What it was like to share the Aomori Spring slopes with Olympic gold medallist Kaitlyn Farrington
I don’t think there are many places in the world where you can “hire” a snowboarding Olympic gold medallist for the day, but that’s exactly what’s on offer at Aomori Spring, in the far north of the main island of Honshu, just across the sea from Hokkaido.
I visited Aomori Spring in February 2024 (see my full resort review here) and was offered the chance to spend a few days on the hill with Kaitlyn Farrington, halfpipe gold medallist in Sochi 2014 and the first female rider to perform a backside 1080. Officially, she wasn’t available as a guide to the general public yet, but the plan is to start offering her services for the 2024-25 season at ¥60,000 for half a day or ¥100,000 for a full day for up to 6 people. (Which is competitively priced as many guided tours cost up to ¥250,000 or more for a group of 6).
On the slopes in Aomori Spring with Olympic gold medallist Kaitlyn Farrington
This isn’t your ordinary guided tour, though. I’m reasonably confident it’s unique in Japan to have an English-speaking female snowboarder guide, but it’s certainly unique to get to spend the day with an Olympian.
Kaitlyn was very friendly and patient with us. She was happy to chat about her life on the tour and even let us pose with her gold medal. It was like riding with a friend rather than a guide. As there was plenty of fresh snow and not much competition for it, we spent the first two days riding the in-bounds runs and the lift-accessed trees. It was far more relaxed than the usual guiding experience.
Exclusive access to first gondola
One of the best perks of a guided tour at Aomori Spring is that you can take the gondola up at 8am, which is only available to tour groups (it opens to the public at 8:30 am). You can then ride fresh, untouched groomed runs on your way to making first tracks in the unpisted black runs. Being the only group on the hill is a special feeling.
As she led us around the resort, showing us the hidden power stashes and the areas to avoid, I realised what a difference it makes riding with someone who knows a resort inside out – especially somewhere like Aomori Spring with a completely relaxed attitude towards people riding in the trees. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be nerve-racking finding new routes, and inevitably, you end up getting stuck and hiking out. Kaitlyn completely took away the worry about where to go and what runs to take. She said, “let’s play follow the leader”, and that’s exactly what we did for three wonderful days.
The Aomori Spring course map. Image: aomorispring.com
When I’ve done in-resort guiding before, it’s always had a bit of an underlying macho attitude. There’s not much rest time for the slower riders, and there’s always a rush to get as far as you can as fast as you can. Some of the relaxed attitude here comes from the resort and the very low competition for fresh lines, but in my opinion, this has a lot to do with having a female guide. Our group was of mixed ability, but there was never any feeling of a need to hurry or pressure to keep up.
Obviously, there are boarders who want to push it hard when with a guide, but for those who don’t or can’t, riding with Kaitlyn at Aomori Spring is a different option that can meet these needs (of course, you have the option to go big with Kaitlyn if that’s what you’re looking for). If you want to progress your off-piste riding, this is the ideal place, with the perfect guide. Kaitlyn is just as happy hiking in the backcountry as she is messing around on the green runs.
Most of the tree riding here is mellow, but it’s still loads of fun, and you can get fresh tracks all day long. There are some steeper “At Your Own Risk Area” tree runs on the second peak served by the two-seater Diamond chairlift. Run DG-2, skier’s right of the chair, is steeper with wide gaps and clearings with some interesting features and ridges. The trees to skier’s left, DG-3, feed down into a gulley, which you can either ride down into thicker forest or cut back onto Twister Course if you stay right of the gulley. The middle section of trees, DG-2, is shorter but nicely spaced and gives you a chance to show off to the people on the lift.
Run DG-2 is the narrow strip of trees flanked by two runs on the 2nd peak at Aomori Spring
When I previously visited for a few days just after Japan reopened to international visitors post-Covid, the resort was almost deserted and we spent nearly all our time here lapping the Diamond Lift. Now that I know my way around, I can see there’s so much more to explore in the trees all over the resort and above the lifts.
Easy-access sidecountry
On our third day, the sun came out with breathtaking views across the sea to Hokkaido.
We decided to hike up above the Diamond chair and access the sidecountry to skier’s right of tree run DG-2. Just a short 20-minute hike opened up fresh lines with wide-open trees that fed back into the gulley at the bottom of DG-2.
Sadly, we had left it a day too late, and it was a little sun-exposed and heavy, but we got a great taste of the easy-access sidecountry here. The face we took was very different from the in-bounds terrain, with a consistently steep pitch all the way to the bottom. Snow has started to roll down the hill and form small snowballs. With soft powder, this would be an amazing run.
The face has a decent 30-35-degree pitch
You might wonder why an ex-pro is guiding in Japan. Apart from the fact that she just loves snowboarding, Kaitlyn had to retire at 25 after a bad fall uncovered a congenital spine condition. She also guides in Argentina with SASS.
We broke for lunch each day at the excellent ramen restaurant at the bottom of the Quad 1 chairlift. One of the great things about spending a day with Kaitlyn is that she’s happy to chat over lunch about life as a pro snowboarder and tell stories about her travels, her injury, and life after retiring from professional competition. Unbelievably, she was preparing to go to the moon as first backup for the dearMoon project in 2023, but sadly, the program has now been cancelled.
Guiding isn’t just for experts
There is a regular skier-led guiding program at Aomori Spring with local guide Kenji. You can hike up through the snow monsters and above the tree line to the peak of Mt Iwaki. This is a more serious undertaking and requires backcountry experience and the ability to hike for up to three hours. This is a typical requirement for backcountry tours, but it does tend to scare off those of us who want to go more off the beaten track but don’t have the required experience or fitness.
You don’t have to go big and hard or take risks that you aren’t comfortable with when hiring a guide – and guided tours aren’t just for experts. If you get the right guide, it can be an amazing, relaxed, fun experience that will help you progress. It will also help you get the most out of an unfamiliar resort and give you the freedom and security to do things you wouldn’t normally do in a resort you don’t know. If Kaitlyn is available for the coming season, make sure you get in touch with the Rockwood Hotel and book a day or two with her. You won’t regret it.
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