View of Mount Yōtei from Niseko Annupuri. Image: Brett Ploss.

Report from December 29, 2023

I flew from Tokyo to Sapporo last night. Tokyo is located on the main island of Honshu, while Sapporo is located on a smaller island in the north called Hokkaido. I rented a car at Sapporo and drove the roughly two hours from Chitose airport to Niseko.

Snow banks as high as a small car. Image: Brett Ploss.

There was noticeably much more snow on Hokkaido than in the Hakuba region. At times the snow was taller than the car, reminding me of Tahoe roads. The area is also much less urbanized than the main island, and I saw a fox and four deer on the drive.

Niseko United ski area consists of four interconnected areas. I skied Annupuri today. Snow conditions were great and light. No new snow had fallen overnight but there was plenty of soft snow around the mountain.

Niseko trail map — Niseko United trail map. Image: Niseko Tourism Website.

Icy Jumbo Pair Lift #4 seen at the top. Image: Brett Ploss.

Upper mountain Jumbo Pair Lift #4 is still closed meaning the other three resorts are currently inaccessible by ski from Annupuri. Access from one area to the other is currently only by bus. However, the lift was being dug out this morning and coverage is great, so we could see an opening of the higher lifts soon. Although at Niseko Village Wonderland Chair is also closed which would be required to ski back to Annupuri.

I finished the day in an Onsen the traditional Japanese way.