alexeiw123 2 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Hi All, Couple of quick questions. Girlfriend and I are heading to Niseko mid/late January, staying at 'The Vale', which looks pretty nice. We are trying to figure what the best way is to book lift passes. we will be in Niseko for 8 days skiing (9 nights). While I'm pretty happy to ski all day, my girlfriend might not be; I vaguely remember seeing something about hourly tickets somewhere? Perhaps that was a different resort. My girlfriend is also still a beginner skiier, so we will be getting her some lessons as well, do lessons in Japan include lift passes, or are they to be purchased separately? Would anyone know if we should buy our lift passes when we arrive, or if we can buy them online? and is there a cheaper option for my girlfriend who may not want to ski all day every day? Also, does anyone have recommendations for travel from Sapporo New Chitose to Niseko? Seems the bus is the normal means of transport, any recommended companies, and where to book them? Or would you recommend the train instead? Any suggestions that will make our travel easier/cheaper/funner are welcomed Link to post Share on other sites
Slippery Jim 65 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 With baggage, the buses from airport are your easiest choice. Also a nice scenic drive. In-season the Niseko Express train from Sapporo is very nice also, but it only runs a couple of times a day and you'd have to shlep your bags around and chance trains at Sapporo so probably only a choice if you're traveling very light. The 50-hour pass at Y46,000 is more than a Y40,000 pass for eight of 10 days, so no help. I don't think lessons include lift pass, at least none I've ever heard of. Perhaps someone else knows more about that. Link to post Share on other sites
sand 17 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Generally lift tickets aren't included, unless you girlfriend can speak Japanese. In which case she can take lessons through the Niseko Mountain resort. Link to post Share on other sites
sand 17 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Edit: and through the resort lifts are included. (Japanese language ski lessons) Link to post Share on other sites
sand 17 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 You can possibly arrange for English lesson, but this needs to be done in advance, secondly the lift ticket only covers over the time of the lesson. Link to post Share on other sites
Tex 3 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 The Vale is VERY NICE! Get tickets when you arrive, you can check out the options online in the mean time. As stated by Sand, they won't be included in lessons. Consider the 'points' ticket for your girl friend. You buy so many points and each lift has different point value that will debit your purcahsed points... BUT I would recommend just getting the Niseko Hirafu 8hr ticket and see how she goes because if she is just a beginner learning she is likely to be doing a lot of rounds on the family run, which conveniently is right out the back of the Vale. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 Thanks DiGriz and sand, very useful already. We will try and book with a bus company. Would you recommend buying lift passes in advance, or just when we arrive? Tex: looks like you posted the same time as me, that's great info, thanks. I didn't see the 'points' pass here http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/lift/index.html sounds like your 12 points could go rapidly, I think she's at a level where she could/would venture out of the bunny slopes now. (she's had about a weeks cumulative experience on slopes) Yeah we tried to pick somewhere nice, and close to the lifts, as we've found before that staying a long way from the lifts is a pain when one person likes to ski a lot longer than the other! Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 ive never tried the points pass, my impression was that its for day trippers who do one or two runs and call it a day. eg, a 12 trip pass will only last 3 runs. the lesser houly tickets are just half day and one day tickets, but the 30 and 50 hour passes will probably last you a lot more than your 8 days (50 hour pass is plenty for 2-3 weeks) the leftover time is not meant to be transferable ... oh, you can pay by credit card / etc, but theyll get angry if you dont bring 1000yen cash deposit for each lift ticket (unless theyve changed it). theres a 'plus' atm in town now. you will want to choose weather to buy grand hirafu tickets, or niseko united tickets. niseko is actually 4 ski resorts combined. the hirafu ticket works at 2, the united ticket works at all 4. i think the 2 (niseko and hanazono) areas are probably plenty for an 'experienced beginner', but perhaps an intermediate skiier would want to tour around a little. you might mix up which tickets you have for which day. there are two bus companies that I know of, skybus and whiteliner, that run from the airport (and other places) directly to niseko. last bus leaves at about 9:30pm, which happens to be the same time as when many aussie flights land, and so you cant make it in time. the bus takes about 2 hours. i use whiteliner mostly, skybus is about twice the cost, but use smaller more comfortable minibusses, they drop you right to your door, and is cheaper for big groups i think. whiteliner stop at the welcome center, which is about 400m up the road (as in youre walking downhill). but the vale is pretty fancy, wouldnt be surprised if you can organize a free pickup from welcome center. worst case, a taxi is like $5 both need to be booked online several days in advance (the websites are in english). tho I did forget to book once and whiteliner had no problems fitting me on a bus. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Hi Alexeiw Th Vale is a great spot especially for your girlfriend to walk back to the hotel. We found the points pass was the best value for money and buying and organising lessons and passes before we got their offered better value for money. I have used Resort Liner quite a few times and found them really good. We had a pretty bad experience with Skybus and they are very expensive (Although sometimes the only option apart from taxis). The vale website have a link to alot of info. Seemore 1 Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 thanks anythign and seemore, I will look into booking our lift passes and bus tickets before we arrive then. I didn't realise that there was a ticket which wouldn't give you access to all four parts of the mountain, we will definitely get the niseko united pass. Our plane lands in Sapporo at around midday, so we should hopefully be able to get a time that suits. I see that some of the bus's included a days ski pass as well? neat-o Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 The buses that include day passes are only for day trips from Sapporo aren't they? The airport is not in Sapporo but in Chitose (about 40mins from Sapporo). It's like the day trip deals you can get to Mt Buller from Melbourne. Link to post Share on other sites
Fonty 1 Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 You could also buy a five hour pass for the Hirafu Hanazono area as well. We have never bought our tickets online prior to arriving. If you have pre purchased a Niseko United pass and the weather is bad, the crossing to Niseko Town and Annapuri may be difficult or even closed. You have then wasted your money on a ticket for places you can't get to. My advice would be to buy as you go and how you are feeling that day. We paid with the credit card each time and never had to have the 1000 yen deposit in cash and it wasn't frowned upon. The advice anything gives above is spot on in my experience. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
1 4 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Never bought in advance either, to anywhere. Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 yeah, for the lift passes, even if it's slightly cheaper to buy online, it may be worth buying them on the day, simply to be able to change our plans on the fly to suit the conditions. really appreciate all the advice everyone. I realise these things are probably pretty simple once you're there, just wanted to make sure we were tackling it the right way. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I would not bother prepruchasing in Niseko. I would highly recommend it in Thredbo (queue to buy the lift tickets are insane often, and the prices are discounted online), but there's just NO advantage to prepurchase in Niseko. Here's a tip to reduce your costs... Buy the Grand Hirafu lift pass (covers Hirafu and Hanazono, but not Annapuri and Higashiyama/Niseko Village) and then buy a small all mountain points pass. Stick the points pass in a pocket where it won't register on the scanner (or in an RFID blocking pocket/wallet/wrap in foil) until you find yourself over the over side and needing to get back up. Whip out points pass and use. If your girlfriend is a beginner she might not be comfortable going to the top of the mountain and crossing over, or might only want to do it the once. You could use her left over points if need be. And even for you - if the weather is not conducive the lifts at the top may not even be open. We bought an all mountain pass for 6 of us last trip. We are all advanced boarders and know Niseko United like the back of our hands. But due to weather conditions, our ski preferences on those days and it being only a 5 day-er we only took 3 lifts not on the Grand Hirafu network... It would have been far cheaper to buy Grand Hirafu passes and points passes for the 3 lifts on the other side that we used. Link to post Share on other sites
yamaski 0 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 And I agree. Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 that sounds like a good plan, righto tickets day to day, based on how the days looking. cheers! Link to post Share on other sites
8rei 0 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 if go to niseko for skiing, which hotel or lodging that recomended? are there any onsen inside the hotel? Link to post Share on other sites
surfarthur 22 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 if go to niseko for skiing, which hotel or lodging that recomended? are there any onsen inside the hotel? Hi there 8rei. A good place to start looking for accomodation is here: http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/hokkaido-niseko-accommodation.php As Niseko is a large resort area, there are hotels and lodges to suit a variety of different budgets / preferences, so if you post up some more details of what you are looking for, then I am sure you will get some good help on here. Link to post Share on other sites
8rei 0 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 i;m looking the easy access from train dan has onsen in the hotel, how much need for budget? and the hotel near from the lift also any rekomend? thanks Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hi 8rei, the accommodation I'm staying at has a natural onsen on site, and is right outside a lift. It isn't the cheapest though, but have a look, it's called 'The Vale' Can't comment on access from train, I didn't really think anywhere was close to the train and the lifts. might be wrong. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Train stops in Kutchan, need to then take a bus to Hirafu (not Niseko, Niseko town is not near the ski lifts). A bus from Sapporo Shin Chitose Airport directly to Hirafu is the easiest way. The Vale is lovely. But it is also expensive. Link to post Share on other sites
8rei 0 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 how to get the vale? by bus? any other recomend that has easy access? because my japanesee almost zero. i prefer near from station or can i do day trip ski at niseko from sapporo (which resort easiest access) Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 There are plenty buses from the airport at New Chitose (Sapporo) that'll take you right into the heart of Hirafu. The Vale is at the bottom of the hill to the right. If your accomodation is a little farther out then you can often ask them beforehand to pick you up at the bus centre. Not speaking Japanese in Niseko is hardly a problem.......the language up their is English!! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Tubby is 100% correct. English is spoken by almost everyone. Possibly not the bus drivers, but you book the bus either before you go, or at the desk upon arrival - the staff there speak English and escort you to your bus. There is nothing scary about the process. All upper village accomodation is easy access. But given your request for a ski in ski out hotel I would think The Vale or The Alpen would suit you the most. I would not recommend a day trip from Sapporo to Niseko. I am sure locals might do it, but it's a lot of hours sitting on a bus!! Link to post Share on other sites
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