You’ve likely heard about skiing in Japan: 600 inches of snowfall each year, with 140 inches per month during February and March. All that, plus sushi, hot springs, and a $45 lift ticket for combined access to the three resorts that make up Niseko. It’s no wonder why Sweetgrass Productions decided to shoot their entire ski movie there last winter. This fall, the result of their winter-long stint in Japan debuts—it’s called Signatures. Here’s what producer Nick Waggoner had to say about skiing in Japan: “We have seen powder that would instantly destroy all other aspirations for other, lesser miracles. The Japanese compare January to the womb, and when the snow flows over your head, and your helmet is just a ripple on the snow surface, you can’t tell up from down, it just becomes you.” We think he might have eaten too much raw fish when he said this, but either way, the skiing sounds sweet. Here are some images from Sweetgrass photographer Michael Brown.
