While the great appeal of being able to enjoy free skiing in the great outdoors is the backcountry of snowy mountains, where there are various dangers lurking. Backcountry guides are experts who use their wealth of knowledge and experience to provide you with an unparalleled skiing experience while ensuring your safety on these snowy mountains.
We take a closer look at the ``personality'' and ``guiding'' of up-and-coming guides who choose professional guiding as their profession and step slowly and steadily into the world.
The roots of a guide with a worryingly unsympathetic attitude
``We will take you to a quiet area in as small a group as possible.If you have experience in the backcountry but are using this service for the first time, we invite you to join us on a half-day ``Nice to meet you tour'' and see your skills. You will be asked to join a tour that we propose at a later date.''
We do not recommend this to people who are just looking for pleasure and adrenaline. This is the perfect guide for those who want to sit down, face skiing and their bodies, and welcome skiing into their lives as a lifelong sport. Although it may seem like a complicated system at first glance, it can be said that it is a kind and thorough curriculum that allows both parties to step up safely and reliably. Wouldn't it be difficult to do business if we continued to do half-day tours with as few people as possible? I laughed off that worry.
"It's fine. As long as you can enjoy skiing, eat, and live (lol)"
Masaaki Sato was born in 1976 to a part-time farmer in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture. Currently, he is based in Hakuba Village, where he moved when he was 20 years old, but during busy seasons such as rice planting and harvesting, he returns home to help his parents with farm work.
``Rice is the rice that raised me, so I want to continue to be involved in rice cultivation.When I was little, it snowed a lot in Ueda, so I often skied on the mountain behind my house.
It's a so-called plastic boot ski. When I went to elementary school, I followed my uncle who worked as a lift worker at Yunomaru Ski Resort and made my debut on the slopes. My father also skied, so he used to take me skiing at Sugadaira."
Focusing on basic skiing with the aim of improving technique
Wanting to continue skiing, he entered Ueda Chikuma High School, which has a ski club. Our home ski slope is Sugadaira Kogen, which is a sacred place for sports training camps and has a deep skiing history. I skied the hard, narrow, and steep advanced course day in and day out, honing my skills with a high percentage of clear skies. During a joint ski camp with other schools, he was made to jump across the moat of Ueda Castle, and the thought of quitting the club crossed his mind, but he continued to ski for the sake of skiing.
After graduating from high school, he entered the Japan Sports and Recreation College (JaSRA) in his hometown of Sugadaira, aiming to compete in the national polity. The national polity competition was limited to qualifying, but I wanted to become even better at skiing, so as soon as I turned 20, I got certified as an associate instructor and started working at Hakuba Happo-One Ski School. Then, I started basic skiing with the aim of getting into the technical exam.
"I could see the Northern Alps from my window. In October and November, it turned completely white, and I was walking to school looking at the mountains, thinking that it had already rained in Hakuba. It was wide and had a big slope. I've always admired Hakuba, and the Nagano Olympics were there there. I came to Hakuba in 1998. At first, the snow was so soft that I couldn't ski at all. At Sugadaira, I was able to ski if I used the edges somehow, but at Hakuba, the soft snow acts as a resistance and I can't ski as much as I want. No. I felt the depth of skiing.”
After working at Happo-one as an instructor for about 20 years, he changed jobs as a company employee, and at the age of 33, started going to the mountains to become a serious rider and guide.
``After getting my guide qualification, I worked as a mountain climbing guide in the summer.The summer customers had so many different requests, such as wanting to see flowers and taking pictures, that it was a bit too difficult for me, so I decided to stay in the summer. I stopped working as a guide for Bokkaya Elementary School, which is now part of the TV filming team. I work in the mountains with the Tanimura Mountain Guide Association, helping to maintain mountain trails and replace signposts.When I'm not working in the mountains, I work part-time at a sheet metal shop, such as relining roofs.''
Without any knowledge of plants or cameras, I'm a guide. There are probably 50,000 people who continue to do so. I could tell that Sato was a guide who wanted to meet the needs of his customers at a high level.
Mr. Kuroda's trusted BC guide
Sato acquired the Ski Guide Stage II certification in March 2018 and began working as a backcountry guide in Hakuba.
``I worked at Niki Minatoyuki's ``Port Snow'' and Mamoru Takahashi's ``Power Zone'' for five or six years.Of course, we have a variety of customers. I felt there was a risk in going to the snowy mountains with me based on only one-sided information
.'' After leaving ``Power Zone,'' I have only been introducing people I know, such as acquaintances, to the snowy mountains. There is no public recruitment, and first-time applicants are not accepted. They were determined to take a safety margin. However, Makoto Kuroda, an international mountain guide, encouraged him to become independent and open his doors to everyone.
``Thankfully, Mr. Kuroda is a great senior who has been indebted to me, such as teaching me how to behave on the mountain even though I had only skied, and introducing Mr. Kuroda's customers to my lessons.'' With that reassuring encouragement, I created a website and started my company this season."
Mr. Kuroda, who supported Sato, evaluates him as follows.
``Mr. Sato is good at skiing, has good physical strength, and has no issues with other aspects of being a guide, and I think he has a good personality, which makes him a good guide.He's not the type of person who gets a lot of attention in the media. However, I thought that it would be a guide that would be properly evaluated by customers who understand the subject matter.
I also like the fact that the selling point is safety, not risk. I think they understand that instead of showing them around to amazing places, they want to take them to fun places.”
Mr. Kuroda is an international guide who contributes to the development of young guides as a lecturer at the International Natural Environment and Outdoor College and as an examiner for guide qualifications. Mr. Kuroda, who has seen hundreds of aspiring guides, gives his approval.
``The house in Hakuba that I bought second-hand was called ``Tabiya'' by the neighbors, so I decided to give the guide the name ``Tabiya.''It's ``Tabiya'' in kanji.''
Do you mean an original ski shop that opens up the mountain and doesn't compare itself to others? When I asked the AI, Sato laughed and said, ``No, when I asked the AI, what do you think of this Takuhiya?'' (laughs).
I want to teach beginners and intermediates how to ski on snowy mountains.
As mentioned above, at Takuhiya, first-time customers first participate in a half-day ``Nice to meet you tour.'' Therefore, they assess their skills and identify the next class they should participate in.
``If you don't do this, you won't be able to protect yourself, and your customers will also have a hard time.It's important to take the right steps.If you skip too many steps, your skills and knowledge will be half-baked.'' There are many companies in Hakuba that offer tours for advanced and expert skiers, but I focus on snowy mountain skiing for beginners and intermediate skiers. I want to teach them everything. In reality, there is a wide range of intermediate players, and there are probably many who have hit a wall. Ultimately, I want to be able to push intermediate players who are unable to become experts.
it comes to determining a customer's physical strength, skill, and personality, and choosing a teaching method that suits that person, it is inevitable that the number of students will be small and elite.
``When it comes to guiding alone, there are at most three people.If there are four or five people and I feel uneasy, I immediately ask for a sub-guide.''
Since he has been an instructor at Happo-one for a long time, you might think that his main guiding area is Happo, but his main area is Tsugaike Plateau in Otari Village.
"At Tsugaike, you can gain altitude by riding the gondola, and you can choose from a variety of slopes. Direction, length, slope. There are many options. As you walk, check the snow quality of various slopes, and check out the information for the day. We sometimes take our regulars who are tired of Hakuba to Shiga Kogen.''
Why don't you go to the popular Happo-one, where you used to go during your impressionable years in your 20s and 30s?
``I go there for fun, but I rarely go with other guests. It's too risky to suddenly go down a big slope with so many skiers. I also don't like it when my judgment becomes clouded.I tend to be biased and make bad decisions, which can lead to accidents. I don't want to wake up, so I avoid places where there are a lot of people.Since the customers come to relax and refresh themselves, I want to take them to a quiet mountain area where there are only 10 people. If you ski, there will be nowhere to skate.''
On the day of the guide, the routine from waking up in the morning to going to the site is an essential routine. We also ask that customers be contacted about the meeting location in the morning of the day if possible.
``I wake up in the morning when it's dark, and use a snow blower to shovel snow in front of my house, checking the amount of snow and moisture content in the snow.Then, I go to my computer and use Powder Research to check the amount of snow. , watch live cameras of ski resorts and national highways, Hakuba Happo-one Ski Resort Kengo Moriyama, who is in charge of avalanche management, has installed anemometers in various places, and after checking the data (scheduled to be made available to the public from this season), we decide on the area to climb. The process is to inform Mr. of the meeting place.''
The late-blooming devil goes his own way.
The late-blooming devil goes his own way.
The demon that hates things that are the same as other people has also permeated clothing and gear.
``I've been wearing Mammut for about 10 years, but last year I started using the British brand Rab.It's designed for the wearer, made with good materials, and well made. It's cheap, and it's reliable because it's been field-tested in England, where it rains a lot.''
When I was young and just started mountain skiing, I didn't have much money and it was difficult to buy gear. Mr. Matsumoto of the Hakuba ski shop ``Lappy'' couldn't see himself in that situation, so he supported me and said, ``Then you should use this.'' ``Rappy'' has been handling Rab since last year. Now it's his turn to return the favor, and he's enthusiastic about spreading the word about Rab to customers as the Rab Hakuba sales manager.
I also changed my mind when it came to skiing, switching from Blizzard to WAPAN, an up-and-coming Japanese brand made in Colorado, USA.
``Last season, I test drove the center 122 ``I'' and the center 105 ``RO'' at Tsugaike, and they felt really good. With the transition to skiing, my boots changed from Technica to Dynafit.''I
started a company, updated my clothing and gear, and made a new start. The 48-year-old is a late bloomer as an independent guide, but it looks like he's going to be busy.
``Just because I created a website doesn't mean I'm going to have customers, so I think I'll be spending more days hanging out with Shin Matsubara as I have been doing so far (lol).I need to stretch my legs and see all the different slopes. , I don't think it's quite possible to hit the best part of the moment right away, so it's important to have fun (lol).''
A small group of elite beginners and intermediate players head to a quiet mountain area. Dressed in clothing and skis that no one else wears, he generously shares the skills he has cultivated with skinny Sugadaira and fluffy Hakuba.
``I don't like working with large groups, so I want to continue to be the kind of person and company that can poke at the corners of the business.People call this a niche business model, but that's just a nuisance (lol).''
【Profile】
Masaaki Sato
Born in 1976 in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture. Representative of "Takuhiya", a guide based in Hakuba and Otari. Dedicated to competitive skiing from childhood to high school, and after learning basic skiing, entered the world of snowy mountains. He has about 20 years of experience working at Hakuba Happo-One Ski School, and has a reputation for providing easy-to-understand lessons on skiing techniques on snowy mountains. After gaining experience in snowy mountains at "Power Zone Hakuba" etc., he became independent from the 2024/25 season. The BC area we specialize in is the Otari Village area, including Hakuba and Tsugaike. Holds Climbing Guide Stage II and Ski Guide Stage II certified by the Japan Mountain Guide Association. Former SAJ regular instructor.
Qualifications: Certified by Japan Mountain Guide Association (JMGA)
, Mountaineering Guide Stage II , Ski Guide Stage II
TABIYA Website
: https://tabiya.jp/Official
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