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Planning on a ski holiday to Hokkaido at beginning of January 2012.

Can anyone advise on which resort is better for me? Kiroro or Rusutsu or Tomamu?

I'm a beginner/intermediate skier looking for longer and scenic,but not too steep, runs from mountain top hopefully.

Thanks in advance! :friend:

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You being a beginner/intermediate, are forgetting one important thing. Lessons. Rusutsu charges around 14K for a 2 hour session, Tomammu similar. Instructors don't speak good English (especially Tommamu).

 

If you have looked at Tomamu, just up the road there is Sahoro. The clubmed there is all inclusive of food, lift charges, instructors. You join the class in the morning and ski with people of your same ability, all included in the price of your accomodation (which is more expensive than backpacking though I must admit).

 

Having been to most major places on Hokkaido, I would really recommend Sahoro for intermediates. It's where you can improve without added expense and they all speak good English.

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Rusutsu is great, but as per Alex's suggestion, the lessons are not cheap unless you speak fluent Japanese. They have English speaking instructors, but they are only available for private lessons. If your budget covers it, or you can muster up your own group, then great, but lessons are an important consideration. I can't comment on any of the other resorts, not having been there, but if lessons are important to you, I would suggest finding out what lessons are available at the resort that you choose. A quick look on the Rusutsu and Kiroro websites indicates that only private lessons are available.

 

Other than the lessons, Rusutsu provides relatively long, gentle slopes with perfect grooming. Some of the runs do have great views.

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If you`re not having lessons, I`d say Rusutsu as well. & I`m not sure of the details, but I did bump into some American and Aussie instructors who worked the season in Rusutsu last year, so it might be worth doing some more research there.

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Thanks guys! ;) I've been to Sahoro the year before,and Niseko village last year. Yes,Sahoro's really good for their free group lessons! I found some of Niseko village's green and blue slopes with turns without fences around the top rather scary. Does Rusutsu offer easy runs from mountain top? Their trail map shows only blue runs from mountain top and no green runs. Are their green and blue runs harder and steeper than Kiroro? I would like to do some leisure skiing with my girlfriend this time, so I won't be taking any lessons. Kiroro sounds good as we can go to Otaru for dinners and stuff. :p

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As far as beginner-friendly goes, I'd rate Rusutsu & Kiroro about even.You can stay in Otaru and commute by bus, but it's a pretty long trip after you've done it for a day or two. I think Sapporo Kokusai from Otaru is faster, and the runs there are also beginner-friendly.

Personally, I find Rusutsu's views more scenic, but YMMV and Kiroro is certainly not lacking in that dept.

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Thanks guys! ;) I've been to Sahoro the year before,and Niseko village last year. Yes,Sahoro's really good for their free group lessons! I found some of Niseko village's green and blue slopes with turns without fences around the top rather scary. Does Rusutsu offer easy runs from mountain top? Their trail map shows only blue runs from mountain top and no green runs. Are their green and blue runs harder and steeper than Kiroro? I would like to do some leisure skiing with my girlfriend this time, so I won't be taking any lessons. Kiroro sounds good as we can go to Otaru for dinners and stuff. :p

Yes, there are easy runs from the mountain tops. West mountain has a green course from the top (although West mountain is quite short) and red courses from the top of East mountain and Mt Isola. Check out this video of the Heavenly View course from the top of Mt Isola, it will give you a fairly good idea of the types of runs you can expect over on Isola.

 

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Thanks Surfarthur and DiGriz! :) The Heavenly view course looks easier in the video than when I was studying their Rusutsu's trail map.

So it's either Rusutsu or Kiroro??? :confused:

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Yes,I went to Niseko village in Jan. After we got off the gondola,there were a few turns around the mountain without any fences,that freaked my girlfriend out. :omg:

We're just beginner/intermediate skier,and that's quite scary, some other green and blue slopes are steeper than the other resorts we skied before(ie.Naeba,Sahoro).

So that's why we're trying to get more info on Kiroro and Rusutsu. :p

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Yes the trail map makes things look quite steep. Most of the red runs are pretty similar, quite flat in places with short slightly steeper pitches. The green trail from east mountain over to Mt Isola is quite narrow, but well fenced from memory.

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Cheers guys! :wave: Just heard from a friend that Kiroro has a 4km nice long run from top of mountain down to bottom,not too steep! :lol:

Any SJ skied that before? good run? How's the food and hotel at Kiroro?

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I tried to book a week at Kiroro for this coming January, and got the very strange reply from the resort that January was pretty much booked out. I'm talking mid to late January, not new years. I couldn't believe that it was true, but there you go.

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Wow....both hotels full already :rolleyes: .....is it really that good? or a hot tourist spot? :confused:

They had some availability, just not the stretches that I wanted. I sort of got the impression that for some reason they didn't want to do the booking?! I mean, they couldn't be full already in a year when skiers numbers have to be down on usual, could they?

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Hi all.

i actually have the same dilemma, trying to decide between these three resorts.

i dont really care for the nightlife - simply want to enjoy the best snow, runs and views in the probably only visit to hokkaido...

i found three packages, tomamu is cheaper than the other two which are about even.

which should i pick...?

 

thanks!

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