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Backcountry and powder skiing in Japan, 10 days in Nagano and Niigata

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Join JMGA certified guide Tadashi for this fantastic 10-day ski touring trip in the powder snow backcountry of Nagano and Niigata, Japan!

Group

Japan Alps

10 Days

Jan, Feb, Mar

Fit

Intermediate


Highlights

  • Enjoy limitless powder snow and virgin runs to your hearts content
  • Discover the beautiful wild mountains in Japan's Nagano and Niigata regions
  • Join enthusiastic and highly experienced guides with their local knowledge

Description

Nagano and Niigata are two beautiful regions on Japan’s west coast. Home to the country’s most spectacular mountain ranges, these stunning prefectures inhabit the opposite end of the mainland to Tokyo.

We will be exploring a wide range of areas within these prefectures but we will be centred mostly around their shared border region, this locates us about 150km northwest of Tokyo.

Included in our list of locations will be Kubiki, Nozawa Onsen, Madarao, Hirayu, Hakuba and Myoko amongst others.

Your breath will be taken away by the Northern Alps of Hakuba and Myoko, which is easily the most spectacular mountain range of Japan!

Kubiki, Nozawa and Madarao are also exciting, they are renowned for their amazing tree skiing terrains and abundant snows.

Our trip will consist of times using ski lifts at resorts, where we can blaze down runs all day. Whilst other days we may need to ski tour and search out the best snows, whilst enjoying the surrounding beauty!

Covering such a large area we have access to many resorts and mountain ranges with varying weather patterns, that means we can select the best option for us.

Myself and my fellow guides have extensive knowledge of the regions and networks in the local skiing communities. This way we will be up to date with the latest information.

This trip is designed for intermediate to advanced level skiers, it’s preferable that you have some ski touring experience.

Don’t miss this super exciting opportunity for backcountry skiing in the deep powder snows of Japan’s most spectacular mountain regions, sign up now!

Price includes

- Guiding fee

Price details

Not Included:

Personal Travel Insurance, Flights from your country, Departure transfer (although arrangements and instructions will be provided), 9days of lift passes, 9 nights twin share accommodation, Meals, snacks, alcohol & dinners outside of the hotel. Single room occupancy upgrade available at extra cost

Touring gear is required. Mountain guide expenses ( 9days of Lift tickets, Meals, 9nights Accommodations, transportaion, expenses)


Itinerary

Day 1: Meet up

Transfer to meeting point, where your guide will be waiting to greet you. From there your guide will give you an introduction to the local area, make sure you have everything you need and deliver you to your hotel for some relaxation.

Day 2 to 5: Ski Touring

We will decide the best place to ski each day. Your first morning will start with an in-depth avalanche safety briefing and training. This will give you the confidence to use your equipment with the aim of giving you more skills and knowledge to take away with you at the end of the trip. From here we will potentially ski at any of the ski resorts and also other non-ski field access backcountry locations, which we do not wish to disclose here.

Day 6: Change of location

We will either ski first thing and then transfer in the evening or transfer early in the morning and find another area to ski. There are also ski options along the way. This again will be decided by where the best snow conditions are!

Day 7 to 9: Ski Touring

Again we will decide which areas to ski each day.

Day 10: Last Day

Wind up the trip with a day of free skiing and a transfer back the airport or your next destination.

 

Details

Accommodation

You will stay in some of the most comfortable and stylish personally selected accommodations, such as: Myoko: Okayama - http://www.okayamakan.jp/ Hakuba: Logde Motoi - http://lodgemotoi.com/ Madarao: LAMP - https://lamp-guesthouse.com/ Kubiki: TAIGAKUSO - https://www.taigakusou.jp/ Hirayu onsen: TSUYUKUSA - https://www.tuyukusa-hirayu.com/

More info

Equipment Required: You will need touring gear which could be skis with touring bindings & skins. Also it could be avanache gear - avanache traciever, probe, shovel, airbag.


About the guide

I am a JMGA mountain guide based in the seaside town of Miura in Kanagawa prefecture, offering a mix of outdoors guiding activities in both the mountains and the sea. What I value the most in guiding is to of course guide my clients safely but also for my clients to spend a quality time in the rich nature. Exposing yourself in the rich nature by taking part in outdoor activities, and by removing everything in between you and the nature, I believe that you’ll be able to experience the extraordinary. It could be the overwhelming feel from witnessing the change in landscapes through seasons, or that you learnt to speak to your own body and heart, or that you deepened the understanding of the local area, and of course it could be that precious moment where you can experience this together with other people!

I am also certified in Japan Avalanche Network (JAN) at Level 2.
In the summer, I guide in the mountains, mainly in the North Japan Alps, and sea kayak, and in the winter I take clients backcountry skiing.
Whatever the discipline, my focus is always for my clients to be able to “feel” and to be one with the nature. The integral part of the fun is to interact with the locals, to meet the local culture, and to breathe in the air there as a total package!
So, in the summer I like to take clients deep into the mountains accessed by using both the sea kayak and your climbing / hiking skills, as well as staying in tents at night. I think it is a pity if you only spend time in the mountains or only in the sea!
And in the winter, I’d like to show my clients that backcountry skiing is not all about chasing powder but it is about getting joy from the mountains in totality.

I am looking forward to meeting you and sharing a quality time in the land of varying seasonal beauties!

Languages

Japanese | English

Certificates

JMGA


What people are saying about Explore-Share

Kumari Selvakumar

5.00

Sept 14, 2022

I’m extremely happy with the ease with which I could book via your site reliable and experienced guide. Thank you so very much, and I’ve started to recommend your site to my friends. Dimitris is not only an awesome guide, but a wonderful person who was always looking out to give me the best experience I can have when he found out how much I love climbing! He is the Best!

Niklas Warren

5.00

Sept 6, 2022

I am very pleased with Explore-Share! This was my first international climb, and the communication and response time were great. Herbie is a very skilled guide and very efficient. The entire booking process & payment was smooth. I will definitely use Explore-Share again. Thank you.

Greg

5.00

Aug 23, 2022

I was looking for a local guide for a hike I was planning and came across Explore-Share. They seemed to have good reviews and so decided to give them a try. The experience was very positive and completely happy with their service. I will be using them again for next trip.

Colin Finnegan

5.00

Aug 17, 2022

Easy to set up and find the perfect trip. Informative site that is easy to use. Guides are all great to work with and communicate all arrangements needed. As simple as can be!

Lesley Weber

4.00

July 16th, 2022

Thank you explore-share for a wonderful via feratta experience. We have been wanting to learn for a long time but don't have the facilities in Scotland. The guide Mitja was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, answering all my many questions and providing advice. On the day head to take another group but he quickly arranged another guide Borut, who was brilliant. We had a fantastic morning learning via ferrata at Hvadnik in the gorge. It gave us the confidence to later hire our own equipment and go out in Mojstrana. Altogether a five star + experience. Thank you.

Richard Scrivener

5.00

July 20, 2022

Hello! I have been thoroughly impressed by the service and assistance that explore-share have provided the past couple years in helping to plan my trip to the High Tatras in Poland. I really appreciated the flexibility that they provided in allowing me to rearrange my trip twice owing to covid. They were responsive and communicative throughout. This trip was part of my Stag weekend celebrations and explore-share connected me with an outstanding guide in the form of Marcel - he was an excellent recommendation and we really enjoyed our guided hike in the High Tatras with him. Marcel was an outstanding professional, placed a high focus on preparing well and staying safe, and was also a great guy! Highly recommend. Many thanks and best wishes - Richard

Yvonne Morrison

4.00

May 8, 2022

Our first time with Explore-Share. An absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish. Extremely good value, very well organised with attention to detail. We travel widely and this has by far been the best of experiences. Well done to all concerned. We are already looking at booking another trip!

Mark Stone

5.00

April 14, 2022

Great service by explore share. Our guide, Fred, gave us a fantastic day. Totally wild adventure that would be impossible on our own. I’m really impressed. Thank you very much.

James Dempster

5.00

March 9, 2022

I can’t recommend this enough. Great service, great price and the on the ground team was top notch. Top marks all round.

Leonardo Rodriguez

5.00

March 4, 2022

Everything went very well! Above our expectations! Thanks Explore-Share and Thanks Kiliholidays! Great support from all you! Thanks for the hard work and excellent level of commitment.

Daniel Martinez

5.00

Feb 2, 2022

Excellent job making your platform available to all mountain lovers. Our guide Gabrielle was an excellent companion

 

 

 

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