Rest day in Rusutsu

Japan ski trip 2017 day 8. The weather was closed in, visibility very poor and it wasn't very cold and there was some rain so we had a rest day.  We walked over the Secomart and 711 to get some provisions. You can buy hot food there and coffee but you are not allowed to eat in the store so we ate outside then and had a look around the Rusutsu Resort.

Its a massive place with a games parlour (including Wackamole), a talking tree, a merry go round and four animated bears "playing" Disneyland songs all day.

The town is over 1km down the road so there is not much else to do, but the free WiFi at the Rusustu Resort was handy for catching up on emails and calling home with Whatsapp.

Dave and I had dinner again at Yochan, pre-ordering the all-you-can-eat Mongolian Mutton, which was a great dish.

Fingers crossed for some fresh snow now.

Our first room

Dave kicking back

Lou resting his back

In the room, sorting gear

Ski quiver L-R - Dave's lightweight BC, Dave's resort board, Peters AT ski,
Lou's ski #1, Lou's resort ski, Lou's ski #2

Pension Skybe

Looking towards Rusutsu Resort

A mini Toyota Prado - we don't see these in Australia

Yochan restaurant - a great feed

X Trail

Westin Hotel

Last day at Niseko off piste at Hanazono in good snow then transfer to Rusutsu

Japan ski trip 2017 ski day 7.  Our last day in Niseko. We had hoped to ski up and down the big volanoe Yotei but weather and access was against us.

The visibility was not so good and strong winds up high meant the top lifts were closed so Dave and I bought 5 hour tickets and skied the off piste run at Gate 9 hunting out fresh tracks through the trees.

We then headed across to Hanazono and skied Gate 5 staying left and dropping into a creek that had a a cat track that went up both ways.  We followed a boot trail for a short while then decided to continue down the creek for a long way, eventually emerging at the bottom station of Hanazono.  We skied the rest of our runs from Gate 5 traversing back to get the top chair.

The chair had a hood so it was good for snacking and drinking.

We skied back to Hirafu then walked down to the backpackers arriving at 2:30.  After a nice cup of tea we packed rapidly then Niss drove us to the Welcome Centre and we boarded the local Donan bus to Rusutu.

We passed through some reasonable sized towns then arrived at the massive Rusutsu Resort with light snow falling,  A short walk got us to our lodgings at Pension Skybe.  The guy there spoke no english but we got into our room for a rest.

Dave and I headed out for a fantastic dinner at the nearby traditional Yochan restaurant (Izakaya). I had a crab steamboat and Dave had Mongolian Mutton.  A very filling meal and a friendly place.

Yochan restaurant (Izakaya)

Pension Sky Be

Rusutsu Izakaya Tampopo Shokudo

GPS log

Niseko-Annapuri north face off route ski descent then epic road tour back

Japan ski trip 2017 ski day 6. We headed directly for the summit again as conditions were good and there was some fresh snow.  The visibility off the top was not too good but the snow was great.

Descending with fresh tracks is always a blast.  After a considerable distance Dave said things didn't look familiar but by then we had descended a long way.

We came out at an unfamiliar snow covered road and skied up to a saddle.  We were well off-route and had descended the north face instead of the north west face!  Some boarders were hiking back up the ridge where they could return to Annupuri, Dave decided to do the same.  Lou was skiing with his very heavy skis and decided to ski down the road, I went with him.

We soon came to the small Goshiki Onsen resort where backcountry skiers were parking and heading out.  There is a lot of good backcountry skiing on subsidiary peaks but you really need a car to access it easily.

We skied on down the road then walked through a long tunnel.  The road had a good enough cover to ski and there was no gravel on it.

We skied on the road past the Rankoshicho Chisenupuri Ski Area where the lifts were not operating and there is an army alpine base they use for training.  Army trucks and jeeps were driving past us as we continued skiing along the road.

We eventually got back close to Niseko and had a welcome lunch at the Kobito Japanase Restaurant.  The GPS log shows we had skied 14.5km along the roads to get there! In hindsight it would have been quicker to boot back up to the resort but we did get a nice tour.

After lunch we walked up to the Nisekomoiwa Ski area through Moiwa.  There is not much development there and the lodges are small compared to Niseko-Grand Hirafu.  The lift attendant didn't want to let us on without a single trip tickets - the lifts are not integrated with Niseko - but after some pleading he let Lou and myself board.  My helment camera was knocked off by the chair hood though so I did one run back down to get it.

I spoke to a Canadian on the lift back up - he said that a day at Moiwa was enough for him.

I skied the rest of the afternoon with a group of Canadians in the resort catching the Hirafu gondala then a chair and descending via Gate 9.  There was good deep fresh snow between widely spaced trees.  They were all good skiers and knew their way around.

The single chair

GPS Log

The epic road trip!

Moiwa to Annupuri then off piste

Niseko-Annapuri summit runs in fresh snow

Japan ski trip 2017 ski day 5. Our first day at Niseko. We skied several runs from the Niseko-Annapuri summit access via Gate 3 and once via Gate 2. Its about 20 minutes to hike up the the summit. There is a little shelter cabin there.   The gate system is interesting.  Ski patrollers open them and sometimes check that your avalanche transceiver is on, and tell you "no patrol".

We dropped off the summit and skied the south west face dropping into a prominent gully that took us back to the piste and the Annapuri gondola lift.

The snow was great up high - fresh and deep.  Its a big enough hike to keep the hordes away.  There is nice easy angle tree skiing further down then a fast run into the gully and back to the piste.

I was lightly dressed and warmed up on the climbs but got a bit cold on the descents in the -5C temperature.  The gondolas lifts and chairs with bubbles provide some protection from the elements but the very top lifts are single chairs with no safety bar!

We finished the day with some great off piste runs from the top of the Grand Hirafu gondola, walking up the small hill behind it then descending through trees into a nice gully.

There were no massive queues. Its a huge resort with lots of lift capacity.   There are lots of foreigners skiing.  We met Swedes, Americans, Canadians, Australians and Kiwis.

GPS log