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LEFT: Snow CrystalMuseum in Asahikawa.OPPOSITE PAGE: A skiergetting ready to take on theKamui Ski Links.PRECEDING PAGE, LEFT:Icicles gleam against a blueKamui sky.PRECEDING PAGE,RIGHT: A silver frostadorns white birch trees atKamui Ski Links.“At Kamui Ski Links, skiing and snowboardingoff-piste is where the action is but it’s a riskybusiness,” remarked local tourism offi cer‘Aussie’ Ken while strapping on his snowboardready to shred the slopes for a visiting fi lmcrew. He was not wrong. By day two, mypartner had already taken a powder on adownhill run. Hobbling back, he channeledClint Eastwood’s character Detective HarryCallahan muttering, “A man’s got to knowhis limitations”. Here on Hokkaido, Japan’snorthernmost island, this should be ski rule#1 but surrounded by limitless powder, it’sdiffi cult to curb your enthusiasm.Successfully marketing some of thedeepest, softest snow on earth has madeJapan a tourism heavy-hitter and each year,Kamui’s boutique ski site, just 20kms fromAsahikawa, receives around eight metresof light, effervescent powder known as the‘champagne’ of snow.LURE OF ASAHIKAWAAn arrow-straight highway through a bucoliclandscape slumbering under lavish whiteblankets of snow accompanied us on thetwo-hour drive from Sapporo to Asahikawa.A copse of white birch shivered starklyagainst a sky bruised by sweeping clouds. In1972, Hokkaido’s youthful capital, Sapporo,gained international fame hosting the WinterOlympics. However, nearby Asahikawa wasour winter destination of choice to take inJapan’s cultural and culinary pulse. Located inthe heart of the Taisetsu mountain range and“Little ones shrieked excitedly as they hurtledpast on snow rafts while others hit the ski trailslike professionals. Snow-going quad bikes,snowmobiles and tubing courses were filledwith ruddy-cheeked children, leaving thetimid ones for the sedate snowshoe course.”gateway to Kamui Ski Link’s celestial powderheaven, Asahikawa combines the opportunityto ride impressive ski and snowboard runs byday and the chance to tune into the local foodand entertainment scene at night at some ofthe city’s 1,200 bars and restaurants.The morning blue sky shimmeredbeautifully as we arrived in Asahikawa,adding a touch of poetic beauty to Japan’sother name: ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’. Atminus 14°C, icy crystal shards and delicatesnowfl akes adorned fi r trees dusted withsnowy powder. Ten corduroy-groomed slopessparkled with ‘diamond’ dust and the sunfurther polished the landscape to eye-burningbrightness. Having arrived there, one of myfi rst visits was to the Snow Crystal Museum,a testament to one man’s fascination with thepowdery white stuff. Amongst the exhibitswere images of sparkling snowfl akes shapedlike precious, multi-faceted gems. Observingthese miracles of nature in their raw beauty,it became clear that when it comes tooriginality, nothing competes with nature’sperfect symmetry.POWDER TO THE PEOPLERegular shuttle buses operate from downtownAsahikawa’s train station and hotels to KamuiSki Links. Each bus, I noticed, pulled upat the site, disgorging a regiment of snowcenturions clad in high tech ski gear. Thecrunching of pristine powder under their feetas they prepared to carve-up the 2,363m skirun, was a strange but not unpleasant soundthat I got used to quickly. These young uns’were in battle mode to alley-oop (a 180° turnas you go uphill) on the half-pipe and ripdown the woodland route. They have a localsaying at Kamui: “If you can see it, you canride it, and, with no off-piste restrictions, it’spowder to the people!”.With one gondola, seven two-person chairlifts, 10 runs, and a dramatic downhill coursethat’s highly regarded by international andlocal ski federations, this is one of Hokkaido’sbest kept secrets. The real bonus, however, isfewer gondola queues and plenty of traffi c-freeoptions for skiers at all levels.Being a novice, after careening out ofcontrol, and terrorising small children on the94 TRAVEL 3SIXTY˚