Ski Japan
January 18th, 2010. Posted by luane
Hirafu and Hanazono are two of the best places to ski on earth. They are on the Island of Hokkaido. The winds blow off Siberia over the sea and dump crisp dry snow on the island almost nightly. The view from the plane landing on snow-covered Sapporo was spectacular. I had never seen blue ocean giving way to white snow and a city underneath before.
We were so lucky to find Suiboku to stay in – a marvellous modern and comfortable block of luxury apartments in Hirafu. They were so comfortable that we never wanted to leave; lucky the snow was so good it lured us out daily. The town is well serviced by bars and restaurants and the food is fantastic but more about that in a restaurant blog I will post later.
More on the snow though… it is so dry you can’t even make snowballs and we were skiing in fresh powder on groomed runs and off piste tree runs most days. The kids loved the ski school and sledding every afternoon.
The onsen culture is well and truly entrenched in the area and in Suiboku, we were lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful private onsen in our apartment; the whole family could relax in it each evening as we looked out over spectacular Mt Yotie, the volcano. Of course, there are lots of onsens in the village and around the local towns as well. We had such a great time the whole family is heading back next January.
Tags: family, hanazono, hirafu, hokkaido, holidays, Japan, Neil Perry, skiing, travel
Great Pics and summary of your Japan ski trip!
The powder snow, or JAPOW as it is affectionately named is amongst the best quality in the world, and nothing like we could ever dream of here in Australia! You should try skiing in Hakuba next January, on the main island of Japan, and about 4.5 hours from Tokyo. You get access to 7 resorts on a multi-resort lift pass, and the snow this year is better than Niseko, with much better visibility.