So easily accessible from downtown Sapporo that it’s even extremely popular with the locals, Sapporo International Ski Resort has an abundant amount of silky powder snow. There are complete facilities and it’s very popular with the snowboarders. And with restaurants and a hot spring village on its 6 slopes, you can enjoy the resort for far more than just skiing.
Niseko is a resort which is overwhelmingly popular with Australians. From the lifts to the convenience stores, you start to wonder which country this is. In fact, last season, its lifts had the busiest operation in Hokkaido.
Kiroro is celebrating its 15th year of operation this season after being built up from a deep, isolated forest. During the ski season, it has a better-than-average accumulation of 4 metres to gain its reputation as the snowiest area in Hokkaido. In addition, for such activities as the après-ski, you can reach the streets of the tourist area of Otaru in 30 minutes by car or bus, or if you’re willing to stretch your legs for a full hour, you can get to downtown Sapporo to enjoy all kinds of fun.
Located in the centre of Hokkaido, Furano also boasts top class snow quality. As proven in 10 past performances of the World Cup which included the Men’s Downhill, the slopes are complete in terms of course layout and scale.
Located near the centre of Hokkaido, the Tomamu slopes start right from a station built exclusively for them, a typical Japanese feature for a winter resort. The slopes are divided into 2 big areas with perfect 1,000-m courses for each of which you can ski on right away. Heartily enjoy the main area of Mt. Tomamu and the other area of The Tower.
The two ski resorts of Teine Highland and Teine Olympia were merged and reborn as Sapporo Teine Ski Resort. The slopes consist of the flat White Birch area (3 courses) and the Flame Holder area (2 courses) which unite the former Highland and Olympia by gondolas and newly-built courses. The location is outstanding and everyone from beginners to advanced skiers can enjoy the highly improved courses for skiing and snowboarding.
Niseko Higashiyama International, counted as one of the big 3 slopes of Niseko, has many runs with gentle, easy-to-ski gradients, so even beginners can relax and enjoy them. The beautiful landscape will attract even those intermediate skiers and up.
For everyone from beginners to intermediate skiers, Niseko Annupuri is the most casual slope to glide on. The courses, built on a plateau-like terrain, are made up mainly of gentle slopes with a cheerful atmosphere and dotted with white birch trees. With folks like tour skiers and families contributing to this atmosphere, the resort takes on a cheerful and relaxed mood. At the base, there is the Hotel JAL Annupuri which maintains quiet surroundings due to its limited number of rooms and which provides an attractive stay.
Even in the winter, Sahoro has a relatively high rate of sunny slopes and is located on the west side of the Tokachi Plain. The slopes are at an elevation of 1059 m, and for beginners and intermediate skiers, who consider the snow quality superb, there is the central ride long course.
