Feb. 10-25, 2013 Skiing/visiting in Japan

I wanted to capture a few thoughts about what worked well, and not so well about my recent trip to Japan.  First, this is a sample size of one, so don't take this for the last word in skiing in Japan.  Most of the skiing research was done on line, with a few books thrown in for good measure, Ski Japan by TR Reid, while dated now was quite useful even today.  The web site Powder Hounds was very useful, and I used it a lot.  We decided to take our ski gear, only because we intended to do some touring.  If I was just going to resort ski I think I would rent, I visited with plenty of folks that were renting, and they were quite happy with the selections, and quality of the equipment.  That includes clothing as well, seemed to be quite common from what I could tell.  I put inserts in all our skies, so I could remove the bindings and get by with a smaller ski bag, this worked great, but I'm not sure i would do it with two pairs of skies.  After we finished skiing, we were able to store all our skiing equipment at the airport, this was kinda expensive, but worth it not to have to lug the extra stuff around.   For transportation, we flew out of Seattle straight to Osaka (11 hrs) a short layover, then up to Sapporo (2 hrs).  This was a long slog, but it made for minimal handling of bags, and seemed to work fine.  We knew we would be dog tired when we got in so we elected to stay right near the airport in Chitose (a suburb of Sapporo) and chose a hotel with shuttle service.  It seemed like most of the hotels were very much accustom to catering to skiers and buses were readily available  to go just about anywhere there was a ski resort.  The train,  which can be a stressful operation, unless you speak and read Japanese will get you just about anywhere, and on time as well.  We used the train and bought a Japan rail pass, and it was very cost effective (this is easier to purchased before you enter the country).   We arrived at the tail end of the peak season, and there were some benefits to that, but  over all, I think I would target the last week in Feb, or the first few weeks of March.  We caught the last night of the Ice Sculpting Festival in Sapporo and I would sure recommend that.  We decided to go to Niseko United a collection of four resorts that cascade off a shared mountain.  We used a buss for the transportation from Sapporo to Niseko, this worked great, and we were met by the people that operated the hostel we stayed in. Shizenken is the name of the hostel and can be reached by searching for Niseko Backpacker, they are wonder full people, speak great English, and bend over backward to be helpful. This place gets snow and there was about 10 or 15 feet on the flats around town.  There is a great transportation system throughout the resort (free), as well as getting into town (a small fee).  This place is a powder mecca, and as such there is plenty of competition, think Alta, and like any big resort there is a fair amount of time spent  learning where the good lines are.  If I was only going to ski for one or two days I would seriously consider hiring a guide, there are several in the area, I had good reports on Black Diamond Tours.  There are a number of resorts within striking distance of Niseko, and from what I hear they are well worth checking out.  Niseko is an extremely popular resort for Australians, and New Zealanders and there were plenty of them around, in fact it may be one of the few places in Japan where visitors out number Japanese.  The food was fantastic, the lift tickets were very reasonable, the snow was fantastic, and the people were very helpful. We took a tour on a near by volcano, Mt. Yotie with Hokkaido Powder Guides and that was great fun,  and they were very accommodating.  The weather was a serious issue most of the time we were there, snow, low visibility wind and cold.  No such thing as goggles that are too good, down coats that are too warm, or shells that are too wind proof, but the snow was great. a few pictures:

Mt Yotie





Ice Sculptures:















Maps:









Niseko:





Shoes off, and sore knees:



Great views, once in awhile:











Note the covers on the chairs, so nice:







If you are thinking about Japan for a ski trip. I highly recommend it.

Looks like a great trip. Thanks for the beta!

We had a great time in Hakuba 5 years ago. But warmer, more like Bend/Bachelor.

This looks great! I want to go...

Thanks for sharing.