Bikeboarding in Moiwa: The Great Northern Adventure Part VII

Having thoroughly explored the many resorts of Niseko United, I decided to spend my last day skiing the neighboring resort at the foot of my lodge, Moiwa.  Knowing that it was a smaller resort, I stopped back in the rental shop and swapped my skis for a bike board.  I was excited for the chance to ride on one again, since Keystone stopped renting and later banned them from their resort a few years ago.  I was rather impressed with my capabilities on the bike board, having only used it a handful of times in the US.  After a couple runs I not only had the confidence to maneuver down the steeper groomed runs, but the foolhardiness to take it into the backcountry. The different equipment provided a fresh challenge to the limited terrain. This is not to say the runs were bad. I actually spent most of my day in the backcountry out of Moiwa's Gate 6, powering through powder the whole day!

That evening I walked over to the swanky One Niseko Towers Hotel to try yet another onsen. There I met a couple cool guys. Tetsuya was one of the lift operators who had seen me skiing earlier that day, sported some crazy long hair.  Proving how small the world is, he had actually visited the US, riding a road bike throughout the country. He even ended up in Boulder at one point, and spent some time in the city. I also met a guy from Kyoto who spoke excellent English, abet with the heaviest New Zealand accent I had heard (and that includes the New Zealanders I have met on JET). He actually played rugby recreationally when he lived in New Zealand, so it was fun to reminisce on the days when we both played the sport.

After the onsen I headed to the top floor to treat myself to the braised pork special at the restaurant.  Afterwards back at the lodge I played pool with some of the other guests, including a rather spirited pool shark from Mongolia.




The next day I headed out to the airport, where I grabbed one more quick meal of soup curry before boarding my plane.

Once I arrived in Osaka, I went over to the bus station to catch my 3 hour bus back to Tottori. On my way I passed McDonald's, which was serving a limited time Hokkaido burger!  A bacon cheeseburger with mushrooms and Hokkaido potatoes, this was truly the fitting end to my northern adventure.


PS: again sorry for the poor quality of the video, I did not have the camera angled well yet again for the whole day. O well lessons learned.