Niseko skiing 14/15

P

pcurran871

Member
I'm out here for the season, its been a month so far and the snow has been insane! It has literally snowed every single day while I've been here and I've already had more epic days than in my last season in Whistler!

Now that I've said that, I feel like I'm struggling to find some decent sized drops to ski. I've skiied Super Ridge so many times now and started spinning of the little 15 foot cliff they have right in the middle along with pretty much everything else they have there. Now I'm looking for more spots people might know of that are good. Obviously I've still been skiing all the epic powder of course. but any help for more drops or pillow lines would be greatly appreciated.

One other thing is I hear the park scene in Hirafu and Hanazon get pretty good so I'm wondering if anyone else here for the season is into that as well? I have a camera set up (7d and lots more) so I'm hoping to put together an edit of some sort each month if I can get enough shots. At the minute its just me and a buddy dropping cliffs and stuff but he's not into park as much as me and he will drop anything but won't spin so would be nice to get some variety.

Look forward to shredding with some of you!
 
I also plan on skinning up Yotei so if anyone has any advice on the best way to get up that would be great. I know it gets icy on top so skiing the inside is usually better to just wait until April for that which if fine but I'd still like to ski the outside down to the bottom too. Any advice for the way or up or way down would be much appreciated!

Rusuts is another resort I plan on making a few trip too so any advice on it would be great.

Other resorts I dont know much about are Rankoshi Chisenuppuri, Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort, Asahigaoka and Nakayamatoge. Any advice on anyone who has skiied these I would really appreciate it.

Paddy
 
Hi Paddy! It's been a decent Christmas eh! We were over at Rusutsu and it was a ridiculous few days of relentless deep deep snow!

I'm not too clued up on big drops in the Niseko ski area. I seem to remember there being some ok pillows and drops under the old higashiyama gondola that don't get hit too much. Over at Rusutsu there is a pretty decent drop off the Hollywood cliff right under one of the Isola quads. The pillows over there are starting to build up nicely too, so you can really boost off some of them.

I've never skied Yotei, but have hiked it a good few times in summer. There are four summer routes up, the closest one being from the Hirafu side where there is a small lake and parking lot at the trailhead. In winter though, I guess the easiest access may well be different. Probably best to wait till maybe Feb or so when the weather is more stable and you'll have more chance of a clear day for visibility and great shots!

For other nearby resorts, Chisenupuri is now closed (SUCH a shame, used to be a great place!) but if you're up for skinning it, the terrain and snow is obviously all the same. Would definitely be wor a hike. Just don't fall in the volcanic onsen lake at the bottom!

Moiwa is a good little place, just beyond Annupuri area. Usually a lot quieter than Niseko areas, so worth the trip over.

Asahigaoka is just a small town hill in Kutchan and probably not worth it.

Nakayama Touge ski hill is closed during the main bulk of the winter. But the area around it bordering the road has great mini golf lines and a few famous kicker spots from the movies. the ski lift re opens in the spring and they have a legit spring park setup that's open till mid May if you're still gonna be around then.

If you can get to Sapporo Teine, there are some really big drops and pillows over there and some very steep terrain.

Kiroro and Sapporo Kokusai are also worth a look, and aren't too far from Niseko area if you have a day off and some wheels.

Hope that helps with some of your questions. Let me know if you need anything else.
 
Hey Paddy,

You're in for a treat my man. I'm otherwise known as sneakers but can't seem to log in to my account. I've got a pretty extensive knowledge of the Niseko area and surrounding mountains, especially those backside of Niseko. I'm chilling in Tokyo at the moment but will be arriving in Nis on the 30th, if you're keen for an early morning session at Strawberry followed by some adventures out of gate 4 meet me at the main Hirafu quad at 8:30 AM, I'll be wearing a black Saga vest, black Saga pants and Atomic Ben Chets. Add me on facebook, (John Burton, spatiosus@gmail.com). I'll be here all season, if you miss me just contact me via Facey or on NS.

Kind regards,

John.
 
Cheers for the replies MagSeven I'll hopefully get a chance to check out all the resorts you recommended! Skinning up Chisenupuri sounds pretty good, do you know anywhere I can get some photos of it to try and plan a route up or would it be easy enough? And how long would it take?

spatiosus I sent you an email but I'm not sure if you got it. Would love to meet up and ski some pow once I get some days off. Missed you on the 30th coz I was working (havent had a day off for 2 weeks) but January will be much quieter once all the holiday makers leave I'll have a lot more flexibility with days off.

Happy New Year everyone lets hope it brings a lot more snow!
 
The route up Chisenupuri is pretty simple up to the top of the old lift. You can just follow the old piste running up to the lookers left of the lift line. You can check that out with Google Earth.

Above that it's a bit less obvious, so if you wanted to hike the peak you might need a topo map. Maybe some of the more serious ski shops in Hirafu might stock some, or a bigger bookshop if you could get to Otaru or something.
 
topic:pcurran871 said:
I'm out here for the season, its been a month so far and the snow has been insane! It has literally snowed every single day while I've been here and I've already had more epic days than in my last season in Whistler!

Now that I've said that, I feel like I'm struggling to find some decent sized drops to ski. I've skiied Super Ridge so many times now and started spinning of the little 15 foot cliff they have right in the middle along with pretty much everything else they have there. Now I'm looking for more spots people might know of that are good. Obviously I've still been skiing all the epic powder of course. but any help for more drops or pillow lines would be greatly appreciated.

One other thing is I hear the park scene in Hirafu and Hanazon get pretty good so I'm wondering if anyone else here for the season is into that as well? I have a camera set up (7d and lots more) so I'm hoping to put together an edit of some sort each month if I can get enough shots. At the minute its just me and a buddy dropping cliffs and stuff but he's not into park as much as me and he will drop anything but won't spin so would be nice to get some variety.

Look forward to shredding with some of you!
Click to expand...

Hey Paddy,

Sounds so good over there right now! Have you managed to find any more spots or drops? I'll be getting to Niseko on the 18th of Jan and I'll be there for a month so hit me up if you wanna go for a shred! I'll probably be riding with John (spatiosus) a fair bit. Have you managed to check out either of the parks at hirafu or Hanazon?

Cheers

Liza
 
Hey, yea found a few more drops and pillow lines and some more technical lines but nothing really big so far. Yea I do a few laps in Hirafu park most days before/ after teaching and ski powder on my days off or at night. I'll send you a pm now
 
Im headed to Niseko Feb 28 to March 4 and bringing some skins and photo/vid gear. Looking for some people to link up with in the backcountry!
 
Heading to Niseko for a month, will be working a lot, but if anyone wants to go jump off stuff nightskiing let's get out there!
 
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