keba

Thanks, MikePow, I hadn't actually thought of that... I assumed any hotel listed in Niseko was in the resort. I'll chesck it out.

If we're going to compare runs, how about the longest run in Canada? Blackcomb Glacier back to base? About 13km if memory serves, but half of that is a flat cat trail back to the main runs, and not very interesting...

Thanks, Go Native. Some posters said you might be able to help, but I didn't want to pm you unannounced.

Not me

I'm actually keen to drive because we skied Hakuba last year and having the freedom to get out and go wherever and whenever we wanted was just brilliant. If we stay in the resort, it's harder to justify getting a car, and then day trips are off the menu.

I can respect that, Big-Will, if it's the case. I wouldn't want my neighbourhood over-run by tourists every winter either... Its bad enough here in the summer, and even worse in "Schoolies Week"

Oh yes, there's no way I'LL be teaching them to ski... And they'll learn to board when they can afford their own boots and rental.

Because it seems to be the largest town in proximity to all the resorts in the area, so a day trip to whichever resort we pick in the morning is feasible. And if the same logic works in Japan as it does elswhere, we should be able to stay cheaper in a nearby town, than in the resort area. We could just stay in Rusutsu but I'm even having trouble finding a place there on the dates we plan to travel. We'll probably end up spending two weeks in central Hokkaido. It seems strange to me though, that a town 10 min drive from Niseko, and 40 min to Rusutsu, should have no advertised accommo

We were trying to avoid Niseko altogether, except maybe for the odd day-trip. Sounds like we might not have an option, though.

Will I take that as a "No, just give in and stay at the resort"?

Originally Posted By: 2pints,mate Observation: Kids often sound like such a rubbish idea ...... I thought that too for a long time. They're not, and don't leave it too late to find out for yourself. I can't wait to have to chase after them down double-blacks into the trees, screaming at me "C'mon Dad, catch up!!" At 2 1/4 and 10 months, I've got time to practice.

I can't believe how easy it is to set off a Niseko vs. Anywhere but Niseko stoush... I apologise for any offence, but JM, for me, it's not ALL about the powder. Mamabear, I now have two little ones who ripen to ski-school age in a couple of years, and I bet our next family trip will be to Niseko, for all the reasons you say.

Harder to justify a lot of things that required no justification before...

12 years, but doesn't having a couple of kids put a dent in the ski days notched up each year?

It's all Greek to me...

or, "De gustibus non disputandum", as they would have said in ancient Rome

Chacun ses goûts, as the French say

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they do go back, because it keeps them out of the place I want to ski...

You know it. Then we went to Niseko, and how disappointed were we? Noz is a great little Japanese town, which happens to have a ski resort above it, Niseko is a tourist trap. "The Kuta Beach of ski resorts", as someone said in these forums a couple of years back (I forget who, but the analogy is spot on). Wall to wall gaijin, hardly any hint of local culture. I'm surprised that anyone who has Niseko as their first resort ever goes back.

Nozawa Onsen

Hi guys, It's time to make travel plans, and we are looking for Ryokan/Minshuku-style accommodation. Just two of us, and we have a car and want to do a week in Furano area and a week around Rusutsu. Staff that speak better English than my Japanese would be nice. No trouble finding a place in Furano, but do you think I can find even one place in Kutchan? I've Googled my fingers off, been to the JNTO, Ryokan/minshuku association websites and everything is in Niseko or Rusutsu (and they are booking out fast). Does anyone know where I should try next, or should we just give in and stay i

Met him once, at a lecture he gave about the hospital he had set up in Nepal. Legend.

The only thing I got out of watching the Buffalo video a second time, was that the guy clearly needs to get some video-editing software, to cut out all the panning and zooming, which made me kind of nauseous...

About the lady driver, I didn't laugh at that, because I've had to watch video footage from the security cameras at my par park at work, to see an equally bad driver ram into the back of my parked car, in much the same matter. Actually made me angry to watch them just drive off, with no acknowledgment that they'd done anything wrong...

I don't get it... can I please have the last eight-and-a-half minutes of my life back? I was waiting for a tag, like the lion getting thrown into the water and eaten by the croc, but no.