samwillis5
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Posts posted by samwillis5
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Jynxx, there is a 3m+ base in Niseko. Hakuba has more. Other resorts are faring much better than last season and about average for this time of year. There have been consistent falls right through December and January. So far this season Niseko has clocked over 10m of snowfall and we havent even come close to Feb yet. December January snowfall this year has been on average if not a little above.
It is currently snowing on Hokkaido, the last few days in Niseko have seen a consistent 15-20cms and the forecasts all show that there will be consistent falls to round out January with big dumps predicted for the first 2 weeks in Feb.
Look at any of the snow cams and you will see where the 'bloody' snow is.
what more do you want?
Sometimes I wonder whether people's expectations are a bit unrealistic....
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Looking at the charts and JMA etc it looks like it is going to return to very cold an snowy conditions around 1-6 Feb and 8-10 Feb. Hokkaido is looking to get the best of it but there should be a return to what we saw in late december early Jan right across Honshu as well. All in all the first 2 weeks in feb look awesome. Good ridance to the ups and downs of the last 2 weeks.
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Originally Posted By: snowdudeFebruary looks like being much colder!
Snowdude, what do you base that on? Are you looking at a long range forecast? -
anyone got any idea what the longer term forecast (into Feb) is for Hokkaido, in paricular Niseko? Reports in local media down around Niigata and parts of Nagano are that these will be the last big falls and that it will be below average falls for rest of winter.
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with the snow looking like that it is obviously an indicator that this season is far better than last. All the snow depths are certainly better. Is this the best season sonce 05?
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thanks MB. I thought that was it. Have ski'd it many times without actually appreciating where I was.
Ps. what is the family business..... bank robbery or drug dealing??? 4 weeks in Niseko with 4 kids, new boards and a trip to the states next year - it couldnt be anything legal....surely.
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hey Mamabear, where, EXACTLY, is strawberry fields? I think I have ski'd there a bit without actually knowing it. Is it down behind silver dream in Hanazono? The name is not actually marked on any of the maps.
Lastly, for someone in the thick of it you sure spend a lot of time on these forums. Wouldnt you prefer to be ripping it up rather than keeping us **** up to date? These forums are furthest thing from my mind when I'm actually in Niseko (no disrespect intended).
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Jishipi, where is that Onsen in the last photo you posted on Saturday (9th)?
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Originally Posted By: MikePowTaking measurements from Niseko Now, as of 10 January 2010 Hirafu is up to 6.5m of snowfall at village level so far
If that is the case why are the official depths so, reletively, low? the changes are only minimal from last week and we've had about 70cm of snow with 50cm in one night. It happened during the pre-christmas and new year snow storms as well... all and sundry (not just snow-japan) would report massive 50cm + dumps in Niseko and the official snow depth either didnt move or increased by 10% of the actual new snow figure. Hakuba doenst seem to have had that much more than Niseko so far this season based on the Japan Now reports but their official depth is over 3m.
The current official depths for Niseko are 120 village and 215 up top. There is little doubt this season is thus far better than the previous two yet the offical levels are down on both of those seasons.
My point is that in reality the base depths in Niseko would presently be the same or higher than those in most of Nagano and niigata but the official depths dont show it. Not that it would ever harm tourism or send tourists south but my view is if you've got it, flaunt it. -
What is your favorite Onsen in or around Niseko (including Annupuri etc)and what makes it your favorite?
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I've had a trawl through the posts and cant find anything similar but apologies in advance if this is a double up.
We are hiring a van for our 3 weeks in niseko and intend to ski Kiroro and Rusutsu as well as Niseko. We also want to have a look around Kutchan and perhaps a little farther afield on day trips.
Does anyone know where we might be able to pick up a road map or atlas of the area with at least some english translations?
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unfortunately Go Native, it was. The day we landed in Japan was Feb 2 which is the lowest the JPY has been against the AUD for the last few years. $1 was buying just under 53 yen from memory.
I don't think that this particular company is foriegn owned but I am not certain.
I should say that I have been to Japan twice now for a total of 6 weeks and this was one of only two negative experiences. It was just their attitude that was dissapointing. We are with a different company this time so here's hoping things run smoothly.....and that Niseko turns on the pow for the first 2 weeks in Feb.
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reading through this forum it seems the experience of others with Japanese service at/and Chitose is a little different to ours.
Last year we got turned back from Chitose 10 minutes out because of snow. We held in pattern for an hour before being sent to Haneda (we had come from Narita having connected with our flight from Aus that day). the Narita-Chitose flight ended up taking 3.5 hours and landed us at Haneda. We had 6 adults and 6 young kids (4 months to 5 years) so we were pretty tired when we got to Haneda at 11pm. To the credit of JAL they put us up in good accomodation and scheduled a new flight to get our whole planeload of people from the night before up to Chitose by 8am. That all went smoothly thankfully and we were thankful to JAL. Afterall you cant help the weather.
The real disgrace was the "service" of our ground service. Given that we had a few babies with us and the expected time of night we pre booked and paid for a private mini bus to pick us up and take us to Niseko. It wasnt cheap and was with a well know Niseko ground service. When we had arrived at Haneda the night before I had called them to let them know what had happened but the office was closed. I left a message. I assumed that they would have checked the arrivals info and known what had happened. I also tried the next morning but by the time the office opened we were in the air on our way to Chitose.
The next morning our transfer service was nowhere to be seen. After an hour of running round and making calls it turned out that their attitude was, "we turned up last night, you didnt - your problem". They said they had sent the driver to pick us up the previous night costing them the trip so they had met their obligation and would not be coming today. they didnt even have the common decency to tell us they werent coming. They had all our details, it wouldnt have been hard. In fact they were rude enough to have a go at us for not letting them know we wouldnt be there. when I pointed out that we were in the air at the time and had tried, twice, as soon as we could, they didnt care.
Now, this is a service company that makes a living out of providing ground services in one of the snowiest places on earth. Wouldnt you think common sense would tell them to check the arrivals info and if a flight is cancelled, as they would have known the previous night, to reshedule the service? We paid over $1000 AUD for a service that we did not recieve. It was simply appalling. When I went to see the manager in Niseko he flatly refused any refund or contribution toward the extra &800AUD we had to pay to catch the White Liner bus to Niseko. In fact he was rude about it.
We are up there again for 3 weeks starting next week so I hope our experience is a little smoother this time round but I will not, ever, use that same ground service again. Thankfully we learnt that not all Japanese (in fact rather few) have the same attitude to customer service as that company.
Has anyone had a similar experience?
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it seems the experience of others with Japanese service at/and Chitose is a little different to ours.
Last year we got turned back from Chitose 10 minutes out because of snow. We held in pattern for an hour before being sent to Haneda (we had come from Narita having connected with our flight from Aus that day). the Narita-Chitose flight ended up taking 3.5 hours and landed us at Haneda. We had 6 adults and 6 young kids (4 months to 5 years) so we were pretty tired when we got to Haneda at 11pm. To the credit of JAL they put us up in good accomodation and scheduled a new flight to get our whole planeload of people from the night before up to Chitose by 8am. That all wen smoothly thankfully and we were tankful to Jal. Afterall you cant help the weather.
The real disgrace was the "service" of our ground service. Given that we had a few babies with us and the expected time of night we pre booked and paid for a private mini bus to pick us up and take us to Niseko. It wasnt cheap and was with a well know Niseko ground service. When we had arrived at Haneda the night before I had called them to let them know what had happened but the office was closed. I left a message. I assumed that they would have checked the arrivals info and known what had happened. I also tried the next morning but by the time the office opened we were in the air on our way to Chitose.
The next morning our transfer service was nowhere to be seen. After an hour of running round and making calls it turned out that their attitude was, "we turned up last night, you didnt - your problem". They said they had sent the driver to pick us up the previous night costing them the trip so they had met their obligation and would not be coming today. they didnt even have the common decency to tell us they werent coming. They had all our details, it wouldnt have been hard. In fact they were rude enough to have a go at us for not letting them know we wouldnt be there. when I pointed out that we were in the air at the time and had tried, twice, as soon as we could, they didnt care.
Now, this is a service company that makes a living out of providing ground services in one of the snowiest places on earth. Wouldnt you think common sense would tell them to check the arrivals info and if a flight is cancelled, as they would have known the previous night, to reshedule the service? We paid over $1000 AUD for a service that we did not recieve. It was simply appalling. When I went to see the manager in Niseko he flatly refused any refund or contribution toward the extra &800AUD we had to pay to catch the White Liner bus to Niseko. In fact he was rude about it.
We are up there again for 3 weeks starting next week so I hope our experience is a little smoother this time round but I will not, ever, use that same ground service again. Thankfully we learnt that not all Japanese (in fact rather few) have the same attitude to customer service as that company.
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how's the longer range forecast looking early feb?
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I wouldn't be too concerned - i'm not sure how accurate snow-forecast is. Many times this year they have forecast no snow in Niseko and this site and MikePow report 20-30cm has actually fallen. Similarly, when they do forecast snow they seem to under-estimate by 50% or more.
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Looks from all reports like the rain on Wednesday night and Thursday has done a fair amount of damage at Nozawa. Looks like there is a fair bit of rain on the 9 day forecast as well. Can anyone on the ground there confirm much/any damage?
How have other resorts held up?
Is this a particularly bad season or is occasional rain mid January the norm?
Lets hope for cold temps and snow during feb. A late winter!
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can i ask where you look Skippy when you refer to forecasts for last week of Jan?
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I see. That makes sense I guess. My generation took our cue from David Boon (any man who can finish a carton on a Sydney - london flight and still stand up and act sober at a press conference on arrival is a natural role model), Merv Hughes, Mal Meninga and Dipper and co.
all managed to have a good time, even act the fool, but remained respectful, at least publicly, and were viewed in a jocular light.
Lets just blame it on Gen Y and be done with it!
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It's a sad thing the perception that some have of travelling Aussies these days.
I did a lot of travel 10+ years ago and Australians were always welcome. Viewed as relatively unassuming travellers always out for a good time but on the whole quite respectful and fun to be around.
I am not sure what has caused the shift in perception or whether there even has been a shift. Alternatively, I wonder whether it is an attitude espoused by some who have had a bad experience with one or two Australians but which is contrary to the popular experience/reality. I have often found those people who tongue lash the unruly Aussie traveller the loudest are Australian themselves. Can often be a bit of snobbery involved.
Either way, the sentiments expressed by some vis a vis Aussies in Niseko is rather dissapointing. Lets hope a few positive experiences can change that.
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Fukdane, where abouts are you?
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culturally different for sure. both are very interesting
Japan definately cheaper - or at least was when we booked in June while the Aus $ was getting 105 yen. Now that it is at 55 yen I think we are going to spend as much again on food, drink, ski-hire etc etc.
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I meant damage Generally. Sorry, I wasnt very accurate/specific.
Thanks for the reply's.
Forecasts show the cold weather coming back with a vengeance after Friday so all is good.
Snowhuntress, similar story here. Group of 11 - i convinced them all to change from Whislter to Japan and to extend from 2 weeks to 3. Not stressed though, being on holiday in Japan is better than working anywhere.
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looking at some of the snow cams for various resorts it looks like there was a bit of damage to the snow base from the rain; Niseko in particular.
Interested to here whether there has been much damage from folks on the spot in the various resorts.
forecasts for Feb
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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Apparently not. Jma website says 60 percent chance of above ave temps for last 2 weeks on feb. Can't totally go by that but first 2 weeks in feb is looking by far the best of the rest of the season if charts and forecasts anything to go by