From Sapporo to Niseko

I left from Sapporo this morning on the Niseko Ski Express, a special limited express train that takes a scenic route along the coast between Sapporo and Otaru before turning into the mountains as the train goes west. It was snowing last night when I arrived at Sapporo, and it was snowing this morning as the train pulled out from Sapporo. The tracks hug the Hokkaido coastline just a few kilometers out from Sapporo station.

There was beautiful scenery on this route, but I fell asleep soon after the train passed this village.

At Niseko the snowfall was steady and the wind was strong. I snapped this photo when the snow stopped falling for a few minutes.

I was skiing in knee-deep powder and near whiteout conditions for much of the day, or trying to ski in those conditions, then went for an outdoor onsen, had my hair freeze solid, and watched eight cm of snow fall as I ate my dinner.