Westerfjords of Norway. We will be skiing, we may be sailing, and we will be taking photos and videos of the entire thing!”

How many metres ascended?

A whopping 7,635m in total.

Best turns of the trip?

Early on in either Goshiki Onsen (backcountry hub near Niseko) or when we toured around Kiroro.

Best tree skiing on Hokkaido?

Rusutsu, or “The Zoo”, as it’s known out there.

Best Onsen on Hokkaido?

That’s a tough one! In total, we visited 17 different Onsens (15 of which were natural).

Either Hōheikyō Hot Spring or the Fukiage open air Onsen near Furano (it’s outdoor and free).

Best dining experience?

Daiichi Syokudo in Kamifurano, @dai1shokudou on IG.

Best down day adventure?

Kaiten Sushi in Otaru, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant!

Words by @amywhereoutthere