Welcome to the land of the rising snow...
Japan’s Niseko may be 17 hours away, but the thrilling resort gets more snow than almost anywhere else in the world — and the apres ski isn’t too shabby either
WHY travel 17 hours to ski down a glorified hill in Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island? The answer lies in a strange character named Stella. Stella is the star of Niseko-Annupuri, Asia’s number-one ski resort (4,291ft or 1,308m). Stella Dendrites, to give her her full name, is the millennial snowflake in exclesis. Every day, she breezes in from Siberia and lays a thick white duvet over everything.
At around 50ft (15m) per season, the annual snowfall in Niseko-Annupuri is more than in Canada and nearly twice that of the Alps. Only Mount Baker in the U.S. is snowier at 54ft (16.5m).
This makes Niseko-Annupuri one of the planet’s premier powder playgrounds. Long after global warming has melted the Alps, Stella Dendrites will (hopefully) be laying down her fleecy ordnance, known locally as the Siberian Express.
Camped around Mount Niseko-Annupuri are four villages: Niseko, Hirafu, Hanazono and Annupuri. I stayed in Niseko, a Japanese-style Alpine village which YTL, the Malaysian conglomerate, snapped up after the financial crisis of 2007. Hinode Hills, their newest development, has 79 rooms and suites in wabi-sabi style and recently opened with ski-in, ski-out access and the hotel’s own chairlift.
I stayed at the more modest, but chic, Kasara Townhouses, an annexe of Green Leaf Hotel that offers a pared-back ‘contemporary ski lodge experience’ — where the woman running the ski room gave me a questionnaire to assess my ability. First question: are you an ‘aggressive’ skier?
The following day, I was going hell for leather skiing down the longest steepest slope, when I clipped my guide’s skis. The mountain somersaulted and I hurtled down a wall of snow.
I tried all sorts of shapes — crucifixion, starfish, octopus — before coming to a halt. Not even a bruise. In snow this soft, you can crash and burn with impunity.
Unless you hit a tree. The silver birch is a deciduous tree which in Japan is unique to Hokkaido. Its silvery white trunks can be hard to spot when skiing ‘aggressively’. Do leave tree surgery to professionals.
THE Austrians introduced skiing here in 1911. Major General Theodor von Lerch of the Imperial AustroHungarian Army was sent to observe the Japanese military after the Russo-Japanese war. Bored, he ended up giving the army ski lessons.
Curiously, skiing never took off. Despite a purple patch in the 1980s when tax breaks boosted resorts (Niseko was founded in 1982) and the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998, the sport flatlined.
However, the country’s sheer fluffy snowiness drew Australian enthusiasts. ‘They were Bali types who change their name, wear sarongs and go native,’ says Olivia Harper, who lives in Kensington, West London, but rents a chalet in Niseko. ‘Only they did it in Japanese.’
Word filtered out. As the Far Eastern economies snowballed, Western expats and savvy Asians began to take a look. Japan’s work ethic, culture, and high standards were much admired; skiing was the excuse everyone needed to visit.
Result? Today’s seasonal precipitation of nuclear families from across Asia. ‘Many have never seen snow before,’ said Ryan, my Canadian guide.
Now, learning to go downhill is the new Asian bourgeois status symbol and an essential part of the education of children.
If skiing is the new hallmark that will frank you through this society, why not go one better and become
an instructor? ‘No need to be a great skier,’ says skiing tutor Will Ehrman. ‘Just be kind, patient, polite and informative.’
One of Ehrman’s fellow instructors last season was so kind and patient that he blagged a tour of Asia and Australia off all the families he had taught to ski. Pictures:GETTY/ALAMY/ISTOCKPHOTO
And epic silky powder is just part of the appeal. There is also the Japanese touch: orderly queues, bomb-proof politeness, nailed-on smiles, an emphasis on not inconveniencing anyone, and great food.
You will find good miso ramen noodles and a katsu curry at the Lookout Cafe. For hot chocolate, aim for the 3,280ft (1,000m) Hut. I dined on excellent shabu-shabu (a hotpot) at Two Sticks restaurant in Niseko village, where the Milk Kobo dairy farm shop sells outrageous cakes and ice creams.
APRES-SKI begins with a soak in the outdoor onsen to climb down from the skiing high. It continues at Hirafu village. Aim for Bar Gyu+, aka the Fridge Bar: a 1970s Narnia of vinyl, books, posters and flights of sake and Japanese whisky.
‘The Fridge Bar is as wild as Niseko-Annupuri gets,’ says Olivia Harper. ‘Despite the Australians, this is not the Krazy Kanguruh!’
After a ski trip to Japan, the Alps will seem forever diminished. But . . . 17 hours to fly there?
‘We know people who drive 17 hours to Courchevel,’ says Olivia. ‘Better fly to guaranteed powder in Japan than roll the dice on snow in the Alps. It is so special, so different, so exotic.’
TRAVEL FACTS
BRITISH Airways flies from Heathrow to Sapporo via Tokyo from £680 return (ba.com). Doubles from £250 B&B at Green Leaf Hotel in Niseko (thegreen
leafhotel.com). Studios from £310 at Hinode Hills in Niseko
(hinodehills.com).