nthnbeachesguy 0 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 New to these forums so not sure if this is the best place to be asking this but here goes. My girlfriend and I are planning a snowboarding trip to Japan at Xmas time. We both have to take leave at this time and rather than spend it at home doing nothing, we would prefer to use it to see somewhere new. We've got two weeks starting on the 24/25th Dec and I was hoping to do both Hokkaido and Honshu and spend a couple of days in Tokyo. Not sure if that is a little ambitious or not I could easily settle for just Honshu or Hokkaido, according to the gf though, Tokyo is not up for debate and has to be done. I have been looking into it but could use some advice on where to go. I was keen on Myoko Kogen in the Nagano region but Hakuba sounded good as well. As far as Hokkaido went I'm pretty sure we would like to avoid Niseko, I am keen on Rusutsu and Furano though. My main concern is the ability to get some powder within the resort boundaries, I won't be able to convince the gf to go to far off the beaten track and I honestly don't know if I could be bothered hiking much. I did snowboard for a few years in my teens but not much till only recently again. I've spent about 20 days a year or more in the Australian resorts for the last 3 years and did 8 days in NZ last year including a day heliboarding in the Harris Mountains, pretty much the highlight of my snowboarding thus far. My girlfriend has a similar story but not so much time on the snow since, she’s comfortable on most things other than black runs. Is Xmas time incredibly busy/expensive at the resorts, is the snow even any good this early in the season? What resorts are dependable to have good snow at this time of year? I would love some powder is that too much to ask for Dec? Once I know what resort to look at for that time of year I guess the next question is where to stay, not too fussy other then it needs to be a private room with ensuite, preferably around 10000yen a night. Would I be better served trying to book accom and lift ticket packages? Flights aren’t a drama as my girlfriend works for an airline however her airline only flies to Tokyo, we can get inter airline flights but they can be a bit of a hassle so the flight to Sapporo might be difficult depending upon availability. Any advice, help on which resorts, snow conditions in Dec would be really appreciated. Additionally would it be better to hire a car or rely on public transport? I have driven in Australia, NZ, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii so driving in foreign lands doesn’t faze me really. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Hi nthnbeachesguy Powder is usually bountiful on the courses too or at least on the sides If you look at the daily reports on here (big red button up top) you'll notice that in recent years things really kick off properly at the end of December and into New Year. Christmas is not really any more expensive than other times and lift tickets and the like are the same through the main season. Just out of interest, why do you want to avoid Niseko? Give some of the places on here a shout, no doubt they would be happy to hear from you. Bright blue button up top that says Places to Stay. Link to post Share on other sites
pickled mushhead 0 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Christmas here ain't the big deal it is in Western countries.... it's New Year that is the big one and when accommodation etc is more expensive. Link to post Share on other sites
pickled mushhead 0 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Is see December 25th is on a Sunday here so a normal weekend. Just some Santa's skiing and then the trees being taken down in the evening.... Link to post Share on other sites
nthnbeachesguy 0 Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 With that in mind I'm kinda happy for the first couple of days to be in Tokyo. There is a shedload of accom options listed here so was hoping for some personal recommendations if possible. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Hi there There's a lot of choice for some popular places but you can narrow things down quite a lot using this http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/accommodation-search.php Never stayed over there, only in Zao really. And then that was in Yamagata As they said Christmas isn't anything special here, the big holiday in New Year. Link to post Share on other sites
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