Off pist skiing in Japan - Powder, Sushi and Onsen

Powder, good food, bathing in natural hot springs and ski adventure in the beautiful woods is what awaits us at Hokkaido in Japan. Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan, thanks to cold winds from Siberia and northern China, there are incredible amounts of snow every winter. Statistics show that it snows around 15m per season. If that wasn’t enough, the last 5 years it has snowed every day throughout the month of January. So pack the goggles and your fat skis and go with us on the powder-chills in Japan.

A ski safari around Hokkaido
Our goal of the trip is to visit several different ski resorts and pick the best parts of them. The distance between many of the resorts are pretty short and by staying in two different places we have time to explore ski resorts in two different areas.

Powder skiing available from the lifts with some ski touring to achieve better rides
You can ski untracked powder from the lifts each day if you choose the right ski resort every day. But we get so much more out of it if we have the flexibility to walk up the peaks surrounding the ski resorts, or walk back from one of the many fine rides that doesn’t end at any lift. Therefore, we want everyone in the group to have skis with touring bindings and skins. If however you are a group who don’t want to do any ski touring we can customize the trip according to your wishes.

About Hokkaido
Hokkaido is Japan's northernmost island and is reached easiest reached by 1,5 hour domestic flight from Tokyo, although there is a tunnel to the main island. Hokkaido is two times bigger than the size of Switzerland. Sapporo, the largest city on Hokkaido, is perhaps best known for us skiers thanks to the winter Olympics 1972. Hokkaido is Japan's main agricultural area. Most of the rice and fish is produced here, as well as the cultivating of vegetables. There are many pristine forests of Hokkaido and the island is the part of Japan the least populated, although the number of inhabitants on the island are approximately 5.7 million. There are six national parks and twelve nature reserves and the island is a popular resort for Japanese especially in summer.

The island has a total of over 80 ski resorts, and although many of these are small and have lifts that are of no or little interest, there is plenty of good skiing.

Requirements
The skiing is generally quite easy, and thanks to all the fine powder snow and modern skis not so demanding compared to off-piste in the Alps. However we want you to have experience from skiing off-piste before. What you need know to be able to walk on skins we can easily teach on the spot, you just need to have the skiing skills. The level of effort and the length of the top rounds, we will completely adapt to the group.

Program
The following program describes the trip as a whole. The number of days can be adapted if you book as a whole group. Which resort we go to each day depends on where the snow is good.

Day 1
This day is the date given as date of departure when booking. We met at 4 pm at Chitose

Day 2
Arrival at Sapporo where we travel by car/minibus to Niseko.

Day 3
First ski day when we get to know the powder skiing in Niseko/Hirafu. We are exploring all the beautiful tree skiing and bowls in all sides of the mountain. During the day, we also learn and practise how to use the avalanche equipment. After skiing, it is a given with a cold beer in the nearby Onsen. Few things can compete against lying in natural hot springs and watch the snow fall after a good day of skiing.

Day 4
Hopefully, the fatigue from the trip is overcome and we can step up the pace a bit. There are many nice resorts close to Niseko and it might be of value to visit one of these today.

Day 5
More off-piste skiing is on the agenda and we might take on a shorter ski tour. If there are any requests from the group we can go Cat-skiing (skiing from a rebuilt groomer) on one of the mountains beside or go on a ski tour on the beautiful volcano Mt. Yote - a demanding day tour, which requires stable snow conditions and much preparatory training.

Day 6
Our fourth and final ski day in the area of Niseko. We have several options. We can both stay in Niseko and enjoy skiing here before we continue to Furano, or set the clock a bit earlier and drive one hour in the morning and ski in one of the resorts between Niseko and Furano on the road. This way we save just as much of the driving after the skiing. However, deciding on this is usually better to do while we are there when we see what happens with snow and weather.

Day 7
First day in the area around Furano. The peaks and resorts here are higher and even if the vertical is the same as in Niseko the snow is often drier and the air is colder. Even here there are hot springs and delicious food. What surprised us most in Japan is not only the skiing but also the food is wonderful.

Day 8
The potential for off-piste skiing from the lift here is unbelievable. We take the days as they come and adapt to the preferences of the group and the weather.

Day 9
Our seventh and final ski day. After skiing, we will travel to Sapporo, where we eat dinner and sleep the last night.

Day 10
Journey home.

For those who want and have the time we recommended to stay a few days in Tokyo on the way home.

Group size
5-6 persons

Equipment
The following personal equipment you need to have with you, this is not included in the price.
• Ski equipment
• Skis with touring bindings
• Backpack
• Safety equipment for off-piste skiing (transceiver, shovel, probe)

Included in price
• Professional guidance and instructions of the Authorized Mountain Guide
• Safety equipment for off-piste skiing (transceiver, shovel, probe)
• Accommodation including breakfast 8 nights
• Accommodation in double rooms on the hotel and a few nights in a traditional Japanese guest houses.
• All transportation during the week

Not included
• Lift ticket (costs about 20-40 Euro per day depending on location)
• Flights to and from Sapporo
• Insurance for off-piste skiing

Number of days: 7 days skiing, accommodation 8 nights
Price: 2390 EUR

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Place your booking by clicking on the date.

02-01-2014 Meet in sapporo on jan 3rd
10-01-2014 Meet in sapporo on jan 11th
19-01-2014 Meet in sapporo on jan 20th

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Off pist skiing in Japan - Powder, Sushi and Onsen

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