Japan - Hokkaido skiing questions

A snowHead

You are right to listen to @Mikepow. He has a huge amount of experience. One question you asked was about escaping tourists. You will not do this at any time staying in Hirafu or Kitanomine. These are the local hills for young Australian, Hong Kong and Singaporian boarders who like to traverse across the fall line to avoid turning. Hire a car, be prepared to dig it out in the morning, and there are big free car parks next to the main lifts in every Hokkaido resort which is better than doing a hike up from your accommodation. Also, March can be getting warm so focus more in the experience than the skiing - it got ridiculously warm this year at that time - as you would with any long-haul destination. Oharu is special if you are ok with seafood and is very Japanese with many "local" resorts around Sapporo. Teine is worth visiting for the Olympic infrastructure alone. If going toward Niseko/Rusutsu think about staying in Kutchan, if Furano stay in Furano itself rather than Kitanomine. Asahikawa is a personal favourite - lots of small ski stations around and a fantastic Japanese city with loads to see and do. Oharu is probably the best though for the amount of time you have.

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I missed Asahikawa so far. Looking at the map and all those small ski stations around whet my appetite. An idea is brewing inside my head for circa 10-27 January of either Asahikawa+Otaru or Nozawa Onsen + Myoko Onsen. Will hire a car as usual (new driver’s permit translation is on its way to me).
Any tips on Asahikawa’s accommodation, dinner spots and local hills is much appreciated. Hopefully useful as a consideration for the OP.

Flying directly to Tokyo and driving 4-5 hours to Nozawa is more or less the same as a short connecting flight to Sapporo and 1 hour drive to Otaru or 2.5 hour drive to Asahikawa.

With a bit of planning and preparation jet lag is not an issue. Plenty of advice online of how to prepare and what to do on a plane depending on a time of traveling.

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@Mike Pow, @22 dropout Skiing in Japan is on our bucket list. Never really got on with trees but being able to take advantage of any powder days would be a bonus. Grew up in North East NA so used to concept of driving to local resorts.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Mike Pow, salivating and knees trembling reading all ski spot names - hahaha. Now the difficult part - breaking the news to missus … wish me luck.
Did not consider flying to Asahikawa instead of Sapporo. Will check details.

After all it is free

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@mooney058, I'm in the same boat. Two trips under the belt, next one in planning. Laughing

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Call it a reconnaissance for a future trip with her, as you will almost certainly want to return.

I say again, @MikePow is right. I know hard core skiers that have been to Hokkaido and come back disappointed. Hokkaido is real Japan, but not what you see on TV. It is a relatively newly populated island with a harsh winter climate where you farm in summer and shift snow in winter, surrounded by dormant & active volcanos, and Russia is a stones' throw away. You are unlikely to have the skiing experience of your life without the help of a guide, a tour group or some good research. For the latter Powderhounds is accurate and Rob at Hokkaido Wilds is an amazing backcountry resource.

When in Asahikawa we stay at the JR Inn. It is dead central, has undercover parking, is above a mall and food court and has an Onsen and laundry facilities. It is weird though, as it is used to skiers but has no facilities for them. One tip, do not get a larger car than you need. At -20 you will simply struggle to get the cabin warm.

Some of the ski hills are very small e.g. Canmore, Santa etc., but when it is snowing heavily powder is powder and you will have it mostly to yourself. The main resorts are Pippu and Kamui. Asahidake is special when it snows or is sunny, especially if you have touring kit. For me the real draw though is the backcountry around Horokanai, 1 hour west of Asahikawa where 2 passes give access to many routes of sublime cold dry powder with easy skinning. One hour south is Tokachidake with its alpine volcanic peaks and fantastic tours (weather permitting).

Asahikawa is mainly about noodles and the zoo. People eat early there though so don't head out after 7.30pm or you might be disappointed. The noodle and Yakatori places in the centre are all good. The food court on the 4th floor of the mall is average. I must make a special mention for Maruco, a restaurant out in the suburbs near the Ramen village which is wonderful and the couple that run it are just the epitomy of Hokkaido hospitality, namely, they just want to spend time with you if you make the effort to get off the beaten track.

When we first went in 2010 English was rare and signage was only in Japanese. Now, English is widespread on signs and labelling and the young are keen to try. More importantly, Google Translate is your friend and we have had quite long conversations just swapping translated screens. The Japanese love technology (and Barbie music!).

We are going again next year and will fit in the North East to see the cranes. There are two words in 'Ski Holiday' and it is essential to allow enough time for both.

snow reports

Horokanai

Asahidake

@22 dropout, excellent, thanks a lot! Lovely pictures, you caught some sun Very Happy

Top tip re guide(s). The experience is much better and different with them

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Mike Pow, @22 dropout, thanks for nudging to the right direction. Completely agree that skiing with a guide increases the enjoyment and value of a trip.

Found explore-share dotcom and send a couple of requests but it must be too early. Would love a couple of days with a guide and will take touring kit as well.

A snowHead

@Mike Pow, flying into Asahikawa on the 10 Jan (landing actually on 11th. Return flight on 27Jan. Need to fill 15 days of ski and put an itinerary. Are you planning to be in the area by any chance? snowHead

Would love to join a guided group for 2-3 days and then 1 catski day. Otoe cat does not show as being active. Any tips on cat operations in that part of Hokkaido? Any tips on Furano guides?

A snowHead

@22 dropout, are there any ski touring trails, marked or is there a map for easy touring? Would not risk it alone or in bad weather thus organising a group and looking for guide’s details. Most probably the worst period to inquire, thus doing online research and starting sending inquiries but suspect most will be lost. Hope in Sept/Oct people will be back and taking bookings.

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@Mike Pow, thanks a million. One idea to check re Mt Asahidake - would it make sense staying for 1-2 nights in one of the nearby onsen hotels instead of commuting from Asahikawa two days in a row?

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@22 dropout, talk tome about the Horokonai. Have you DIYed it or used guides? If guides, did you go with your guide or met somebody local on the spot?

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After all it is free

Hello. We do our own thing, not for any other reason than it enables us to work more with the conditions and our aging muscles from day to day and we can be spontaneous. That said, we used Hokkaido Powder Guides on our first trip and found them excellent.

My essential resource is https://hokkaidowilds.org/ . Visit the site, choose ski touring, scroll down to the map and choose the area you are visiting. Each tour includes a printable summary including a topo map and description of access, route and hazards. As I think I said, parking is a big factor. Combined with Fatmaps, you pretty well have all you need. Hokkaido Wilds have an app called Japan Topo.

Route finding tends to be quite simple once you start climbing in Japan. A compass is essential kit. I also have Hokkaido maps offline on Mapy.cz which I find to be very useful. You have to be mindful of your aspects, as it is easy to head off down an amazing powder face only to find out you have gone down, for example, a south face having ascended the east ridge and now have to cross gullies on the flat to find the exit, or lose half the run to a long traverse. This is especially true on Asahidake if you get drawn too far skiers' left (south).

The treeline disappears from about 800m in Hokkaido. This means navigation and shelter is fine in most conditions below that, above needs good weather, and the best skiing is often above 500m when the trees start to thin out. This is one of the reasons Horokanai is so good. The 2 road passes mean you are already into the thinner trees when you start and it is so cold the snow stays good for a few days after a storm.

It is well worth watching the direction of storms. Asahidake gets it from all directions, but Pippu and Kamui benefit from winds from the north, whereas Sahoro and Tomamu from the south. Also, if choosing a touring route you will get the the best experience if you are skiing the best snow i.e. no wind hammered. On that subject we normally carry ski crampons as the summit cones/ridges are often compacted and icy, especially the peaks around Tokachidake where the peaks are more alpine.

We have not tried any cat outfits. We did heli-ski once on Shirabetsu but would not do so again. We skinned up it a couple of times on the next trip instead though and had a blast - short approach, big cleared face for a top to bottom descent and easy parking.

We thought about staying in a lodge at Asahidake this year but we don't mind the drive in the morning and it is just as easy as packing and unpacking imo.

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@22 dropout, thanks for sharing this. For the moment I am traveling solo so would not chance going on my own, especially if it snows or blows. Dropped a message to the Hokkaido Powder Guides. Could possibly trade circular road trip for a guided week around Furano. Going solo has it advantages and disadvantages - if the weather is nice I can do mini hikes, if it snows best to be with a guide. Problem is nobody can tell the weather 10 months in advance.

The “2 road passes” is it a specific place of a general area, apologies if am too daft.

Help!!

Japan - Hokkaido skiing questions

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