Dreams of Powder: Skiing Japan’s Niseko United and Hakuba Valley

When planning our Round-The-World trip it was great fun to start with some bucket list ideas. Japan? Yes! SKIING in Japan? Could we possibly swing it? YES!!
Despite our modest budget, there were two factors that allowed us to claim spring runs in Japan:

1. Mountain Collective Pass: This pass allowed us to ski a handful of early season days at home in the US before we took off on our 2018 RTW trip. This “exchange pass” gave us two lift passes each at both Niseko United and Hakuba Vally in Japan. SOLD.
2. Japan Rail Pass: This unlimited rail pass is an unbelievable savings over the fares you’ll find if you wait until Japan. They are available for 7, 14 or 21 days and only to foreigners who purchase them BEFORE arriving. Our vouchers were overnighted via Fed-Ex to our home in New Mexico (with free shipping!) The Shinkansen (bullet trains) were a blast and the “ordinary class” is very luxurious and clean...like everything in Japan! I especially love the little bottles of wine or sake and tasty sushi packs you can pick up before your ride in each train station. We absolutely made the most of our 14 day passes, which ran about $400. Aside from our skiing destinations, we also enjoyed time in Osaka, Kyoto, Nikko and Tokyo.

We skied two destinations and had less than desirable conditions half of the time...high winds closing down some of the higher lifts. But my goodness, when it was good it was GOOD! We were especially excited by the spacious tree runs that turned to pillowy dreams our last day in Niseko. If we were to ski Niseko again, a hotel closer to one of the base lifts would be a worthy investment. We spent more time on the local buses than on the mountain.
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I found the wandering village streets of Hakuba to be a more relaxed vibe than Niseko. The Wagyu beef at the Korean BBQ will live in our food memories forever! Another favorite of Hakuba: the free hot mineral foot bath by the train station and the many onsen throughout town (hot springs bath houses.) After a wet and windy day on the slopes, the most blissful apre-ski I have known is submerging myself in a hot mineral pool, gazing at the falling snow beyond the yellow-glow of patio lanterns.

This trip was our first time in many, many years renting skis and the equipment thankfully did the trick. We enjoyed ourselves, despite lower performance than accustomed to. If we were going to Japan for skiing only it would have been worth bringing our set-ups. This was a very special and fortunate stop on our much longer journey around the world. A ski trip to remember forever, as much for the cultural differences and scenery as the actual act of skiing. To claim the most serious of turns in we would have needed more time and better gear!