Season Summary from Niseko 1st May 2001 As Niseko's season draws to a close, it's hard to look back without smiling. On paper, the daily snowfalls were about average.

Temperatures, however, were colder than usual - in the village, nine weeks straight where the mercury didn't rise above -10C. (Many lodge owners were faced with the nightmare of frozen toilets.) Half way up the mountain, Niseko had fifteen consecutive days where the temperature stayed colder than -20C. (Most of Hirafu's patrol suffered from frostbite this season.) Cold, however, means light and dry snow - you could do four or five turns, stop, look around and still see all of them floating up there...

Despite this season's marked increase in non-Japanese guests, overall customer numbers were down about 10%. Last year Niseko-Hirafu played host to 60,000 people, whereas this season's total will fall short of 55,000. One of the reasons for this decrease seems to be that Niseko has lost out to Rusutsu and Kiroro resorts. These resorts being owned and controlled by one company, seem to have better organised and directed advertising campaigns, and as a result pulled in bigger tour numbers. Niseko resorts are owned and operated by four different companies - Hirafu (Tokyu), Alpen, Higashiyama and Annupuri - and it appears inter-resort rivalry often takes precedence to a combined effort to promote Niseko as a whole mountain. Tour groups make up 70% of the total numbers coming through the gate in Niseko, and this season the scarcity of tour buses was noticeable.

Hirafu resort management, in an effort to work out why sales are dropping, carried out an extensive questionnaire survey in March this year. Given 23 questions to answer, the public's response was clear, and it appears the resort's problems lie deeper than just poor advertising. The survey results showed that the Japanese skiing and snowboarding community is not happy with Hirafu's facilities, and sent a very understandable message which hopefully even the most non-understanding ears will find difficult to ignore.

The number one complaint of the survey was that not all lifts are hooded. If you have ever been tortured on Australian and New Zealand t-bars or pommel-tows, the lift facilities in Niseko do appear to be close to royal treatment. Conditions in Hokkaido, however, are very cold for at least three months of the season, and for the few lifts that are not hooded, you often find yourself curling up into a smaller and smaller ball in an effort to stay warm. The fantastic Hanazono side of Hirafu is a good example - Hana 1 and 3 are hooded, but for some reason 2 is not. As you get onto Hana 2, all conversation halts and doesn't resume until you are back in the hooded protection of Hana 3. Riding a hooded lift is simply a lot nicer - and with Rusutsu resort now boasting all hooded lift facilities, this seems to be what everyone wants.

It is hard to hide the fact that Niseko-Hirafu is an older resort and hasn't invested sizeable money into new facilities for ten years. Rusutsu and Kiroro are setting the Hokkaido standard, and the skiing public expects faster and more comfortable lifts. According to the survey, people were happy with the price/standard of meals being served on the mountain, but also want an extra restaurant situated near the top lifts. When I asked Hirafu's spokesperson Mr Tachibana if the resort intends to do anything in relation to the survey results, he conceded that building a whole new restaurant complex at this stage is impossible. He said new lift facilities, however, are high on the agenda, and that the attachment of hoods to all lifts is now being considered. Mr Tachibana added that the survey also highlighted the need for a consolidated snowboard park, and it appears this will go ahead near Kogen #4 lift. [Yeah, yeah, yeah!] The catch - it will probably not be built until mid February to target the relatively powder-less months of March and April.

When asked about the increase in non-Japanese guests, Mr Tachibana smiled and said the resort is very excited about this. He expressed regret at not being able to carry out a proper English questionnaire this season, but said a number of people had been consulted as to how to make Hirafu more 'English-friendly'.

At present English information is lacking in Niseko, and, especially with course directions, there are difficulties for non-Japanese readers. For season 2002, Hirafu resort plans to add more English signs - both on and off the mountain - as well as to increase English in all the resort restaurants. To meet demand, most restaurants in the village now have menus in English, and rental shops are employing English speakers.

Rental shop "Good Sports" has an Australian guy, Rob, working for them, and over a few Asahi beers he told me about his working experiences.

"All in all it was fun. Sometimes really busy. Sometimes quiet. The people here are good to work with - everyone's pretty relaxed."

What did you have to do?
"Basically fit people out with skis or snowboards when they come into the shop, or take rental order deliveries out to various lodges/pensions. Then pick them up the gear when it's finished with. Also a fair bit of waxing and tuning, as well as general cleaning."

How much free time did you have?
"Not much actually. I was working 5 or 6 days a week - usually pretty long days, say 9-6. Sometimes longer. The lifts are open until 9pm here, so I could still ski pretty much every night if I wanted to. The company provided me with dormitory accommodation, as well as with meals. The money was ok, but not nearly as much as you can make teaching English."

I hear there are a lot of people wanting to come and work in Niseko. How did you find this position?
"My wife is Japanese, and the introduction came via a friend of her family's."

Was Japanese language necessary?
"Yes. We had a number of Western customers as well, but still over 90% of my time was spent fitting out Japanese people. At work, everyone spoke only Japanese."

How would you recommend someone finds work in Niseko?
"I guess I was lucky. I'm not really sure - if you don't have a friend or contact, coming up here and door knocking is all I can think of. Getting people to trust you at first is difficult, so the only real way is to meet face to face. There is a growing need for English/Japanese speakers in Niseko, so if you search hard enough something will come up."

Did you enjoy Niseko?
I'm still here! And plan to stay on and work over summer as a river guide - kinda looking forward to seeing summer. Winter and the snow were fantastic - I plan to do at least another season or two in Hirafu.

As the cracking sound of bamboo grass breaking up through the snow gets louder, winter comes to a quiet close. Here's to warmer lifts and more English signs next season, but not too many tour buses...