hokkaido road trip

NISEKO AREA & CENTRAL HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

hokkaido
road
trip

NISEKO AREA &
CENTRAL HOKKAIDO,
JAPAN

2890 EUR

336 EUR / skiing day

8 Days of Skiing
9 Nights of Lodging

70% Lift Access
30% Ski Touring

Skis/snowboards and avalanche kit for rent

Season from Jan
to Feb

Perfect mix of freeride and ski touring while exploring the whole island

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.

Snowboarder dropping into Mount Yotei crater

HOKKAIDO ROAD TRIP

2890 EUR / person

Guiding

Ski Passes

10 Nights of Accommodation

Breakfasts

Transportation in Japan

Avalanche Training Session

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

Free rental of Skis and Boards (Kaestle free touring skis, Nitro boards, Gara split boards)

DATES

2023/24 season

  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 3500 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

Flexibilty is the key and this is a sample itinerary, so 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 get you to our house, set up the equipment, and take you to dinner.

DAY 2 _ Rusutsu | Evening: Avalanche Awareness Presentation

Ski-resort with the 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 _ 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 6 _ Day Off or Unguided Skiing Day | Afternoon transfer to Furano

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. We will then load our van and head to Furano.

DAY 7 _ Backcountry day: Ski-Touring in Daisetsuzan National Park | Evening: Natural Onsen

Central Hokkaido is a prime area for ski touring, we will take you to some of our favorite spots which are still off the radar. After skiing, we will jump into natural onsen in the trees at the foot of Tokachi-dake

DAY 8 _ Furano

Furano is our favourite resort in Central Hokkaido and we will make sure to show you the best steep tree lines on offer.

​DAY 9 _ Backcountry day: Ski-Touring on Hokkaido's highest peak Asahidake | Evening: Onsen

Hike up to the summit of Asahidake, drop into the powder-filled crater, and ski along the steam going out of the volcanic surface. Hard to imagine, right? 🙂

DAY 10 _ Yubari, Kamui or Tomamu | Evening: Good Bye Party in Sapporo

There are way more resorts than we can ski during the trip so we will pick one of these “hidden” gems and ski every square centimeter of powder there.

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 in Japan. Flights to Japan from Europe take 2 days (due to time difference, flight back only one day). If you need assistance with your flight booking, feel free to ask us.

This trip may start in Kutchan or Furano area

Accommodation

Kutchan and Furano

OUR HOUSE IN KUTCHAN

We rent a house in center of Kutchan (Niseko area) to create a nice and family-like atmosphere within walking distance of all local izakayas, restaurants, bars, and grocery stores. Breakfasts are prepared by our chef. Cooking at the house is also possible. Our house 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.

FURANO

We will use one of the local Furano pensions with a similar standard as our Kutchan house.

Bedroom in a house in Kutchan Living room in a house in Kutchan Breakfast in our house in Kutchan

Furano pension covered with snowPension in central hokkaido Twin room in a pension in Central Hokkaido

Pension review HokkaidoHoikkaido landscape with a pension Twin room in Furano pension

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.
We have a limited amount of beacons so please, If you have your own, take it with you.

plus telescopic poles and snowshoes for short hikes for snowboarders.

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

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

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, Furano, Asahidake, Yubari, Kamui or Tomamu

We can ski tour up Mt. Yotei, Mt. Shiribetsu or a number of peaks in Niseko range and secluded spots around Sapporo Area. We can play in Daisetsuzan National Park, Furano range or hit the backcountry of Asahidake.

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) can be on Mt. Yotei which takes 4 to 6 hours (1500 m vertical). Other tours take up to 4 hours (1000 to 1200 meters – a total of multiple runs). The pace and vertical total of the tour are adjusted to the needs of the group.

Who is it for

For Hokkaido Road Trip previous ski touring (or splitboarding) and freeriding experience is necessary. Our trip is both for skiers and snowboarders and we have guides for both disciplines. We will suggest a group for you based on your skill level. You should have reasonable level of fitness to be able to follow itinerary (no activities are mandatory, you can always take more days off).

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.

On our trips, we have had folks who tried powder skiing for the first time (on Freeride Camp) as well as riders back-flipping pillows and hitting avalanche barriers.

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.
     
    16100 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.

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