We’d been meaning to go ski touring with Haidee’s colleague and friend Aiko for a few years now. In her undergraduate days at Hokkaido University, Aiko was a member of the Wandervogel Club, so she has climbed most of the major peaks in Hokkaido, as well as spent a great deal of time in one of the most iconic and historic backcountry huts in Hokkaido – Okuteine Yama-no-Ie (full hut details in this post).

At last a trip came together. Aiko invited us to join in on a trip organized by the Laligurash Womens’ Outdoor Club (https://laligura.exblog.jp/) to the Yama-no-Ie Hut. In addition to the normal female crew, Aiko’s son, a husband of one of the women, me, and Aiko’s Hokkaido-dog Jasper (named after Canada’s largest national park) were also invited.

All up there were a jolly bunch of 9 humans and one very energetic snow-loving dog, all on skis. Except the dog. Despite Jasper’s fondness for snow, he hasn’t learned to ski yet.