Andrew59

Hit Rusutsu it's great, but also the smaller fields near Niseko are great - Moiwa, Chisanpurri and Niseko Weiss (not exactly sure of the spelling, but you'll find them). In Furano they were definitely pulling passes this season (2013), duck the ropes at your own risk.

In regards the GPS I've had really good results using my Garmin Nuvi with an "english" Japan map software that I downloaded from the net a few years ago. I think it was Upside Down , or Up Up Down or something wacky Japanese like that. All the maps, and guidance are in English. - I just spent a bit of time before we first used it and made all the ski hills we wanted to visit as "favourites" and it was an dream. From memory it only worked on a few brands of GPS units though.

Sweet vid, Tomamu is a jem for the size of the mountain. Great out of bounds policy, that actually lets you access some great tree'd areas (without getting your pass confiscated like at Furano). You can actually go straight over the back from the top of that small parrot chair and it's an easy traverse back to the main trails. Always find some untouched powder days after a fall. Nice score.