Looking for New Members

 H.I.O.C is looking for new members for the up and coming spring and summer season.

If you love the outdoors and can speak English and love meeting people and make new friends and have a good time then we are looking for you.

Just contact us and ask to be a member if you live in Hokkaido or if you are just visiting ask us what our next event is.

Hope you can join us, Can't wait to meet you.

Contact person: Rick Siddle
Email: richardsiddle@hotmail.co.uk

Oku-Teine Hut Back Country Ski Trip

On March 2nd & 3rd 2013. Leon & Rick from the H.I.O.C Back Country Ski Group enjoyed a great weekend trip to the hut at Oku-Teine in the back hills of Sapopro in the Teine mountain range .
The trek to the hut takes around 3 to 4 hours if the weather is nice and a lot longer if it isn't. There is no marked trail to the hut so it is up to you to find it.
You have to carry everything that you would need at the hut like food, sleeping and cooking gear, etc. The hut has 3 floors. The ground floor is for cooking and just chilling out and the other two floors are for sleeping.

Rick at the starting point of the trip

The little hiking hut under snow at the starting point

Rick at the start of the Oku-Teine BC trip

Leon at the start of the Oku-Teine BC trip

Rick on the Oku-teine back country ski trip

Rick on the Oku-teine back country ski trip

Leon on the Oku-teine back country ski trip

Oku-Teine Hut

Rick inside the Oku-Teine Hut

Dinner at Oku-Tenie hut

Rick looking happy to have a hot meal after a hard day

Tai Green Curry

Always good to have a couple of beers & sake

Inside Oku-Teine hut

Leon checking the map for the next day

up stairs looking down

The big iron fire hearth at the Oku-Teine hut

The 2nd floor and one of the sleeping areas at the hut

Breakfast at Oju-Teine hut

Breakfast at Oju-Teine hut

Breakfast at Oju-Teine hut

Leon heading out for a ski

Rick walking up the hill for a ski

Looking down at the Oku-Teine hut

Rick skiing back to the hut

Rick skiing back to the hut

Rick skiing back to the hut

Rick skiing back to the hut

heading out from Oku-Teine hut

heading out from Oku-Teine hut

heading out from Oku-Teine hut

heading out from Oku-Teine hut

Trekking out and back to our car

Trekking out and back to our car

The car covered from over night snow

Ready to head back to Sapporo and home

Mt Shiraoi-dake & Mt Sapporo-dake BC Video

Here is a video made by Maxwell Downman of our Back Country Ski Trip to Mt Shiraoi-dake & Mt Sapporo-dake on Feb 9th - 10th - 11th of 2013.

Click this link for the video of the BC trip to Mt Shiraoi-dake & Mt Sapporo-dake

Wakasagi Ice Fishing

On Saturday Feb 23rd 2013. 6 members of H.I.O.C enjoyed a fun time ice fishing for "Wakasagi" on the river at Shintotsu town. When we got there the weather was very windy and really cold so we decided to fish in the glass huts they there which made things comfortable and was very warm.
We were all beginners at Wakasagi fishing so we didn't catch so much but had a good time and enjoyed

Leon at the office with the fishing gear

The fishing huts on the river

The fishing huts

Our fishing hut, nice and warm

inside the fishing hut

Leon trying to bait his hook and not doing a good job

All the rods in the water waiting to catch a fish

Got one !

Got another wakasagi

More wakasagi

Leon got one

The fishing huts

Ice fishing outside

Ice fishing outside but really cold

Everyone trying ard to catch a fish

All done for the day and ready for an onsen

Waiting to eat our catch

Wakasagi

Yummy wakasagi !

The fishing huts in the early evening

Outside the onsen

The onsen