Niseko / Japan Skiing holidays

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(Free-Press-Release.com) March 29, 2010 --

Niseko where you go for the snow doncha know. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, it’s time to get down to business.  The tryptic of slopes that make up Niseko United have been keeping us amused for a couple of days on old snow but every time you look up you eyes are filled with visions of yourself ripping through the out of bounds.  It’s what lies through the gates that sends people insane when the snow is fresh and deep.  That’s where the virgin, terra nullius terrain drives best friends to become adversaries, a rabid fever in their eyes as they compete to plant their flag by way of fresh tracks.  I repeat, snow please.

Back in the day Niseko used to be four distinct and competing entities.  Thankfully for the modern Nisekite these four have combined to form Niseko United and your lift pass can get you anywhere. This means a massive amount of terrain on a broad range of aspects in which to squeeze the best out of any conditions  The down side is that when the resorts were first formed not only were the lifts not put in to make it easy to get from one area to another, they were originally designed precisely to minimise this traffic.  Sometimes, then, getting around can be a little tricky for the uninitiated.  But this is a minor blemish on an otherwise outstanding hill where the three still independent resorts acknowledge it’s cooperation not competition that should guide policy into the future.

I didn’t expect Niseko to be so much of a mixed conditions clinic.  Super soft springtime slushies, sheet ice (it’s twice as nice to ski on ice??), sugar snow – more one lump than two –  and death cookies, fortunately with enough good turns to keep the Frustro-monster at bay.  To quote Barny – our very own Zen-master Dear Leader (no relation to Kim Jong-il) – “it is what it is”.  The riding then has been alright. At Niseko I’m finding the last runs of the day particularly beautiful.  Cruising down the runs my burning thighs seem to be a little less fatigued for the beautiful view of the volcano Yotei.  What a delight to ski home to with that in your sight.

The conditions as they have been have afforded us the freedom to take in a fair whack of what the town has to offer once night falls.  Apparently there’s forty bars, give or take, most of them cool little hole-in-the-wall style joints with their own quirk and character.  I guess that means that we should thank the Japanese government for making it dead easy to get a liquor license.  We’ve cooled down to hot jazz played live, warmed up in an intricately carved ice palace, and imbibed mulled wine in a cozy rabbit warren that you get into through an Alice in Wonderland–style old fridge door set into a snow bank.  Most the bars seem to be innocuously set amongst houses so the real reward comes from wandering and ducking into places as you stumble upon them.  

skiing holiday