I tend to keep quiet about Kiroro, it's that good. it's such an insane mountain and never sees the crowds of Niseko. In fact hardly anyone I talked to there knew it existed.
No matter what resort in Japan it’s the same as the rest of the world. You have to be in the right place at the right time. Skied all these many times and it can vary a lot. Lotte Arai this year when I was there was icy and pretty average. Geto Kogen was pretty good but it gets better and worse depending on timing.
All are good. But stay away from any during Chinese new year. Niseko became too expensive after covid. Furano has dangerous icy streets to walk on at night. Broke my collarbone there slipping in the street. Been to all 3. Rusutsu or Furano is my pick, but bring snow shoes for the street.
@@snowstash Why Furano? We've been to Rutsutsu (loved it) and are planning our next trip and were thinking about Furano so we could be in a town, but worried there might not be enough tree runs...
Hey @markrobgray Furano has a tonne of tree runs, especially under the aerial tram and then also through the gated zones. The views are better than Rusutsu and the town is awesome. If it’s an option I’d suggest you split your time in halves between the Rusutsu side of Sapporo and the Furano side. You can also check out Kamui Ski Links, lots of trees, lots of powder and cheap tickets.
Furano lift ticket center, the first days of Chinese New Year last Feb was a mess. Keep that in mind when going there. The end of the day had no ski lockers left.
This video got me excited but as a Hokkaido local you’re kidding yourselves with these numbers. Anything south of Aomori would get 8-10 meters max. Rust is about 10-12 meters and Niseko/ Kokusai/ Kiroro is about 12 - 14 meters.
Kokusai was not open on most heavy snow days which was disappointing and when open they are pretty strict about keeping you in bounds. I did duck the rope and go into the trees and found out that there are lots of flat spots with kneck deep powder. When I stepped off my board it was lick stepping into quicksand! The 10 meters I needed to walk in nipple deep snow was slightly stressful~!!! Kokusai has potential though and worth checking out. Kiroro was a bit disappointing and I have learned that they are short staffed so a lot of the side country access isn't well marked (like Niseko is) and thus it really requires knowing where to enter and exit to really enjoy the trees otherwise Kiroro is easy to get caught in lots of little gullies where you may need to hike out.... ALSO a lot of Kiroro's side country terminates at THE MOST FLAT cat track I have ever been on. If you don't exit the trees with speed onto the cat track prepare to walk for quite a bit. Even with speed you will eventually slow down to a crawl before you get to any decent angles to pick up speed again. It has potential, but would take quite some time to suss out all the right entry and exit points in the trees.
On Kokusai I also almost rode right into a gully with a running stream... hahahahaha. I stopped right at the drop off and walked a bit back to safety. lol.
Nice video! JMHO, I’ve been to Japan a lot but think it has gotten overhyped and is best suited to Aussies/East Asians who crowd there during January summer holidays and Chinese New Year. Resort elevation is quite low, the highest lift served area is only 2k meters which leads to a very short season and unchallenging terrain. Most areas are close to the Coast which leads to wetter snow and resorts are very small and old. Utah gets as much equal or better quality snow, with bigger and more modern resorts plus a much longer season and great terrain at high elevations.
Can’t wait to get to Japan. Only 44 days 🎉
See you there! We are visiting in March too
Enjoyed several resorts in Hokkaido and Honshu and the goods were always on tap!
Love to hear it! Looks like it’s already going to be an awesome season over there this year.
Wow I’m headed to Kokusai this coming winter very excited now
You will have a blast! Such an incredible resort.
Great vid!
Thank you 🙏
I tend to keep quiet about Kiroro, it's that good. it's such an insane mountain and never sees the crowds of Niseko. In fact hardly anyone I talked to there knew it existed.
We could t agree more with you Matt, we had a 30cm day there which was mind blowing! 🤯
Please keep quite about kiroro, dont wreck it
@@JustinBaldwinn going to the Club Med there in March. Can't wait
I went to Kiroro and Kokusai in early jan, we stayed in Sapporo and rented a car to go every where close to Sapporo, and holy shit it was so fun
We just got back from a similar trip. Stayed in Sapporo and rode Furano, Kiroro, Teine, Niseko and Rusutsu. Incredible part of the world.
No matter what resort in Japan it’s the same as the rest of the world.
You have to be in the right place at the right time. Skied all these many times and it can vary a lot. Lotte Arai this year when I was there was icy and pretty average. Geto Kogen was pretty good but it gets better and worse depending on timing.
Kiroro, my Hokkaido hometown resort! Kokusai and many smaller resorts nearby. Always a fun drive to Rusutsu and Niseko too!😊
I'm planning to go to Hokkaido and planning to go to 2 resorts.
the options we have are,
1. Rusutsu
2. Niseko
3. Furana
which 2 should we consider?
All are good. But stay away from any during Chinese new year. Niseko became too expensive after covid. Furano has dangerous icy streets to walk on at night. Broke my collarbone there slipping in the street. Been to all 3. Rusutsu or Furano is my pick, but bring snow shoes for the street.
Furano is our fave, then both Rusutsu and Niskeo are equally great.
@@snowstash Why Furano? We've been to Rutsutsu (loved it) and are planning our next trip and were thinking about Furano so we could be in a town, but worried there might not be enough tree runs...
Hey @markrobgray
Furano has a tonne of tree runs, especially under the aerial tram and then also through the gated zones. The views are better than Rusutsu and the town is awesome.
If it’s an option I’d suggest you split your time in halves between the Rusutsu side of Sapporo and the Furano side.
You can also check out Kamui Ski Links, lots of trees, lots of powder and cheap tickets.
Furano lift ticket center, the first days of Chinese New Year last Feb was a mess. Keep that in mind when going there. The end of the day had no ski lockers left.
This video got me excited but as a Hokkaido local you’re kidding yourselves with these numbers. Anything south of Aomori would get 8-10 meters max. Rust is about 10-12 meters and Niseko/ Kokusai/ Kiroro is about 12 - 14 meters.
Kokusai was not open on most heavy snow days which was disappointing and when open they are pretty strict about keeping you in bounds. I did duck the rope and go into the trees and found out that there are lots of flat spots with kneck deep powder. When I stepped off my board it was lick stepping into quicksand! The 10 meters I needed to walk in nipple deep snow was slightly stressful~!!! Kokusai has potential though and worth checking out.
Kiroro was a bit disappointing and I have learned that they are short staffed so a lot of the side country access isn't well marked (like Niseko is) and thus it really requires knowing where to enter and exit to really enjoy the trees otherwise Kiroro is easy to get caught in lots of little gullies where you may need to hike out.... ALSO a lot of Kiroro's side country terminates at THE MOST FLAT cat track I have ever been on. If you don't exit the trees with speed onto the cat track prepare to walk for quite a bit. Even with speed you will eventually slow down to a crawl before you get to any decent angles to pick up speed again. It has potential, but would take quite some time to suss out all the right entry and exit points in the trees.
On Kokusai I also almost rode right into a gully with a running stream... hahahahaha. I stopped right at the drop off and walked a bit back to safety. lol.
Sounds like quite the adventure, the snow in Japan is just so light and fluffy that once you sink in you SINK
Seems more of a personal opinion video than facts. Should be a disclaimer for that.
Also Geto is in Iwate, not in Yamagata.
Nice video! JMHO, I’ve been to Japan a lot but think it has gotten overhyped and is best suited to Aussies/East Asians who crowd there during January summer holidays and Chinese New Year. Resort elevation is quite low, the highest lift served area is only 2k meters which leads to a very short season and unchallenging terrain. Most areas are close to the Coast which leads to wetter snow and resorts are very small and old. Utah gets as much equal or better quality snow, with bigger and more modern resorts plus a much longer season and great terrain at high elevations.
What about Hakuba?
Geto Kogan is in Iwate Prefecture not Yamagata Prefecture. How can you do a vid about places and get it wrong by a long way. YA Peanut
You really don’t know Japan resorts… let me tell you after 20 years of being here, only one of these is in the top 5
ok then what are on top 5 ?
Rusutsu right?
Please share your top 5 (or even top 10 if you don't mind)
I'm currently in Japan choosing