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bellavista

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Posts posted by bellavista

    Niseko, Rusutsu, Hakuba or Gifu?

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    Ipak

     

    I can only comment on the Niseko and Rusutsu. I'd love to compare them with Hakuba and all the other places I've never been but there's only one machine in the world that does that, and Fattwins owns the only one in existence.

     

    Anyway, I would be confident you would have a great time basing yourself in Niseko. Rusutsu is my all-time favourite place to ski.(and I've skied a fair few places). Rusutsu needs a dump to be worthwhile whereas some other places are still fun without deep snow. Objectively, Rusutsu shouldn't be that good but it has an amazing number of hidden, semi-hidden, and obvious tree runs. It also has some outrageous skiing over the back- you need to car-shuttle it back but some people actually just book a taxi for the day so they can all ski.Rusutsu is virtually empty. Rusutsu is just one of those places where, when its deep, you just giggle yourself stupid every run about how insane the skiing is.

     

    Rusutsu and Niseko seem to act in a somewhat complimentary way because they face different ways, so one is often deeper than the other.

     

    But... Rusutsu is deadly quiet at night ..and weird. Think of a half empty cruise ship with a few Japanese people, karaoke, some indoor carousels that Michael Jackson may have installed and an " all you can drink for 1100yen" Happy Three Hours with noone drinking in the bar.

     

    So.. I would suggest staying in Niseko with a couple of day trips to Rusutsu when it dumps. Get a van when you stay in Niseko and you've got the freedom to move around the village, go to Kutchan at night, go to Moiwa, go to some of the nicer onsens outside of Hirafu.

     

    I love Moiwa but it's a tough gig for snowboarders - long tricky runouts.

     

    Niseko does have a lot of Aussies but , overall, I like Aussies.

    The restaurants and bars are very Japanese, but you should avoid PowPows and Fatty's if you don't want the pub scene. There are heaps of other places to go.

     

    The skiing in Niseko is excellent and a lot of it feels like lift-serviced backcountry.

     

    In Niseko, it's most crowded from Dec27-Jan26. Also avoid the week of Chinese New Year if you can. That said, the crowds are relative - I've never truly seen it crowded like a North american powder day. The flip side of that is that IMHO, the clientele in the January is a bit more , how should I say it, "refined". It's Australian school holidays so there are more families.

     

     

     

    Niseko, Rusutsu, Hakuba or Gifu?

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

     Originally Posted By: Fattwins
    Dont worry some people cant handle the truth ...


    I thought you might be a bit more grandiose in your response to Sarge..

    Maybe something like..."Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with skis. Whose gonna do it? You Sarge? You, bellavista? I have more responsibility here than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Niseko, and you curse Hakuba's terrain. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Niseko's success, while tragic, probably is undeserved. And that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves people from going to Hokkaido. I know deep down in places you dont talk about at parties, you want me on that forum, you need me on that forum. We use words like steep, chute, couloir. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very opinion I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I prefer you said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up some weapons, and stand to post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!" (with apologies to Jack Nicholson)

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    Creek Boy and Go Native

     

    Totally agree with your comments about safety.

     

    Quite a few times I've passed on that run because of concerns about its slide risk.

     

    The other place I'm really cautious with is near the cornice over towards Hanazono above Jackson's. That actually released and carried a mate of mine last February - he was fine, not buried and it was a minor slide. I've heard of similar things happening there in the past.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

     Originally Posted By: Fattwins
    Mate that is not accessable by the masses in 30 minutes. That is one Backcountry run that is somewhat steep and has zero features. 95% of the people even thinking about that would need a guide. Easy to find anywhere though and out right boring features.



    ....sigh... that shot... as pointed out by people who have actually been there.... is very close to the top lift and can be accessed by virtually anyone.

    Your shots are very nice, but noone said Niseko was steeper than Hakuba. The point taken up was that there is no steep skiing in Niseko.

    Surely you are not going to stretch your assessment to now being able to tell people, who know the area well, that in fact they don't know where that slope is at all.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

     Originally Posted By: Fattwins
    You are not even close to the lifts on that one mate. Lets try to stay with in say 30 minutes of the resort please. The Hanzono website shows where that is on their opening page.


    You see, Fattwins, that is the problem with commenting on a place to which you have never been.......


    That is the north face of Annupuri, straight off the peak, a short boot pack from the top lift. The backdrop is Iwaonupuri.

    Surprised you didn't instantly recognise them from your topo map.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    Bless you Mike , you understated b**tard.

     

    You're exactly the type of skier I'm talking about in Niseko.

    You've been to a bunch of places and skied a whole lot of years - and can probably smoke almost anyone on any given day.

     

    Your politeness and reserve in this and other forums is admirable.

     

    But I suspect you're underselling yourself.

     

    Enjoy that new snow.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    Agreed Bill.

     

    But at least the dog chasing it's tail isn't running off down the wrong road. I just got sick of seeing all this "Niseko is flat as..." stuff. It floored me to find out Fattwins hadn't actually been there.

     

    So if the onlookers see the "dog chasing its tail" and draw some conclusions based on the strange balance that provides ... I'd be OK with that.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    A few points

     

    1. We are not preaching to the converted, we're often preaching to the unconverted and often in a forum where they have asked for advice.

     

    2. You seem to think we are saying Niseko is the "best". We're not - but we're not going to let someone say it is something it is not. As I said before - just because people say Niseko is good doesn't mean Hakuba isn't.

     

    3. Judge by the photos people - if you think the photos in the TGR link look boring - don't go to Niseko. This is was it is like.

     

    4. You have to have been somewhere to make the sort of critical commentary that you are making regarding Niseko.

     

    5. Add 1 large grain of salt to all Niseko comments by Fattwins.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    If you just base your assessment of a place on a topo map - you'll ski some pretty ordinary places. You see - it's about the skiing.

     

    It's the snow - the quality, the depth, the frequency.

    It's the spacing of the trees.

    It's the accessibility of the slackcountry.

    It's the accessibility of the backcountry.

    It's the proximity of other good places to ski.

    For some people it's the ability to ski an untracked tree run while their other half skis a groomer - and meet at the bottom and ride up together on the lift.

    It's not having a nazi ski patrol.

     

    There's plenty of challenging terrain in and around Niseko. If you want to check your maps you'll see some really good steep terrain off the back side of The Peak ( often too dangerous to ski), good terrain over toward goshki, good terrain around Chisenupurri, really good terrain over on Iwaonupurri. Not to mention Youtei - hard to believe anyone serious about their backcountry would turn their nose up at that.

     

    Then there's Rusutsu nearby - one of the great tree skiing resorts in the world. Seriously.

     

    Niseko is like this - http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76960&highlight=japan

     

    and like this a lot of the time.

     

    BTW I have nothing to do with the skiers in that link.

     

    You see- there can be more than one good place to ski. Just because people say Niseko is good, doesn't mean your beloved Hakuba isn't.

     

    I suppose we should let you deter people because it is getting tracked out a bit quicker in the last year or so...

     

    But for Christ's sake get up there and try it before you give all these enquiring people a bum steer on what is a very worthy place.

    Hanazono: Sold! To the Chinese fellow at the back

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    I've been lurking on this site for quite a while - but I've been provoked into action by Fattwins post about never having been to Niseko.

     

    I'd presumed you'd at least been there.

     

    I'm sure you're a great skier and all, but I've read post after post both here and elsewhere, where you rail against Niseko and how flat it is - blah , blah , etc , etc. There are disparaging comparisons made, quotes like " you have no idea what you are talking about, mate" delivered to those who have good things to say about Niseko.

     

    Any thread about Niseko has an even chance of being polluted by this crap.

     

    And all this from someone who's never even been there!

     

    I can't imagine criticising a place I'd never been to or skied. Ask any bunch of good skiers where their favourite places are - you won't get uniform answers - but you have to have been there to make reasonable comment.

     

    I've never been to Hakuba and therefore would not even presume to be able to offer critical comment. I have friends who have skied Hakuba, but I don't presume that their perspective is the same as mine would be and I certainly wouldn't be taking people who live in Hakuba to task when they said good things about it.

     

    There are a lot of good skiers in Niseko who have skied a lot of places, and skied a lot of places steeper than Niseko and Hakuba - and they all think Niseko rules.

     

    Maybe you should try it.

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