As winter arrives, enthusiasts are enjoying backcountry skiing near the Nissho Pass in the Hidaka Mountains, which become whiter by the day. The skiers are making the most of the slopes despite the snow only being about one meter deep.

On December 5, seven men and women from Obihiro and Sapporo set out from the vicinity of the exit of the Hidaka-side of the Nissho Tunnel on Route 274, to the 1,445-meter-high Nissho Pass, commonly known as ‘Nissho Peak’. With non-slip seals on their skies, they made their way up the slopes amid a temperature of minus 10 degrees.

In the belt of Siberian dwarf pines, just below the summit, there were many places where they had to walk due to the lack of snow, so the ascent was halted there, before skiing approximately 350 meters back to the starting point, avoiding shrubs and grass on the way. One of the skiers, a man from Sapporo, said “I enjoyed skiing in the powder snow and want to go to the mountains every week from now on, to enjoy the real winter peaks.”