Niseko

Niseko Grand Hirafu builds a nice spring ski and snowboard park in the beginning of April every season that goes off through the golden week of May 5th(sometimes May 9th!). Located skiers right off of the king hooded triple seater lift on the upper mountain, the Shirakaba spring park is the place to slip and slide the snow until the end of the season.
A few of us from the Holiday Nisekoteam made the journey to Sapporo for the 62nd snow festival. We jumped in the car withNisekoSnow-Simonand made our way through the mountains and along the coast via hwy 5 to the city center of Sapporo. Parked the car, enjoyed some sushi train and hit the main festival site mid-afternoon. Starting at Odori park, we slowly walked through the 140 snow and ice sculpted statues and temples in complete awe. The impre
Last season East coast USA Flow snowboards+Sessions+Skullcandy rider Tim Humphreys and photographer Rami Hanafi got some great days in Niseko that scored the cover of the Transworld Snowboarding December 2010 issue with a beauty photo dropping in on the avalanche barriers of Nakayama pass. Tim raps a bit about his thoughts on Hokkaido and getting camera lucky. What a rad cover!
There are currently 108 active volcanoes in Japan (ten percent of the world’s total). On average eruptions or abnormal phenomena are observed at 10 volcanoes a year in Japan. In Japan an active volcano is defined as “volcanoes which have erupted within 10,000 years or volcanoes with vigorous volcanic gas and water vapor releases.” In Hokkaido 19 volcanoes fit that description and there have been 16 large-scale eruptions in the last 350 year
If you are driving near the Annupuri ski resort around dawn or dusk during the summer months you may have noticed a strange yellow object in the sky.  It is the Niseko Balloon and recently I got the chance to check it out. I headed out to the Niseko Annupuri Ski Resort at 4pm as I wanted to see the whole process of setting up a hot air balloon.
In winter many international guests often ask us what we do over the summer months. “Do we remain open?” and “Who visits Niseko in summer?” are also common questions. Yes, we do stay open, and we are kept relatively busy providing accommodation for the domestic market.
The fastest way to the Rusutsu ski area from the Niseko resort area will take you through the small village of Makkari. The Makkari area gained some exposure recently when the wives of the G8 leaders visited the village and had lunch at the French influenced Restaurant Maccarina.
 
Often in winter I get asked by guests who stay in our Niseko apartments, “Is there anything to do in Kutchan? Or “Is there anything to do that isn’t skiing or snow related?” Choices in winter are usually pretty limited so I set out to find something to do in case the ski lifts are closed due to bad weather.
While the primary reason to stay in Niseko during winter is for the skiing, people also travel for the cultural experience. Using cul
Ever wondered where all the snow in Niseko goes? A lot of it filters into the ground and later  resurfaces as spring water.  With an average annual snowfall around 13 meters, it's no surprise that the quantity of spring water around the Niseko region is one of the largest in Japan. Around the Niseko area there are many places to collect spring water.  Some places are very popular as many Japanese believe certain spring waters to contain benefi
One of the more popular summer tour destinations in Niseko is Milk Kobo in Higashiyama,(on the road to Niseko Hilton).