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Someone asked me about this so here goes-

Snow quality- for consistent pow pow - Niseko is in a class by itself, though last season was no great shakes- it still produced epic days and one memorable run with snow up past my armpits- whistler gets it good too but not as much and sometimes rainy

The Mountain- Whsitler is wide open bowls thigh burning steeps and looooooooooooooong runs- Niseko is creamy rolls and mellow slopes and after two and a half years there you get to know every bump and mushroom in the place

The park and pipe- Whistlers make your corleones shoot up to your throat- Niseko cuts their half pipe with a back hoe once every two weeks- nuff said

Apres- In Whistler its twenty four seven party and my buddy once told Prince Charles " hoi big nuts, move it" in the parking lot- Niseko is trips to the Co-op for beers and 1 night club that keeps getting shut by the yakuza who owns the building next door(thank god for Tony Hawk 2)

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NOOOOOOOO CONTEST....

 

700 skiable acres - Whistler Blackcomb combined - almost twice as much as any other mountain in North America and about 10x any 3 resorts in Japan combined...

 

5,300 vertical feet - come on a "mile" of vertical..

 

I know that the snow is not as consistant as we might like on the BC Coast... But the mountain wins by itself.... and that's without getting into the clubs, hotels, chicks, etc.., etc.., etc..,

 

I love Hokkaido, but there is simply NO contest comparing anything here to Whistler....

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Can you compare the standard of MLB with the local boys at the park? Same deal. Whistler v Niseko. Although if we're talking straight snow quality, and I think that's the essence of our sport then Niseko eats Whistler alive.

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Mudguts, thats what i figured too...

 

i mean i have never been to either but we chose to go to Niseko ova canada next year...

 

who cares bout all the fancy pancy stuff if theres more snow in niseko then y is whistler better???

 

fresh deep powder everyday would have to win hands down.!?

 

mmm....

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Sam, Sam, Sam....

 

You just can't understand until you've been to both and only then you can make the comparison... And there is NO comparison....

 

If how good a mountain is depends on the quality of the snow then places like Blue River or Red Mountain in BC kick the crap outa anything Niseko can put down for snow or powder.... Search these mountains on the net and read up...

 

The original post seemed to be a direct comparison of Niseko vs Whistler and not Niseko Snow Conditions vs Whistler Snow Conditions...

 

No insult intended but next year go to Whistler and then let us know what you think based on first hand knowledge...

 

Besides... in Whistler you WILL get way more bang for your buck - weak Cdn dollar - the language won't be a problem and you can't possibly ski all the terrain even if you took a month holiday there...

 

Two weeks in January at Niseko will be a great trip and a memorable experience for you and Drew but I think that after two weeks you will be left looking for more and I know from experience that this is not possible in Whistler after only two weeks...

 

Lastly, In my opinion snow alone does not make the mountain... it is the overall experience that makes the mountain... snow, lifts, terrain, vertical, maitenance, grooming, off-piste, bowls, safety, maps, apres ski, shops, rentals, amenaties, night life, restaurants, accomodations and so on and so on and so on...

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If you want rocking mountains with good snow awesome jaw droping steeps head to the interior of Canada. Red Mountain is a small version of Jackson hole that doesnt get skied out as fast plus the Back Counrty kicks ass. PS when they tell you its hard it is sometimes you have to drop off something before you can ski. Fernie 4 massive bowls that link into massive bowls. Do the line in fish bowl named 10000 turns off to the skiers left side of the peak its 3000 to 4000 vert to the cat track starts with a steep chute and funnels into a steep bowl. epic. Whitewater hike skiers left of the lift hkie ten mins ski down to the rode hitch a ride back can be done until about 11 olcock. Last run of the day we take turns picking up the lucky fu kers who got to ride a natural terrain park and ski steep trees and meadows all around 35 to 45 degrees.

Canada rocks where ever you go.

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If you want rocking mountains with good snow awesome jaw droping steeps head to the interior of Canada. Red Mountain is a small version of Jackson hole that doesnt get skied out as fast plus the Back Counrty kicks ass. PS when they tell you its hard it is sometimes you have to drop off something before you can ski. Fernie 4 massive bowls that link into massive bowls. Do the line in fish bowl named 10000 turns off to the skiers left side of the peak its 3000 to 4000 vert to the cat track starts with a steep chute and funnels into a steep bowl. epic. Whitewater hike skiers left of the lift hkie ten mins ski down to the rode hitch a ride back can be done until about 11 olcock. Last run of the day we take turns picking up the lucky fu kers who got to ride a natural terrain park and ski steep trees and meadows all around 35 to 45 degrees.

Canada rocks where ever you go.

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Sam,

 

For next years trip check out these for Pristine Powder... It really doesn't get much better than these places.... I am sure that Powder Mag has a lot to say about them....

 

Red Mountain BC

 

index_r2_c3.jpg

 

Mike Weigele\'s Heli Skiing in Blue River BC

 

mwh1.jpg

 

mw3sm.jpg

 

mw2sm.jpg

 

treesm.jpg

 

Ski Fernie BC

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FERNIE MOUNTAIN STATISTICS

 

AVERAGE SNOWFALL 875 cm or 29 feet+

 

VERTICAL 2,811 feet or 857 metres

 

ELEVATION Base: 3500 ft/1,068 metres | Top: 6316 feet/1925 metres

 

TERRAIN 106 defined trails | Five Alpine Bowls | 2500 acres+

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

These are relatively quiet places - not completely out of the way but certainly not as mainstream as Whistler and other places nearer the Coast... Enjoy

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Higuma who are you cnd or Japanese.

You know some stuff about the the interior.

Me I bummed in Sun peaks good paying jobs was the reason. But friends lived in Whitewater and Fernie. Just wondering where you put in your time.

As for quailty freaky girl yeah it counts but so does vertical, steepness, trendsetting, partying amount of snow and terrain avliable.

Canada has it all on the cheap for now.

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Fattwins,

 

I am Canadian and lived / played in BC for a little over 20 years.... I now live in Sapporo with my wife who has lived on Hokkaido all of her life...

 

I put a few good years in at Whistler as a regular but I was situated outside Vancouver in the Fraser Valley... so I had lots of access to the interior mountains when it was too wet to play on the coast...

 

Nearest I can tell I am one of the oldest members of the forum at almost 42.... But still 17 inside when on skis.. Being this old affords you some practical experience.....

 

One of the points I was trying to make earlier - and it's been touched on by a few others here - is that in Japan if you want untracked / extreme terrain then you have to go outside the ropes with all the consequences that comes with that if you f~~k yourself up.... In BC and other North American resorts you can find a lot of challenging terrain "inside the ropes"...

 

There will always be those true backcountry skiiers who possess the ability to ski OB and come back safe but in Canada there is enough extreme inbounds to satisfy most of the poser / wannabe's... Still a few of them go outside the ropes every year and end up having to pay for their own rescue... Good on 'em too....

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Heh Higuma. Any chance of an unbiased view? Give me quality, dry pow that's deep and fresh everyday, which you consistently get at Niseko, before any of those other irrelevent points you mentioned. Whistlers snow is just too inconsistent and of lower quality than Niseko. What else do you compare when talking about ski fields? I go to a ski field to board, everything else is of very little importance to me. If snow quality isn't rated top when discussing ski fields then it should be. Maybe for skiers it's different but for us boarders pow is what it's all about. Don't be to hasty to pump up Whistler. No doubting it's probably got the best all round terrain and village of any place on this Earth, but for me give me the deep, day in, day out freshies of Niseko.

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Mugnuts..

 

Didn't want to offend you delecate sensabilities.... Your veiws are your own and I respect that.. really I do.. honest...

 

What I was stating was only my Own veiw based on personal experience at both mountains... although limited here in Japan to one season...

 

As I tried to say, Whistler is certainly not the be all and end all when looking at purely snow conditions... On this point we agree... but for me the overall experience is based on far more than just snow quality...

 

Also, although I am a skiier, I did snowboard for 1 full season without touching skis and perhaps because I'm too old, too fat or too heavy I simply couldn't get into it... so I can relate to what you mean when you talk about the boarding experience.....

 

I am sorry that I - and it seems like others as well - don't agree on the Niseko vs. Whistler discussion.... But I restate my point " The comparison is Laughable" - Honto desu.... And that comes from experience so it's not a biased opinion....

 

If you want to discuss Niseko Powder vs. Whistler Powder then you may have a case to make for Niseko...

 

I don't really want to get into a piss'n match about this but... I have no problem with you saying that snow/ pow is most important to you - that's great.... But to say that safety, professionalism and the other things that I mentioned in my other post are "irrelevent" is - I'm sorry, but - Stupid......

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Thanks for the info. I love the interior and I am tring with my wife to buy a house we are thinking Golden kicking horse and Glaicer national park are well cant be put into words or Fernie. Fernie is cheaper but there is less work too.

aS FOR THE OB I was rather lucky to ski with friends who new what they werre doing plus a good active patrol digging pits like crazy and envoling the locals.

 

I still believe that Whistler and interior mountains which I like better offer more than you can get anywhere in Japan. Japan just doesnt open steep bowls with cliffs.

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No, that means that Whistler/Blackcomb does not have the "best" snow conditions in North America...

 

I think in the latest Magazine reports - SKI, I think - Whistler is still #1 overall but only ranks #5 for snow conditions...

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