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Howdy all people

 

I have been looking to travel to Japan for some snowboarding for a while now and I am planning a holiday in Feb.

 

Now I am thinking about two choices:

Niseko or

Rusutsu

 

Bearing in mind that I am Australian and I have read many sites that a LOT of Aussies are going to Niseko - am I better off at Rusutsu??

 

This will be my first time snowboarding in Japan so it would be nice if I picked somewhere that I could come back to?

 

Any recommendations guys?

 

Cheers

Ming

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welcome! Its probably not going to matter that much as there are many Ozzies who are getting word that Niseko is quite crowded and they decided to go there as another option. Itd probably be better but... dunno.

 

You could head further out to Asahidake or Tomamu. Doubt theres too many ozzies heading there yet thumbsup.gif

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As a fellow Aussie I will let you in on a secret. Have a look at Hakuba. All the hype about Niseko is certainly working as most Aussies choose it as there first option. Nothing wrong with it but apperently you may have trouble with accommodation options for that time of year. And you will be competing with a lot of powder seekers for first tracks.

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Hi there people

 

Thanks all so much for your responses!!

 

Most appreciative of your comments. Looks like I might be better off at a different snow park then.

 

Believe it or not I already have accommodations - on reserve but I can change these any time.

 

Just out of interest are there any websites that publishes statistics of how many people are visiting these powder heavens?? ^_^

 

Anyway once again appreciate all your thoughts.

 

Ming

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If it was out of those two, and nowhere else was an option, i'd definitly go Rusutsu. Its WAY less tracked and has some excellent off-piste terrain. Not many people go into the trees. LAt year i spent a whole day in one big hillside of trees and only saw one other person go into the trees. It was epic and the best day of riding i've ever had. The powder there is awesome too, even though it might get a bit less that Niseko.

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my advice is have a look around this forum and the website and decide on a few resorts you want to go to in the Niigata/Nagano Area and go there. there are not to many foriegners araound, and the powder is almost guarenteed because its generally not very busy down this way, mid week especially your very likely to be riding powder with the mountain mostly to yourself. also we get more snow than hokkaido, forget the reports about lighter and drier, they should be taken as a grain of salt.

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I would base yourself in Niseko and do a couple of days at Rusutsu and check out La Ponte.

 

Rusutsu definately has less people and although it doesn't get as much snow as Niseko the powder is still epic.

 

Furano in central Hokkaido will have less people and although it does not get the consistent Niseko type snowfall the weather is better and the powder is lighter. Asahidake gets big snow and has great Backcountry.

 

Theres a lot of talk from Japanese ski afficianados about Honshu and the skiing there sounds great.I hope to get there this season.

 

Hokkaido is definately worth the trip. You will have amazing skiing. You would also get great skiing in Honshu.According to statistics on this website Niseko gets more snow than anywhere else in Japan. Last season 440cm. Nozawa in Honshu got 400cm last season, still a hell of a lot of snow.

 

Wherever you go you will love it.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by sakebomb:
Just a question, can you make a snowball RockyV?

Just curious!
Our snow may not be as dry as Hokkaido but it's not like it's real wet either
I definitly couldn't make a snowball on the upper parts of the Hakuba mountains on the weekend
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 Quote:
Originally posted by RockyV:
forget the reports about lighter and drier, they should be taken as a grain of salt.
Id say the snow up there is the driest Ive ever skied.

Though like Toque said Honshuu snow isnt that wet either. My personal preference for snow is Niseko/Hokkaido.

Im pretty sure that other places get more snow than Noz around Nagano/Niigata puretele.
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