Japow! Making Turns in the Far East

Throughout my skiing life I’ve had all kinds of enticing little glimpses into the Japanese ski scene. Years of vague hints about how marvelous it can be, but without ever really taking the time to fully grasp the details.

I still remember playing Nagano Olympics ’98 on my Nintendo 64 when I was a kid. Awful as the graphics may have been, I was captivated by the big alpine lines that started far up the mountain and rocketed down to the valley floor. As I got older, I routinely bumped into the Japanese snowboard team at the Silverthorne Rec center, only to watch many of them go on to win Olympic medals. Or I once watched a coworker drop everything on a whim to follow a random girl he’d met on a chairlift across the Pacific ocean to ski Japan just two weeks later with her. And I certainly have been inundated with my fair share of Instagram photos of piles upon piles of endless Japow (a much more appealing booty call than what my co-worker chased, IMO).

In retrospect, these moments all added up to a fairly substantial list of reasons to finally go check it out for myself. So, when Katie and I were brainstorming our family’s Asia trip for early 2023, we decided a stop in the land of the rising sun for a ski adventure was finally due.

Ski the East. The far, far east. 

The Gringo Research Begins – Where to Ski in Japan?

There is plenty of literature online about where to ski in Japan, so I won’t add too much to the pile. Like anything, a lot of the decision depends entirely on what you’re after and your unique situation (I’m probably widely off on some of the details below, but this is just my take).

For ourselves, hauling three kids across the ocean added quite a few limitations to what we could handle (shocker). But I found this actually helped narrow the decision down quite a bit. Sometimes less options are good. In the end, our destination choice really came down to two main areas: the Hakuba Region or Niseko United. These are basically the main two places people ski out there anyway.

Hakuba Valley Quick Guide

• Overview: The Hakuba Valley is essentially a long valley that runs parallel to the Japanese Aps – the tallest mountains in the country. There are multiple ski resorts spread throughout the valley, each with it’s own unique character and vibe.
• Location: Honshu – the main island of Japan
• How to Get There: A 3-4 hour train ride from Tokyo. Or maybe a bit shorter via car/bus.
• Types of Terrain: Petty much everything. Lots of different resort areas and a plethora of backcountry zones as well. I’m told the off-piste tree skiing is excellent around here too.
• Supported Ski Pass (as of 2023): Epic Pass
• Pros:
  • From chair lifts to on-mountain maintenance, or lodging and dining, there is really good infrastructure all around
  • Lots of resorts to choose from
  • While we didn’t do any, there is definitely a lot of back-county and side-country around
  • Super family friendly
  • Relatively easiest to get to
  • Site of the Nagano ’98 Olympics
  • Japanese Alps views are tough to beat
• Cons:
  • Not quite as good or deep of snow (we had a full rain event one day)
  • The spread out resorts are limiting at times if you’re trying to pack it all in
  • If you hate Australians for some reason, lemme tell ya, this is NOT the place for you as they are everywhere.

Classic valley views are a staple from pretty much every resort in Hakuba. It reminded me of looking down on the Flathead Valley in Montana from Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Niseko United Quick Guide

• Overview: Niseko United seems to be the unofficial capital of Japanese skiing. It has the biggest resort, the best infrastructure, and the best overall snow. But it’s harder to get to.
• Location: Hokkaido – the Northernmost main island of Japan.
• How to get There: Requires a separate flight from Tokyo > Sapporo (~2 hours), and then another bus, car or train to the resort (~2-4 hours depending).
• Types of Terrain: One interconnected mountain volcano with 4 distinct resort zones. There are a few other, smaller resorts around as well, I think.
• Supported Ski Pass (as of 2023): Ikon Pass
• Pros:
  • The best, deepest snow. It sits further north and therefore picks up major Siberian blasts all winter
  • Seems to be hailed as the best all around resort experience by those in the know
  • Pretty amazing backcountry options nearby
  • Incredible lodging options. I mean, you can take the gondola right from the Hilton…
• Cons:
  • Harder to get to
  • More expensive
  • Can be harder to find good lodging
  • I get the impression it’s busier and more overrun with tourists

A classic Niseko United scene, as photographed by my friend Paul, who visited in early January, 2023.

We decided to head to Hakuba because it just fit our trip so much better. Logistically it’s just much easier to get to and seemed a bit more kid-friendly overall. Speaking of the kids, this wasn’t going to a bro-styled conquer-fest anyway, so I was more than happy to table Niseko United for another trip.

No matter where you end up choosing to ski in Japan, there’s a moderate to high likelihood you’ll eventually run into problems like these.

Settling Into The Hakuba Valley

We had been in the country for almost a week by the time we got on the slow, rickety train that ascended up into the mountains to finally get us to Hakuba. To that point, we were still very much trying to ‘figure out’ the Japanese people and country’s whole ethos. So I’ll never forget the feeling when a big group of Japanese skiers hopped on the train. They had just finished a day of backcountry touring and their enthusiasm was palpable. Suddenly, the very familiar, very universal feeling of ‘stoke’ filled the train car. Now that was something I finally recognized.

Overcast valley views on the way in.

The feeling only continued as we alighted into Hakuba itself. I instantly felt the universal vibe of a ski town as we stepped outside the train station. I remarked as much to Katie and she agreed wholeheartedly. It was a surprising, but very welcoming, feeling to learn that basic ski culture is transcendent of just about everything else.

Konnichiwa!

Classic ski town main street as the soaring Japanese Alps look on.

We took an initial day to settle into our lodgings, explore town a bit more, and rent our equipment. We found everything to be wonderfully easy to navigate and figure out. Hakuba is full of foreigners and westerners, so taking care of the seemingly endless logistics was actually pretty easy. As we settled into The Cantina for lunch – a local watering hole attached to the rental shop – I marveled to myself at the prospect of an American tourist drinking a Belgian beer while munching on a Mexican taco that was served by an Australian waiter after renting a pair of Swiss-made skis in a Japanese ski town. Globalization is wild.

Shout-out to Central Sports in Hakuba for taking care of all our rental needs. They had an excellent fleet of quality demo skis, gear, and just about everything else we would need for our stay. They even came complete with the classic helpful, but completely uninterested ski bum staff. Apparently that’s universal too. The valet equipment pick up and drop off was sure nice though.

Pretty much the only downside was the weather. The forecast was calling for RAIN all day our first full day. And in spite of the hopeful musings from our Australian flat-mate that “I think this will all turn into snow overnight when it gets colder”, the forecast was spot on while our Aussie friend was not. There’s a nothing quite like the feeling of hauling your whole family 5,000+ miles across the ocean to ski only to be woken up by driving rain your first night in…..

Japow’s cancelled for the day. 🙁

According to our Ryoken host, these rain events aren’t unheard of in the Spring, thanks to the relatively low altitude of the valley. But we were still in late February, so it was certainly a bit unsettling. I often wonder these days which will kill us all first: AI, climate-change, or China. On our first day in Hakuba, it sure felt like climate change.

Thankfully, on our second evening the rain did indeed eventually turn to snow as a powerful new system brought more moisture and finally dropped the temps. After all this damn effort, it was finally time to ski some Japow.

Day #1 – Exploring Hakuba Goryu and Hakuba 47

Oscar and I piled in the next morning to the jam-packed van which would take us to Hakuba Goryu – our first resort off the trip. I use the term ‘resort’ generously, as that’s how everyone over there refers to the different ski areas. In reality, each resort area is much less like the full-on mega resorts we’ve come to expect in Colorado, and much more like the classic ski areas of old. Think Loveland, A-Basin, Ski Cooper, or what any of the big areas looked like in the late 80’s….these are more reminiscent of what’s over there. No complaints though, as it’s a much more pure, less commercialized experience overall.

The main morning objective for our first ski day was to just to ease into everything and see what these resorts were all about. Taking Oscar along was the perfect way to start our exploring.

Sharing the sport with my boys is, by far, the most gratifying thing I’ve done in skiing. So, getting to spend opening turns with Oscar in a new country was pretty special.

Let’s do this thing!

O and I spent the morning carving up the groomers on the front side of Hakuba Goryu. A few fresh inches set of snow had miraculously erased any trace of the rain from the day before. The flakes then continued to fall, as they would for pretty much the remainder of our time.

Everything felt quite familiar. Despite being a bit smaller and feeling older than state-side resorts, it still felt exactly like skiing should feel. The operations were top notch across the board as well. All the markings were clear. The trails were expertly maintained. And all kinds of little quirks made it fun. Like the dusting of the seats before EVERY boarding. Or the fact that the chairs were so low that I had to basically collapse into them with each loading. Or the direct/semi-aggressive/hilarious signs all over the place.

A collection of some of my favorite signage. The Japanese have really mastered the art of passive-aggressive directions, apparently.

After a nice morning on the slow, lower lifts, we eventually decided to take the Gondola up to the upper terrain. Intermediate runs in Japan are marked as red instead of blue, so I figured it was time to try out something a bit more challenging. The Gondola quickly made me realize that the gentle, flat runs we had been doing all morning were nothing compared to what lay beyond. Despite the low elevation, these mountains have just as much vertical relief as anything you’d find anywhere else. We gained 2,000’+ in a flash on the way up.

Not pictured: the interactive TV screens in the gondola playing ski highlights on repeat. Japanese tech knows no bounds.

When we got off the gondola it was nuking. Giant flakes and very poor visibility had descended. This was we had been waiting for. The only problem was that the ‘red’ run we were descending was rapidly turning into something much more than mere ‘intermediate’ terrain. Big flakes, shite visibility and a pitch that was steeper than any intermediate run I’d ever done are not a recipe for a happy 6 year old.

Lots of fresh snow + vertigo-inducing conditions + an overly steep run = mega pizza.

Wanting to avoid fulfilling any more classic overly-zealous ski dad tropes, we decided to bail to a nearby chairlift and go back down the gondola as there was no beginner terrain to the base area. Exiting the gondola again a bit defeated, the timing was still good to sync up with the rest of our crew at the kid sledding area below. Hakuba Goryu had multiple sled zones like this, which were a perfect way to keep all the non-skiers entertained.

All the free sleds finally showed a good use of a magic carpet lift.

Whole crew getting into the action.

Oscar and I did a few more groomers before we ate lunch and sent the crew back to the ryoken for the day. It was my turn to check out some real terrain for myself.

But not before some absolutely bombin’ banana-nutella wraps for lunch. Japanese food carts don’t miss.

I spent the next few hours charging through the upper bounds of Hakuba Goryu. The flakes were still flying which made the visibility near zero, but I didn’t care too much. The sheer novelty and fun of exploring a new area made for some once-in a lifetime turns.

There’s a huge smile underneath, I promise.

Lots of interesting double, double chairlifts in Hakuba.

Februburied all around the world.

The trees were interesting to check out. Given the different climate, there were far more leafy varieties than the classic pines and aspens we are so used to in most US mountain areas. They tended to stay more spread-out as well, which made for absolutely killer gladed runs.

While Hakuba Goryu covers a lot of acres, they just don’t cut nearly as many runs over there. After a few hours, I had done almost every line on this side of the mountain. So, I decided to migrate over to the back half, named Hakuba 47. It was basically the same resort, just another zone to go explore (think Winter Park vs. Mary Jane)

Hakuba 47 is a local’s favorite.

Looking up the Hakuba 47’s base area gondola. It services some of the biggest park features around. But they were curiously still still being built when I was there. Oh well – the tree skiing was epic.

Hakuba 47 offered some incredible options: lots of glades, some wide open groomers, and several big faces with lots of untapped snow. I kept finding these incredible powder runs with very few tracks and almost no people. This made for some excellent lapping. I always forget how much easier that is to do when at a lower altitude. Between the international hype, the falling pow, and the super-charged oxygen, I was determined to fit in as many laps as humanly possible.

In between the solitary bliss of the runs, I used my time on the lifts to reflect on the differences in the ski scene over there. I first pondered why all the choice runs seemed to be so empty. I think it came down to three things, each of which reveal something about what it’s like to ski in Japan:

1. The skier level is just lower over there. Not to sound judgmental or anything (it’s not like I am an incredible skier), but I noticed that overall the talent level just wasn’t as high in Japan. I don’t think too many Japanese people ski regularly. Or at least, it felt like a lot of folks were more at a beginner or intermediate level. Same for a lot of the tourists; most we talked to were new to the sport. There were some experts around to be sure, just not as many as I expected. This meant the best runs were much less busy and tracked out that in the US. It’s really amazing how many good skiers we have here.
2. The ratings are way overblown. I quickly learned that anything marked as a double black diamond in Japan just meant is was steep and ungroomed. There are steep runs there for sure, but overall I found the ‘expert’ runs to be a degree easier than their US counterparts. But the signage still makes these runs look scary. I think it keeps a lot of people off the best terrain.
3. There just weren’t that many people. Maybe it’s different on a weekend, but despite back-to-back powder days, it just wasn’t ever all that busy. A far cry from horror-inducing gondola line photos at Vail. This felt like skiing as it ought to be.

No complaining from me about any of these things, as their combo made for excellent turns the whole time. A few other cultural difference I noticed included:

• The aforementioned low chairlifts. I quickly had to adjust my loading strategy lest I pinched the shite out of my calves each time.
• The resorts just don’t cut as many runs. Maybe that’s just a cost thing, or a development thing, or a less people thing. Whatever the reason, there’s just fewer runs overall on the hill.
• The potential for unreal, unrelenting snow events. It’s not uncommon at all for the resorts to pick up multiple FEET of snow at a time. Think Steamboat on steroids. Or Mammoth Lakes, 2023.
• A way more respectful, more chill vibe overall. I noticed a distinct attitude of ‘shared joy’ amongst all the skiers vs the all to common ‘I’m gonna get mine’ attitude that seems pervasive at a lot of US resorts these days. The shared/symbiotic happiness was undeniable; everyone was just really happy to be out together. This made it really fun.
• On the flip side, there were very, very few broville skier d-bags out there. I only saw one or two Vertika jackets and I NEVER encountered a Bluetooth speaker.
• As I mentioned, the infrastructure and operations overall were pretty much flawless. In retrospect, it shouldn’t be surprising at all that the Japanese have nailed this, as they are basically the world’s best people at making things work. It was great to ski it first hand.

I ended my day right at 4:30, feeling immensely grateful for a solid outing, and even more excited for the forecasted 12-20 inches that was scheduled to fall overnight and into the next day.

Day #2 – Morning Dream Turns at Happo One and an Afternoon Boy’s Adventure at Hakuba Goryu

I began the second day at a new resort. Hakuba Happo One is know as the biggest and baddest in these parts. It has the most runs, the most lifts, and some pretty amazing terrain choices overall. It only made sense to start my morning there and see for myself. It hadn’t snowed quite as much as was forecasted overnight, but there was still a respectable ~6 inches. Not to mention it was still snowing, even more so as I went higher.

I hopped on my first lift of the day with an elderly Japanese guy. He didn’t speak much English, but he knew enough to say “powder day” and that was about all that mattered. The first few runs were bliss.

Good morning!

A bit higher up and the clouds broke for a while in the morning, offering the first of any real views I’d had so far.

Views from high up on Hakuba Happo One.

The rest of my morning was a pretty incredible solo adventure exploring all the intricacies of this new resort. Happo One was the site of all the ski events at the Nagaon Olympics in 1998, so it was very cool to explore that legacy all day. I wandered down all the marked olympic course, mixing in plenty of tree runs, groomers, and everything else along the way. The trend of the Japanes resorts overinflating expert runs continue, which meant I mostly had all the best runs to myself. The sow was on and off, but it really picked up as the morning progressed.

I went back and played around with Nagano ’98 Olympics on 64. It doesn’t really hold up, I’m sad to say.

Start of the men’s downhill course.

By about the noon hour I was starting to feel pretty good about all the terrain I’d covered. All that was left was to catch the highest lift which was just opening for the first time all day. I was able to catch the 10th or so chair up. This made for some sensational first tracks in the highest alpine spot on the mountain.

Hanging out with everyone else, awaiting the opening of the highest lift of the day.

The top of Happo One. Being one of the first off the lift, I was able to lap the area a few times and grab some incredible turns. My only regret was the low visibility, with only occasional actual views like this one.

Poor visibility meant most of my photos aren’t that great either. But that’s a worthy price to pay for the ongoing storm, I suppose.

After an hour or so of laps on the high point of the mountain my cup was feeling pretty full.

I found Happo One to be a pretty sensational mountain. It felt comparable to just about anything you’d find in the states. The relief was big, the infrastructure continued to be excellent, and the terrain was fantastic overall. I can see why this resort is sort of the flagship over there. While it certainly has some quirks, what resort anywhere else doesn’t? I’d call it pretty comparable to any top notch place I’ve ever been. And I got the distinct impression that this was the sort of place locals would really have some secret stashes well marked out as well. Plenty good enough of a reason to come back if you ask me.

But for my day, it was time to go wrap things up with the fam. I skied back down to the base area expecting to take a bus, but quickly realized with all the new snow I could skate all the way back to our ryoken. From, there it was time to pick up the boys and head back to Hakuba Goryu for the remainder of the day.

First objective was to get a few laps in Wally for his turn!

The whole crew getting in on the action for a pretty much perfect afternoon.

We took the gondola all the way up to finish up the day for a stop at the lodge at the top.

Ice cream: a kid’s favorite part of skiing…

Après: an adult’s favorite part of skiing…

Its safe to say we were highly impressed overall with the Japanese ski scene. In spite of the seeming silliness of a bunch of Coloradoans coming all this way to ski (as one Aussie pointed out), we are still very glad that we did. The sheer novelty of checking out a new place in this way made it a remarkable experience.

The most surprising thing to me was what a welcomed sense of familiarity it all brought. In spite of the distance and all the little differences, this still felt like home. The shared love for winter and sliding down the snow is universal. It was fantastic to experience that first hand with people from all over the world. I feel very thankful for that.

But we still left a lot on the table for next time. New destinations, Japanese backcountry exploring, more days on the slopes…we only just scratched the surface of the potential out there. So, if you’re reading this and you want to go sometime, give me a shout. I’d love to make it happen again.

Thanks for reading if you did. Happy skiing!