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Hey there, this is my first post so I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I'm looking to do a few months skiing in Japan. The only thing I'm worried about is that the terrain won't be challenging enough to keep me interested. I Like to ski steep, hard lines, mostly in the trees. I hear there is great tree skiing in Japan at certain resorts, but I'm still not sure if the lines would be steep enough. I've been looking at Rusutsu and from the pictures it seems to be OK at best. I've been skiing at Red Mountain the past couple seasons, a resort known for it's steep, technichally challenging runs, but the snow hasn't been there. If anyone considers themselves a good skiier (by good I mean you're straightlining double blacks) and has experience in both Japan and BC, or terrain similair to BC such as the Alps or Alaska, and could give me their 2 cents on whether or not I'll find worthwhile skiing in Japan, I'd be very appreciative.

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I think there are places in Japan but Rusutsu isn't one of them maybe Honshu but the others will have to chime in with their thoughts.

I don't straightline double blacks but maybe if you hiked a bit you may find some challenging runs.

Check out

http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/23581-the-ozsnowbum-experience/

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I would say you are more likely to find big lines down in the BC of Nagano. Still not anything like Canada, but the closest that Japan can offer. It's really the powder that I love about Japan, for me it doesn't have to be on über steeps, as long as it's pitch is enough for gravity to help me through the pow :)

 

Rider69 usually is out hiking the back and peaks of Nagano, he may give you more exact details if he's lurking....haven't seen him around for a while

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You are going to need hakuba backcountry for the biggest lines in japan.

BC definately has the terrain but terrain is nothing without snow. Japan has the snow but the terrain is not as good (on average).

There are spots but you have to discover them ;-)

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If you are straightlining double blacks you will be disappointed with what is on offer at resorts here. There is nothing, at any resort, that comes close to double black runs back home (Canada). Resorts here are pretty tame. It you venture off into the backcountry you will find some pretty good interesting lines. The appeal here is the amazing snow.

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+1 to what BM said. It's all about the POW here in Japan. You'll have to hike and take some risks to get to any real steeps. And yes...Rider69 is the dude to talk with.

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Cool thanks for the info. Kinda what I figured but I'll probably head there any way as it's the only way to squeeze a season in after working in Australia. I like touring and have all my gear, but I also love to ski by myself and I'm wary of doing that in the back country.

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Yeah, I mean as far as I can tell from the YouTube vids of Red Mountain tree lines, I think you'd definitely find stuff to keep you entertained in and around Nagano/Niigata... You probably won't get lines anywhere near as long though -especially lift accessed...

 

Here's a vid of my favourite slackcountry lines from a few seasons ago... Having no idea what a double black is like I can't comment, but at least you'll get the gist perhaps of some of the lift-accessed terrain available here...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM5o_7rjl-4

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Hey there, this is my first post so I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I'm looking to do a few months skiing in Japan. The only thing I'm worried about is that the terrain won't be challenging enough to keep me interested. I Like to ski steep, hard lines, mostly in the trees. I hear there is great tree skiing in Japan at certain resorts, but I'm still not sure if the lines would be steep enough. I've been looking at Rusutsu and from the pictures it seems to be OK at best. I've been skiing at Red Mountain the past couple seasons, a resort known for it's steep, technichally challenging runs, but the snow hasn't been there. If anyone considers themselves a good skiier (by good I mean you're straightlining double blacks) and has experience in both Japan and BC, or terrain similair to BC such as the Alps or Alaska, and could give me their 2 cents on whether or not I'll find worthwhile skiing in Japan, I'd be very appreciative.

 

Welcome.

 

Only skied on Hokkaido, so here goes.

 

If you're prepared to skin / snowshoe / bootpack then there's an abundance of steep tree skiing on Hokkaido.

 

For example,

 

the Tokachidake area

 

the peaks around Jyozankei Dam (pics and vid on my thread later)

 

 

Lift accessed supplemented with skin / snowshoe / bootpack you have

 

Kurodake

 

the Kiroro backcountry

 

Otaru Tenguyama

 

Sapporo Kokusai

 

Sapporo Teine

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The appeal here is the amazing snow.

 

and the culture. And the food. And the people. And the onsen, etc, etc.

 

Obviously. I was speaking from the point of view of strictly skiing though. If your main reason is to come for skiing then most people wouldn't give a toss about any of that stuff. Around some of the bigger resort areas I don't really find the culture, food or people that representative of 'Japan' anyway. You need to get to more out of the way places for that.

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