Slippery Jim

My idea of a nice morning hike was to walk out of the old Yamada Onsen Hotel, take about 20 steps to the right, wave at the pair of foxes begging for table scraps, step into the bindings and ski down to the quad. (On a powder morning you mightn't even have to take the 20 steps; just lock in right in front of the hotel and you could go.) Man, I miss that place!

Well, GN, looked more like 30 or so to me, and fairly open to the elements so I'm sure there were snow/ice mornings to deal with. But if that's your idea of ski-in/out luxury...fine. It's just not mine. Like I said, I'm sure the actual condos are tres fab. MB, I'll hike a bit when it's warranted, but one of the reasons I stopped staying at Hirafu-tei was that PITA catwalk you must navigate to get down to -- that a.m. LA-level traffic jam of a beginner double.

I'm sure the Vale condos are nice, super luxury etc.etc., but when I saw a couple of people climbing up two flights in ski boots and lugging their gear to get to that beginner double at the very bottom of the hill, which was at the time jammed up with 17,692 ski-school kids (yes, I counted every damn one of them) -- well, I decided that even after I hit the big lottery I won't be booking there.

Downside if you go to Sugadaira is that it's pretty costly in travel time compared with moving between Shiga/Nozawa/Hakuba/Myoko without offering anything they don't have -- and missing a lot of what they do have. It's a good area for beginners and low intermediates, but doesn't get big dumps of snow and doesn't offer any decently long runs. There are some nice pensions up there, though.

Can't see why anyone would feel ripped off at the Ace Hill restaurant, some of the best on-mountain food I've ever found in Japan and the prices are reasonable. Sorry, that's at Niseko for those who don't know.

Congratulations, wish you both health, wealth & time to enjoy them.

No argument from me on Furano. We were there the week before xmas and it was almost empty (and less than half the cost of just a few days later!). I'm simply saying that if he has the choice (I know many don't) it's well worth skipping xmas/ny and going just before or after -- use the money saved for a second trip (maybe just before or after chinese new year).

Not sure you read him right, CB. He's specifically NOT looking off-piste, which would seem (to me) to eliminate Asahi/Kuro from his choices. Furano/Tomamu? fershure, but they're also going to be more expensive at xmas/ny, and relatively more crowded than say in mid-January. If you know a ski resort in Japan that's not more crowded or costly at new year than at any other time, please share the goods.

http://maps.google.com/ click: Get Directions, enter Furano, enter Rusutsu Driving directions to Rusutsu Village, Abuta District, HokkaidŠPrefecture, Japan 215 km – about 4 hours 26 mins

You'll find it very expensive to go to Hokkaido at xmas/ny, no matter where you look. And it will be more crowded, especially at new year, than at almost any other time of the season. (Of course, the same goes for Honshu.) Personally, I'd suggest volunteering to be the good guy who mans the office at those times -- and takes some comp days later.

Demo, demo, demo -- you may find you're happy with your current, relatively narrow skis, or you may find you love a 100mm+ ski. But you'll never know until you try. Plenty of good places to demo different skis in Niseko.

Roughly 50,000 is the usually cited number; 90 for bases sounds high, must be including every tiny radar site.

Thanks GN, that pretty much accords with my estimations. I've managed to always skip Xmas/NY/CNY. Mid-January used to be pretty good, but it's been a little crowded the past couple of years. I've typically taken a North American trip in February, but thinking next season to stick with Niseko and go overseas in March instead.

Dunno, Will. Maybe it was the immediacy (or a good telescope?)

Pulls tab; hits balcony, sun sets...ah, Classic! Gotta love those supermarket `Hokkaido Fairs'

That's a ``resort mansion'' (condo) complex that Seibu built. Probably some good deals going on those now, although they were constructed back before underfloor heating and other mod-cons became standard. I knew a guy who used to stay in one regularly on weekends (it belonged to a friend of his) and said the views across the road to the hotel were better than any porn movie he'd ever seen on friday & saturday nights!

GN: What are the prime times for visitors coming from abroad? Obviously domestic visits peak at New Year and around the three-day weekends, but what would be your on-site advice for Japan-based people to avoid the biggest crowds?

BRRRRNNNNNN! Sorry mate, that's straight out of the OED. But, hey, it's your body. If you want to cheat it...

hmmmmm Chisel: 3. colloq. or slang. Also chizzle. To cheat, defraud. to chisel out of: to cheat of. [History obscure: written evidence wanting. Its use at Winchester Coll. in 1821 is vouched for by the Warden of New College (the Rev. Dr. Sewell), and in 1839 by Rev. C. B. Mount.

Good God! You actually look at a mirror without clothes on!

What Muika said. Skip Sugadaira and Madarao and use those days for Myoko.

There once was a chocolate wafer-like treat test-marketed as Snatch. It got renamed Snitch in romaji in the Tokyo region (although the katakana remained ``sunatchu'' but I'm told you could still find Snatch in Hokkaido for quite some time afterward.

Fark with the bull and you get the horn!

Town planning? Conformity of design? You guys sound like Vailistas. Part of the charm of Hirafu is that it isn't anything like the modern, built-to-plan ski resorts.

CB, Minoh sounds pretty good. I may try to get down to Osaka for one of those. Thanks for the tip.