 Poster: A snowHead
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I have just returned from a great ski trip in Japan.
Unlike Europe they are having a bad season this year but the base was still about 4m which is about 5m less than the same time last year. The skiing was still pretty good. All this meant that there was not so many mega powder days but I got my fair share!
This place gets a huge amount of snow so if it is sun that you are looking for it is not the place for you.
Hokkaido, the north island had the best skiing but this maybe due to the warm conditions further south, but generally this is where the fantastic powder snow is.
The only problem with skiing in Japan is that it is getting over run with Australians, my advice is get over there before it is fully taken over by them!! If they can afford it with the very poor Aussie dollar you can easily do it on Pounds or Euros.
Lift passes and food on the mountain were a bit less than Europe or North America. Generally about €40 for day pass and €12 could get you a very good feed up the mountain, the mountain restaurants do not inflate the prices at all.
The main reason for skiing here is for the powder. All that I can say is that those people that say that Utah has the greatest snow on earth have not been to Japan!!!
Check the yearly snow fall statistics they are staggering, take my advice and check it out.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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was planning on going this year..but binned that as we wanted to buy a new house..but defo want to head out there soon...I presume the aussies have a lot shorter flying times hence theres loads of them..they're a bit like the poles at european ski resorts...just without the taches.
Hows japan for parks, and is there enough to keep piste skiers busy while others do the off piste?
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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?
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The Hakuba Valley in Japan has amazing powder (I haven't been to Utah, but I've been to Colorado and the powder is Japan is far better) and a huge variety of terrain - including parks. One of the great things at a place like Hakuba Happo is they have groomed runs right beside deep powder so you can have family members on the same lift each enjoying whatever they like best.
There's plenty of information on Japan on the web. The web site for the Hakuba Luna Hotel (www.hakubalunahotel.com) has some good information on the region all in one place. It's under the heading "Ski resort Info"
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I have to agree. I have been to Japan for the last two season and the powder is honestly unlike anywhere else in the world! I would ski there every year if I had the money.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hey there Hornster,ski guy,
I'm seriously throwing around the idea of Japan with 3 mates- we're all instructors and looking for something different from Europe.We were stuck on Niseko but increasingly are starting to feel that there are other places that will give us more of a Japanese experience and less of the Aussi/Japanese thing.In your view do you think Hakuba measures up to Niseko or are they much the same thing - area,extent,apres,travel-time etc.
Sayonara,
briand6868
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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briand6868, Hakuba has a lot to offer and i know people who prefer Hakuba and other resorts as opposed to Niseko. Niseko is definitely pretty busy but even then you will be very unlucky to find any queues at the lifts. Niseko offers some really good backcountry skiing but then again it seems as though most of Hokkaido does regardless of where you go.
There is everything you need to know about skiing in Japan on this website and forum www.snowjapan.com
Good luck and be prepared for the best powder ride in your life!!
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briand6868, Niseko is more developed than any other Japanese resort. It is the only Japanese resort to have been truly internationalised. Niseko has amazing powder. The tree skiing (both in bounds and out) is great, however generally speaking the mountain isn't very steep. Niseko's major drawback is that there isn't a huge variety of terrain unless you go BC, which is unreal.
The Hakuba Valley is much much larger than Niseko and has a much wider variety of terrain. As far as I know it has the steepest slopes in Japan. There are about 10 resorts all within about 30-40 km of each other. They're nowhere near as developed as Niseko, but because Hakuba Happo was the location of the alpine events for the 1998 Nagano Olympics its infrastructure is pretty good. (It actually has a McDonalds operating inside the gondola top station!!!. Not sure whether that's good or bad - depends on your perspective I guess). There are free shuttles running between most of the Hakuba resorts, so you have heaps of choice.
Snowjapan.com is definitely the best website for information on Japan, however I also found some pretty good info all in one place on the Hakuba Luna Hotel website (www.hakubalunahotel.com). Check out the "Location" and "Ski Resort Info" tabs.
There's more apres activity in Niseko but still a fair bit in Hakuba and the choice is increasing every year - a good selection of bars and restaurants (Japanese, other Asian and western), particularly in Echoland. The Japanese onsens in both locations (natural hot springwater baths) are also great.
Hakuba is far more accessible than Niseko from most places (unless you can get a direct flight to Sapporo). As Niseko is on a different island than Tokyo and Hakuba (Tokyo and Hakuba are on the main island, Honshu, whereas Niseko is on Hokkaido) to get to Niseko you have to change airports in Tokyo (opposite sides of the city) and then get a flight to Sapporo. From there it's a shuttle to Niseko (two and a half to three hours). There are a number of ways of getting to Hakuba from Tokyo. I reckon the best is a bullet train (shinkansen) from Tokyo central to Nagano (about 90 minutes) and then a connecting bus from Nagano train station to Hakuba train station (just over an hour). Any decent hotel or pension will come and pick you up from Hakuba station. From the station it's about a 3-6 minute drive, depending on where you're staying.
Because Niseko is more developed than anywhere else in Japan it has far more choice for accommodation. However it's become pretty expensive. We first tried Hakuba because Niseko was getting too exxy.
I certainly agree with Hornster that Japan offers the best powder ride in your life. Wherever you choose, you'll love it!
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