mitchpee 10 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Ok, I'm looking at Black Diamond tours and they have a Niseko off piste and a Niseko back bowl tours. If anybody here has done them, could you chime in with your opinion? I have seen this done. A group ready to leave through a gate, someone comes up and says can I join you. The times I've witnessed, the answer has always been yes. You could do the same and not pay the 16K for guiding through the gates. The point of paying for ski guiding is to help employ a person who has knowledge and safe awareness of an area. You wouldn't expect to go to a University, sit down, and start getting your degree for free would you? Personally if anyone asked me to "tag along" next to people paying for the experience I would probably be a bit insulted. I wouldn't mind sharing information on where may be good but to assume someone under my wing that I know nothing about for free...that's just crazy. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 The point of paying for ski guiding is to help employ a person No it's not. It's to familiarize yourself with the territory. And once you've paid for the tour, you're free to do as you wish with that knowledge. You wouldn't expect to go to a University, sit down, and start getting your degree for free would you? what is a university? Personally if anyone asked me to "tag along" next to people paying for the experience I would probably be a bit insulted. I wouldn't mind sharing information on where may be good but to assume someone under my wing that I know nothing about for free...that's just crazy. Why did you assume it was a guide and a paid group? All the times I've seen it, they were a bunch of Aussie mates going down the nth time with beer in their backpacks. Link to post Share on other sites
clopidogreat 0 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 great to read these posts. I'm a complete newbie to the forum. The Wife and I will be in Niseko for a week in mid-Feb - our once a year ski trip. We've been there before, just wondering if we should factor in a daytrip to maybe Rusutsu etc. Or is there somewhere else that's better/more worth it? We aren't great ski-ers, being once a yr pple, but we can do all the piste runs. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Removed my post coz it was probably a bit too harsh Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Ok, so far I'm running with this: Day 0 - Overnight ferry from Hachinohe to Tomakomai Day 1 - Tomamu Day 2 - Furano Day 3 - Either Furano again, if it is as awesome as they say, or Asahidake Day 4 - Kamui, then a long ass drive to Niseko (3 1/2 hours) Day 5 - Niseko Day 6 - Niseko Day 7 - Rusutsu, then ferry to Hachinohe Day 8 - Drive to Hakkoda. I would not be going home if I didn't do Hakkoda Yamabushi, this seems like an insanely ambitious trip! Good luck. If it were me I'd spend another day at Rusutsu... but then again if it were me I probably wouldn't try to hit some many places Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I think that deserves it's own topic Black Mountain............ Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 nowt wrong with a good rant.....embrace the hate I say!! Link to post Share on other sites
mitchpee 10 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 The point of paying for ski guiding is to help employ a person No it's not. It's to familiarize yourself with the territory. And once you've paid for the tour, you're free to do as you wish with that knowledge. You wouldn't expect to go to a University, sit down, and start getting your degree for free would you? what is a university? Personally if anyone asked me to "tag along" next to people paying for the experience I would probably be a bit insulted. I wouldn't mind sharing information on where may be good but to assume someone under my wing that I know nothing about for free...that's just crazy. Why did you assume it was a guide and a paid group? All the times I've seen it, they were a bunch of Aussie mates going down the nth time with beer in their backpacks. I guess I read that wrong. I thought you meant you tagged along with tour groups that were paying hence why I would be insulted if someone was to follow a group closely. Absolutely nothing wrong with tagging along with other people who are just out there for the ride. Yeah you are free to do as you wish. Paying for the tour is my point. People who simply watch tour groups and then follow them is where my rant was directed. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Sorry if that seemed harsh Mitch. I'm sure you are a really good guy with good intensions but I took offense to what you said previously. I think you cleared some of that up in your reply. Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Damn you guys have been busy on this post I don't mind paying for one reason and one reason only; I have a limited amount of time and I don't want to squander it by getting lost. Not that there is anything wrong getting lost. if you ask me that's half of the fun of the back country (where if you are prepared _and_ have the physical condition to make it all the way back to the top if need be, it is nothing but an inconvenience). Still, I have hakkoda to wade around in the snow twice a week; I don't need to squander my time at Niseko doing that. However, if some gentle soul would be so kind as to give me some pointers on a topo map, I would not mind exploring on my own. Shit, if a Niseko local wanna show me the ropes, I'll be happy to provide all the food and beer the person could stomach. I'll have my own car with me, we could certainly park it on the back where the onsen is. As far as following somebody else, that's pretty common at Hakkoda. If I'm going up the gondola and happen to come across fellow gaijins, I'm happy to let them tag along. Nobody who knows better goes down the two marked courses and it is in fact a crying shame when people do. Looking at the topo map for niseko, it looks like you can just climb 300m (100m elevation gain) and drop it to the south-west. Is it me or is that all there is to it? Do they look at you funny if you go up all suit up with your avy gear? Link to post Share on other sites
mitchpee 10 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Damn you guys have been busy on this post I don't mind paying for one reason and one reason only; I have a limited amount of time and I don't want to squander it by getting lost. Not that there is anything wrong getting lost. if you ask me that's half of the fun of the back country (where if you are prepared _and_ have the physical condition to make it all the way back to the top if need be, it is nothing but an inconvenience). Still, I have hakkoda to wade around in the snow twice a week; I don't need to squander my time at Niseko doing that. However, if some gentle soul would be so kind as to give me some pointers on a topo map, I would not mind exploring on my own. Shit, if a Niseko local wanna show me the ropes, I'll be happy to provide all the food and beer the person could stomach. I'll have my own car with me, we could certainly park it on the back where the onsen is. As far as following somebody else, that's pretty common at Hakkoda. If I'm going up the gondola and happen to come across fellow gaijins, I'm happy to let them tag along. Nobody who knows better goes down the two marked courses and it is in fact a crying shame when people do. Looking at the topo map for niseko, it looks like you can just climb 300m (100m elevation gain) and drop it to the south-west. Is it me or is that all there is to it? Do they look at you funny if you go up all suit up with your avy gear? The thing is Niseko is super easy to get around when the visibility is good. It's a small and isolated mountain. Pretty much anyone can look from the peak and find their way back to Annurpuri. However, most of January and Feb (when the snow is best) has terrible visibility. Wind, snow, etc make it very hard to see which backbowl you are dropping into. There are places that if you drop in the wrong place you will not be able to get back to the resort without a hard climb out. That said, I'd be happy to point you in any right directions and if I am out shredding for fun show you the areas I know. Look for me in a black jacket yellow boots and blue pants and say hello! Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 What about going up with your back country gear? Will they be all 'Hell no you are not!'? The more I look at the topo maps the more it seems too straight forward to require a guide. I'm spending two days there, we'll play on our own on day one and see how it goes from there (pointers welcome). And the more I look at Tokachidake the more obvious it becomes that a guide is an outstanding investment I'm gonna call the onsen, I'm sure they have local guides right there. Link to post Share on other sites
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