Greetings from Hokkaido, Japan

[Rob Thomson]

Hi all. Rob here, a Kiwi living in Hokkaido, Japan's northern-most island. I am a recreational ski tourer in the winter, cycle tourer in the summer. I've lived in Japan for 11 years, 7 of those in Hokkaido, and for the last three years have been writing up Hokkaido ski touring route information in English. I'm just a regular guy with a regular job, who loves hitting the hills whenever possible in my spare time.

I came across Pugski when I did a Google search for my Hokkaido Backcountry Ski Touring Resources page - I was keen to see if anyone had shared the link...and it led me here. It looks like you people have a nice community here, so I'll probably be popping in every now and then

By the way, this is my Hokkaido ski touring resources page: http://www.14degrees.org/hokkaido-backcountry-ski-touring-routes/

GPS route files, route descriptions, access info, route reports etc. I am a bit of a mountain hut fanatic, so I'm slowly getting to see some of the many quaint mountain huts here in Hokkaido - information about those on the page too.

If you haven't been to Hokkaido yet, and have been thinking about it, I highly recommend it! It is much more than Niseko, and it really is something else.

A few pictures from a few trips I've done here...

 

[James]

Wow, that looks nice!

 

[Jim McDonald]

Welcome, Rob. I've seen your site, terrific work.

 

[Rob Thomson]

Wow, that looks nice!

It stays nice until about the end of April here - so plenty of spring skiing to be had too

 

[Rob Thomson]

Welcome, Rob. I've seen your site, terrific work.

Cheers Jim. I see you're based in Tokyo - how is that for access to snowy mountains in the winter? A mate of mine says he quite likes the fact that it isn't too much of a trek on the train to the Alps from Tokyo.

 

[Jim McDonald]

70 minutes by shinkansen to Echigo Yuzawa and you're right there, Rob; lots of good resort skiing and great back country up out of Kagura. Getting to Hakuba means 90 minutes shinkansen to Nagano and a 1-hour bus ride, and the back country up there is world class (so I hear)

 

[markojp]

Getting to Hakuba means 90 minutes shinkansen to Nagano and a 1-hour bus ride, and the back country up there is world class (so I hear)

Yup.

 

[James]

So living in Tokyo would be similar to living in Geneva? As far as top level skiing opportunities.
Chamonix would be about 1 1/2 hrs by bus, Verbier 2 1/2 by train and a gondola from the train station.

Of course Tokyo would be a little different than Geneva. Both equally expensive?

 

[markojp]

Tokyo's a very different creature than Geneva.. The train to yuzawa might take an hour, but the door to door time will be a good deal longer.

 

[Tricia]

Wow, nice page. Looking forward to seeing your posts.

 

[Yo Momma]

Welcome! My best bud grew up in Tokyo. He's been trying to convince me to check out skiing in Hokkaido, for years now. He says that the food is incredible at the ski area, and they get snow like we used to get in the 1960's........... but the crowds can be a bit daunting. Do you ski the lift served at all?