Having been snowboarding in Japan many times I had not been to Niseko until this year and it certainly delivered. One of the great things about Japan is all the small ski resorts that feel a bit run down and stuck in the past. Niseko isn’t this. As cool as retro 90s resorts are, Niseko has everything you expect from a top international resort: amazing lift infrastructure, swanky hotels, the biggest and most efficient rental stations I’ve ever seen, great food, world class guiding and backcountry, and almost everyone speaks English.
Niseko really is Japan’s only resort that has everything international guests would expect. Other resorts have the facilities, but they just don’t have the number of runs, variety of terrain and easy navigation between areas that Niseko has.
If you’re visiting Japan for the first time and you’re an experienced skier or rider, you really have to see what Niseko has to offer. The tree runs here are amazing, right off the lift and spread out across the four interlinked resorts. We had most fun between the red runs at the top of Annapuri.
And then there’s the snow of course. It just constantly dumps here from Christmas to early March. If you’ve not been to Japan, there’s no snowier place on earth that is this easy access. I’m told March is actually a great time to come as there’s still plenty of snow and the crowds are dying down. Although it never gets anywhere near as busy as the big US resorts.
You can easily stay here for a week and not get bored. You can also do a couple of day trips to Rusutsu or Kiroro.
