January 8, 2009; After cramming 180lbs of ski gear, cameras, and junk into my packs, I jumped a flight out of LAX to spend the next three months documenting face shots, hot-springs, sushi parties and karaoke, with Sweetgrass Productions in Japan. For their sophomore release, Sweetgrass spent nearly half a year in Japan, shooting full season of backcountry skiing on the northern island Hokkaido.
We based operations out of the scarcely know farming community Kutchan. With a smiling anthropomorphic potato on skis for a mascot, Kutchan is half the size of Bozeman located 15 minutes from the resort town Niseko- home to record seasonal snowfalls and six interconnected resorts.
The snow was terrible: it fell all the time, was light, and stayed deep for days. To make matters worse, we found that sushi was available at nearly every restaurant and roadside convenience store, an also, that almost everyone drives on the wrong side of the road in Japan. Despite all this, the crew and ever changing team of athletes forged ahead throughout the winter and spring; strapping skins on skis and hitting the pow day in and day out.
Taro Tamai, a Patagonia ambassador and snowboarding legend in Japan, welcomed … READ MORE >
