Welcome to PN knowsam, plenty of BC and lift access pow to be had in Hokkaido. Not familure with hirafubackpackers so can't help you with access. If your looking to explore different mountains on Hokkaido your probably going to need a car. In January there will be tons of Aussies in Hokkaido so shouldn't be to hard to find english speaking partners. I've only been to Hokkaido once but others on here have more exp. Do a search and look for MikePows post from a few seasons ago, lots of good info there.

Hey,

For a little bit of general Hokkaido backcountry beta here, hit up the search function with the term "tokachi". This should get you rolling http://poachninja.com/search/node#keys=tokachi

Also browse through this dude's posting history http://poachninja.com/members/catwithfiddle

Thanks for the input guys, appreciate it.

The above comments from me don't relate to the area you are going (Niseko). Sorry, my bad.

By the sounds of it ashidake is more your type of place.

Asahidake isnt that big of a mountain and isnt purely back-country. You will get lots of competition from guys going up using the cable car.
Like HAG said, Tokachidake is the place to be for big lines in Hokkaido. There are 2-3 lodges that you can stay at the base of the mountain (Tokachidake) that have hot spring and stuff, and are 30 km drive away from cililization. Lights go off around 9 PM and if the snoring of old Japanese men let you sleep at all, then you will find yourself with a groop of people waking up at 4-5 AM getting ready for the accent.
Not much no lifts BC to be done in Niseko area either.
If you end up in Niseko, move a few Km to the North and hit the Area between Kiroro and Sapporo Kokusai for that.

Ain't true. Pretty good touring terrain stretches from Niseko all the way to the coast. With very good snow and trees.

The onsen area is a minimum 1 h drive from Niseko in the winter when the road between Hirafu and Weis is closed. I would not call it Niseko BC, since if you stay in a lodge in Niseko it will be a bitch to get to.

Often that is exactly what backcountry is: a bitch to get to. I call it 'Niseko backcountry' because there is loads of great terrain and Niseko is roughly the closest major well known area. If I lived in Niseko, I would tour that area pretty often. It has the best combo of access, low risk terrain, north aspect, perfect trees and perfect snow nearly every day of the season that I can think of. To break any connotations with the ski area, perhaps it should be called Kuchan backcountry

I could take you to a place that you have never skied "in" Hakuba (and nor has anyone on this forum ), and it would take almost an hour to drive to one of the trail heads. And you would call it "Hakuba backcountry"... and that's because it is. More to the point, it is just mountains, and Hakuba is the closest well known area.

Dude, to be fair, you have not been to either Niseko nor Asahi.

To be fair having a car to get to the backcountry is important as well.
Most of the stuff you seem to be talking doesnt sound like door to tour access.
Thus asahidake seems the better option for said adventures.

For the sake of disambiguation I prefer to call it "Hida mountain range backcountry" since its the official name recognized among scholars.

I know you wont agree with me, but when in Hokkaido I prefer to mini-golf all day lift served untracked powder than spend half the day to do 1 line (thats what I ll get with my pace).

he's right, y'know

gee, Hida Mountains. I never knew.

What about the Hakuba Backcountry just across the valley from the Hida Mountains?

Mostly Miocene Volcanoes, and large scale foldings inside the Northern Fossa Magna Basin. I dont remember them referred as part of a range in a paper, but that might also mean I need to do some more research.

dbHAG wrote:

I could take you to a place that you have never skied "in" Hakuba (and nor has anyone on this forum ), and it would take almost an hour to drive to one of the trail heads.

and just how long does it take to get there by sled?

Car or no car that is now the question?

1) Access from HBL should be fine. I dont know how often the shuttles go around, but I would think its often enough that you wont fret getting up to the lifts at Niseko. I stay either at Hotel Scot or at Niseko Landmark View which is run by [URL="http://niseko-hirafu.com/accommodation"]http://niseko-hirafu.com/accommodation[/URL] and the guys there are ace. Excellent service and they go the extra mile to make sure you have a nice stay.

If you are looking to tour only around Niseko then you prolly wont need a car. You can get a bus over to Rusutsu and then ski there, or tour up Shiribetsu which is accessible from one part of Rusutsu resort. I think you will need to have a car if you want to try hitting skinning Mt. Yotei.

Anything else around there you will need to have a car for sure.

Furano has great terrain, and lots of it now is being skied (formerly patrol there were extremely anal), both inbounds and outtabounds. Really nice terrain. I would like to explore Furano more for sure.

Tokachidake is (probably) the best terrain up in Hokkaido, at least from the dozen or so resorts Ive been to there and it is only BC. The problem we had when we were there is that it was mostly closed out by high winds/poor visibility/sketchy conditions most of the time we were staying at Fukiage Onsen - which is one of the best onsens I have been to in Japan. [URL="http://www.n43.net/onsen/fukiage/fukiage/index.htm"]http://www.n43.net/onsen/fukiage/fukiage/index.htm[/URL] The access from there to Tokachidake is stepping out the front door. Its beautiful and one night only cost about 25 USD for a shared room.

2) Yes. You would want to have the flexibility to go where you want when you want.

3) I wouldnt think so. People around the lodge might be game. Not to spam, but you can also check out poachninja.com as there are a few people living in Hokkaido who might be able to chime in and give more advice.

Reposted from TGR.

I also plan to go to the Furano area and make some day trip to surrounding BC areas. (Asahidake, Kamui, Kurodake)
Travel time should be end of Jan or beginning of 3rd week of Jan.
I'm travelling alone and that is a problem on bc skiing. So if anybody is going to Furano area at that time slot, please let me know.

My 2nd plan is to go again to Hakuba, but because never been in Hokkaido, that's my 1st target.
Flight tickets from Finland to Sapporo are quite expensive vs. to Tokyo (1000 euros vs. 600), so maybe the Hakuba trip is more realistic.

Macharza - it would be great to see you in Hakuba again, but you should go to Hokkaido, you will not regret it.

See if you can stay at Tokachi, near to Furano, for a few days. The accomm is inexpensive, the outdoor onsens are incredible and it is at the trail head with plenty of backcountry skiers there in mid winter. You have to ring and cook your own food. No lifts, no bars, just powder and onsens.

http://www.furano-kankou.com/english/hyperlinks/Accom/Accom-H-Hakuginso....

Thanks HAG, i'll check that place and try to get some of my friends w me.
But no bars, burgers and ramen/udon restaurants? How can a western white man live there?

Maybe we see in Hakuba.

There will be beer in vending machines, no matter where you go

Back to Hakuba!

I didn't get any ski buddies w me to Hokkaido bc trip, so I reserve flights to Tokyo.
My 2 friends want to go back to Hakuba and I'll ride w them.

See you in FT's Lodge 2 last weeks of Jan

Everybody else is going Hakuba except me, this sucks!

will prolly be in Hakuba too this X-mass if not Hawaii.

Ville the lodge wont be the same without you.

Heheh, can't beat the smell of finnish hangover.

Ville, you're not the only one, although never say never. What I would love to do, is the new year.

Hawaii, whatchu wanna go there for?

Surfin and chilling with the wife.

When does the satori season start and end this year?

CB Season?

Hopefully the long weekend in November Ill be up - wait, there isnt a long weekend this year as its a Tues. 27, 28, 29 of November I can go up as that Monday is a Daikyu for me so thats my 3 dayer in November. Dec 10-12 are open as well. Heading to Hokkers around the 25th - 5th/6th. After that who knows. I know I will be able to pull sick days in Feb cuz Ill be finished with my HR/12th grade classes, so a Fri-Tues will be possible then

Great thread... Am thinking about planning for Japan... Never been, total noob in regards to any shredding in Japan... A guy over on EL (Supra) pointed me to this site... So many questions... Don't know where to start really.

I'm not sure if it will be realistic to hit Japan in 2011 (both from a cash and timing standpoint - ie. is it getting too late to plan??) or whether I might have to wait until 2012, but the info will be good to have regardless. Most likely would go solo and try to find some BC partners or guides once out there. No one in my area has the balls or desire to do something like Japan.

Lodging ideas, best routes/connections to get to Hokkaido, etc. for a solo traveler. Sorry for such an open ended inquiry... The more I think about it, and posts I read, the less trivial it seems to be. Seems to be a lot of options.

cheers