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Niseko United


The Resort of Niseko United is located about 3 hours drive from Hokkaido’s largest city Sapporo and gateway New Chitose Airport.
Only a few kilometres inland from Hokkadio’s west coast, Niseko United is the home of 3 resorts.

The resorts of Niseko Grand Hirafu (The Hirafu and Hanazono Areas) Niseko Higashiyama and Niseko An’nupuri  have all recently come under the one banner thus creating a super resort Niseko United.

The overall terrain available is wicked!


It would be even better if the Ski Patrol would take on bombing of the three strictly out of bounds areas and open these to riding. Unfortunately the Japanese are still way behind in Avalanche control and prefer to simply close off the areas.
Please Note - Entry into areas marked 'strictly out of bounds is prohibited even to experst with Special Equipment (eg.Beacon, Probe, Shovel)

Even so mix this with the amazingly natural consistent snowfalls of deep fresh powder you will have one of the best snowboarding experiences ever.


Situated above the village of Hirafu and the majestic Mt Yotei rising high behind the village. The views are incredible especially on a bluebird day when off the peak you can scope out the Sea of Japan and faintly make out the Russian coastline in the distance.

(Note - Backcountry Hikes can be done on Mt Yotei as well approx 5- 6 hours hiking)

The quality and amount of snow found here in Niseko is superb.
We can safely say that there are few destinations in the world that will surpass the potential to have ridiculous amounts of snow.



Terrain

Trees

The trees are my favourite part of riding in Niseko. The Japanese Ski Patrol has a reputation of being tough on those who poach the trees. Well that’s true for Furano but Niseko has lightened up in recent times and has even now opened entry gates into specific area.
The snow is deep in the trees and the spacing is almost perfect and the gradient is pretty dam good. I spend most of my time carving huge powder turns in the trees.
Some of the picks include the famous ‘Strawberry Fields’ area to the skiers right from the top of Hanazono Quad 1. This area just gathers the white stuff and is some super deep days have been had.
A short hike to the skiers left of the Hirafu Gondola will bring you into the ‘Miharashi’ trees awesome run, a little short but super fun only downside is the very flat cat track you have to run out on.

Over at An’nupuri the trees to the left of the Gondola are wicked.
If you are prepared with the correct gear and are venturing out of bounds into the An’nupuri bowls then the trees are superb along the ridgelines, just stay alert as there are hidden dangers here as the area is un-patrolled.
There is a whole lot more stashes, but you will have fun finding them yourselves.


Steeps

There are no super serious chutes here, but when the sun pops out everyone makes the mad scramble for the peak. This is really the only time they open the peak due to such poor visibility.
The rewards? Days of untouched snow, deep, beautiful and untracked.

Everyone drops into the tops of Hirafu and Hanazono to reap the benefits. As this is all inbounds it can get hammered reasonably quickly.

Left around the back off the top of Hanazono Quad# 3, and through the gate is the uncontrolled area of the Hanzono ridgeline , bowls, gullies and loads of trees make this an awesome place to have some fun.

Please Note - Those who wish to enter an Un-Controlled area are required to comply with Niseko An'nupuri rules posted at gates and lift bases.

The best bet, only for those who have out of bounds gear, is to traverse the peak ridgeline and drop into either of the An’nupuri bowls. These are glorious  steep powder bowls and so so much fun running out through the trees and down into the gully and ending up at the bottom of the An’nupuri ski area.

DO NOT drop the back face of the peak ridge! This will take you so far out of bounds and out the back of Niseko it’s not funny! Resulting in a 3 hours plus hike out in deep snow. Don’t let powder fever get the better of you unless you fully know what you are doing and where you are with all the correct supplies and equipment.

The ‘Jumbo’ run off the right of King Lift #4 is great steep fast groom first thing in the morning.


Powder Days

Which day is not a powder day?
More often than not it basically snows/dumps every day!
It is rare that it doesn’t snow.
I have had two trips here now in Feb 2005 14 out 16 days I had fresh snow. In late Feb 2006 I had 7 days and it snowed every day (before this though it hadn’t snowed for almost 2 weeks, this was a very, very rare circumstance.

FreeStyle

Well personally I come to Niseko just to ride powder. But if you love your park and stuff and happen to have a drought of fresh snow then there are some areas to show your style.

Hanazono has the main snowboard park and halfpipe, take a left from the top of Hanazono Quad #1 and you will find some very decent table tops and a fun box, some rails including a rainbow.
Doesn’t get super crowed but some locals love showing there wares.

Two more tabletops can be found in Hirafu just down from the King Bell Hut, and a bunch of tabletops can be found off to the left of the King Lift#1 chairlift.

Over at An’nupuri you can take some hits just below the Paradise hut on the ‘family’ and ‘Paradise’ runs as well as just near the base of the An’nupuru Jumbo quad.

Natural hits a plenty in Strawberry fields rock garden...though is can get shut down often for Avalanche danger, just listen to the PA system over the chairs in Japanese and English.

The Niseko Big Air Competition is also held usually late Febuary.

Weather

The storms come sweeping off the Siberian tundra and over the Sea of Japan picking lots of moisture and then dumping hard over Hokkaido, the west coast gets hammered and Niseko has powder days a plenty. Almost perfect! Almost? Nah it is perfect.

The down side of all this powder is that, the peak and the top chairs get closed down often due to high winds and extremely poor visibility. The freezing wind chill doesn’t help conditions either. It can be very rough going while riding at Niseko.
 
The plus side is that when the peak and tops do open the snow is heavenly and the freezing cold conditions keep the snow in such pristine condition you really stop complaining about how cold it is.
I mean who cares as long as you have loads of fresh deep fluffy pow pow.


Accommodation.

With Japanese obviously a very different language to English and most European dialects. It is best to consider using an experienced travel agent to sort out your accommodation, transfers from the airport as well as ski passes.
Glenn and Dale from www.deeppowdertours.com have been coming to Niseko every winter for over  10 years.
Since 1992 when Glenn first discovered the deep powder snow here in Niseko and called his brother Dale. The Goulding brothers have made it their business to deliver a great experience to their clients.
Accommodation varies according to your needs. You can be placed into Hotels, Pensions and lodges for you duration in Hirafu Village. Flights from Sydney are getting cheaper and cheaper for Australian visitors making Niseko great value.

You can also check out the crew from Snowwave to help you with your trip details as they have been in town almost as long.


Nightlife and Places to Eat 

Please check out the review for Niseko Hirafu Village for good feeds and where the parties are to be found.

Be prepared to mix with plenty of Aussies though as the town turns Australian during the winter. A handful of kiwis are to be found, but currently rare to find any Nth American or European cousins as they seem content to play in there own backyards.

Getting There

Please check out the Niseko Hirafu Village review for details.

Nearby Resorts

While in town also make sure you visit the nearby hidden jewel of Niseko Moiwa and the tree powder paradise of Rusutsu. The Deep Powder guys can help you organise these day trips.

Thanks

Many thanks to Glenn, Peter, Claire and the boys from www.deeppowdertours.com for all their assistance and hospitality during my stay. Cheers.
 

Last updated on 09 April 2006.

Snow Report

Niseko United
Base	260cm (top); 150cm (base)
24 Hour Snowfall	No new snow
Surface	Clear.
Lifts Open	Ace Family Pair - Operating Ace Lift #1 - Operating Ace Quad #2(quad) - Operating Ace Pair Lift #3 - OperatingAce Pair Lift #4 -
Trails Open	Overcast and Sunny.
Nearby Ski Areas	Appi Kogen, Daisetsuzan National Park, Furano, Gala Yuzawa, Goryu-Toomi, Hachimantai, Hakkoda, Hakuba, Happo One, Iwatake, Kamui Ski Links, Kijimadaira, Morioka, Mt Asahidake, Niseko Hirafu Village, Niseko Moiwa, Niseko United, Nozawa Onsen, Rusutsu, Santa Present Park, Sapporo, Shigakogen, Shinetsu, Snova Indoor Title, Tokyo, Zao

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Niseko United Trail Map

Niseko United

Date	Name	Comments
10 Dec 2006	David White	I'm heading to Niseko for the first time.I normally ride in australia on a 150.What size board should i go up to to ride the power over there.
17 Jan 2006	sandro	Niseko-Hirafu is actually invaded by Australians. It means the winter seasons almost 50% of the population are "Aussies" with their own bars, pensions and so on. If you are looking for real japanese lifestyle avoid Niseko. Despite relative easy slopes some of them are interesting. Contact locals for off-piste runs as some are quite difficult to locate or behind hidden paths. Runs in forest are equally interesting. Climbing (approx. 15 min) the mountain top offers several powder possibilities. Japanese people are very nice, courteous and always ready to help. Several agencies offer complete packages like airport pickup, accomodation, skipass, thermal bath visit, etc. The price remains totally acceptable. www.niseko-hirafu.com
09 Jan 2006	Anonymous	Have just been out at Niseko.This year is looking bigger than ever with constant falls creating what locals predict will be a 20m fall this season. Looking like a long season -should be great in March and April once tourist numbers drop back. I stayed at a huge new place called Higuma which I found on at www.thenisekocompany.com , considering that I could stay in a luxury place with 9 friends the price was more than reasonable compared to other international resorts. Will definitely head back to Higuma and Niseko-there's so much to explore.
18 Jan 2005	Anonymous	Please don't write any more articles about Niseko...locals are sick to f*&king death of foreigners. It was alright 10 years ago but nowadays the number of foreigners (esp Aussies), is just silly. Niseko is low, short, expensive, and crowded. Go to NZ or for the real budget Eastern Europe!!! Yes you read right. It rocks and is way cheaper !

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