The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Niseko vs Whistler: how do the two compare?
These iconic resorts in Japan and Canada are on many winter sports wishlists – but which reigns supreme? Tristan Kennedy declares a winner
Congratulations! You have saved up enough money for a dream ski holiday – but there is one key question remaining: where should you spend it? For British skiers, two resorts nearly always top the charts: Whistler Blackcomb, in Canada, and Niseko, in Japan. Both have featured in countless ski documentaries over the years, burnishing their already legendary reputations – and each is brilliant in its own way. But the chances are that a visit to either will blow your entire ski holiday budget for the season, especially when you factor in the cost of long-haul flights. So if you can’t visit both of these dream destinations, which do you choose? Here is our comparative guide.
Whistler
Why go?
The largest ski resort in North America, Whistler (officially called Whistler-Blackcomb) has 37 lifts, offering access to 8,171 acres of skiable terrain. There are more than 200 named trails, but if you want to find the really good stuff, you will want to read between the coloured lines on the piste map.
It is the “in-bounds backcountry” – off-piste areas that are patrolled, and controlled for avalanches – that makes Whistler special. Scoring first tracks down Symphony Bowl on a powder day, or cutting through a “gladed” run, where the trees have been deliberately thinned out, is the stuff skiing dreams are made of.
There is plenty of variety, too. Iconic descents such as Spanky’s Ladder or Stefan’s Chute, both above the treeline, are steep and technical. Easy greens such as Sunset Boulevard, which winds its way through the woods on Blackcomb, will meanwhile keep intermediates happy.
The ski schools are among the best in the world as well, with no language barriers, and there is a ton of terrain that is perfect for families. If your children are older, Whistler’s three giant snow parks are among the best freestyle facilities anywhere on the planet.
The resort is also deservedly famous for its snow. Located in the coastal range, just a short drive north of Vancouver, its proximity to the Pacific Ocean means storms often dump their load here first. Whistler’s average annual snowfall of 10.8m (35ft) is roughly twice that of Tignes in France.
If you are used to stereotypically grumpy French waiters, then North America’s strong service culture will come as a pleasant surprise – even if it takes you a while to get your head around the tipping culture. On the hill, attentive lifties will pair parties up to minimise queues, while off the hill, smiling waiters will happily accede to requests for off-menu items. Why reconsider?
Even before Vail Resorts bought out the previous owners in 2016, Whistler had the distinctive vibe of a company town. The lifts, ski schools, rental shops, plus the majority of the accommodation, bars and retail outlets have long been owned by a single corporation.
To its critics, Vail Resorts – which owns more than 40 destinations in North America – is the McDonald’s of skiing. It is accused of homogenising the skiing experience and squashing individuality in the ski towns it presides over. Independent businesses exist, but they are often left fighting over scraps.
You certainly won’t see many of the third-generation, family-owned restaurants you will find in French or Italian mountain towns, while on-mountain eating tends to be in massive, tray-andshuffle cafeterias. There is always a vast variety of cuisines available, but very little in the way of atmosphere. Prices are pretty high in the village, and the pesky insistence on quoting them without tax only makes them seem more so.
While Whistler is big by North American standards, it is not that big in the grand scheme of things – indeed, the size of the mountain pales to insignificance compared to its equivalents in Europe. For example, the Paradiski area (La Plagne-Les Arcs) in France has more than 35,559 acres of skiable terrain, making it more than four times the size of Whistler-Blackcomb.
Niseko
Why go?
The case for Niseko pretty much begins and ends with its snow quality – famously some of the most consistent, and deepest, on the planet. Whistler might benefit from being close to the Pacific Ocean, but Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, is basically in it.
Cold winds from Siberia scoop up moisture from the Sea of Japan, which they then dump on the first obstacle they hit – the mountains around Niseko. The resort gets an incredible 15m (50ft) of snowfall on average each winter.
When I visited, it felt like the weather changed every 45 minutes, cycling through sun and light snow to heavy blizzard, then back again. Tracks from the previous day – and sometimes the previous run – were quickly covered up.
The other great reason to visit Niseko is the culture – in particular, the food. Everything, from five-course, sit-down meals to fast-food bites bought at petrol station warming counters, is delicious.
To British palates at least, Niseko is also refreshingly different. Other cultural highlights include a visit to an onsen, or hot spring. The pools are segregated by gender, and while the obligatory nudity might feel strange at first, you quickly get used to it. Why reconsider?
Given the size of its reputation, you will probably be surprised by the reality of how small Niseko is. There are just a handful of lifts, and around 800 acres of skiable terrain – barely a tenth of Whistler’s. Like most Japanese resorts, the lift infrastructure was laid out in the late 70s and 80s, when skiing was booming, and much of it has barely been upgraded since.
Many of the lifts are still old, small and slow, especially for those used to European high-speed chairs and gondolas. This means there are often queues, and you are better off heading to nearby resorts such as Moiwa or Rusutsu on weekends. There are great ski schools and decent beginner facilities in Niseko, but the sheer amount of snowfall – and the lack of clear, sunny days – means it is not the easiest place to learn. Plus, unless you and your party are skiing at a level where powder is on the menu, the pleasures of this all-you-can-shred buffet will be wasted on you.
In a society that is one of the most ethnically homogenous of any developed nation, Niseko is actually one of the least Japanese places in the country. Walk around the main resort and you will find plenty of foreign-owned bars and businesses. Although some people will appreciate the fact that you can get around without ever resorting to Google Translate, if you want a genuine Japanese cultural experience, you might want to try somewhere with fewer Australians. The verdict
In some ways, the two resorts are quite similar: both have outsized reputations compared to their actual size. Both hold out the promise of incredible snow, and the chance to explore a different approach to ski holidays.
Whistler is bigger, arguably has better facilities, and is easier to navigate as an English speaker or beginner. In the end, though, the sheer quality and quantity of Niseko’s powder, the famed “Ja-pow” that people flock to ride through its backcountry gates, tips the balance in the resort’s favour.
Part of the joy of skiing in different countries is experiencing a genuinely different skiing culture, and while the influx of Westerners means Niseko is perhaps not the undiluted Japanese experience it once was, it nevertheless beats Vail Resorts’ version of a North American ski town.