Did you include air fare on that one?
Excluding air, it could be done for less. It helps lift tickets are so inexpensive.
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Pugski Is Going to Japan!
- Thread starter SBrown
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Excluding air, it could be done for less. It helps lift tickets are so inexpensive.
My goal is never to minimize expense but to maximize enjoyment. If I want to minimize expense, I'll stay home. I like to eat, I eat a lot, I like to eat good food not just fuel. Don't really care about nice accommodations but I will pay for food and drink.
Airfare not included since it's highly variable depending on where you're traveling from.
Of course one can find half day lift tickets plus lunch for $15-20 at cute little ski areas with 3-5 chairlifts, but I think Furano was in the $50's range two years ago. Matt's estimate of $35 sounds reasonable.
Meals, lodging, transfers/daily travel in rental vehicle/gas/toll (this can be costly) for visiting 8-10 ski areas with couple evenings splurging on fancier meals and "unique" onsen experience, $175-200 is comfortable. One can certainly do it for less.
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Whoa - Japan looks incredibly magical!
G'day Jenny,
Yes, we encourage people going on our trips to use either an airbag or avalung pack. For India, they are mandatory on our trips. Japan, not mandatory, but strongly recommended if you want to go backcountry/off-piste. I've owned several different airbags and avalung packs and I'm currently using the Black Diamond JetForce, 40L model. As I travel overseas with it, it's definitely the easiest to fly with. The Mammut airbag was a good bag, but it was a hassle having to fly with the empty air cylinder and then having to get it filled. I ended up buying a high pressure air pump and keeping that in Gulmarg, when I went to India each season for use with the Mammut. I don't use that bag anymore. The Black Diamond is great and I personally think the JetForce technology is the way of the future. There's no restrictions for travel, I just take it with me as my carry-on. The only challenge I've had was this past winter, taking it to China where they haven't seen these bags before. They didn't like the battery, so I ended up disconnecting it (easy to do if you undo the screws that keep the battery cover together) and then once they saw that could be detached, then no problem.
I like the fact that I can get multiple deployments from the one charge with the JetForce, so I can practice with it (always fun to let it off with kids or people that have never seen an airbag before) and not be worried about pulling it in avi terrain in sloughs or smaller slides (not had to yet, thankfully). You don't have to fold the bag to put it away, just release all the air and then stuff it back inside the compartment (with the Mammut pack you had to fold it up in a particular way). They are definitely not cheap and they are heavy with all your gear in it (plus the claimed 40L in my pack includes the airbag, so there's not a ton of room in there unlike a regular pack). BD does a great job with the compartment for the avi gear. It's easily accessible and has plenty of room for a 3m probe and shovel handle with extension. The harness is great too and allows for unrestricted movement (the pack moves with you thanks to the unique pivoting belt system they have). So, if you are thinking about getting an airbag, I can definitely recommend the JetForce series. Hopefully they start to come down in price as the technology matures and other manufacturers get on board. I'd hope the next gens also come down a little in weight too (potential to shrink the battery and fan system maybe?).
Regards,
Matt
That's what we do jmeb...... how much touring do you want to do?
Targeting Jan/Feb 2019 for a 2 week trip. A few of my friends are as well. Thinking even splits between inbounds, slackcountry and full-on touring. Maybe one day with a big objective if weather cooperates and we have a guide. All AIARE1 cert'd, working on medical training this season and fit. Current thinking was an RV-based trip by reading this thread that may not be the best way to go.
You definitely wouldn't be alone on the RV thing, many people are doing it, but RV's are not cheap. You could pay a similar price for a decent hotel and a rental vehicle. Base yourself in a couple of prominent locations and then go and explore. There's many places you can go for pure BC, from bagging proper peaks to sidecountry from the road. Many of the under the radar resorts have enough snow in the trees and lack of people that you don't even need to do any hiking. Then there are resorts where you can do some hiking and keep accessing untouched snow in relative solitude (some resorts have a more open policy towards backcountry and have gates that you can leave the resort through and that seems to be the general trend, more and more resorts with the increase of [particularly] Western freeriders, the more progressive resorts, are opening off-piste terrain and putting in gates). That's what we do on our trips with keen riders that want to maximize their time in Hokkaido. 6 people and you can have your own private group with a guide and a van in 2019......
Just curious, but where is RV parking these days around Hirafu? When it was a handful of Delica's, it was all pretty simple, but Japan was still an unknown ski backwater at that point in history...
Susan, while you're there, you should interview (little)Ross from Niseko Adventure Center and (big) Ross from Noasc... interesting stories. They were really the first two Aussies in the area and set the stage for the invasion.
Susan, while you're there, you should interview (little)Ross from Niseko Adventure Center and (big) Ross from Noasc... interesting stories. They were really the first two Aussies in the area and set the stage for the invasion.
We won't be going to Niseko Mark, we'll be in Otaru and Furano...... we took Niseko out of our program last year to focus on the quieter areas......
Smart move! Old friends there are sort of lamenting things. That said, they had 20 or more years of 'empty'. A friend of mine has some 8mm of Yvon Chounard and Paul Parker's first trip to Hokkaido... skiing Strawberry fields before it was lift served. Very cool, though I still have no idea why Paul Parker sort of bad mouthed the Japanese in his book after these guys showed them what was going on away from the lifts.
Some old school old friends... sorry to repost this again, but it's really good:
Perhaps the exchange rate were different? When I went last year, Furano was more like $40 and Nesako closer to $50 (day ticket, may not include night skiing)
My expense was just a bit below the low limit of your range. And I was traveling solo. But no, I didn't stay at the Prince.
If I were traveling with others, lodging cost would be cut in half. I could easily make it under $150.
I didn't move around quite as much. I only skied 3 mountains in 1 week. Though I don't see that would change the cost significantly.
About the only thing I have over everyone else, is I can't drink. So no drink expense for me. ;-)
Some adult one-day lift prices for the main Hokkaido resorts, includes night skiing if available:
Niseko United 7,400 yen (access to four contiguous areas)
Rusutsu 5,800
Kiroro 4,200
Furano 5,500
Tomamu 5,400
Sahoro 5,500
Teine 5,200
Sapporo Kokusai 4,500
*Most areas also have half-day and/or time-limited passes. A 4-hour adult pass at Teine, for example, is Y3,800
Current exchange rate is approx $1 = 111 yen, most forex windows will charge you 2 yen/$ each way to convert cash; check with your provider for credit card add-ons
{USD xxx IN JPY <GO>} in a browser window for quick conversions
Niseko United 7,400 yen (access to four contiguous areas)
Rusutsu 5,800
Kiroro 4,200
Furano 5,500
Tomamu 5,400
Sahoro 5,500
Teine 5,200
Sapporo Kokusai 4,500
*Most areas also have half-day and/or time-limited passes. A 4-hour adult pass at Teine, for example, is Y3,800
Current exchange rate is approx $1 = 111 yen, most forex windows will charge you 2 yen/$ each way to convert cash; check with your provider for credit card add-ons
{USD xxx IN JPY <GO>} in a browser window for quick conversions
Yep, exchange rate was different. I had it better last winter. I didn't visit the exchange window at all. I took cash out of ATM's (Japan being such a cash-oriented society).
And since I can't ski more than 6 or 7 hours, (and I don't care for night skiing anyway), I didn't get the one that includes night skiing, which cost more than the day time only ticket. But I also paid less for even that day time ticket. There's a small discount buying it from my lodging (5~10$% off) if I recall correctly.
Credit card add-on is typically 1-2% on top of interbank rates for most cards.
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Not necessarily true, often lodging is priced per person, not per room in Japan.
We've done some off-peak Hokkaido spring travel with my dad, booking for three guests in tatami room and were surprised to get end two rooms on a flat per person charge.
Don't try have more people in a room than stated, you'll end up paying handsomely for it.
I tried to find "single" room whenever it's available (this is not unique to Japan, same is true in Europe). Actually, I was successful in one location in Hokkaido (Furano), but was unable to find one at Nesako. I've factored that in my calculation.
I've done the tatami room before. It's not quite to my liking. One does get a bigger room (since the "bed" is rolled up in the morning). But while I was perfectly comfortable sleeping on the floor. I couldn't get comfortable sitting on the floor when I'm not sleeping!
This trip sounds like fun. I'll have to discuss it with my boss. (Wife)
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