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Hmmmm...A season pass.

 

Few questions for the unknowledgable amongst us (that would be me).

Are they able to be bought by foreigners?

Are they able to be bought all through the season? Or just in the spring?

 

I bought a season pass for Thredbo this year as I was going to be there more than 11 days (the break even point), and was wondering if I should think about similar for Niseko.

 

Family of 6 will have 3 weeks, but one will have 5 weeks total ... be nice if we were able to reduce the spend with a season pass.

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yes they can be bought by foreigners and from overseas.

yes vaild from the beginning to the end of the season

Yes can be bought throughout the season....price increases to 60,000 yen after October 31

Spring season pass is also available from March 1 to the end of the season.

 

Cannot be used for night skiing.

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yes they can be bought by foreigners and from overseas.

yes vaild from the beginning to the end of the season

Yes can be bought throughout the season....price increases to 60,000 yen after October 31

Spring season pass is also available from March 1 to the end of the season.

 

Cannot be used for night skiing.

 

Yes you can use it for niseko as long as you buy it in hakuba.

(maybe not totally true but it is late)

Email direct for responsible answers.

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Mamabear - I bet they love foreigners buying them and then not showing up!

 

That deal makes sense for someone spending a prolonged period in Hakuba, but despite hoping to do several trips this coming winter, I have no plans. It won't be worth it for me. If the snow's good enough and Happo-one / 47 / Goryu are too crowded, we usually go to Aokiko and connected resorts just down the valley. Discounted tickets are normally available for those places and they are rarely crowded.

 

Enjoy

 

SdS

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47 ain't worth 10 visits in the winter, not for someone visiting anyway. I wonder how many people buy one and don't use it as much as they would or go as many times to cover the cost.

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Its an interesting thing...

 

Papa and I both JUST got our moneys worth out of the Thredbo Season Pass this year - the advantage was that over a couple of trips we did not need to queue up with the hoardes each trip to get a lift pass for a couple of days (we already had it hanging around our necks). The other advantage was that the lifty's would say "Thanks Michelle, have a nice day" when they scanned the pass in the lift queue, instead of just "beep" with no eye contact...or as happened to me last year "first time love?" hahahaha

 

But a mate who had intended on spending more time there than he has has not actually made it to the 11 days on snow required to break even and put a smile of value on his face.

 

We had intended on heading over for one more hit out this weekend or next, just Papa and I, but the snow is looking really patchy and I just dont know if it is going to be worth the trip. We might be better off chucking on a heavy duty rashie and going for a chilly wakeboard.

 

I also wonder about whether people who break thier leg/arm/other season ending injury are furious. Friend on this recent girls trip got tendonitis in her ankle and had to stop. She got a Drs certificate and the Lift Tix Office refunded her 2 days of lift ticket (in voucher form) - I am sure they wouldnt do that for a Season Pass!

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I find a season pass restricts my plans and I don't go anywhere near enough to do that. Enjoy going to lots of different places.

 

Would be interesting to know how many they sell.

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Regarding Niseko, I think the best value is the 50 hour pass for 46,000. Buying multi-day passes never works out for me because of tiredness, laziness, drunkenness and things not entirely in my control like wind or closed lifts. Also, when you are staying there for extended periods you can pick and choose the best times you want to be on the hill. The last reason is that it tends to work out to more than 50 hours as you can scan the card just before your next hour starts, ride to the top and then go back country or do whatever after your time has 'technically' expired.

 

The best seasons pass I've seen around is the Myoko Big Pass (or something like that) which includes 4 hills (Seki, Akakan, Ikenotaira and Suginohara) for something like 40,000.

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Yeah, multi-day or week-pass sucks !

In Europe there are half day passes and it's great when the day is not good or you had enough. Don't like the feeling when I think I got to get my moneys worth.

Seasons pass I have never bought one yet. If I fracture myself it's going to be 8 weeks. Still plenty of time. The question is: damn there are so many places I can go. Should I stick to one, or try other places?

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Originally Posted By: skidaisuki
Mamabear - I bet they love foreigners buying them and then not showing up!

That deal makes sense for someone spending a prolonged period in Hakuba, but despite hoping to do several trips this coming winter, I have no plans. It won't be worth it for me. If the snow's good enough and Happo-one / 47 / Goryu are too crowded, we usually go to Aokiko and connected resorts just down the valley. Discounted tickets are normally available for those places and they are rarely crowded.

Enjoy

SdS



That is a good quote. The Sun Alpina resorts of Sanosaka, Aokiko and Kashimayari really deserve some more recognition. You can have a great day out there.
Though for many without transport they can be a little hard to get to, but buses do run to Sanoska from the Hakuba accommodation areas during winter.
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Originally Posted By: 2pints,mate
If only they did a Hakuba valley season pass.
Now that would be good.

They actually do but only for a selected few local kids and the the lucky 300 in the Happy 7 lottery.
smile I had one last year.
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the sun alpina season ticket is very cheap and it is good if you are coming up from the south (matsumoto / omachi). you can walk there from the train station and they also have a nice rotenburo and really cheap dorm. it`s also less crowded than the big hakuba resorts.

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Originally Posted By: stemik
Originally Posted By: 2pints,mate
If only they did a Hakuba valley season pass.
Now that would be good.

They actually do but only for a selected few local kids and the the lucky 300 in the Happy 7 lottery.
smile I had one last year.


What's the Happy 7 lottery? Where can I find out more about it?
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