amol 0 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 hi, Looking at going to japan in mid-dec for about a month. I'd like to do about a week's worth of snowboarding while I'm there. between ~15 dec and new year's what are the chances of good packs in hokkaido ? what would be the best timeframe to maximize my chances of hitting the best powder, if my itinerary is flexible ? I would also like to go to the nagano area, if possible. Same question about that, I guess. what's the best time between 15 Dec and 15 Jan ? thanks! Link to post Share on other sites
@tokyo 14 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Good places to start are here http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/search.html and http://www.snowjapan.com/e/daily/nowcalendar.php Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 where in Japan are you gonna be? Link to post Share on other sites
axellieb 0 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Over the last three years I have each year gone to Nozawa Onsen for a couple of days of early-season riding and things were always good. The snow was terrific, the weather beautiful and very few people there. I think Nozawa is safest in this regard. Only a limited selection of slopes is open before Dec 23 or so though. Good for a fun warm-up but after a couple of days it gets boring if you are more than beginning intermediate. By the way, at that time of the year the village may not have any snow and instead be subject to rain showers. But not to worry: just a few meters up in the gondola and you're in winter wonderland. Niseko, Kiroro and adjacent areas in Hokkaido are less safe in Dec/early Jan - had some rainy days there. Furano and Tomamu may be better due to greater altitude. Link to post Share on other sites
amol 0 Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 Thanks Axel. Tubby, I have not fixed my itinerary yet. I was hoping to incorporate at least a week of snowboarding, so I'm trying to find out where I could go for the maximum probability of good snow. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I was riding last year at that time in Niigata, i went to Kagura a few times before Xmas and coverage was good, but the slopes were mobbed. I guess that the Japan Alps are a decent bet, so Hakuba, Shiga Kogen etc should have enough snow. This is all dependent on the weather mind you!! check out the Now reports Archive on this site for previous years snow levels. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Originally Posted By: Axel Lieber Over the last three years I have each year gone to Nozawa Onsen for a couple of days of early-season riding and things were always good. Niseko, Kiroro and adjacent areas in Hokkaido are less safe in Dec/early Jan - had some rainy days there. Furano and Tomamu may be better due to greater altitude. As usual we shouldn't take one persons one or two experiences as a good indication of average conditions. If you look back over the Now reports from Hirafu, Noz and Hakuba top stations I get the following figures for 15 Dec snowdepths - Hirafu - Nozawa - Hakuba '07 - 120 - 115 - 125 '06 - 65 - 50 - 70 '05 - 230 - 300 - 235 '04 - 100 - 10 - 15 '03 - 80 - 15 - 70 '02 - 200 - 170 - 200 Furano can often have better early season cover not because of altitude but because it is a bit further north and colder. Tomamu is in a relatively dry part of Hokkaido and rarely gets anywhere near the same amount of snow Niseko or Furano gets. Basically for early season snow either come to Hokkaido which gets colder earlier or go the highest resorts down south. Link to post Share on other sites
axellieb 0 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 >As usual we shouldn't take one persons one or two experiences as a good indication of average conditions. True, of course. What I'd be interested to know is if there is any place that is safe from rain in late Dec and Jan. This was a problem in Niseko and Kiroro several times while I have never had that problem in Nozawa (at least not in the upper parts of the mountain). Furano perhaps? >Furano can often have better early season cover not because of altitude but because it is a bit further north and colder. You are right. I thought Furano was higher than Niseko but it is actually pretty much the same. I wonder why it's colder there... Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Originally Posted By: Go Native As usual we shouldn't take one persons one or two experiences as a good indication of average conditions. That's right, but if you are going to go with 'one person's opinion' go with Go Natives before Axel's. Sorry Axel Anyway, the later the better but for my money, Niseko is about as reliable as any place I know of in the Northern Hemisphere for early season. Check out Hakuba, Nozawa or Shiga in January. Link to post Share on other sites
axellieb 0 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Errr... not too sure what you mean and not too sure why you apologize. There isn't any fundamental contradiction between what I reported and what GN says (except - possibly - for my assertion that Nozzie is safest). I reported my personal positive experience with Nozzie and I don't see the data GN posted contradicting that experience. What GN points to is snow depth which certainly is a good indicator but given that this is Japan where absolute snow depth rarely is a problem, I think that my point - risk of rain fall - is a fair one. GN's data don't say anything about that. What good are 200 cm of snow cover when it's raining cats and dogs? Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Having a bit of time on my hands I looked through the Now reports for each day of each December from '02-'07 for both Nozawa and Hirafu. For Hirafu I counted 6 rain days and Nozawa 11. Anyway that's 186 days worth of reports with both areas averaging less than 2 rain days in Dec. Whichever you choose you would have to be pretty unlucky to get rain. Hirafu averages slightly less than 1 rain day each Dec so you'd have to be real unlucky to get rain. I guess you're just really unlucky Axel... It's all well and good to discuss our own experiences Axel but if you are going to make weather related recommendations we should look at longer term averages rather than just one or two experiences. Furano is colder as it is in the center of Hokkaido and thus less affected by the moderating effects of the Sea of Japan. Hirafu is very close to the coast and milder but gets much more precipitation averaging 13m+ of snowfall whereas Furano gets around 8m. Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Question time! By car on a good day, how far by car is Niseko from the coast? 30 minutes or so? Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
nrg2000 0 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Its about 110km from Chitose airport. I am not sure how far it is from the Sea of Japan side of the island. By car you can arrive in about 2 hours depending on the conditions. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Originally Posted By: mina2 Question time! By car on a good day, how far by car is Niseko from the coast? 30 minutes or so? Thanks. 45 mins in summer 75 mins in winter Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Thanks Mike. Thought it was nearer than that actually. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Mina the coast is actually pretty close as the crow flies (~30km) but the roads are not that direct. In the summer there is a reasonably direct route over the mountains but that road is closed in winter. Link to post Share on other sites
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