A Japanese paradise for powder hounds

Gliding off the final chairlift, the party was over. There were no more lifts to carry me further up the mountain and my eyes strained to see my final destination, the top of Niseko's Mt Annupuri, through the snow whipping off the peak.

Time to take the board off and start trudging toward the summit. A gut-busting 20-minute hike was ahead but at the top a precious commodity awaited - untracked powder snow in every direction.

I followed in the boot-prints of the pace-making snowboarder at the head of the conga line as we headed to the top. Within moments, I was taking big gulps of the -15C air as the steep gradient started to take its toll and I gripped my board as if my life depended on it until reaching the powder-coated summit.

As a matter of fact, my life kind of did depend on it; drop the board and it would depart on a one-way ticket to the bottom of the mountain. And I would be stuck 1.3km above with no safe way of getting down (except to suffer the shame of descending on the back of the rescue-snowmobile).

Summit conquered, no time was wasted admiring Mt Yotei in the distance, the semi-dormant volcano whose presence dominates the landscape.

Being part of a week-long boys' snowboarding trip meant the conventional wisdom of taking it easy on the first run of the first day would be ignored.

Instead it was a plunge down an off-piste, tree-lined ravine for the pipe opener - a brave task given it had been at least two years since most of us had last boarded.

But, out of necessity really, it didn't take long for the muscle memory to kick in and unlock the combination of shifting weight to hold a rail and gain control.

A solid week of snowboarding ahead, the first run was one to savour on the renowned Niseko powder. Rated as the finest, driest snow in the world, Niseko, on the island of Hokkaido, gets an astonishing 14m of snow every season (December-May) thanks to its proximity to Siberia and the dry, freezing air that rushes in from the sea.

With credentials like that, the button was just waiting to be pushed. The trip was booked through SkiJapan and the initial eight boarders ballooned to 16 once word got around. Most were travelling from Perth, with others arriving from Canada and Dubai, with boarding experience ranging from gumby to semi-pro.

Taking a late-night flight from Perth meant we arrived the following afternoon in Sapporo, after a transfer in Hong Kong, and we piled into a taxi charter for the two-hour trip up the mountain.

The excitement built when the golden glow from the floodlit ski runs of Niseko appeared on the horizon as we passed through the town of Kutchan - signalling we weren't far from our accommodation at Hirafu.

Niseko has 70ha of floodlit terrain open for action until 9pm each night. Of the four resorts that come under the banner of Niseko United, (Hirafu, Hanazono, Annupuri and Niseko Village), Hanazono is the only one without a nocturnal skiing option.

The resorts are separated by some avalanche-prone no-ski zones, a fact rammed home early every morning when a shot of explosives set by the mountain staff rang out to clear potentially dangerous build-ups of snow.

Using the all-mountain lift pass gave admission to the four resorts, which are all reached easily by traversing the top of the mountain.

The pass also included a free bus service linking the resorts, something I was grateful for after getting stranded at Annupuri late one evening after being caught out by lift closures higher up the mountain.

But, truth be told, not a lot of boarding was done on the groomed runs of the resorts.

The back country was the preferred playground for the best snow and smooth tracks, where the numbers of skiers and boarders fell away dramatically.

A few of the boys created a composite run through Hanazono's Strawberry Fields that veered off through a side gate. It was a favourite for its isolated trail through tight tree-lined cat tracks and officially became "awesome" when everyone pitched in to build a kicker (ramp) off the side of a ridge for some aerial thrills.

The ravines to the west of Annupuri were also worth the calf-burning traverse outside the resort limits to reach them. Featuring long runs through half-pipe bowls, they were a favourite for the boys who were kitted out with GoPros (specialised video cameras for recording sports action) to get some footage.

Incidentally, there were plenty of GoPros on the mountain, attached to boards, jackets, helmets and telescopic poles and they were in plague proportions when we took on the terrain park opposite the Hirafu gondola lift.

Enormous table-top jumps, rails and boxes pushed the best riders to the limit as they executed amazing stunts and tricks.

But let's be honest - most of the GoPros were waiting for a mate's miscue, hoping to capture a bone-jarring impact for the blooper section of a video.

The action off the mountain was a little more sedate.

A few guys took a day off from boarding, instead boarding a train to visit the Sapporo beer museum. It was highly recommended for its interesting exhibits and free samples of the famous brew, which had some sampling during the week also.

Most nights were spent dining out at restaurants in the village, with a teppanyaki place called Kabuki 1 a rare find for its capacity to handle a group of our size and volume. It was a bit of a squeeze sitting cross-legged around the teppan plates after a day's snowboarding but the okonomiyaki (a Japanese savoury pancake) was worth the effort.

Mina Mina was smaller but the salmon and fried chicken share plates got a big tick, while the 10-course degustation at Michelin-starred Kamimura was declared a winner by those in attendance. Most restaurants only accept cash, so make sure you have plenty of yen.

The final evening was spent playing pool upstairs at the Bigfoot bar, an eclectic establishment modelled on a Canadian hunting lodge.

When the time came to leave, the injury list was limited to some severe bruising, knee tweaks and one dislocated shoulder that required the use of a hastily built snow mound to lever it back in place.

For a group of 16 boarders it was a good result, particularly after regularly seeing the snowmobile ambulance or rescue chopper en route to help some poor soul on the mountain.

The departing taxi-ride gave us one last chance to appreciate the white-on-white of the snowfields as we made our way to Sapporo.

But the reflective mood was soon replaced by the usual raucous banter as the planning for the next trip began.