Japan beta

last minute ski vaca anbody got beta stuff like getting around or getting money whatever you got?

Where you going? Tons of skiing in Japan… Sight see and ski? Or just ski?

I did Tokyo/Toyama/Kyoto/Osaka + week of skiing. Train everywhere. Ship your gear around as it's WAY easier than traveling with and super cheap. Japanese post is insanely reliable as well.

I rolled into Tokyo. Shipped my skis/gear to the place I was staying… traveled with a backpack around for a week. Showed up at said place, skied, shipped skis back to the airport. Took the train back to to the airport, picked up skis, got on plane.

edit: Everyone and their dog is obsessed with the north (Hokkaido). I'd rather ski steeps than mellow terrain with infinite snow. There is 'some' not as mellow terrain in the north, but not even comparable to central Japan. Snow was still better than what I'm used to on the coast… the finns stayed home and drank the week I was there because it was only knee deep.

So much potential.
https://500px.com/photo/45188582/potential-endless-by-jesse-paris?ctx_page=1[HTML_REMOVED]from=gallery[HTML_REMOVED]galleryPath=19253431[HTML_REMOVED]user_id=4204726

Maybe ask Lee Lau.

Ask here….. http://www.backcountrytalk.earnyourturns.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?2-Backside-Bar-amp-Grill

Where in Japan?

one of my best buds and main touring partner is Japanese and tells me it's easy to get around and the cost of lift tickets is cheap cheap compared to what we pay in canada if you're planning on skiing resorts

jealous for sure

We going for the skiing mostly ride the lifts but we will bring touring gear are gona meet up in Niseko with somebody from Smithers who has already been to Japan skiing 5 times and then go from there… playing it by ear a little

I understand there are lots of ATM's to get money and Visa is widely accepted ?

even 7-11 has good sushi

I don't think Lee has been to Japan yet

Also remember that carrying cash in Japan is ridiculously safe. I would think nothing of carrying up to a 100,000 yen at a time.

And you have to cuz 100000 yen is really only about 1200can$

Niseko is awesome. Epic snow.
There is easily accessed backcountry there, out of the gates on the top/right side.

Free shuttlebus to Kuchan town, get sushi at dinnertime from the supermarket there.
Good beer and excellent beer there. Otaru is a local microbrew that is awesome.
The villiage around Niseko has some cool bars and restaurants.
Sapporo had a cool ice sculpyure festival going on when I was there, was ok to check out, but that city was pretty quiet.

Talk to these guys if you have any questions: www.facebook.com/rhythmjapan

Only downside to Niseko is that it was full of drunk Australian dudes, and they scare most of the locals away.

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I did Tokyo/Toyama/Kyoto/Osaka + week of skiing. Train everywhere. Ship your gear around as it's WAY easier than traveling with and super cheap. Japanese post is insanely reliable as well.

I rolled into Tokyo. Shipped my skis/gear to the place I was staying… traveled with a backpack around for a week. Showed up at said place, skied, shipped skis back to the airport. Took the train back to to the airport, picked up skis, got on plane.

edit: Everyone and their dog is obsessed with the north (Hokkaido). I'd rather ski steeps than mellow terrain with infinite snow. There is 'some' not as mellow terrain in the north, but not even comparable to central Japan. Snow was still better than what I'm used to on the coast… the finns stayed home and drank the week I was there because it was only knee deep.

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Yeah I heard the same thing^^ from other folks at a hostel, if you are going to travel in japan before or after skiing its pretty cheap [HTML_REMOVED] dead reliable to ship your gear

some observations:

Don't rely on paying with plastic so always have lots of yen, 7-11 has international ATM's beer and sushi, you can sell whatever yen you don't use back to the money exchange back at the airport

It might have been ok to wing it 5 yrs ago but I would not go again with out having a plan and all accommodation booked … the number one thing IMO/IME

we bused out to ski the 5 area's in/around Niseko including some touring in the area, the area has the worst snow drought in 57 years but still the snow drifts in town were shoulder high, I agree it was mostly lower angle skiing in birch forests, skiing in a deciduous forests was new/cool, its busy cuz niseko IS all the rage with aussies [HTML_REMOVED] euro's, we got to tour with some locals which was cool

Wish i had of seen this earlier.
Just got back from a 2 week trip, booked flights 18 hours before boarding, at 0 accomm booked and no rental car. Ended up driving around and barely stayed in the resort. It did mean a 30 -45 minute commute from hotel for the night, but made up for it in terms of culture and experience. Spent 1 night in Niseko but didnt ski (we would have spent longer but couldn't find reasonable accommodation)

We found the terrain to be good in places. Rusutsu had decent terrain as did some of the Sapporo resorts. Had some great touring days when it went blue. Missed out on Yotei though.

I had heard good things about Rusutsu from the Salomon freeskitv guys but it didn't work out for us, I think it was 75$ for the bus [HTML_REMOVED] lift ticket to Rusutsu from Hirafu

We only had the 1st 5 days accomadations booked on airbnb then we would be homeless but thru a Smither's connection we got all the rest of our accomadations booked for us just 1 block from the Annupuri base lodge where we hooked up with another smither's guy who had a van, so buddy took us touring a few days so we bought him beers and paid for his group's onsen which was WAY cheaper than renting a car.

Did one of you have an international drivers license cuz I was told you need it to rent a car?

yeah we grabbed a couple of IDP's from BCAA in vancouver on our way to the airport. Thank god they were open on a Saturday! Ill throw up a couple of terrain pics shortly.