This stop takes us to a area filled with a deep and passionate culture with endless respect for nature. With over 500 ski resorts riddled throughout a country that is 70% mountains, Japan has endless opertunities in some of the wildest scenery in all the world. This area also has the perfect blend of cold air from Siberia and moisture from the Pacific, promising deep untracked experience in Paper Birch Forests. This time I talked to Ian Miller the creator of poachninja.com about his experience traveling the globe and sharing his passion with others.
Name: Ian Miller
Primary Location, Home Mountain, or Home Range: Hakuba, Northern Alps, Japan
Age: 28
Primary Solid Board: Burton T6 162
Primary Split Board: Prior Khyber Split 165
Preferred Binding System: Spark R&D Fuse
Boot: Burton Driver X
How Long Have You Been Snowboarding Semi-Professionally? 12 years
How Long Have You Been Splitboarding? 4 years
What Compelled You to Begin Splitboarding? I was on snowshoes for 2 years before the split. Most of my touring partners are on skis and i was sick of not being able to keep up. I still drag out the snowshoes for a few missions each year, but they generally stay confined to the garage now.
Most Memorable Glacier Travel: We don’t have glaciers in Japan!! We have drainages that are permanently filled with snow – these form glide cracks which can be a nasty and we’ve all fallen in them, but we don’t have crevasses. In May, my Australian girlfriend and I were touring for about a week or so and I promised her we’d get to see a Kamoshika, which is a furry goat-antelope creature that lives in the backcountry here. On our last day touring, we finally found one but it was dead in the skin track. My girlfriend started crying.
Where has Split Boarding taken you? All over Japan from the snow hills of Hokkaido to the 9000ft+ peaks on the main island, Alaska’s Chugach, Australia’s Main Range, Mt Aspiring NP New Zealand, Whistler backcountry (Garibaldi Provincial Park).
Gnarliest or most Extensive Approach for a Single Line: My buddy Alex Novak and I went to Whistler for a week in Feb 07 and planned to spend two days, one night in the Himmelsbach hut to ride Fissle’s Summit Chute. We got the weather forecast wrong apparently and ended up spending four nights in the hut in almost zero vis waiting for the window and never got anywhere near Fissle. Our rations were pretty slim, half a Clif Bar and cup of Risotto per day. We were drained when we got back to the village and i spent the rest of the trip with the flu. Alex won’t eat Risotto anymore and we still haven’t had the opportunity to ride Fissle.
Ideal Backcountry Day: Sunny mid-Spring day. Alpine start. Climb 6000ft vert to a big one and ride a steep line off the summit. Arrive back in the valley and drink beers and eat pizza down at the river. Finish the day with a long soak in the hot springs.
Lifetime Goal or Objective, a Line You’ve Been Eyeing for a While, or What Would Be your Dream Trip?: 1) Ride all 3000m+ peaks in Japan (there’s 22). 2) Ride an 8000m+ peak in the Himalayas.
Favorite Backcountry Meal: Salami. Easy to handle, no cooking required, full of salt and fat.
Favorite Piece of Gear (and Why): I’m a huge fan of Spark R&D‘s bindings. So much improvement over the stupid puck and slider system, more responsive and so much lighter. I’m really looking forward to lighter splitboards, soft boots with stiff soles, tech fittings, and step-in crampon support.
Favorite Place You’ve Travelled (and Why): Valdez. 6000ft of sustained steep vertical. Perfect snow. Some of the best ice climbing in the world for down days.
Local Causes You’re Passionate About: We’ve pretty much been focused on mountain biking in the valley for the past few years. Working with landowners and resorts to try and get access, trail building and maintenance, and attempting to get some publicity out there. Local businesses really suffer in the summer months. We also set up poachninja.com to help people out coming to Japan who are looking for touring partners, beta, places to stay, etc.
Other Stuff You Do (music, volunteerism, art, school, etc.): Mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking – no time for anything else. Working on a project right now to climb the 100 “famous” mountains of Japan which involves some pretty cool trips around rural Japan and meeting some pretty interesting characters.
Website/Blog: dirtylittlecreatures and poachninja.com
Here is a taste of what Japan has to offer