Ray McDermott's Japanese Vacation

"The Japanese Alps are a pretty special place, the combination of culture, snow and terrain is so unique it almost doesn't seem real. My friend Daniel and I booked plane tickets the moment we realized that our winter in Colorado wasn't going to materialize into much. We headed for the Japanese Alps, and more specifically a place called Myoko Kogen. It was so much better then we expected, and so much worse. After skiing some of the deepest snow of our entire lives, we got days of rain and terrifying avalanche conditions. There were wet slabs ripping to the ground through a 3 meter snowpack around every corner. Right before we left, Myoko got pounded by yet another insane storm, while the sky went blue and the snowpack stabilized out. We had an amazing time, and I hope you can enjoy our video as much as we enjoyed our trip!"