Introducing Niseko United Ski Resort: Mother Nature’s Playground

The fundamental reason people ski is for fun.

The hardcore go to Alaska for the steepest mountain faces on earth.

They head to Europe to find the gnarliest couloirs.

Others hit North America for cliffs and tight evergreen tree runs.

None of them come to Niseko for any of that.

Article by Matthew Thomas
Main Photo Glen Claydon
Above Photo Niseko Village

Niseko’s magic ingredient is powder, and lots of it. The thrill here is the deepest snow in the world – something you literally cannot find so readily anywhere else on earth.

However, after living and working in Niseko as associate editor of Powderlife for two seasons and returning recently a decade later for a long-overdue powder fix, it occurred to me that another of Niseko’s most unique and less talked about characteristics is the way one mountain offers a kaleidoscope of skiing landscapes with vastly different terrain.

To me, as well as powder, Niseko United is also defined by its diversity. Four separately owned and operated, and very different resorts that bond Mt Annupuri together.

If there’s a defining feature to Niseko’s terrain, I like to think it’s its versatility. That an abundance of soft, marshmallow-like powder pillows and tree runs that, during winter, transform the mountain into a virtually limitless playground for all to enjoy. 

While extreme runs can certainly be found, generally it’s a crowd-pleaser. Depending on your style or ability, Niseko United is a Mecca for the quintessential Japanese skiing experience, with an increasingly international flavour that quite literally offers something for everyone on this one multi-faceted Japanese mountain.

Hirafu is the resort that I first laid eyes upon, and is undoubtedly the first resort where many a foreign skier first touches Japanese snow.

It’s perhaps best defined by a series of ridges and valleys deep with powder, along with mind-blowing tree runs awaiting discovery.

Photo Aaron Jamieson

Another key point is that it is the main access route to the mountain’s peak. Brave the “meat hook” single chair lift, hike to the top and revel in the glory of being one of the first to descend the east face all the way down to the lower lifts at Hanazono. The early bird gets the worm – it’s a cliché for a reason.

Hirafu also has the most expansive night terrain, with the vast majority of the resort lit well enough for you to explore after dark – that includes deep off-piste.

To me, Niseko Village has always meant super-steep off-piste powder runs and really fast groomers, all beautifully linked from top to bottom. One of my favourite Niseko experiences is to hit Village early, not long after the runs have been groomed and a fresh layer of powder has blanketed the piste. These groomers are tailor-made for speed demons with a love for the downhill thrill – there’s a reason it’s slated for Olympic alpine events.  

Niseko Village is also home to Mizuno no Sawa (pictured below) – an extreme and steep “Avalanche Control Operation Area” that will have you salivating from the gondola. It is recommended that only advanced skiers and riders enter this area. On the right day, if you play by the Niseko Rules, you could get some of the most heart-stopping powder runs of your life right here.

Photo Vincent Schnabl

Hanazono is home to some mellow pistes for beginners, some steeper runs for the more advanced and one of Niseko’s longest vertical runs off the peak into the resort (pictured below).

Photo Taiki Nakamura

“Stawberries” is a short sharp forest run full of playful powdery pillows, tree runs to test you, and rolling rock drops. It’s the place to take all your friends for a ski party, as you hoot and holler together all the way back out of the forest and onto the piste.

If you prefer to spend your time freestyling in the park, Hanazono is where you will spend your days with jibs, rails and jumps for all abilities and varying levels of sanity.

For the little ones experiencing snow for the first time, the unique Hanazono Bowl base area with magic carpet lifts is perfect for tobogganing, tubing and first-timers learning to ski.

Annupuri offers the finest lift-accessed off-piste skiing and most traditional Japanese resort experience of the four Niseko United resorts. This is where locals in the know come out to play because they can switch between cruising the wide-open groomers and sneaking out the gates.

Photo Aaron Jamieson

For experienced skiers and boarders with backcountry safety gear and knowledge, a series of gates allows access to several bowls that offer a variety of open fields that roll into tree runs choked with powder, before ending in natural half pipes that feed you back to the resort base. To me, this is what the Niseko experience is truly all about.

On the right day, at just the right time, you may even be fortunate enough to have these bowls all to yourself. In a world where noise and distraction dominate, you may find a Zen-like Japanese moment in the silence and space of the backcountry. I hope that, like me, one day you stare down those bowls to pick your line and, as you stop to take it all in, have at least one of those “wow, this is all mine” moments that will stay with you your entire lifetime.

Beyond Niseko

Niseko is fast becoming renowned as a gateway to the world’s newest skiing frontier, Hokkaido. A great many visitors return to Niseko year after year, and some never leave. While it is the nucleus of skiing in Hokkaido, this northernmost island of Japan has it all.

Photo Chad Clark

MOIWA

Next-door neighbour Mt Moiwa offers an intimate powder resort experience – perfect for something different, just minutes’ drive from Annupuri. You can even ski in and out from the Annupuri resort side if you know where to look. 

KIRORO

An hour’s drive northeast of Niseko, Kiroro is another expansive resort renowned for loads of quality powder. Always heavily laden with snow, a day wallowing in the pow at Kiroro will have you feeling like a kid in a candy shop.

RUSUTSU

Rusutsu is the other jewel in the South West Hokkaido crown. Less than an hour’s drive away, many have declared they had the best day’s powder skiing of their lives here. A large resort with vast amounts of natural terrain and tree runs galore.

HELI-SKIING

For those with a little extra cash to splash, Hokkaido Backcountry Club runs heli-skiing tours to the steep and deep terrain of Shirebetsu-Dake, right alongside Rusutsu. The average vertical here is 650m per run, which means you could bag over 3,000m in a six-run day.

CAT-SKIING

If staying firmly planted to the ground is more to your liking, there is a diverse mechanised skiing scene in South West Hokkaido. HBC runs cat-skiing tours in the rugged Shimamaki region, offering the most hardcore, remote cat skiing in Japan. Closer to home and just an hour from Niseko, the former Iwanai Ski Resort now offers cat-only access to the mountain, allowing you and a handful of friends to enjoy a pristine Hokkaido powder ski resort all to yourselves – complete with ocean views.

MT YOTEI

Something very unique to Niseko is the Mt Yotei experience. There’s no mechanised assistance here – its a solid four-to-six-hour hike up but the memories will last a lifetime, especially if you make it to the summit and conditions allow you to ski the crater. A guide is highly recommended.

CENTRAL HOKKAIDO

Farther afield, Central Hokkaido offers a collection of unique resorts, each with its own distinct local identity. Located up to three to four hours away by car, resorts like Furano, Tomamu and Kamui Ski Links, along with the Asahidake and Kurodake ropeways, are ripe for exploration.

SAPPORO

Many don’t realise that the island’s capital Sapporo was the host of the 1972 Winter Olympics and is home to a number of dynamic ski resorts, with Teine and Kokusai the highlights. A Sapporo stopover could give you one last powder fix before you’re dragged kicking and screaming back home to reality.