Meet the Powder Project
The Powder Project started as a simple, improbable dream: To avoid a desk job, ski powder, and one day be able to afford dental care. Ten years later, in a humble dentistry clinic in Christchurch, New Zealand, that dream became a reality.
What started with resort guiding and sleeping in the tour van between trips is now a small established backcountry guiding operation based out of Asahikawa, Hokkaido. We specialise in private, backcountry guiding and prioritise authentic skiing and travel experiences that respect local skiers, businesses and residents. This is a very fancy way of saying that tourism can be tough on communities in Hokkaido, and we try not to be jerks.
Our guides are all fully qualified ski guides with professional avalance safety and forecasting qualifications. For us, this is about getting taking people to mountains we love, skiing rad lines, sharing the good times, and always having new terrain dialed so when a zone gets busy we can stay a step ahead.
Our team:
John Horan - ski guide
John honed his powder poaching and extremely high standards during years of ski bumming and touring in Canada, the US, France, Austria, Norway, New Zealand and Japan. Motivated by the dream of one day receiving a root canal, John became certified as a Ski Guide with the New Zealand Mountain Guides' Association and holds wilderness first aid, NZ AST 1, and AAA Pro 2 avalanche safety certs. In the souther winter he guides with Mt Cook Heliski and contributes to the Aoraki-Mt Cook and Ohau regional avalanche forecasts.
George Loomes - ski guide
George is a backcountry tragic. He’s earned his turns across New Zealand, Alaska, Canada, Bolivia and Japan, and has a knack for finding good snow in places most people wouldn’t think to look; usually juggling a map, a margin, and the kind of weather that makes radios go philosophical. George is an NZMGA Ski Guide, Avalanche Risk Management Level 6 certified, and holds Pre-Hospital Emergency Care. After several years with the Aoraki-Mt Cook professional Search and Rescue team, he now works his NZ seasons with Mt Cook Heliski and Alpine Recreation. He’s also adept at brewing instant coffee in sideways snow and insisting it’s the same as his favourite cafe.
This isn’t some corporate empire turning out Big Mac ski holidays. We're a few schmucks who love skiing powder, finding new experiences and new lines, and sharing the good times with our friends. If you're looking for great turns, in amazing places, without the crowds, so are we. Come and join us.