freeride camp

NISEKO AND SAPPORO AREA, JAPAN

freeride
camp

NISEKO AND
SAPPORO AREA
JAPAN

2890 EUR

260 EUR / skiing day

9 Days of Skiing
10 Nights of Lodging

80% Lift Access
20% Ski Touring

Free skis/snowboards and avalanche kit

Season from Dec 27th
to Mar 7th

Ride the best lines of Niseko and Sapporo area

Hokkaido island is world-famous for its dry powder and the southwest portion of the island gets the most of it. This trip is our bestseller. There will be 7-8 days of lift-accessed off-piste skiing (with occasional short hikes) and 1-2 days of backcountry ski touring (optional). Flexibility is key and skiing the best snow on any given day is our priority.

Highlights include long powder lines in Kokusai resort, a backcountry tour to Mount Yotei volcano, skiing our hidden gems in the back of Rusutsu resort, playing around Shirebetsu-dake and countless powder runs in Moiwa.

We want you to have the complete experience, so you will try different Japanese restaurants and our favorite onsens (hot pools). Skis, snowboards, and avalanche equipment are there free for your use in Japan.

Skiing powder in Niseko with Mt. Yotei in the background

FREERIDE CAMP

2890 EUR / person

Guiding

Ski Passes

10 Nights of Accommodation

Breakfasts

Transportation in Japan

Avalanche Training Session

Ski Technique Coaching (optional)

Free Avalanche Equipment (Backpack, Beacon, Probe, Shovel)

Free rental of Skis and Boards (Kaestle freetouring skis, Nitro boards, Gara splitboards)

DATES

2023/24 season

  New Year’s custom date

  Jan 4 – Jan 14

  Jan 14 – Jan 24

  Jan 24 – Feb 3

  Feb 3 – Feb 13

  Feb 13 – Feb 23

  Feb 23 – Mar 4

 

 

 

EXTRA

not included

  Lunch and Dinners

  Flight ticket to Sapporo (Europe to Sapporo costs around 600 EUR)

  Travel & Cancel Insurance (approx. 100 EUR)

  Optional Cat Skiing (get in touch for more details)

Trip with flight tickets, insurance and all meals costs around 3200 EUR. We can help out with flight reservation and insurance. 

Contact us if you have a group of people and prefer a private trip with tailor-made itinerary, private guide and van. Shorter trips are available.

Itinerary

Flexibility is the key and in this sample itinerary, you can find out what we do. We will adjust this itinerary according to weather conditions and requirements of our guests.

DAY 1 _ Arrival to Japan | Transfer to our house

We will privately transfer you to our house, set up the equipment, and take you to dinner.

DAY 2 _ Rusutsu | Evening: Avalanche Awareness Presentation

Ski-resort with best tree-skiing on the island with great backcountry options. After skiing, you will learn how to navigate safely through backcountry terrain so we can go ski touring in the upcoming days.

DAY 3 _ Moiwa & Avalanche Rescue Practice | Evening: Onsen

Powder skiing gem with one lift, where you can ski fresh lines until 2 pm.

We will practice beacon search after skiing.

DAY 4 _ Niseko Backbowls & North Face | Evening: Night Powder Skiing

Niseko is famous for a reason — comprised of 4 resorts (Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village, and Annupurri). While very popular, if you know where to go, you can still score some of the best lines on Hokkaido especially from the peak of Annupuri.

Ever tried tree skiing at night? Niseko’s far-reaching stadium lights are ideal for that.

DAY 5 _ Kiroro | Evening: Karaoke Night (optional)

Kiroro receives the same amount of white goods and is still relatively undiscovered.

Some of our guides have a history as ski-instructors too, so we can offer video analysis of your technique and give you tips for improving your skiing/riding in deep snow.

DAY 6 _ Day Off or Unguided Skiing Day

Our guests are asked to cover a one-day ski pass if they decide to ski on this day. You can enjoy the Niseko/Moiwa area unguided, take the day off and chill, or visit the Whiskey Distillery or Otaru.

DAY 7 _ Backcountry Day: Mount Yotei Volcano | Evening: Onsen

We will hike up Mt. Yotei volcano and get to ski inside the crater. 1500 vertical meter descent down Yotei will be the highlight of your Japanese trip. This tour takes from 4 – 6 hours and can be avoided by taking a resort day.​

DAY 8 _ Sapporo Kokusai

Gondola serviced Kokusai is not in the scope of freeride crowds. It has some amazing off-piste and great access to the backcountry.

​DAY 9 _ Sapporo Teine

Teine has the steepest terrain in Hokkaido and amazing ocean views.

DAY 10 _ Backcountry day: Touring in SW Hokkaido (secret location) / Evening: Party in Sapporo

We can hit one of our favourite backcountry options, go car lapping (using van instead of lift) or show you a line all the way to the ocean.

DAY 11 _ Fly back home OR Stay in Japan for more days in JAPOW

Please note that DAY 1 of each trip is your arrival to Japan. Flights to Japan from Europe take 2 days (due to time difference). If you need assistance with your flight booking, feel free to ask us.

Accommodation

Our house

FAMILY ATMOSPHERE

Instead of using a hotel and have our crew spread out all over the place, we rent a house in centre of Kutchan (Niseko area) to create a nice and family-like atmosphere with walking distance to all local izakayas, restaurants, bars, and grocery stores. Breakfasts are prepared by our chef. Cooking at the house is also possible.

ROOMS

Accommodates 12 people with 6 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, and a dining room. Rooms are used as double rooms, however, bigger ones can be organized as triple rooms if needed. A single room can be confirmed when the camp is fully booked.

AUTHENTIC JAPAN

Unlike Hirafu (main town for Niseko), Kutchan still feels like authentic Japan. However, if you fancy some more expensive restaurants and bars,  we would be happy to take you out to Hirafu.

House in Kutchan Breakfast in our house in Kutchan

Free skis/snowboards and avalanche kit

Free equipment

We provide top-level equipment for free use in Japan.

Skis:

Kastle BMX and FX (115mm and 105mm underfoot), Scott Scrapper (120mm underfoot) and Punisher (105mm – 110mm underfoot), Armada JJ (117mm underfoot) in various lengths for men and women

Snowboards:

Nitro Slash (powder specific), Gara Splitboards

Ski bindings:

Fritschi Tecton (tech binding) and Tyrolia Adrenalin (frame binding, classic binding with hiking option)

Avalanche equipment:

Shovel, probe, beacon from Pieps, Non-Avalanche backpacks from Pieps

plus telescopic poles and snowshoes for short hikes for snowboarders.

You can reserve all this in the booking form after you sign up for your trip.

We do not provide cartridges for ABS backpacks, please bring your cartridge with your backpack.

We do not provide ski boots, helmets, snowboard boots or snowboard bindings.

Details

Ski resorts

Freeride resorts options include Niseko (Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village, Annupuri, and Hanazono), Rusutsu, Moiwa, Kiroro, Kokusai, Tenguyama or Teine.

We can ski tour up Mt. Yotei, Mt. Shiribetsu or a number of peaks in Niseko range and secluded spots around Sapporo Area. Backcountry skiing is limitless.

Vertical meters

Downhill – Around 10,000 downhill vertical meters a day. Runs are from 500 to 900m in vertical drop.

Uphill – Hardest backcountry day (optional) will be on Mt. Yotei which takes 4 to 6 hours (1500 m vertical). Other tours take up to 3 hours (around 900m – a total of multiple runs). The pace is adjusted to the needs of the group.

Who is it for

Our trip is for both skiers and snowboarders and we have guides for both disciplines. We suggest a group for you based on your experience.

We have had folks who tried powder skiing for the first time as well as riders back-flipping pillows and hitting avalanche barriers.

Our trip is for individuals, couples or bigger groups. If you travel solo – don’t worry, you will get to know fellow skiers/riders and have a good time.

You should be able to ski/ride black slopes with control to attend our trip. Previous freeride experience helps but is not mandatory.

You should have a reasonable level of fitness to be able to follow the itinerary of the trip (no activities are mandatory, you can always take more days off.)

Group size

The group size is a maximum of 6 people. We often have 2 groups at a time, so you can choose between a faster and slower one (alternatively more freeride or ski touring/splitboarding orientated)

Thinking about the trip, but not ready commit?

Leave us your email, and we will let you know when the trip is about to be sold out.


    Extra options for:

    skis and poles icon

    Private trip

    Do you want a private trip with a tailor-made itinerary, a private van a guide? Get in touch.
     
    14900 EUR (max 6 people)
    (i.e. 200 EUR per person discount)
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    Expert skiers and snowboarders

    Our classic trip is already pretty packed and we can adjust it to different ski/snowboard levels.
     
    However, do you want to take it further? Cover more vertical? Hit avalanche barriers or pillow lines? Ski all the way to the ocean or have your line filmed by the drone? We can put together an expert-level program for you. Ideally, get 5 or 6 friends together and get in touch. Alternatively, we can pair you with other expert skiers or snowboarders who are coming in a season.
     
    Safety is the priority for us. If the conditions are not right, our guides will pursue more conservative options for each day.

    Freeride camp gallery

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