lastrocker
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Posts posted by lastrocker
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The first picture is from the base of Mt Annupuri (looking up the Nth face, that which faces Iwaonupuri) just off where the road would normally go through past Goshiki,(Goshiki is to the right of frame) the ridge on the right is what you would need to hike over to the back bowl. The second picture is just a closer view of the gully on the right just below that ridge.
Tex, i'm definitely interested in this route, but pictures are expired... can you please upload them again?
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And if the top lifts are closed for wind you can't connect at all.
From what i remember there's no bus from Annupuri that goes to Hirafu/Hanazono early enough to catch the first chair. At least there's no bus from Hanazono to Annupuri at that time.
About difference of time operation of lifts, in peak season Hirafu runs the early operating lifts, they open 30 minutes earlier than normal for something like 600yen or so, even if you have the united pass or season pass.
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i'm not saying it's overpriced for japanese standard, it's still generally super expensive compared to other costs like lift tickets and accomodation. Don't forget i'm euro, you ozzies and kiwis have a different perspective on cost of living.
if you have the cash go for it, i'd do it for sure if i was you. unluckily for me i have to take the cheap road
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i checked the rate for a compact car, two weeks from 9th till 23th of january and it's 96000yen, that's insane!
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In Hanazono strawberries is über fun, blueberries is same fun but smaller area, anyway both get tracked down after a few laps, so catch the first chair. They're not backcountry btw, i didn't even call em slackcountry, they're pretty much just inbound tree runs. Who cares, they're pure fun rides.
For a taste of slack country just go off the gates, you don't need a guide, even if you get the first chair and rush you won't be alone. Gate 4, the peak gate, has some of the best open descent of the resort, same goes for gate 2 in Annupuri. Gate 2 is 5 min walks and you end in a gully which is basically a natural half pipe that reach the lifts base, while gate 4 needs a 15 min walk, then you reach some ridge / gully, at the end there's a groomed road, another 10 minutes hike and you are back on piste, on the way back to the lift base you find blueberries.
From gate 2 you can venture in the real Niseko backcountry, the north face has freshies pretty much guaranteed cause not that many people go there, still you probably won't be alone. that run is one of my favourite, the exit is long and almost flat tho, sometimes is a pain in the ass if you are a boarder and it's fresh and/or you didn't wax properly. If it's your first time in that area don't venture alone.
Or you can ride the other side and hike back, but you need snowshoes and a car/taxi parked in the right area. Definitely do it with a guide
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Yeah Metallica is good, I still reckon their Black album was the best though.
C'mon dude. Everybody knows Kill 'em all and Ride the Lighning are the two best album of the band. Master of puppets and And justice for all are still good, the Black album is ok, everything else is pure crap.
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Where do you buy a tourist prepaid data SIM from?
i had one the past year, you can buy it online from their website and get it shipped to your accomodation. It's from Bmobile, it costs around 40$ for two weeks, here's the link http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/product.html
You can collect it at the airport with a small extra fee, but you have to buy it in advance anyway.
The service is smooth and it pretty much saved my life, in the mountain i didn't use it but when i was visiting the country you can figure out how many times i needed maps, timetables and stuff...
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Even if coming from different experience (one month in Niseko with a handful of day trip) i completely agree with gozaimaas. Less spots, more fun. Or you'll find yourself too much on the move, packing stuff day after day, and as a solo traveler you won't have time to know the good runs in each spot and meet people that can show you the marvelous backcountry options Japan has on offer.
You may object you have no problems on moving so much, but for the solo riding part either you have tons of money to spend on guides, or you need time to know the terrain and meet people to ride with.
Or you can just ride groomers and not much more.
Uh, and about your schedule, from what i've heard it's probably better to hit Niseko in february and central Hokkaido in early march, that way you could go to Asahidake wich is better in march, less stormy but still pristine snow due to geographic position and altitude
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i'm trying to find some Columbia goretex stuff but from their website it looks like they only use their own technology, omni-dry
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Yep you are right, but basically every jacket/pant from patagonia or north face has proper sized pockets, pow skirt and stuff... i'm more concerned on pure performance, i mean water resistance and breathability
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Hey there, i definitely need some new outerwear, pants basically but a new jacket would be awesome too...
Anyway, i want a good one but don't wanna spend heaps of money on overpriced gear.
Luckily i can pay both Patagonia and North Face half the regular price, but gore-tex outerwear is still crazy expensive. Does it really perform that much better than HiVent an H2no? And what's best between the two? Tried to goggle and found some information but a first hand impression is always better
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I'm in your same situation... I don't know yet how many weeks i'll stay there but at least 4, probably more. I have no car, and i'd love to travel around. The funny thing is i opened a similar thread and everybody suggested me to stay in Niseko instead of moving ahah. Best powder, best terrain, blablabla...
Anyway from my experience (i already spent one month in Niseko the past year) if you go to the right places there will be local japanese people too. In the guesthouse i chose i found myself being the only western guy for one whole week...
I don't wanna say Niseko is better than other places, but it's not true Niseko is just for aussie lemmings, two of my snow buddies were one from Sapporo and one from Nagano, and both preferred to spend two months in Niseko cause they said it's the best resort. Pretty sure there's something true about it.
Anyway i'm still thinking about what to do this year. Moving by public transportation is not the easiest way, let's say you base yourself in Sapporo (one of my options as well), you'll never get to Kiroro or other resorts in time for first chair if you don't have a car.
And sure you'll spend much more money than staying in one place and just moving a bit. You know, season pass or 50 hours ticket, wich is a super good option if you decide to stay in Niseko for just some week but not the whole time
Anyway if you opt for some car danchi and need someone to share the van drop me a line!
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Basically no reason. Or the same reason an onsen is so much more enjoyable if outdoor and under a heavy snowstorm. At the end of it my japanese friends would tell me "good memories!"
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Wow thanks heaps, i'm checking google maps and stuff, that's the place!!
This and a descent inside Yotei's crater are the main goal of the incoming season!! Even tho i'm afraid the crater won't be doable, it looks like it's pretty hard to reach the top of Yotei till march and i'll be there in mi january-mid february... we'll see, finger crossed
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Hey, i've seen some vid of descents just in front of the sea, and i thought it would be a great experience... till i found this picture:
Does anybody know where this place is? From other pictures of the same album it looks like the area is filled with pillows too...
I heard about Rishiri island, wich looks great, but from my web searches descents don't reach directly the sea. I may be wrong
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there's an ordinary daytime bus which is kinda expensive and not so frequent, and a night shuttle which is 1 buck a ride and 10 bucks the season pass. the pass not personal so you can share it if needed. better stick to some place reached by the free shuttle.
the only downside of using the free shuttle is you can reach hirafu gondola at 8:00, so you'll probably miss the first chair of early morning lift operations. i wouldn't choose my location just because of that, but still being the first to lap the supercourse after a good storm is definitely a must
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If you had a great time in Niseko go back there change your habits get up early, avoid the crowds go further afield and do an avi course. the terain is insane and not hardly covered by the tourists
I have surfed all my life and done the drive around looking for the best spot and wasted the best part of the day. Age has told me to just enjoy what is the easiest. sometimes doing 10 laps on a local/ easily accessible run far outweighs the trip to find perfection that never exists (other people have done this and the reason Nisko is so populated is because it's the best. If it's not broke don't fix it.
I have met a few people who have toured around and got great/shit snow but if you know a place and nail it after a great dump you will be stoked.
Ciao Bella
sounds like niseko is perfect for you.
but its always nice to expand your horizons and have new experiences.
You both summed up my thoughts. I booked already an avi course for early november, i already woke up early every morning and took so many first chairs the past year, and i completely agree about lapping the local run many times.
But i love the feeling of going off the paved road. and expanding the horizons.
I surf as well and i spent so much time driving from spot to spot and wasted the best conditions... But for snowboarding, i pretty much always lapped the same hill, storm after storm, year after year, for 10 years straight, cause it was close to where i live and my big priority was spending the more days possible riding. Now it's different, i had a long break from riding due to a bad injury, and i can just ride powder, litterally. After two days of groomers i'm done for 3-4 days, the vibrations and shocks kill my ankle. So riding powder it's not just the favourite part of snowboarding right now, it's the only way.
That's why it pushed me to travel fra east in search for pow all day, every day. In Europe you can have great days followed by long dry spell. Even entire seasons with just a few pow days.
But the move has been so great i'm hooked again, more than ever.
So my decision right now is just stick to Niseko for one month, skip Central Hokkaido, and if i have enough money stop in Gulmarg, India, on the way back home, just to fix that hunger for the unkown. Not 100% sure, but that's my plan right now
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You don't need a car in Niseko, moving around with free shuttles is so easy and you can buy a season pass for the kutchan night bus for just 10 bucks
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Hi there,
i know this is one of the most frequent topic on this board, but still i'm the making of the crucial decision for my winter powder hunt... and i have some more detail that make my decision even harder, so i must ask for suggestions.
First: i spent one month in Niseko the past season, and it's been great!! Best powder ever found. I met nice people, hit some close resort (Moiwa, Rusutsu, Chise backcountry, Kiroro backcountry, Yotei bc), so now i have friends there i can ride with, some knowledge of the good areas based on snow conditions, a good deal with accomodation, and so on...
Now the choice. I want to do a powder trip again this winter, one month, maybe a bit more. I'd like to venture far north cause i heard it's lighter in central hokkaido, but i don't have that much money to travel around all the time, so my best bet would be to travel just a bit, maybe one week, than stay oin the same place, with daily trips if i find some friend to share the ride with.
Going back to Niseko would be the easiest solution, but i'd like to see new places... And Nisek has one big drawback: the crowd.
Or doing the opposite, staying around Niseko for one week then moving to central Hokkaido, maybe having base in Asahikawa, but from statistics there's less snow in there, but with a lot less crowd in the end i could maybe score same/more freshies... I want as much snowfall as possible!!
Or, last option, stayin in Rusutsu or Kiroro and commute to Niseko every now and then.
For sure i'll give a try to Teine, i have a friend in Sapporto and i'll probably spend a couple of day with him. That opens a news scenario: the k-pass to Teine and Rusutsu.
Ah, too many possibilities... there's even some more option, like spending one week in Hakkoda, but i don't have any contact there (and i don't have money for guides) so it's just a mere possibility...
What you guys would do i you were me??
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Early february is good, january is usually drier than february in Alps. Early March is often good too, but the trade off is the quality of snow, it can be good or a bit heavy.
The only problem with Alps is it's a complete hit or miss, you can have huge snowfalls or long dry spells. Austria & Switzerland side of Alps is usually better then southern side tho.
Don't expect the Japanes snowfall, the last season was one of the best in decades and the resto with highest snowfall reached 11.5meters (somewhere in France, don't remember the name), while Niseko got 16 meters and it was just one of the many good season...
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Mamabear is right, season in Europe is same as in Japan, and most of the resorts close after easter weekend usually, cause running the lifts in late season is not profitable.
Sure there is some resort that keeps lifts open till the last snow melts, wich is usually first days of may, but they're just a few. Last season has been one of the best in decades, and a few resorts opened one or two lifts in mid june, but it's an exception from the rule.
Then there are the glaciers, Mayrhofen, Solden, Zermatt, Les Deux Alpes... (Livigno has no glacier and closes the firs of may, same with Chamonix), but runs are short and not so steep, and snow is mostly icy at first run in the morning, and totally slushy after a couple of hours. If it's not enough, the operation time in most of them is from 8:30 till 1:30, they're expensive, and they're subject to early closure in summer if there's not enough snow left.
To be honest, summer skiing isn't that good, unless you are a snowpark addict or a beginner. And forget about powder, powder do occur every now and then but riding off-piste in glaciers during summer is uber dangerous because of crevasses (and i'm talking first hand).
If you want to shred in northern emisphere summer the real option is Chile or Argentina
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i live in Italy and i can assure you Niseko is soooooo much better than Alps for powder. Sure the terrain is not that steep nor challenging, but in Alps you can have both good seasons and entire seasons with just a few days of powder, while in Niseko it's bottomless turns almost every day, every year... just to compare, last season in Alps has been one of the best in decades, and the resort with the highest snowfall had 11.5 meters, while Niseko got 16mt... and it got 14.5 on average, while average for alps is something like 7 or so.
Alps with Niseko pow would be a completely different story, but that's not the case (unluckily for me)
And yes, Niseko is expensive, but you don't need a car, shuttle buses are free, cheap accomodations do exist (while in other resorts from my researches prices are relatively cheaper but they don't have budget/backpacker solutions, but i could be wrong), and if you stay for a while you can buy the 50 hours ticket wich is the best solution if you hit the backcountry and do some daily trip to other resorts... In the end you'd spend more money in Europe, and almost the same that in other hokkaido resorts
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As everybody stated, Niseko is the place. You can even score some untracked pow turn if you know where to go. It's just a few turn obviously, it's pretty much all tracked down well before nigthtime... But even 4 or 5 deep pow turns at night are well worth the pain in the *** of taking the chair in super cold condition after a tiring pow day instead of soaking in some onsen
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Word is spread, i'm sure it was pow paradise back in the days, but obviously if everybody says go to Niseko, well, it's proof that a hell of a lot of people is going there.
Forget about on piste runs, they get tracked out in half an hour. I'm talking about slack/back country off the gates, with 10 to 30 mins hiking (considering the hiking needed to get back to on-piste, as off gate 3-4-5). I'd say if you get the first chair you can get first tracks for one or two runs, then 2-3 more good runs with just a few tracks, then it will still be fun and you will still be able to find some patch but it will be pretty much tracked out. But keep in mind that the longest runs, like the ones from the peak, need one hour from the moment you hop on the chair till you come back to the lift base, so 3 or 4 plus some more slash here and there and you'll be more than happy.
Rusutsu is super fun in my opinion, and it gets plenty of powder (statistics say it gets less snow but you won't notice the difference once you're there), but i wouldn't spend 10 days just there.
Moiwa has short runs but the slack country off the gate is one of the nicest, some decent steepness (compared to the rest of the area, that's not real steepness) and some well spaced tree.
Anyway, as Mamabear stated, Niseko is the perfect start, especially if you don't have avi gear and knowledge. I had your same feelings the past year, but in the end i chose Niseko, and i had the best powder days of my life (and i spent 10 years riding italian mountains for at least 90 days per season). Go there, you won't regret it!!
Access to Hanzono/Hirafu from Annupuri for Freshies
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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i'm personally not obsessed by untracked (i admit it's a hella lot nicer to have no tracks in front of you tho), but in Niseko if you don't go early you won't find any real pow at all, it got completely tracked down quick.
Annupuri gets tracked down quick too, not as Hirafu of course. When gate 2 is open it's the place to be tho, the second back bowl is one of my fav runs in Niseko