Top Backcountry Skiing Trips in Hokkaido
3 Reasons
Why choose Explore-Share.com?
Professional and Verified Local Guides
7000+ Outdoor Activities Worldwide
Online Customer Support 7 Days a Week
Secure Online Payment
More Info
The backcountry in Hokkaido and the terrain surrounding Mt. Yotei in the southwest are great for intermediate to advanced skiers, though backcountry beginners are sure to find routes perfect for their needs. Participants should be in reasonable physical condition and well-aware with the risks associated with backcountry skiing programs. Avalanche safety equipment and training is necessary, often included in certain programs. Some off-piste locations near the resorts can be crowded, so finding a guide for a program further off the beaten path can provide a more personal wilderness ski experience.
Good to Know
What’s the weather like?
Arriving in winter will be cold, but it provides arguably the best snow conditions in the world - it snows a lot! The powder is notoriously deep and dry, with certain backcountry areas gated to control access and preserve quality.
Language
Japanese
Currency
Japanese yen
How long should I stay?
Depending on your schedule, you can plan a few days of skiing to a few weeks. Dip your toes into the expansive backcountry on shorter guided trips to introduce yourself to the impressive mountain terrain. Many programs are easily accessible, so you can easily spend a week discovering great virgin runs and pioneering your way through a lifetime of pristine snow.
Country Code
+81
Best time to visit
During the winter, from mid-December to March.
What People Say
What an experience!
Vojta, Tomas, Cyril and Kuba run a great camp with good balance of ski touring and lift access
to get to the best lines of the day.
I liked the idea of not having daily program set in stone but rather wait for morning weather report to decide on the best option for the day. I highly recommend Sherpas ride for Japow experience.
... Read MoreClose
Martin Vana
for
12-day freeride ski trip in Niseko
Definitely provided one of the best sports experiences I’ve ever had. Organization and support was great, staff very competent and
ambitious. Skis and boards provided, guides were able to find the best powder lines on the mountains. Big thumbs up!
... Read MoreClose
Manuel Wildtgrube
for
12-day freeride ski trip in Niseko
I recently did the Freeride Camp with Sherpas Ride and it was amazing. First of all the staff is not
only very competent but also highly motivated to provide a great experience on and off the mountain every single day. The provided equipment (Skis, Poles & avalanche equipment) was new and worked well. Breakfast was freshly made every day and the guys did a good job creating a relaxed and fun atmosphere throughout the trip.
I’ll definitely try to come back for another trip!
... Read MoreClose
Bastien Adrien
for
12-day freeride ski trip in Niseko
Toshi and his crew gave us a truly remarkable experience! From the food to the accommodations to the epic
skiing: this trip was out of this world!
... Read MoreClose
I had a great time with Wataru, very nice and experienced guide. He brought us not so far away in
a quiet and beautiful area of Shirebitsu with tons of magical snow.
If I could, I would go back tomorrow!
Thanks again to your platform.
... Read MoreClose
Julien
for
1-7 days Sapporo Based Backcountry Skiing
Amazing experience. Took 5hrs to summit. Cloudy and little wind made it easier. Skies opened up 100M from the top.
We summited and then we skied fresh powder into the crater. Well worth it.
... Read MoreClose
Barry Mckillop
for
Ski touring on Mount Yotei in Hokkaido
We had a great trip to Rishiri! The snow gods were not on our side but Rishiri is a mountain
of many slopes and aspects and thanks to a great guiding team we always managed to find good snow!
Toshi ran a great operation with 3 other guides which meant we were split into two groups with a max of 9 per group and two guides. This allowed the group to be split even further on the day…
Special thanks to Shohei and Kosukei – very professional guides!!
Arigatou-gozaimashita!!
... Read MoreClose
Paul Johnston
for
Backcountry skiing in Rishiri
Should have extended each day by at least 1 run
Philippe Fatzer
for
1-7 days Sapporo Based Backcountry Skiing
I would like to give Naoki five stars out of five. He was just great: professional, safety first approach, helped
us with our splitboards, found great terrain and was very friendly and kind during the hole day!
... Read MoreClose
The “Guided powder ski tour” was amazing, also thanks to your brilliant and professional guide Gunther Winkel
also a big thanks
to Jun Horie for the skitouring equipment. On behalf Daniel and myself we want to thank you for a very professional guided powder ski tour, showing us Niseko in
the best way of ski touring.
... Read MoreClose
Nicklas Zettergren
for
Guided powder ski tour – Niseko Ski Resort
I can not rate Toshiya because he was not our guide. Our experience was marred by a void of
communication prior to the trip. We never recieved email or other communication prior to our trip, despite frequent requests. Simple questions like, “Do we need crampons?” were unanswered. The day before our arrival, we called Toshiya (whos phone number was being withheld). He was unaware of what day we were visiting, he did not know how many days or how many people in our group.
... Read MoreClose
Craig
for
Backcountry skiing in Rishiri
Truly excellent guide, with unique knowledge of backcountry spots for freeride and touring. Extremely nice guy too.
Anton Arriola
for
Hokkaido backcountry and off piste skiing
My wife and myself had the wonderful opportunity to spend three days with Naomi Kawata as our backcountry country
guide. First off Naoki is a very easy going person. wen felt at ease with him right away. also he has the right guide qualifications.Safety in the mountains was the number one priority. he is very knowledgeable about anything backcountry (example how to apply your skins when your knee deep in snow} Naoki was able to take us to a mountain where we three were the only people there it was an absolute blast!
Naoki took us to a few local restaurants that were amazing. you had better know japanese in these
places or have Naoki with you, that’s how local they were. Well to sum it up three great days skiing with an excellent ,extremely versed guide. we will definitely get with Naoki next year. We highly recommend him to anyone looking for a good safe time.
Ed &Iris
... Read MoreClose
ed zinnanti and iris zinnanti
for
Niseko, Rusutsu and Sapporo backcountry ski tours
Great for experienced backcountry ski/board tourers. Daisuke looked after us very well. We experienced some of the local culture
going to onsens and restaurants after a hard day on the snow. The yakitori stand at the end of the first day was a real treat.
... Read MoreClose
Anna O'Sullivan
for
Hokkaido backcountry and off piste skiing
Wow what a Tour! Jun guided us perfectly, we made it to the top of yotei. An Incredible
experience!
... Read MoreClose
Stefan Janisch
for
Ski touring on Mount Yotei in Hokkaido
It was a pleasure with the guides from the pow company. Matoko likes hiking so we did 3 days of
backcountry.
I think we will be going back to Japan!
... Read MoreClose
Corey and Andrew
for
Niseko lift accessed Sidecountry Skiing
Myself and my husband and brother had a fabulous day! We got great snow! Wataru showed us some
great places to get the powder stashes! Unfortunately my skill level could not make the utmost of this awesome day but I enjoyed it so much anyway. If I can make it back to Hokkaido I will try my hardest to book with Wataru again.
... Read MoreClose
Holly Sullivan
for
1-7 days Sapporo Based Backcountry Skiing
We had a very nice time with our guids matoko and shino. We did not do the side country skiing
at all but instead went completely into the back country for 3 days of amazing powder. I would definitely contact the powdercompany about guiding if I find myself in Japan again.
... Read MoreClose
Corey and Andrew
for
Niseko lift accessed Sidecountry Skiing
Toshi and his team are fantastic – great guiding and accom, and Rishiri has some amazing terrain for backcountry ski/snowboarding.
... Read MoreClose
Nick Oats
for
Backcountry skiing in Rishiri
Great mountain, awesome guide, good times. Only for dedicated backcountry enthusiasts though.
Eric Yap
for
3 Days Backcountry Ski Tour in Shirakawa, Gifu
Related Blogposts