Ski touring, cycle touring, paddling, and hiking in Hokkaido, Japan.
六年前，我們深入研究北海道警察的冬季山域搜救（SAR）數據，並發現了一個明顯的規律：透過滑雪纜車進入的「雪場界外野雪」（sidecountry）是導致大多數野雪事故的主因。自從新冠疫情和日幣貶值讓這些人口組成有了改變——從入境遊客的停滯，到開放後的爆炸性的入境遊客 —— 與此同時，本地人的參與者也大幅飆升。2024/2025 年冬季創下了史上單季野雪事故次數最高的紀錄，媒體標題也直接指向「80% 為外籍人士」。此外，2025/2026 年雪季目前看來將重演去年的情況。然而，整整十年的數據告訴我們一個更複雜的故事。本次更新根據這些數據，區分了透過滑雪纜車的雪場界外野雪與非滑雪纜車進入的山岳野雪，並展示了究竟什麼改變了——以及什麼沒有改變。我們還首次納入了北海道野雪參與人數的一些官方估計數據。 Source
Six years ago we dug into Hokkaido Police winter SAR data and saw a clear pattern: lift-access “sidecountry” was driving most backcountry incidents. Since then, COVID and a weak yen has reshaped who’s out there—first a lull in inbound travel, then a sharp rebound—while local participation also surged. The winter of 2024/2025 delivered the biggest single-season backcountry incident spike on record,…
6年前 、北海道警の冬季山岳遭難データを掘り下げ、明確な傾向を確認した。つまり、索道利用バックカントリー（通称サイドカントリー）がバックカントリー遭難の大半を占めていた。その後、COVID-19と円安は「誰が山に入っているのか」を大きく変えた。訪日旅行は一時的に落ち込み、その後に急回復した一方で、地元の参加者も増加した。2024/2025冬季は単一シーズンとして過去最大のバックカントリー遭難件数のスパイクを記録し、報道の見出しは即座に「外国人が80%」へと向かった。しかし、10年分のデータが示す実態はより複雑である。今回の分析では、索道利用バックカントリーと索道非利用バックカントリーを分けて整理し、実際に何が変わったのか、そして何が変わっていないのかを示す。さらに今回初めて、北海道におけるバックカントリー入山者数についての公式推計値の一部も取り入れる（ 英語版はこちら English…
OK, just relax, the nurse said as she pressed the suppository in. We need to get it in deep so it doesn t slip out It was two days since my ankle surgery. 1am in the morning. My ankle was threatening to burst out of the splint and gauze. A throbbing, ever-present ache that was robbing [ ] Source
Everyone I speak to who has spent any time in a hospital, including here in Japan, has some sort of beef about hospital food. Upon announcing that I d be spending a decent chunk of time here at the Shin-Sapporo Orthopaedic Surgery Hospital, getting a ski-related maisonneuve fracture fixed up, messages have been peppered with the following [ ] Source
A Maisonneuve fracture with torn ankle ligaments turned a rare on-piste ski day into my first hospital admission—and my first surgery. In Sapporo, Dr. Tsujino stabilized my torn syndesmosis, before I entered a pain cave reminiscent of a hot, dingy inn in 2008 during my skateboard journey across China. Source
Dr. Tsujino, the ankle and foot surgeon, was animated. Loud. Brash. To the point. He left no room for misinterpretation. He was going to patch me up very good, leaving no room for error in the healing and rehabilitation process. With surgery in just a few days, I got acquainted with my new home for the next two weeks. Source
The past three days have been a whirlwind of lifetime firsts - first broken bone, first admission to hospital, and first surgery appointment. Ironically, considering I spend most of my time on skis in the backcountry, this was all caused by an on-piste skiing accident while skiing at Rusutsu Resort. Thanks to Haidee for taxiing me around for all the consultations! Here's the first part of the…
Boot Solutions in Niseko is currently the only place it's possible to get ZipFit ski boot liners off the shelf in Hokkaido. My Dynafit TLT8 ski touring boots' liners were due to be replaced, so I bit the bullet and bought a pair of ZipFit GFT touring liners at the Boot Solutions Hirafu store. Here's the story. Source
HokkaidoWilds.org has published two high-quality backcountry ski topomaps for Hokkaido. One for the greater Niseko area of southwest Hokkaido (covering the Niseko Range, Mt. Yotei, and Mt. Shiribetsu), and one for the Daisetsuzan National Park in central Hokkaido (covering the Tokachi Range and the Daisetsuzan Mountains). Source