Japan – Insane Powder Skiing Guaranteed
Curious?
42° 48′ 16” N
140° 41′ 14” E
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During the last 3 weeks, we wandered through the Japanese Alps, to see if the magical powder stories we’ve heard were really true: Japan is sickest powder mecca around the globe. No doubt, it is true. The first week we spend on the main island Honshū, more specifically in Hakuba and Nozawa Onsen. Taking the „Shinkansen“, Japans super fast bullet train from Tokyo Narita Airport brings you straight into Nagano within 2 hours. From there we went by car to Hakuba valley for the first few days. Hakuba has several ski resorts which are perfect for powder skiing and still a bit of a hidden gem. The most notable resorts are definitely Happo-One and Cortina. And Nozawa Onsen, on the other hand, is most famous for its numerous onsens (natural hot springs) scattered wide across the traditional Japanese village. During our stay in Nozawa, it snowed only 2 times during the night but we always had perfect blue sky during the day. In Nozawa we actually saw the sun and blue skype for the last time during our ski trip – only at the very end in Tokyo, the sun came out again.
After Honshū island, we went back to Tokyo and took a flight to Sapporo located in Hokkaido, the north island of Japan. The complete second week we spend in Niseko, the largest ski resort in Japan. We still cannot actually believe it – but it snowed almost uninterruptedly during our whole stay – day in – day out – night in – night out. This means, every single day we were blessed with new deep, fresh and soft powpow! 😍 No wonder is Niseko the worlds second most snowy ski resort with an average snowfall of 15.1 meters!!! By the time we arrived in Niseko, the snowfall since the beginning of the season was already 9+ meters – just crazy. Do you want to know why Japan gets so much snow? Then check out this link. Not only was it super snowy, it was also damn freezing up there in the mountains from -10 to – 19 at the peak. Thank god we had the chance to test the awesome OutDry Extreme winter apparel from Columbia Sportswear. For a proper review, please check out our blog post. So overall, if you are a passionate (powder) skier or snowboarder, this whole Japan experience is definitely something you need to strive for once in your life. Go for it! Overall skiing in Niseko is 10/10, it needs to be mentioned that it is much more touristy and expensive than any other ski resort in Japan. Especially during the time we stayed (Chinese New Year week), it was impossible to find accommodation at reasonable prices (when we checked, booking.com was 98% fully booked). As for the ski passes, Niseko’s All-Day tickets come with a price tag of ¥7,400 (63 CHF), and are therefore in a similar price range as an average Swiss ski resort.
After Niseko, we went back to Tokyo via Sapporo and spend the last couple of days in the city. Since we have already stayed there in previous trips to Japan – we wanted to spend more time in the mountains instead.
Instead of telling more stuff, I let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy 🙂
This is actually one of my favorite powder shots from this trip – it best illustrates what we mean with insane powder skiing 🙂 Joël killin it!
‘Tested Tough’ isn’t just an ad campaign or tagline, it’s the promise from Columbia to produce awesome and great outdoor products. And yes, this promise has definitely been delivered with their OutDry Ex Down Jacket. Check out the blog post for a proper product review.
Nozawa Onsen
The following pictures were taken in Nozawa Onsen during the first week, which was still sunny ☀️ 😎 Onsen(温泉) stands for is a Japanese hot spring – and the country is dotted with these mineral-rich natural “onsens”. Especially the village Nozawa Onsen offers so many indoor and outdoor onsens, amid a frozen and snowy setting. I mean, there is nothing better after a full day on and off the slopes than to kick back in a traditional onsen and to relax your body ♨️
Random Photos!
Finally, here are some random photos from the trip
