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The Japanese Island with Lightest, Fluffiest Snow Known to Humankind

The Japanese Island with Lightest, Fluffiest Snow Known to Humankind
Niseko, Hokkaido © Jeff Kingston Photos

he northern Japanese island of Hokkaido is renowned for having vast quantities of the lightest, fluffiest snow known to humankind. In its snowiest years, resorts such as Niseko, Rusutsu and Furano can receive up to 17m of the white stuff. To put that in perspective, the annual average of perennial Brit favourite Val d’Isère is between four and six metres.

Over the past 10 years, this deep cover has attracted film-makers, photographers and increasing numbers of British and North American skiers to what many consider is the holy grail of powder skiing. But accessing terrain away from pisted runs has always been a grey area, with some resorts actively enforcing a ban while others turn a blind eye.

Enjoying skiing through the trees in Hokkaido's most popular resort, Niseko. Image: Niseko Hanazono Resort
Enjoying skiing through the trees in Hokkaido's most popular resort, Niseko. Image: Niseko Hanazono Resort

This was certainly the case three years ago when I last visited, but much has changed since then. Many of the key resorts have made the situation clearer and, in one case, offer a guiding service to take you to previously banned areas. Rusutsu is renowned for its well-spaced trees, but before the 2014/15 season, anything away from the pisted runs was technically out of bounds.

The snowiest resort in Hokkaido, Kiroro, has adopted a very clear-cut approach. International marketing assistant Mark Wyckmans says, “Right from the start we want to create a sustainable backcountry culture.”

Hokkaido is also known for its hot springs. Image: Radius Images/Alamy Stock
Hokkaido is also known for its hot springs. Image: Radius Images/Alamy Stock

 

This means if you ski away from the piste you have to go through one of the backcountry access gates. In Japan, if you ski in the backcountry, you're supposed to fill in a plan of your route and give it to the local police office and the forestry office.

So while the situation is less grey in Hokkaido, it’s still far from black and white. One thing is for sure, though – the appeal of Hokkaido is only growing. Rob Stanford from the Warren Smith Ski Academy, which has been running courses in Niseko for the previous 10 years, says, “We’ve seen demand grow year on year and this season for the first time we ran two trips – 35 people in the first week, 42 in the second.”


Source : Henry Druce, The Telegraph

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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