Traveling Home

Life on the plane, 

A strange photo in SkyMall shopping  magazine Good!  Good!

Ninjas even on the Plane, they are everywhere 

Where is my Gate Number?

What felt like two days of traveling I have finally laid my head on my own pillow in my own bed. It feels pretty good to be home, but I'm super Jet lagged and it's going to take a few days to get over it. 

Biglines.com Athlete Profile and interview

Hey all,

If  you got a minute  check out my athlete profile and interview on biglines.com 

http://www.biglines.com/blarticles/4364/The_Hippie_Hipter_Freeskier-_Forrest_Coots_Video 

Cheers

Japanese Refections

Charley, Caroline and Nick waiting for the light to get good.

The crew in the van, on our way to Shred 

Booting up at the car, 

Adam and I after our first day of skiing 

Talking about the game plan for the coming weeks

Sake, Powder and Skin tracks-Refections of Japan

As I sit in the Tokyo Narita International Airport waiting for my flight home,  I have time to think of my time in Japan. I can't believe how fast the time went while here as I fell into the rhythm of life in Japan. In our little Kutchan apartment we became a  little family of dirty ski bums, all sharing the passion for the mountains and for skiing.  I got used to the morning ritual of coffee with Steve and Anthony and making banana and chocolate sandwiches with Caroline, while we talking of the film crew's plans for the day.  Our only concern was the weather, overnight snow accumulation, and when (if ever) the sun was going to come out.  The outside world just seemed to dissolve away.

Everyday the snow was waist to chest deep.  We couldn't always see it, but the the of Japan was always at our backs watching over us.  We spent most days and evenings wallowing up boot and skin tracks with the constant volcanic smell of sulfur in the air.  We all were so stoked at the tops of these skins or booters 'cause we would soon be lapping powder filled lanes between Aspen, Birch, and Alder  snow caked trees, or sessioning little cliff or pillow lines, leap frogging one another's tracks, as the crew and filmers worked down the mountain, until the  last of the days light dropped behind far off peaks, turning the backcountry to pink and orange alpinglow.  We always tried to get one more shot in, before calling it a day and heading home in the dark, tired and hungry.  Many days we would head to the unsend (a traditional Japanese hot spring resort) for a little R&R and a well earned beer. 

While most nights were spent talking of the day events, blogging on our respective websites, surfing the net, drinking Kirins tall boys, while rocking out to the sickest french pop Yelle.  Some nights we walked the snow packed streets of Kutchan in search of new little Japanese restaurants for dinner, or just a trip to the grocery store.  The snow perpetually continued to fall. 

The greatest things about traveling are the people met along the way, the new friends made, and the places visited.  Its not about the outcome but the journey that matters the most.  The friends I met while filming with sweetgrass I will have for the rest of my life. Thank you for the turns and for all of the laughs.

The last day of Filming with sweetgrass

Hey all

Today turned out to be the sunniest day of  my trip to film with sweetgrass and we made the best of it, we were out the door at 5:30am and on the skin track in the early morning light. We went back to the same zone that we had skied a week ago but this time we traveled up the valley and started to ski some of the larger peaks.  We ended up spending all day filmed, and then we had a kick ass curry team dinner for Caroline and I last night in Kutchan. 

why Japan is the sickest place to Ski

Night time shredding at the resort
Some of that deep Japanese Powder
Resort shredding 
A sunny day, one of only a few 
a few more photos  

Why Japan is the sickest place to Ski Part 2

Just photos, that's it and that's all

Night Shoot

Working in the snow pit 
filling out my pit profile while out on the zone research mission
Bamboo and digging a snow pit only in Japan 
The night filming show under the lights
Airing pillowing under the lights 

Last night I went out for a night photo and film shoot, we ended up filming from 5 in the evening until 2 in the morning. It was pretty fun but the  snow wasn't the bottomless powder that I have gotten pretty accustom to but it still was powder.   After getting too sleep in, several  of us went up to a new secret zone to check out it's snow stability and filming options. After digging a pit and doing some stability test on the slope, it proved to be a little too sketchy. So I think the plan is to head off to a zone that we have already filmed at, but with 30cm forecasted for tonight it should be fun for my last day of filming with sweetgrass productions.  The plan is for a super early start, 5 am so I off to get some sleep, talk to you later

A trip the local supermarket

My staple's beer, noddle's, oranges, and ice cream

Strange dried fish of some kind 
Tongue of so kind
Fish, yeap, fish strange in Japan 
Anthony and I walking to the Supermarket, check out the snow banks.

So, As you would bet the supermarkets here are full of meats, and seafoods and other wild things that you can't find at home.  Not to say there are super strange things in the supermarkets in the US like cheese in the can or pickled pigs feet.  But here you can buy cow tongues, every part of the the fish, and other seafoods like squids.  And they play children of the corn type music that would make you go crazy if locked in a room for a day of it. 

Sweetgrass Productions Kutchan Athlete Crib

Athletes Room, yes that someone's bed in the closet 

Walking in the front door
The hallway to the athletes room or the kitchen 
The living room, drying room, living room and computer office

Not the best day of the trip

So yesterday, like all days before we got up early put on our gear and traveled out to one of your zones to film, it's slowly starting to feel like groundhogs day here.  While most day we film all day today was a little different, because of the cold the cameras started to freeze up and the energy of the group was pretty low and run down, so after Caroline, Ebon and I skied our first line in near whiteout conditions we made the call to pull the rip cord on the day and head to the onsend (local hot springs resort). but upon getting to the van we should the side widow punched in and some of our stuff gone. It was the icing on the cake to the group. We had to drive back to Kutchan with the side window of the van missing in near -12C conditions. I had somehow fallen asleep and was woken up to the van turning around because the light had turned and the were going to drop on filmer and me off to get a night shot. I was not pumped after a long day I was going to still be out in the cold.  

Once again the light disappeared and we were left in the grey bird light, and I was left to think this is such as waste of time and energy but in the closing minutes of the day the sun popped it's head out for one last show, and let's just say I killed it and make up for the whole days bad lucky with alpine glow powder turns. 

A day of shredding with two of the sickest common wealth guys

Trying to get the all that powder off of me 

The answer to why the Japanese are kill us in Math 

Steve killing it under the alpine glow 

Steve and Anthony Shredding the Japanese Power 
Me laying it down under the evening light at the top mountain 

Today I when out for a little resort skiing at grande hirafu with Steve and Anthony two of the sickest Canadian and Australians (common Wealth) I have ever met. Steve and Anthony are kicking it at the sweetgrass apartment sleeping in the living room  before heading off to India for a little more shredding and ski mountaineering.  We shredded all day and ended up catching the evening light of powder.