I’m planning a ski trip to Japan next January and was hoping to get some feedback on the itinerary I’m beginning to flesh out. I will be travelling alone, and am an expert-level skier. I took a trip with my wife to Japan in March this year (we travelled to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Kanazawa), and we absolutely fell in love with it. My goal this time is to see Hokkaido and to try to ski at as many places as possible, without being overly ambitious in terms of the distance between resorts. My main concern is road closures from snow preventing me from making my hotel reservation, or flight back to Tokyo.
\*\*Day 1\*\*Â – Arrive in Tokyo. I plan to stay for 2 nights here.
\*\*Day 2\*\*Â – Tokyo
\*\*Day 3\*\*Â – Take Shinkansen/train to Niseko. I plan to stay there for 4 nights. I know it’s much quicker to fly but I loved our Shinkansen experiences in March so would love to take the train to Hokkaido and then fly back.
\*\*Day 4\*\*Â – Ski Niseko
\*\*Day 5\*\*Â – Ski Rusutsu
\*\*Day 6\*\*Â – Ski Kiroro
\*\*Day 7\*\*Â – Pickup one-way car rental in Niseko and drive to Asahikawa via Yoichi and Otaru (stopping there for lunch perhaps)
\*\*Day 8\*\*Â – Ski Kamui Ski Links
\*\*Day 9\*\*Â – Ski Asahidake, then drive on to Furano. I plan to stay there for 2 nights.
\*\*Day 10\*\*Â – Ski Furano
\*\*Day 11\*\*Â – Drive to Chitose, leave the rental car. Take flight to Tokyo
\*\*Day 12\*\*Â – Tokyo
\*\*Day 13\*\*Â – Fly Home
Again, my main concern is whether I’m overstretching myself with the driving distances and whether I’m likely not to be able to get from one place to the next due to road closures? I have experience of long road-trips by myself, and some experience of driving in snowy conditions.
I’d also like to ski plenty of backcountry and would ideally like a guide for some of the stops (Asahidake in particular). Are English speaking guides hard to find in the more remote resorts?
I’ve ready that Niseko is like a Western resort and full of Australians etc. but I’d still like to experience the nightlife and use it as a base to ski the other nearby resorts. The idea behind skiings Asahidake and Furano is to get more of Japanese ski experience too.
Many thanks in advance for any advice people can share!
