Ski Touring in Hokkaido

[rob_thomson]

I've been living in Hokkaido in the north of Japan for the last 6 years. Finally, I've gotten around to compiling the reports I've written about ski tours I've done over those years here.

Hokkaido Ski Touring Routes: www.14degrees.org/hokkaido-backcountry-ski-touring-routes/

While there's a ton of information out there in Japanese about backcountry ski routes in Hokkaido, information in English is pretty scant. So this is my (evolving) attempt to right that wrong.

Downloadable GPS route files (GPX), mountain hut information, trip reports, and photos.

Cheers,
Rob

www.14degrees.org

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PIC: Heading along the Sandan-yama ridge in the Tokachi mountain range in central Hokkaido

[mall walker]

Extremely cool... looks like a lot of work went into that. Hopefully I'll be able to take advantage one of these days

[rob_thomson]

Thanks! It is definitely a work in progress :-)

[SUPERIOR]

The Tokachidake region is one of the least traveled and gnarly on the island ... keep it quiet

[babybear]

yassss..
thanks Rob- Headed to Hokkaido in January and your website it most excellent

now I just need to go over to the travel ski/ quiver of one thread and work through which ski set up to bring.....

[mcski]

^so jealous desu !

[moose pit]

Nice resource... looking forward to this seasons japow threads as the wife and I are heading over in February.

[DolphinSki]

Thanks, doing research last year for our trip, information was all over the place. It's cool to have some classic tours mapped out in one spot.

[stefanwarnaar]

This is awesome. I was skiing in Japan last year, and I sort of got the impression that they weren't big fans of ski touring, unless you were on a tour with local guides etc, and they were worried about people getting themselves into trouble outside of skifield boundaries. Is this true?

[HansJob]

ありがとうございました。優れた情報

[Eastcoastdan]

Nice resource... looking forward to this seasons japow threads as the wife and I are heading over in February.

You lucky SOB

[m7cb3b]

Damn! Sweet skiing!

[satori]

Small world mate... - Wednesday (holiday) thinkin about hitting Kokusai or Kiroro, both prolly have more snow than anywhere else...see you on FB

[Mike Pow]

Great resource. Many thanks.

More Hokkaido info here

http://forums.ski.com.au/xf/threads/otaru-b-c.76391/

[EssjaywhyNZ]

looking forward to Otaru, see if I cant post a few routes, cheers

[kevino]

Hey all,

Getting into Niseko tomorrow, looking for any other resources of good touring nearby (within a couple hour drive) or other ski related recommendations. Forecast is looking fairly dry so thinking we will probably tour more than inbounds. Thanks!

[BFD]

niseko 101 just drive around to Goshiki onsen tour the small peaks behind it. hit onsen good intro to Japan

[kevino]

well curve ball, we get to spend the night in tokyo due to delayed flights. i'm sure two 6+ foot white dudes won't stand out in downtown tokyo

[rob_thomson]

I just thought I would drop in and say I've updated the route filtering system on my Hokkaido backcountry ski touring routes page: http://www.14degrees.org/hokkaido-ba...ouring-routes/

Each winter here in Japan I end up adding about 10 routes, so this should make it easier to browse the ski touring routes by region (Niseko, Sapporo, Tokachi, Northern Hokkaido, Eastern Hokkaido, and Southern Lakes) and type of route (snowboard friendly, public transport accessible etc).

It is a pretty bumper season here in Hokkaido for early-season snow...I hope that continues!

A parting shot from a ski tour we did way out east in Hokkaido (route guide here) - not particularly famous for powder, but there are some killer views to be had.

[Dervan]

Very impressive place and reports!

[jorion]

Rob’s site is super helpful. Hello from hakuginso lodge!

Today was fun.

[rob_thomson]

Awesome @jorion! I hope to be up at Hakuginso in Feb...Mt. Furano is in my sights. I hope the snow is all good for you there.

[jorion]

The snow was good today after being very heavy yesterday. We skied the trees on Furano today. The wind and vis made staying low an easy decision.

[jorion]

Nothing but low angle tree skiing in Hokkaido.

[m64bd6]

great