Solitude is a beautiful thing, but it's not so great if you're trying to get into the backcountry.
I get a lot of emails saying something like: "I'm going to be in Hokkaido for two weeks and my buddy has to leave a week early, so I'm looking for guiding for a few day trips while I'm on my own."
I'm more than happy to guide one-on-one (ask Benoit about riding at Kurodake for 2 days in 2016 when we were the only people lapping the gondola - he seemed to be having a good time) but the costs are prohibitive for most people.
You probably won't find these guys in the comments, but it's worth a try.
People often ask if we've got spaces on another trip that we can slot them into. But that's something we've avoided. On our multi-day road trips it's a recipe for disaster: You've set aside week to spend in Hokkaido with your best friends and suddenly you're lumped together with strangers who have different priorities, ski or board at a different level, want to party while you want to sleep, want to hike when you want to ride lifts, want to relax while you want to shred. It sounds like a great way to turn your dream holiday into something frustrating and forgettable.
But many of these people are looking for single day guiding, where the stakes are lower and it's easier for everyone to align their goals. Finding someone who wants to travel at your tempo for a week might be hard, but finding someone who wants a good day touring? That's more realistic.
So for 2017 we're trialing the Powder Project Lonely Hearts' Club. It's a noticeboard you can use to find or assemble a crew for day trips. If you're looking for friends to split the cost of a day trip with, leave a comment on the noticeboard with your dates, level of ability, location and ambitions and if anyone wants to join in they can reply. Or if you see a crew forming that you want to jump in on, reply to the comment thread. Once you've got a plan together, shoot us an email and we'll sort out your booking.