Japan - Part 2 Niseko
Niseko Ski trip 2014
#niseko #skijapan #japan #ski
We have visited Niseko ski fields 3 times, love it there and are very familiar with the place now, last time it actually felt homely. We started to learn little daily habits like, if you get to the bakery before 11am you can probably get one of their homemade pies, we put birthday cakes on order, and we learnt to avoid cafes during lunch rush hour and timed our visits later in the day etc etc..
A lot of Cairns people travel to Niseko to ski, it is actually cheaper than skiing in Aus, I did the figures and for 13 days skiing in Niseko, peak season costs about the same as 5 days in Perisher, including airfares. It is also convenient as from here it is a 8 hour direct flight to Tokyo, then a short flight to Sapporo, 2 hour bus ride to the fields. We use skijapan to organise our packages.
We are actually returning to Hokkaido in 8 weeks time. We are visiting a new resort for us this time, just to try something different. If you are thinking of going to Niseko, do your homework on location of your accommodation, it will make or break your trip. If you don't mind waiting in the cold for a bus or walking up hills to the lifts, you can save $ and stay in some beautiful accommodation, but I'm finding as I get older it is more appealing to be closer to the lifts and the less walking with ski gear I have to do the better, yes getting spoilt I'm afraid but also getting older.
But THE hugest thing about Niseko is the snow....its HUGE! they measure their annual white fluffy stuff in metres!!! And fluffy it is too, none of this slippery ice crap, so safer to learn on as well.
It's so fluffy it is actually hard to make a snowball as the individual crystals don't stick together as easily as wet snow.
Heres our snowman on the vacant block next door to where we stayed for 2 weeks
Anyway this trip we booked out an entire house for the 22 of us to fit, there were two houses joined together with an undercover hallway. It was positioned well with a vacant block next door (great for building snow fighting forts...never too old for that) and just up the hill from the Fridge Bar, local Onsen, and not too far to walk up the hill to the family run.
Back of our house
A walk around the village you discover the huge range of architecture, from log cabin style to ultra modern award winning designer homes
The Yakata Onsen - an outdoor onsen which is so great after a days skiing, imagine sitting naked in a 38 degree pool, a wine/beer in hand and gentle snow falling on your head, bliss!
Part 3 will be about trips from Niseko, Otaru, and Sapporo.
#niseko #skijapan #japan #ski
We have visited Niseko ski fields 3 times, love it there and are very familiar with the place now, last time it actually felt homely. We started to learn little daily habits like, if you get to the bakery before 11am you can probably get one of their homemade pies, we put birthday cakes on order, and we learnt to avoid cafes during lunch rush hour and timed our visits later in the day etc etc..
A lot of Cairns people travel to Niseko to ski, it is actually cheaper than skiing in Aus, I did the figures and for 13 days skiing in Niseko, peak season costs about the same as 5 days in Perisher, including airfares. It is also convenient as from here it is a 8 hour direct flight to Tokyo, then a short flight to Sapporo, 2 hour bus ride to the fields. We use skijapan to organise our packages.
We are actually returning to Hokkaido in 8 weeks time. We are visiting a new resort for us this time, just to try something different. If you are thinking of going to Niseko, do your homework on location of your accommodation, it will make or break your trip. If you don't mind waiting in the cold for a bus or walking up hills to the lifts, you can save $ and stay in some beautiful accommodation, but I'm finding as I get older it is more appealing to be closer to the lifts and the less walking with ski gear I have to do the better, yes getting spoilt I'm afraid but also getting older.
But THE hugest thing about Niseko is the snow....its HUGE! they measure their annual white fluffy stuff in metres!!! And fluffy it is too, none of this slippery ice crap, so safer to learn on as well.
It's so fluffy it is actually hard to make a snowball as the individual crystals don't stick together as easily as wet snow.
Heres our snowman on the vacant block next door to where we stayed for 2 weeks
Back of our house
Our snow field
The Fridge Bar
Front of our house
This is the slopes lit up for night skiing, free every night with your mountain pass.
We found its actually easier and safer to ski at night as you can see the contours of the snow better
and there are no beginners and crazy skiers/boarders are at the pub
A walk around the village you discover the huge range of architecture, from log cabin style to ultra modern award winning designer homes
Looking up the main street towards the main ski field into an approaching storm
Birch trees
The Yakata Onsen - an outdoor onsen which is so great after a days skiing, imagine sitting naked in a 38 degree pool, a wine/beer in hand and gentle snow falling on your head, bliss!
Part 3 will be about trips from Niseko, Otaru, and Sapporo.
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