Japan 23/24 Season

[gaijin]

No need to start listing all the small mom/pop resorts on the intertubes.

Keep that stuff small, yo. Seriously.

They can do their own marketing if they’re dying. No reason to blow it up and lose what we’re all here for.

The word is out. The whole world is here. As soon as you guys start providing road maps to all of our side hits, the gig will completely flip.

Please. [emoji120]


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[gaijin]

Niseko is the shit. Slopeside hotels, ski in/out. Night skiing in blizzards. Place is bonkers.


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[gaijin]

For every ten points of cred you gain here on trg by typing how rad your tiny local was you have a thousand eyes planning their next trip.


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[mcski]

No shit. Delete crap like that. The internet sucks

[gaijin]

/oh well. The gig is up. My insta is full of people posting how rad they are to find “secret” locals that they then name. They think it’s their job to spill the beans.

You heard it here first— Japan is now saturated. This is your last winter of solace.

All those lift lines and crowds you see at the bigger resorts are gonna hit the small places next winter.

Goddamnit.

My local resort isn’t even skiable anymore. And that one wasn’t even on the radar.



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[weibo]

So what places can we mention, only Niseko? Almost all of the reports mentioned are also mentioned on the various sample itineraries for various guiding/tour companies in the area.

[gaijin]

I don’t wanna be a cop. I don’t wanna go there..

Just stop mentioning locations.

I’m sorry.

I’m just watching my quiet, little piece of heaven get destroyed because everyone wants to brag on their insta.

All of the low-key places have been low-key for decades. And then Insta happened. Influencers.

Just shut the fuck up.

Take pics. Brag about your trip to your bros. But can you just stop producing road maps to strangers?

You have thousands of people, thousands, planning their trip with threads like this.

Every time you mention a location to the world you blow it up.

Just chill the fuck out.

[gaijin]

And yes— you’re only allowed to mention Niseko, Rusutsu, and whatever corporate ski resort you cling on

This is where you just say yes to corporate skiing.

[m2711c]

Fuck you and your drunken fuckin’ bullshit.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I’m pretty sure Japanese skiing isn’t blowing up because of talk by a bunch of dentists posting on TGR. It is social media but it’s Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. You know the other social media that you view and participate on.

For example, if I google Yohtei skiing TGR doesn’t even come up. Stop drinking and stop using Instagram.

[LeeLau]

TGR will soon be dead. So gaijin will rest easy.

RIP good repository of useful tech information.

[tgapp]

honestly people google places in Japan and TGR is the very first result. this place gets a lot of eyes.

established mags - if you want beta, PM me! I feel like I've got a decent reputation around these parts, and I will spill all the beans via PM. If you contribute to making this place special, I want you to have the Japan trip of your life.

otherwise, I'm with Gaijin here. I get it - these places will still blow up with or without us posting those names, but I don't want to be part of the problem.

also, and last point, why be shitty to Gaijin who is just trying to protect a place he loves? wouldn't you do the same? miss me with that shame bullshit. dude showed up and skied with us for two days and was a fucking rockstar of a mag, give him some credit

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[m2711c]

Be realistic, dude. Most of the ski areas were talking about here are seriously hurting for business. While it is great to have the runs all to yourself, these places are businesses, not charities. When you show up to a mountain on a Saturday morning that is fully staffed from the parking lot to the kitchens, the lifts, the ski school and the ski patrol and groomers...Somebody needs to pay those wages. And if they dont get any customers, they are gonna close. Its happening already. I’m sure you noticed that at some of the places you were at. Not all the lifts actually operate. Now, if somebody was on here actually posting real road maps with circles and arrows and a prargraph on the back explaining the details. I might understand the angina, But what really happened is that a few random names of ski areas that are hundreds of miles apart from each other were mentioned as an aside deep in a thread about Japan. I cant help but think that’s a overreaction when the place in particular that I mentioned is on an international ski pass and doing its best to advertise and bring in an international audience.

[climberevan]

Shoot, I thought Hokkaido was pretty blown up on my second trip there in 2019. It was already hard to find parking at any BC spot that anyone has heard of. I ended up skiing a bunch of weird places that I found by looking at topo maps. I sure as shit didn't tell anyone about the good ones!

Social media and people's innate need for validation have combined to ruin everything.

[NBABUCKS1]

agree on both sides here, it's a tough debate.

at the same time a thread like this is nothing compared to what powderhounds has put out, which I assume most people use as their guide and only a small percentage would go past that to fill in the cracks.

[NBABUCKS1]

(i'd normally edit the previous post but this website is a piece of shit and it'd blow up).

I get where gaijin is coming from. Skied a resort for a decade plus and you are one of the few westeners there. you have massive powder stashes pretty much all to yourself and now more and more start to show up and you have to share it with others. It's selfish and immature but that shit sucks.

Is it insta/fb/tikok? powderhounds? tgr? people discovering it organically on a trip? who knows. Gaijin - you ever ask visitors/westeners/aussies how they found the place you ski?

coming back to ski snowbird was that whole reverse culture shock. wall to wall tracked out in seconds. It's special over there and i'd do a lot or rational/unrational things to protect the resource I have.

[gaijin]

I definitely could have used more polite language above.

Yesterday I brought my kids to the local resort 20 minutes from my house where we hold passes.

This holiday season was by far, and I mean by far the busiest I have ever seen it. I would try to quantify it but any number would just read like an exaggeration.

But yesterday was bonkers. Lines for paid parking. 2-3hr gondola waits. 30-40 minutes chair waits. Cafeteria? Impossible.

It’s like a whole different world this year. I can’t wrap my head around how much tourism increased.

I feel like those out of the way, mom/pop resorts are all we have left for chair skiing. And as soon as these tourists get tired of spending their money to stand in line, they’re gonna flood smaller resorts and the problem will just grow.

Over tourism is a thing. And I’m genuinely gutted at the moment.

Didn’t mean to lash out at you guys. Just kinda screaming at my computer.

Told the kids no more passes. From now on we road trip to desolate weekend hills. My own ski resort is unbearable now.


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[weibo]

I can see where you are coming from Gaijin. We have been based out of Furano. The local (ish Aussie) crew we have been with are lamenting how busy the hill is but it really doesn't seem to crazy. The lift situation does mess up the whole area with a damaged main lift that isn't running plus what seems from my standards to be a cautious wind hold policy. That seems to push visitors from the big areas trying to find what they see or hear about and get the "Japow" experience.

[LeeLau]

One friend of mine is a Zenibako local. Grew up in Hokkaido in Tokachi region and Rusutsu. The Tokachi hill closed. Rusutsu exploded. She doesn't mind the tourism but does avoid Sapporo during CNY.

Another grew up in Teine ward. Now lives in Whistler. Visits every other year to visit family. Has seen local hills die and seasons shorten. He works in tourism and doesn't mind tourists.

Has anyone bothered asking the locals their opinion? Of course these are only 2 people and they do not have exposure to forums. I do not wish to assume that you all have not considered the opinions of locals. Perhaps you have?. Many apologies of course for asking if you already have considered all viewpoints

[teamdirt]

<p>
Skiings soul lives within the mountains and the people that seek it. Skiings soul does not have a name nor a destination. From small community hills that thrive on the spirit of skiing to the larger resorts that wish to take on tourists and to the purists that undertake the undisclosed backcountry adventures that entice the bold and most experienced. You can not control the destiny but you can control the journey you choose for yourself. Be at peace. Ski happy, find meaning in what you do and enjoy the ride, whatever it might be! Skiing has been the life of me, skiing has been the death of me, literally. Whatever it be, embrace the ride. I&rsquo;m better because of the ride and I&rsquo;m more humble due to the ride. Embrace the ride. Thx u Jpn 4 having me!</p>

[gaijin]

Thanks, Lee. I just saw your message now.

To everyone. I don't want to beat a dead horse.

I've been here for twenty one years. I tried to buy my local resort. I secured investors. It was a thing. I'm not an imbecile.

Over-tourism is a thing. Over-tourism is so substantial that locals are now refraining from buying passes at their home mountain.

That should resonate within the ski community.

That is all.

[muted reborn]

Sorry Gaijin, that sucks. I don't want to be part of the problem, even though I now realize I stupidly mentioned some locations on IG. But I'm not an influencer, ha. the 10-20 people that always like my pics are not going to japan to ski (or don't ski at all) except for maybe 2-3? people who ski and travel - MAYBE.

But IMO it's an easy ask to not mention places here on TGR and not speak for the locals presuming they all want tourism. Each place is different - some might be fine with low visits, some might desperately want foreigners to come, and some are just big corps that own tiny resorts so fuck them - how do I know what area wants what in my 10 day ski visit? I don't, so I'll keep quiet from now on. There is plenty of proof of how social media has made the outdoor experience worse, especially in my home state, and it's obviously happened to Japan in many parts (Kyoto, Hokkaido, etc) so I don't see the controversy here of Gaijin asking to keep things quiet to slow down the inevitable popularity of many smaller resorts.

I have a feeling all those northern Honshu areas we visited will be doing much better in the coming years as people like us search for a more authentic experience after doing the annual Hokkaido trip a few times. Not that Hokkaido will ever slow down, it's just the smaller resorts can't handle a ton of traffic so if a small percentage of ex-Hokkaido skiers go elsewhere, things will change significantly.

The joke on IG this year is who DIDN'T go to japan to ski this year?

[jtran10]

You people suck at the internet if you don't understand that tagging places or typing place names is the easiest way to get a spot blown up, Japan or otherwise.

[Dhelihiker]

Just got back from the snowpocalypse. Its been 12 years and OMG has it changed. Way more food options and lots and lots of white people. The internet has sold this place out. I guess its just the world we live in now. We still had a great time the snow was $$$$$. I wish I got a pic of the Cortina lift lines. I thought I was lining up for KT-22 on a Saturday bluebird pow day.

[jtran10]

my instagram is full of "japan skiing expectation vs. reality" showing big lift lines at big spots. I'm hopeful that anti-feedback loop will help things.