My first trip to Japan, skied with fellow snowheads rob@rar, touchguru and ctski.
Overall impressions were it's a great place to visit if you like skiing in deep, fresh snow, or freshly refreshed pistes. It's not a good place to visit if you like skiing in the sun or suffer badly from jet lag.
The whole experience is very, very different to skiing in Europe, the people are really friendly, the service is great, the night skiing is just amazing to see and ski in.
It certainly is a long slog to get there, I left my house in Leeds at 5am and arrived in resort some 36 hours later, flying Manchester -> Heathrow -> Tokyo -> Sapporo with a bus ride to resort.
We did the trip through http://japanskiexperience.com/ who were very helpful and have the added benefit of Ben being in resort.
The self catering apartment put the french to shame, large and spacious with flat screen TV, iPod inputs for music, and all mod cons inc a wasting machine and dryer! The view from the front room shows how much snow they've had already
This was outside of our ski locker room.
This mean we had our ski passes pre-booked a little cheaper than buying direct, and more importantly for me, Ben showed us around the ski area on the first day, pointing out the gated access to the various back country areas and also tips on how to quickly get out of them. The high gate allows access to a 20min boot pack, for some absolutely fabulous snow, and a long trip out through the woods or a slog up a cat track, depending where you come out.
Tuesday 31st Jan 2012
This is us on the first morning, with the peak in the background. We arrived in falling snow the night before and were very lucky to have a bluebird day on our first day. The benefit of this became apparent later in the week when the weather closed in, but we had our bearings by then.
With such good visibility we politely thanked Ben for his guided tour, and finished early, wanting to get into the gated areas asap.
We weren't disappointed, finding some lovely untracked snow
Once again visibility was good, and we'd tracked out most easily accessible areas, so decided to hike to the top with the stunning volcano view in the background.
Some more video from the first two days, showing the interesting single person chairlift that you use to access the top gates.
We awoke to grey skies and no fresh snow overnight, but the forecast was promising for more snow to arrive and build during the day. We decided to review our options with a view to perhaps hiring a guide and/or going to a different area to try and find some untracked snow. This obviously angered the Niseko ski gods, who then ensured it snowed non stop for the rest of our holiday. The plan was to take it easy and go out skiing late afternoon, and carry on through into the night skiing.
The plan worked very well, the snow fell all day and our first night skiing experience was something to be remembered.
This video was all edited on an iPad, first time I've travelled without a laptop, and pleasantly surprised by how much can be done on the iPad. It's a bit dark as I'd forgotten to remove the ND2 filter!
We knew we were in for a good day when we stepped into the Lucky 50 gondola! The morning especially was great with fresh tracks in great snow off the gondola for a few laps. Travelled around a bit, with the best snow on the Hirafu side of the hill although found some nice stuff around Annupuri as well
No time for pics, so just some more helmet camera action!
With the peak gates being closed the day before and over 1m of fresh, we thought a trip to the top was in order. It was a brutal boot pack in driving snow and very high winds, but so worth it at the end for very deep snow and face shots!
The snow was coming down very heavily as the day drew to an end
Sun 5th Feb 2012
We decided to try a new area today, where you have to listen to an avalanche training course, and then ski with a buddy and wear a bib! It was worth it as the snow was very, very deep in there and was coming down hard all day.
Mon 6th Feb 2012
Last day! We decided to ski some of our favourite areas and were going to walk the peak, but due to the temps warming up a little, there was a mist hanging over the top of the peak, making visibility very poor, so we stayed a little lower down and were rewarded with some fantastic snow and fresh tracks. The warmth meant the snow wasn't super light and fluffy, but it was still very nice to ski in!
The last section of the track home we hit a road, you can see how much snow there is by the banks we ski past
There is some more video to be edited for the last two days….
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
nice
snow looks even better than zinal last year
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
kitenski, great TR. The night skiing (inter alia) looks absolutely magical.
One question: is Rob having a little sit down in the photo immediately above the date 'Sunday 5 February' or is he actually skiing?!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
kitenski, thanks for the report. Those pics bring back some memories too, I remember sitting on top of that peak a few times waiting for the sun to peep through a little so we could navigate a bit.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Pedantica wrote:
One question: is Rob having a little sit down in the photo immediately above the date 'Sunday 5 February' or is he actually skiing?!
No, I was sitting down (waiting for CSki to catch up with us after the fast traverse through the trees at the bottom of the main peak runs).
After all it is free
After all it is free
rob@rar, Disappointed no GS skis all on cheaters
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rob@rar, oh good. It's just that the snow looks so deep, I thought less of you might have been visible if you'd been sitting down! You look a bit like an abandoned gnome sitting on a hidden toadstool!
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Mosha Marc, overall thoughts, I really enjoyed it. I'd go back, but probably will need to earn some brownie points! It's a long way and the place does get tracked out fairly quickly, but the constant snow refresh means you can nearly always find good snow. I think in Japan terms our snow was just "ok", not epic.
It's a completely different experience to Europe or the USA.
Even 2 days after 20cm fell we found some untracked stuff, and then saw some others boot packing an opposite mountain to get onto a completely fresh face...
Cynic, there was lots of discussion on GS skis, but given the BA 23kg weight limit we had to pick one set of skis to see us through the week....
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kitenski, well done great report and pics, cant wait to follow in your footsteps
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
kitenski, nice report. Not much to add, other than a few more photos and another video clip. We were in resort for 8 days and it snowed non-stop for 6 of those. Not the huge snowstorms that often hit the area, but a steady 30-40cm every day. So by Niseko standards not their absolute best conditions, although by just about any other yardstick that's exceptional snow. That meant that every day the previous day's tracks were mostly filled in. Just about every run we did was skied on untracked snow or lightly chopped powder that was just as enjoyable as making fresh tracks. One thing worth mentioning, although it snowed for most of the time we were there the visibility is generally good as the peak is relatively low (therefore you're below the cloud base) and there is lots of tree-skiing. There was only one day when a stubbornly low cloud base affected our ski plans.
Interesting comment from Cynic about skis - I was on a pair of Volkl somethingorother which were 110mm underfoot. Some of the time I would have preferred something a bit narrower, although the one afternoon when there was a very gentle wind-crust I was happy to be on a ski that fat. For me the important question when you are skiing snow that nice is "do I want to be in it or on it?"
I know the snow's relatively light so nice and skiable even at low angles but do you hav eany thoughts on average gradient of terrain? Can't really tell if rob's steep photo of touchguru is cheating by manipulating the horizon.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
fatbob, there's not much that's steep, with low to mid 30 degrees I'd guess being typicall of the pitches we enjoyed the most, with some stuff that is gentler and one or two short pitches that are steeper (maybe up to 40 degrees). The photo of touchguru was taken when I was "resting" in the snow and he skied towards me, hence the odd angle.
shoogly, night skiing japanese style is 50% of the whole mountain open (hence even off piste is lit up), very different to night skiing I've seen in Europe with 1 or 2 pistes open
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Great trip report and pics. Is the Powder over there dryer/lighter than Europe?
Talk about going "big in Japan", where did you get the water skis from?
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After all it is free
DB wrote:
Great trip report and pics. Is the Powder over there dryer/lighter than Europe?
Talk about going "big in Japan", where did you get the water skis from?
Yes generally lighter and dryer...but it's also relentless, we had 2 days without snow, 5 days when it snowed virtually every day and night...
Water skis? they fattest we had was WhiteDot Redeemers at 128mm underfoot, I was on 112mm underfoot as was Rob (or something similiar)
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kitenski wrote:
Yes generally lighter and dryer...but it's also relentless, we had 2 days without snow, 5 days when it snowed virtually every day and night...
Oh you poor things.
kitenski wrote:
Water skis? they fattest we had was WhiteDot Redeemers at 128mm underfoot, I was on 112mm underfoot as was Rob (or something similiar)
Up until recently I was skiing powder on 76mm waisted skis (now on 87mm). 128mm looks like Was just wondering wether its because the snow is lighter & deeper in Japan and you need that sort of width to stay afloat (or you are all just a big bunch of cheaters. )
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DB, your opening a huge can of worms!! I believe Mike Pow skis Japan on skinny skis... we did debate what it would be like on skinny skis.......
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DB wrote:
Oh you poor things.
Actually, silly though it sounds there are times in Japan when you wish for some slightly heavier powder. You can be skiing on 30cm of fresh snow and still hitting windcrust underneath because the snow's so damn light and fluffy. I admit that if the powder was heavier then you wouldn't have 30cm of it, but it does mean adjusting your expectations a little from what you're used to in the alps
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
kitenski wrote:
DB, your opening a huge can of worms!! I believe Mike Pow skis Japan on skinny skis... we did debate what it would be like on skinny skis.......
AFAIK he's on Movement Jams which are a skinny 85mm waist but they have a big nose (136mm). Suppose when the ski is too skiiny you need a lot more speed = not much turning and a real challenge in the trees. Was Japan similar to the USA powder resorts where virtually everyone going offpiste was on 110mm+ waisted skis?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
kitenski, Great report and photos, looks awesome.
Good to see the Redeemers in the pow too. I was in St Anton last week with my Redeemers playing in the powder and my Mantras never even made it out of the ski-bag, truly brilliant skis.............hardly call it cheating, just the right tool for the job IMO
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
DB, there was certainly alot of fat skis around!
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
DB wrote:
Was Japan similar to the USA powder resorts where virtually everyone going offpiste was on 110mm+ waisted skis?
There was a large proportion of skis that fat, but not exclusively so. Can't recall seeing many skis being carried up to the peak gates which were much narrower than mid-90s, but other parts of the hill were being skied on a wider range of ski widths. touchguru did say that he was enjoying his Redeemers, but they were a bit challenging in the trees as they weren't especially turny.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Fri 10-02-12 13:17; edited 1 time in total
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Super report, will miss the FB updates each morning with your pics of powder and great snow. Maybe next year if I can sell more fat skis
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Sorry to go off-thread.........
livetoski, Might be up for a pair of 168 Directors for my OH as a surprise, will let you know. Any Marker bindings for her at the right price too? F12's/ Barons? She's 58kg.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
ChrisWo, I never asked you how were the directors out there???
The largest 24-hr snowfall this winter at village level has been 44cm on Christmas Eve, and the largest I've recorded in my 6 winters to date is 70 cm.
The 20-30cm 24-hr 'dump' is the norm.
The Niseko Resort Area is getting tracked out quicker than in previous winters, and the size of the tool is a huge contributory factor IMHO. And the packs of Scandanavians roaming the slopes.
But there are alternatives to the marquee routes in the Niseko Resort Area, and beyond. The most useful knowledge I've found in the ski world is local knowledge.
I'm currently on Movement Jam skis as DB pointed out. This was due to the fact that I was skiing Europe last winter - Switzerland, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Wales - where the powder is more wind and sun affected than Hokkaido and heavier. And I am using them as my quiver of one resort and touring ski.
They are 136-85-117 in a 173 cm length
Whilst they have a big shovel they have no rocker, and with the combination of my height and weight - 188cm and 95 kg - and skiing fairly quick all over the mountain getting deep and getting face shots is not an issue.
When I first came to Hokkaido I was on 170cm Salomon slalom skis with dimensions of 125-65-114 and had no problem skiing the powder and was consistently deeper than I am now.
If I could find a ski with a smilar profile that's sold flat so I can mount my Dynafit bindings then I would change in a heartbeat.
If you're prepared to ski at the speeds of the pros who promote the longer, fatter skis then you'll have no trouble getting deep and getting face shot after face shot.
Markymark29, missed that post sorry, give me a call the numbers top right of my web site
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
kitenski, Just out of curiosity How was the apres scene in niseko, any recommendations or no/no's
After all it is free
After all it is free
kitenski, the Directors were good - I'd only done 2 days on them before heading out, so I wouldn't say I was totally comfortable on them yet anyway. But they did everything I wanted and didn't do anything I didn't want...which is all you can ask really! My last skis (Line Prophets) had a bit of a tendency to nose dive and the rocker on the Directors helped a lot. I did feel a bit like I should've been on something bigger though
Mike Pow makes an excellent point about face shots and ski width though...Mrs W (on her shorter, 'skinny' 97mm skis) was well "in" the snow most of the time, whereas I think I was probably floating on top much more. The day we counted face shots, she was on 20+ by lunch to my 4 (with thebongolian also on 4)!
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kitenski, great TR and good to bump into you guys a few times including at Mizuno no Sawa which continues to deliver the goods.
ChrisWo, in my defence Mrs W is a good foot shorter than me - I'd get as many faceshots as her if I was the same height!
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Great report, I'd love to have 10 days or so out there.
What's the average sort of cost for a ski trip to Niseko ? Ballpark figure ?
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
great report and pics, cant wait to follow in your footsteps 
Was just wondering wether its because the snow is lighter & deeper in Japan and you need that sort of width to stay afloat (or you are all just a big bunch of cheaters. 
