LEFT TO RIGHT High tide in the quiet town of Mashike in western Hokkaido. Ryan Taylor finds diversions during a lazy morning of waiting for the snow to accumulate. Photo: Clement Pelletier “Cruisy lines from a camping trip in the Yubari Mountains. An unexpected storm heightened the avalanche risk, so we enjoyed this wide panel and gully instead. It’s always good to have a backup plan, especially when it was the better idea all along.” Photo: Ryan Taylor IN APRIL 2020 , COVID-19 hit Japan, prompting the declaration of a national emergency. It wouldn’t take long for our post-wedding bliss, and the country we called home, to unravel. Varying levels of lockdown scared locals and crippled the economy. As a foreign national, I could escape back to New Zealand, but I had work through the summer as an exploration geolo-gist seeking gold-bearing quartz veins and abandoned mines in territory that hadn’t been explored in almost a century. It wasn’t just gold that kept me pinned to Japanese shores. With COVID-19 case counts on the rise and borders closing worldwide, whispers of a locals-only winter gained volume and frequency. For the few skiers that stayed and stuck it out, Japanese winter could be a private affair. 054 The Ski Journal
The Ski Journal Volume 15, Issue 2: Page 54
