Niseko

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Niseko Hirafu

The Grand Hirafu ski area is the biggest resort in the Niseko United area and also includes the Hanazono ski area. The Hirafu village has the biggest selection of accommodation, restaurants and nightlife in the Niseko area and most visitors choose to stay here. As a result uploading can be a little slow on busy days or if wind closures limit the amount of lifts open. Hirafu offers a wide variety of terrain with a little something for everyone from groomers, open powder up high and excellent tree skiing on the lower mountain. At night time Hirafu is the place to be with lifts running until 9:00pm daily allowing access to 2/3 of the mountain’s vertical even after the day time lifts have closed.

Niseko Village

Formerly known as Higashiyama, this ski area offers the steepest inbounds terrain in the Niseko United area however, it maintains a strict off-piste skiing policy limiting the amount of skiable terrain available. The terrain directly underneath of the Niseko Village gondola (Misuno no sawa) and the bowl to skiers right of the inbounds area (Yu no sawa) are both strictly off limits due to avalanche hazards. The resort is working to find a safe way to control and open these areas meaning that if/when this happens, the inbounds terrain here will be tough beat. Currently though, Niseko Village offers some great fall line skiing with Superstition ranking as one of the better inbounds destinations in the Niseko United area.

Niseko Annupuri

Niseko Annupurri resort is a member of the Niseko United ski area and offers a nice mix of terrain. For beginners and intermediates, Niseko Annupurri has excellent groomed runs that see considerably less traffic than the Hirafu pistes so hold out for much longer. For advanced skiers there are some good steep pitches that can be accessed to both skiers left and skiers right of the pistes; but the real treat at Niseko Annupurri is easy access to Osawa and Kozan-no-sawa. Both of these bowls are outside of the controlled ski area and considered backcountry terrain. Ski patrol controls access to these areas and will close the gates if snow stability is poor and avalanches are likely.

Furano

Furano, in Japan (located in the Hokkaido prefecture), is a large resort with 10 lifts (one 101 person tram (fastest in Japan), one 6 person gondola and eight chair lifts) that offers skiers an impressive 959 metres (3146 feet) of vertical descent. Furano has 470 acres of terrain over 23 pistes. Furano is only really suitable for beginner and intermediate skiers and snowboarders. Cross country skiing is available in two areas: Asahigaoka Park provides 3km of groomed trails perfect for both classic and skating and Rokugo has 3km of trails perfect for both classic and skating. For snowboarders, there is a half pipe. The nearest airport is at Asahikawa and the nearest train station is in Furano. There is accommodation located close to the pistes but we would welcome additional information about any hotels or chalets in Furano.

Rusutsu

Rusutsu Resort is Hokkaido's largest independently operated resort (although smaller than the combined area of the Niseko resorts) and arguably home to the island's best lift system. Most chairlifts at Rusutsu Resort are detachable quads making for quick laps and almost no lineups even on the busiest days. This hill offers a little something for everyone with moderate terrain for beginners, wide open cruisers for intermediates and an endless selection of gladed, off-piste powder for experts. There is a fair amount of accommodation at the base of Rusutsu Resort but very little in terms of night life or restaurant selection. If you are looking for this, Hirafu village in nearby Niseko is your best bet about 30-40 minutes away. The resort offers a bus and lift ticket package from Sapporo and there are a number of operators in Niseko that can provide transfers and lift tickets to Rusutsu Resort.