It had been 7 years since I was last in Japan for snow, time flies. This time around, it snowed every day, although more than half the days were too windy and only a few bottom lifts opened, especially on day 3 which was a bit frustrating due to the lack of open terrain. The snow was just really good all around, and even if it was not meters of it, the powder days felt very nice and no ice underneath.
For US people, Niseko gives you two days for free with Mountain Collective (you have to go to some office to get them) and then half off. At half off it was about $30 a day to ride all 4 mountains, i.e. super cheap.
Niseko Day 1: Annupuri and Niseko Village
The first 2 days, we stayed in Annupuri at Niseko Grand Hotel. There were few places left, so that's the closest we found. We took their morning shuttle to the slopes:
my partner in crime, Arturo
ticket prices were quite cheap by US standards (got 2 free days with mountain collective and half off for the last 3 days)
lots of side country gates
gate 11 by niseko village was also fun
riding pizza box chairs on the way back to Annupuri :)
doesn't feel super safe, but better than a tow rope
the Annupuri G1/G4 gates were nice, but you quickly get to a valley with tracked terrain
Niseko Day 2: Grand Hirafu and Hanazono
The next two days, we went to Rusutsu as the forecast showed good snow there, and the 4th day we came back to Niseko after moving to the fantastic pension island. The only downside of that location was that it was a bit far from the slopes, but the shuttle bus made it ok although it didn't quite get you there in time for first chair. Close enough though, the pension was Koko-san were so nice that we were super happy there:
morning gondola line
windy day with rotor cloud on top of Mt Yotei
beautiful day
gates were open, G5 took you to the Hanazono base
this was the posh base for people with too much money :)
2 or 3 chairs to go back up and cross back to Grand Hirafu
with 2 chairs only and a short hike, this side country took you back
this was the posh base for people with too much money :)
2 or 3 chairs to go back up and cross back to Grand Hirafu
with 2 chairs only and a short hike, this side country took you back
When it was sunny, it looked nice:
Side country run with good snow, still:
Niseko Day 3: Grand Hirafu Mostly Shut Down Blizzard Day
Day 3 was too windy, very few lifts were open. The gondola line was very long as a result:
not many pictures, visibility was not good due to wind, it was kind of a blizzard
Nice side country with powder faceshot:
Niseko Day 4: Windy Grand Hirafu and Hanazono
A bit more opened on Day 4, still very windy, but you could get a bit higher and cross over Hanazono:
morning gondola line, although it went faster due to less wind and higher gondola speed
the gates were weird, some closed ones were routinely ignored while others were really a good idea to respect
the work to get that powder was not really worth it, and it was not very steep in most places
beautiful views
but the weather turned quickly again
Two nice sidecountry runs, one with sun, one with show falling:
Niseko Day 5: Better weather, all mountain
For our last day, the top lifts were unfrozen and we were able to go to the top:
lnie for the top lift
The avalanche gate near the top had some really good warning cartoons. They were poetic sounding (maybe even haikus in japanese?), and they should actually be more advertised, The warnings on getting stuck in crevaces and riverbeds, were wery on point, especially at Kiroro where you can really get in trouble when you go side country:
you could hike all the way to the top, but it was a 45mn hike that didn't feel worth the time and effort
being able to take gate 4 for the first time, was nice
After that, I went back to Niseko Village and gate 11, which is alledgely a triple black diamond, but didn't feel that hard:
makes for a nice picture, though ;)
Nice clouds to end the day:
farewell niseko, we had a great time
One sidecountry run off gate 4 that finally opened:
And a loast one from gate 11, the supposed to be triple black diamond that was only single black:
We definitely were lucky with snow and being able to choose resorts based on snowfall, did help. Nice powder at Rusutsu when we went.
Rusutsu gives you 5 free days if you have an epic local pass, but those 5 days are consecutive
Rusutsu Day 1: Great Bluebird
nice drive to Rusutsu
I didn't know the terrain so well, my first ride down the gondola, I was afraid of getting stuck at the bottom, but actually it was fine
always hard to gauge if it will be downhill the whole way, I was worried the gondola line had an uphill section lower down
ran the gondola line a few more times, it was excellent
While I really like flow bindings as they are easier to get in and out, they fail in too many different ways. Thankfully I learned my lesson and carry an entire spare emergency binding in my backpack:
kind of sucky that such a thick cable can snap
there you go, emergency backup binding installed
will fix this later, spare cables were ordered and sent home for when I get back
Back on the slopes to esplore the rest of the resort:
Rusutsu Day 2: Windy Post Storm
Knowing that a storm was coming, we went back the next day for more fresh snow, although the resort was half shut down for half the day due to too much wind. Thankfully the back of the resort did open later in the day, but the wind damaged the snow on some aspects of the mountain. Once we figured out where the good bits were, we went to enjoy that good powder ;)
snowy drive to rusutsu, but the roads stayed open
only a few lifts were open in the morning, Mt Isola was too windy
people showed up for the pow day, thankfully we already had a ticket thanks for our epic pass and skipped the ticket line
The gondola run was really good:
eventually Mt Isola opened up
And the tree runs on the correct face of Mt Isola (way from sun and wind) was also quite nice:
and after a bunch of rides, it was time to get back. Yes, there was night skiing, but that didn't really seem worth it after the great powder we had all day:
Defintely got lucky with Rusutsu, great snow even if the terrain isn't super steep in many places.
For our last day in Hokkaido snow, Kiroro has just gotten a lot of snow, and it was a godo time to visit to enjoy the powder. It was reaosonably busy, but even if the parking lots were full and we had to go to overflow, the resort didn't feel very crowded and never had to wait long for a lift:
the weather alternated between sunny and snowing, all day
I wasted some time trying to see how to register for the sidecountry gates, as was required last time I came, but that was 7 years ago, and now they ask you to register with some Hokkaido backcountry office on the internet which seemed fairly time consuming if you just wanted to do the in resort sidecountry as opposed to exiting in places where you'd end up way out there.
the maps are worth paying attention to, lots of tree areas and powder fields
yes!
The first run down the chair was very good:
the gondola to the other peak had a short line and did take 15mn up each time
beautiful trees
anti wind gates
did I say nice trees? :)
Seems that most people didn't really register and just took the side country gates in a way that you end up in the resort at the end, but in one of them, if you turn the wrong way, you could end up in unhappy places (like snow hike out which could take hours)
You definitely have to pay attention to this map once you get out, especially for teh elevation linea and the river in the middle that you can fall into if the snow collapses:
I did have my beacon :)
some signs, but no real warnings about the river that will try to swallow you at the bottom
the hike at the top of the gondola can be as long as you want it to be, but make sure to drop on the left side
While the side country was good experience, it also could get you in trouble, especially as you end up on top of a river with multiple holes, some big, and others where the snow could collapse and you fall in the river, no good:
it was very easy to end up in one of these, they were almost everywhere
After 6 different side country runs, the day was over, and time to get back:
Defintely a great experience, but it's a no screw around zone, you can really get in trouble once you go side country at Kiroro
