[Travelling to Japan with an ABS backpack]

So in the end, I reached Japan Airlines by phone and they asked me to send via email documentation to fulfill my request and forward it to Japan authorities, headquarters of the carrier or whatever.

 

I attached in the mail, pdf of the manufacturer and IATA's regulation on dangerous goods stating that avalanche airbag systems are allowed.

 

I've just received the clearance from JAL and they've confirmed me it for both, the flight from Europe and the internal one.

 

Cheers

[Travelling to Japan with an ABS backpack]

First of all, sorry if this is not the place to open this thread.

 

I was wondering if any of you have travelled to Japan with an ABS backpack in the checked in luggage.

 

Eventhough IATA permits its transport within airplanes, air carriers have the last word on that. I hava a bad experience travelling to Munich with cartridge, so now that I will visit Hokkaido and fly with Japan Airlines, could anybody tell me If I'd find any issue with it?

 

Thanks.

[Kurodake closing temporarily during season?]

Seemore, I know pretty well the European Alps. Thanks for your advise

 

ethanbagget, for sure I'll make a ski trip to the Rockies in the future. For the time being I have a flight ticket to Sapporo in January.

 

So, let's say I choose Furano as part of the trip. Any recommendation on the acommodation? I can't recall where, but I read in the past that Freeriding with a local guide is allowed. Am I right?

 

Thanks again.

[Kurodake closing temporarily during season?]

Thanks for your responses

 

The "drawback" I see in Furano is that apparently off-piste sking is prohibited. We don't want to be trapped in the slopes after traveling 19h from the other side of the world.

 

[Kurodake closing temporarily during season?]

Hi

 

Reading info about skiing in Japan in another phorum I've come accross to one topic from 2013 where it says that Kurodake typically closes during the season between early January and Febraury because of the amount of snow and the lack of costumers. Is that right?

 

What about this upcoming season?

 

I'll be in Hokkaido in January making a ski trip and planning to spend half of it in Asakihawa. If Kurodake is not an option, then it's only left Kamui and Asahidake on the agenda. Is it stil worth it? or should I change the plans and look for something else?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Lowcost tickets availability for Tokyo-Sapporo route]

I heard that there are flights direct from Germany to Sapporo! (A friend is going direct to Munich soon from Chitose airport)

 

Cheaper for u to go Madrid > Munich > Sapporo?

 

 

Yeah, thanks.

 

We have different options virtually all with the same price. London, Paris, Helsinki and Frankfurt are our choices.

 

Helsinki layover is the fastest way to get there. Roughly 18h for the whole trip.

 

We are skipping the ones with only just one layover (Air China and Korean Air) because they are expensive and sport baggage are not included in the ticket.

 

By the way, I forgot to say that there are already available tickets for January of Jetstar

[Niseko accommodation Hirafu vs Annupuri]

We have found a nice house in Hirafu's East Village with a price lower than the first quotations we started receiving

 

We are planning to split our trip in two parts, and thus willing to stay the second in the sourranding areas of Asahikawa. Asahidake sounds interesting for visiting, one gondola and all the terrain to enjoy

 

anything else not far from Asakihawa? Maybe Furano? Is Kamui Links worth?

[Niseko accommodation Hirafu vs Annupuri]

Don't worry for the mocking, sometimes I don't even notice since english is not my mother tongue

 

I've heard that Hakuba valley is the best choice for steepness. But for the time being, and since it's our first trip to Japan, we prefer DEEP rather than steep

 

So will be heading straight to Hokkaido.

[Niseko accommodation Hirafu vs Annupuri]

Thanks metabo and pie-eater for your quick replies.

 

The only reason I'm sticking to Niseko is that, as far as I'm concerned and beside the crowds, it is the best place if you're seeking powder almost guaranteed.

 

Close to it, it's Rusutsu with similar powder dumps, right?

 

Keep in mind that we are skipping our ordinary trips to Pyrenees and Alps because we want to have a taste of the best powder in the world!

 

[Niseko accommodation Hirafu vs Annupuri]

Sorry for borrowing your post.

 

I'm also interested in the topic. I must say that I don't care too much about nightlife and so but rather get something economical. I've done some research and sent some enquiries to several accomodations and founded out that Niseko is quite expensive, considering I'm more familiar with prices around Europe.

 

Indeed, I've received quotations all over 70€ person/night.

 

So, to get this straight; is there any accomodation that you know cheap but not seedy in Niseko?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Cheers

[Lowcost tickets availability for Tokyo-Sapporo route]

That's a creative thought, Seemore! I see Korean Air leaves Madrid at 10:50, arrives Inchon 06:20 following day and then has a 10:10 flight to Chitose arriving 12:55. that's summer schedule, but probably something similar in winter.

 

 

Yeah, exactly. Unfortunately, it is a bit expensive.

 

Currently we are considering to make Madrid-Beijing and then Beijing-Sapporo (just one layover) with Air China. It has good fares but first we have to clarify their policy on special equipment such as the ski transportation.

[How does El Nino affect Japan again?]

The current overheating of the Pacific Ocean is a fact. And that is directly related to the Niño phenomenon. Several degrees over the average temperature leads to "strong" Niño effect. This is what the scientific community are claiming based on figures and measurements.

 

Despite, I've always heard news on the effect it has on the climate in the west coast of America (actually the name comes from the fact that peruvian sailors discovered it during Christmas eve).

 

Doing some research, I've found that it's not only related with significant weather changes on the west coast of America as a regular basis but also to the number of typhoons in the other side of the ocean. Having said that it's been pretty tough to find any info related to this and its side effects on Japan, specially Hokkaido island since I'll make a long trip to get there next year.

 

Recently, I came accross some vague statistics on the average snowfall for Niseko during the last Niño events (I can not recall the years; maybay 2007 was the last one). It could be observed that during these years, the amount of precipitation descends, but nothing significantly.

 

Fingers crossed

[2015 Ski Trip Booked]

Sorry for breaking in the thread. I introduced myself in another one.

 

As stated there, we are a group of spaniards travelling in Jan 2015 to Hokkaido. We want to move on and go beyond the Pyrenees and the Alps in the quest for powder

 

I want to believe that there's no hype at all in all the videos we get from there and that "el Niño" would be a minor threat for the next season.

 

I wanted to share our plan with you. Any feedback, consideration or remark from you guys is wellcomed and really appreciated.

 

So, we will have 8 days for skiing in the insland. These are the ski resorts we wanted to visit:

Niseko

Rusutsu

Teine/Kiroro

Tomamu

Asahidake

Kamui Links

 

We were considering to search for 2 different acommodations. One in western hokkaido and the other one in central Hokkaido.

 

For the former we'd be placed in Niseko and the latter Asahikawa.

 

The thing is that we are a bit "surprised" with prices around Niseko. We are used to make ski safaris around the Alps. So, are there more economic options if we dismissed Niseko's and move away from there in our search for accomodation? I've seen the list you have here but they are all quite close to Niseko.

 

Would you consider, for instance, staying at Rusutsu and 2 days of our plan hire a car for getting and skiing in Niseko?

 

Thanks for your help

[Lowcost tickets availability for Tokyo-Sapporo route]

Generally Japanese tour agents do t release flights for sale until 3 months before the date. Jetstar is usually longer though. There's another airline called Air Do that do the same route. Be careful about which TOKYO airport you fly into and which one your flight to Sapporo leaves from....there are 2 , Narita and Haneda and they aren't close together.

 

Thanks for your answer.

 

How much are they tipically? I know that it depends, but if you're not travelling during bank holidays or special dates, how much are they roughly speaking?

 

Any special consideration related to the ski luggage fares? I've seen with one of the carriers (can not recall just now) that it's 1000 yens per flight. Which actually I found it quite cheap.

[Lowcost tickets availability for Tokyo-Sapporo route]

Hi folks

 

I'm new in the community. So let me introduce myself first.

 

I'm an addicted powder skier from Spain who is planning to make with a group of friends a dreamed trip to Hakkaido next year

 

We have started barely from the scratch; as you can imagine there are few people in my country considering this as a snow destination and they just put in their agendas the Alps.

 

Lucky me, I've found this phorum

 

Anyway, we're trying to figure out how to get to Sapporo. We have several options to reach Tokio, but after the layover we've got to head to Sapporo. I've read that there are several lowcost carriers that make the route, but unfortunately they don't sell tickets further October 2014.

 

So, my question is the one that follows. Do you know when they make available those ticktes for travelling in January 2015?

 

Any other carriers besides Jetstar, Skymark or Vanilla Air that I should consider?

 

Since we won't have too much time, we don't want to spend the night over Tokyo, nor spend to much time in the layover. Will we find problems in this sense regarding the frequency of the flights and the time scheduled?

 

Thank you very much for your help

Eduardo