Arin Greenwood snowshoes silently through Hirafu

Japanese maple tree in autumn.

View Photos (2) Image © 2010 Robert George

Excerpted from To Japan With Love: A Travel Guide for the Connoisseur, available from ThingsAsian Press.

Levi is a patient snowboard instructor with the misfortune of being my instructor here in Hirafu, in the Niseko mountains of Hokkaido. He straps me to my board and gently launches me down a tiny incline, but having both legs attached to a single piece of fiberglass is disconcerting, so I fall again ... and again. Levi compliments me on my ability to get back up.

Phaael is my instructor on day two. He wants to take the chairlift up a smallish hill to "see my stuff." When it is our turn to get on the lift, the chair whacks me from behind, and I fall face first into the soft, powdery snow. My stuff is mortifying. Finally, I make it on, and from the chairlift I watch the snowboarders. They are funky; they look awesome. One, in a super-cool hat adorned with rabbit ears, does a miraculous somersault over a large jump. I am wearing unflattering snow pants that I bought on eBay and an unstylish hat, and I fall off the chairlift at the top of the hill.

On day three, suffering with a tremendous pain in my legs, I hobble through town with my boyfriend Brian to get to the slopes. The snow is ideal. We are surrounded by pretty mountains and pretty trees, and the streets are lined with cafés that serve great local cheese and wine, and colorful inns with names like Potatochips, Tomato, and If. A whimsical sign shows a potato skiing-even potatoes love Hirafu's snow! I could love Hirafu too, if it weren't for the infernal snowboarding.

On the slopes, I fall off the lift again. Brian glides down the hill, schussing and swirling, making himself-an excellent snowboarder-hateful. I inch down the hill on legs that I wish could be amputated. I make myself fall so I can sit and rest. At the bottom I say tartly, "I'd like to practice alone."

On our last day in Hirafu, my legs are almost okay again. Brian wants me to give snowboarding one more shot. But in town I'd seen a flyer that read: "Snowshoe. Enjoy Nature!" So I reply to Brian, "I'd like to. Really, I would. But I've signed up for snowshoeing."

Mieko Shiraki, my snowshoe guide, picks me up in her gray station wagon. On the drive to Mt. Yotei, she tells me she's climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, hiked to base camp on Mt. Everest, and is a professional tree-climbing instructor. Her snow clothes are not trendy.

When we arrive at the snow-covered slopes of the volcano, Mieko laces me into a pair of lightweight snowshoes made from two pieces of bent cedar. She says they were made by an eighty-year-old man here on Hokkaido. "He's one of the last few who know how to make these. Fifty years ago, there were no cars here. This is how people got around in the winter."

"Not anymore," I snarl. "Now they get around on snowboards."

Mieko and I begin our outing on a meadow of virgin snow, lightly supported on its powdery surface. Walking in snowshoes is slow and quiet and peaceful. And it doesn't confine my legs!

Mieko and I climb a tree-covered hill, looking for fox trails, listening to a woodpecker tapping holes in a tree, and admiring patches of blue sky and snow-frosted birch. We snowshoe down the other side to sit by the frozen waters of Half Moon Lake. As Mieko pours steaming tea and serves cookies, she reminisces about her outdoor adventures, and wonders why more people don't snowshoe anymore. Not enough excitement, she thinks, not enough of a thrill.

At twilight, the trip to the car takes us back over the hill and across the meadow. Snow is falling lightly and my legs no longer hurt. That evening in Hirafu, I rejoin Brian for cheese fondue and hot spiced wine, delighting in the perfection of the day ... and the use of both legs.

FACT FILE:

Getting to Hirafu
Express buses travel from Sapporo's New Chitose Airport and from Sapporo Station. The ride takes around three hours and passes through some wonderful scenery. You can also take the train from the airport to Kutchan, a town near Hirafu, and catch a bus or taxi at the Kutchan Station.

Snowshoe treks
For more information on snowshoeing with Mieko Shiraki, go to Discovery U. Click "English" and then "Winter."
www.discoveryu.join-us.jp

Where to stay
There are numerous small guesthouses in Hirafu. We stayed at Niseko Grandpapa, a Bavarian-style inn that is close to the ski slopes. Some of the rooms have private baths, while others have shared baths. Amenities include a breakfast buffet, a restaurant serving fondue (perfect for après-ski), and a fireplace in the common room. The proprietor is a chef and an artist whose woodblock prints are part of the décor.
http://niseko-grandpapa.com/

To read more essays from To Japan With Love, click here.

Published on 12/21/09