Overall Rating

Niseko

Niseko4/561
Niseko4 out of 5 based on 61 reviews
  • Recommend
    89%
  • Would Revisit
    82%

Niseko - Reviews

Niseko - Reviews

Overcrowded & Massive Lift Lines with Great Powder

25/01/2024

Phil

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Phil

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    4

Overcrowded & Massive Lift Lines with Great Powder

25/01/2024
I've been visiting the Niseko United ski resort since 2008. During that time, there has been a huge amount of investment in and over-development of the ski towns (Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village & Annupuri) including over 20 high rise apartment and hotel complexes. Unfortunately there's been next to no development of the actual ski hill and lift infrastructure.

The reality now is that during a week's "skiing" most time is spent standing in lift lines and not skiing the great powder. There's very few high capacity or express lifts, no lift line management to ensure lifts run at full capacity and the ancient lifts that service the upper alpine area are regularly closed due to wind.

Skiing smaller Japanese resorts or the big North American resorts has become a vastly superior holiday experience to "skiing" at Niseko.
See our video here

Aussie Ski 23

Paull
04/09/2023
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    3

Aussie Ski 23

Paull
04/09/2023
We are a group of 5, we skied Niseko early Feb, the previous review nailed it exactly. We stayed down the bottom of Hirafu, my only critical advice would be stay at the top of the hill and you may enjoy it the most.Getting food was if you're lucky and if you wanna walk it in heavy sometimes wet snow, most eateries were overcrowded if you got a seat and some were really stupid expensive.

Shuttle busses were minibuses that started at 8.30 and stopped at 7pm and in the morning considering we were at stop 14, they were full by the second stop and mostly full till late morning and few between. We managed to find getting up early and walking the 500mt uphill hike with all ya klobber would get you to the lift for 1 or 2 runs before the queues started. A couple of times we caught the bus from town to Hanazono and skied there as it didn’t get crowded till later.

The eateries on the mountain were magnificent, crowded but with some patience we always got a seat at feeding times and the service was typical Japanese excellent and food was great, more of a meal than take away which we often washed down by the mighty one meter tower of courage (beer).

I personally found the snow wet, lots of it and the trails were nice and long and excellent first few runs but chopped up by early arvo. Access to the mountains capacity was difficult till you done it a few times as many of the higher lifts weren’t working so finding the links become a chore.

All in all it was another world ski resort experience.
And next time I’d know the drill.
See our video here

Japanuary

03/09/2023

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    N/A
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    1

Japanuary

03/09/2023
Sidecountry powder
Quality Niseko powder
Snowy Niseko
View from the Mountainside Palace
Iwanai cat skiing
Niseko is quite polarising because it really depends on your perspective of what’s important for you in a Japan snow holiday. You may love it because it offers lots of terrain, it’s vibrant and has a big village in Hirafu with lots of variety of accommodation, lots of restaurants and nightlife. Or you may hate it because it’s over-priced, busy, too expensive, has lift queues, and easy pickings for powder are ripped up quickly. You can’t have the best of both worlds because popular usually equates to expensive, and easy-access fresh powder and a vibrant slopeside village are usually mutually exclusive. What no one debates about Niseko is the quality and quantity of the powder and terrain, which is partly why Niseko has become so famous. We still love Niseko because it has so much to offer and for those of us willing to put in just a little bit or a lot of work, fresh powder in Niseko is still possible. Or if you’ve got plenty of yen, there are backcountry pursuits where you don’t have to work. You can go cat skiing, sled skiing or heli skiing to increase your chances of getting fresh powder.

The 2022/23 season seemed to be a bit of a schmozzle for Niseko, which appeared to be hit harder by Covid than many other Japanese ski areas that don’t rely on international tourism so much. The Japanese government decided rather late to open the country, which left lots of organisations scrambling for staff, and extreme staffing shortages were seen across many sectors including lift operations, ski school, child care, and shuttle buses. Restaurants were particularly hard hit. Getting into a Niseko restaurant has been problematic for some time and Jan 2023 seemed trickier than usual. More food trucks popped up in Hirafu, which made for an easy dinner alternative some nights. We found it possible to get into restaurants by walking in or ringing around, whereas if you only looked at online booking systems for restaurants, they all appeared to be sold out. It helped that we weren’t a group of 10!

Lunch at one of the Annupuri cafeterias was a debacle, and they had only one vending machine (only in Japan!) to order lunch, so the queue for that was about 45 minutes.

It was nice to see some new lifts at Niseko, which is starting to bring Niseko into the realm of being a world class ski resort. The Hanazono #1 changed from a quad to a 6-pack chair to help with uplift capacity, and a short gondola was added to target the Park Hyatt beginners. Like Niseko Village in recent years, lift investment has gone into beginners only.

Lift queues were problematic for the Hirafu Gondola early in the morning. As is common across Japan, part of the problem was that that they were weren’t fully loading the cabins due to pandemic issues, but they were bad at this pre-pandemic too. Other open-air lifts weren’t much better due to a lack of efficient loading procedures, plus there were some people who thought they had pushing-in down to an art because they’ve practised it so much back home. Hirafu has announced a new lift for 2023-24 to help with lifting capacity from the base, which is well overdue.

Niseko continues to be a lovely multi-cultural melting pot. Due to Covid there were fewer Chinese about and lower hotel prices, whilst other Asians, Euros and North Americans were enjoying Niseko. Whilst Australians were the first foreigners to descend on Niseko, their numbers seemed to have dwindled in 2023 (possibly due to the pricing) but they made up for it with its presence. There are still plenty of nightlife spots where you can forget you’re in Japan, including bars that proudly serve VB beer and chicken parmas. At one spot I asked for a Japanese sake and was greeted with a guffaw!

One day we went cat skiing at Iwanai, which was filled with face shot after face shot. You can see our Iwanai cat skiing review here.

We stayed at the Mountainside Palace in Central Hirafu in a 2 bedroom apartment that had plenty of space and the location in Central Hirafu was unbeatable. You can see our review of MSP here.

You can also check out our thoughts on the pros and cons of Niseko on the overview page.
See our video here

Niseko

18/10/2021

Joe Markey

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Joe Markey

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Admin Rating
    3

Niseko

18/10/2021
My son and I traveled from NYC to Niseko in search of this dormant volcano's legendary powder. A quick meterology lesson: the damp air flows east over the Sea of Japan, rises up Hokaido mountains and dumps consistent snow. We loved the mountain, although the year we went was not one of the better seasons for powder. A must is OB through Gate 9, through the rolling meadows (snowboards stay out due to some flats) and down into the white birch forest on the west side of the ridge. Some of the best skiing we have ever experienced? My son and Ioved it. The base village is modern with good restaurants.
See our video here

Timed it Right in a Low Year

30/08/2020

Matt

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Matt

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    4

Timed it Right in a Low Year

30/08/2020
The winter season of 2019-2020 was historically bad for Japan, however we got lucky with powder 4 out of 5 days in early February. Overall I was impressed by the great potential of the mountain, especially outside of the gates. However if you want an authentic Japanese experience, you won't find it at Niseko.

Crowds were moderate, and certain areas tended to attract more people than others. Most of the low hanging fruit got tracked out by 10 AM, but there was always powder to find if you were clever or willing to work for it. The Hirafu gondola tended to have a long queue, however it moved rather quickly, usually about a 5 minute wait. One major choke point, however was at the Annupuri gondola. While the cabins in theory fit 6 people, the ski racks are too small to hold any powder skis, so you can only fit 3-4 people (very uncomfortably with gear inside). Combine this with frequent high winds causing the gondola to run slowly, and you have a recipe for a half hour wait. However considering the amazing run we had just had off the back side, the wait was well worth it. Pro tip: grab a hot coffee from the vending machine for the ride up!

Some of the best terrain can be found out of gate 11 under the Niseko Village gondola, however in low tide there are lots of bamboo shoots to bushwhack through at the bottom. Other easy sidecountry can be found from gate 4 down towards Hanazono with well pitched descents of 500 meters requiring a 10-15 minute hike back to the ski area. Niseko Moiwa looks to have some great sidecountry potential coming out of its gates on the western flank. Unfortunately we didn't make it there, but definitely next time!

We stayed at First Cabin in Kutchan which has a mix of capsules and double rooms. The double rooms were decent sized for Japan, and overall a good value with breakfast included. Some great food and authentic dining experiences can be found in Kutchan - if you're staying at the resort I definitely recommend this but not that many places require reservations and get booked up quickly. We had rented a car which really wouldn't have been necessary, but it was nice to have.

In terms of overall value, Niseko is indeed on the pricey side. Budget accommodation is really hard to come by unless you're willing to stay further away and drive. We came with our Ikon passes, adding to the crowds (all the Aussies couldn't figure out why there were suddenly so many North Americans) so not paying for tickets was nice. However even at 8000 yen for an all mountain pass, I think it's still a pretty good deal for the access you get, especially compared to North America, and I wouldn't hesitate to spend a couple days there. But at the same time, I wouldn't overlook cheaper options with much less competition for powder.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
See our video here

Awesome

22/04/2020

Rochelle

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Rochelle

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    December
  • Admin Rating
    2

Awesome

22/04/2020
Loved Niseko United, came here for my first overseas snow trip (from Australia) in 2017 and was absolutely spoilt with almost neck deep untouched powder thanks to an unexpected dumping and a half empty resort because we were so early in the season. I’ve visited 3 times now, and would recommend to anyone the powder is incredible!
See our video here

The Evolution Continues

25/03/2020

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    5

The Evolution Continues

25/03/2020
Niseko is very family friendly
Queues at Hanazono (not as bad as many US ski resorts)
The Hanazono base has developed a lot
A quiet moment in the Hirafu traffic
The new Freddie's bar was pretty funky
Niseko has continued to change rapidly in some respects, whilst many other parts of Niseko are just same old same old, since we last visited 2 years ago. Niseko’s striking features continue to be the amazing snow, the fabulous sidecountry access, the abundant dining and nightlife options, and the family friendliness for English speaking kids.

Niseko seems to have got a little busier, in part because it’s accessible on the Ikon Pass. Relative to most other Japanese ski resorts, Niseko could be considered very busy. Of course it’s all relative because when we speak to many Euros and American, they think that Niseko is uncrowded!

Disappointingly, improvements to lift infrastructure have only been minor and there was no new lift-serviced terrain opened, and the main changes have been base buildings, and of course more hotels and condos.

Lift queues were a bit of a problem (but probably nothing like some of the queues seen in the US during the 19/20 season) but the problem was mostly due to complete mismanagement of the queues rather than lift capacity. Problems included a lack of single queues at many lifts, the number of E-gates didn’t match the numbers on each chair, and the staff didn’t corral people into the required numbers for the lift. The Hirafu gondola in particular was a complete schmozzle, and queues at Hanazono #1 lift were problematic. The new lifts planned for the Hanazono base area can’t come quickly enough. The road traffic was also a major issue, particularly around the Hirafu intersection and some minor changes are required to improve traffic efficiency.

The Niseko demographics continue to evolve and whilst there are still some ski bum types and budget oriented Australian travellers staying at overpriced hostels, the predominant visitors are rather affluent and many are beginners. There are still plenty of Americans (thanks to the Ikon Pass) and Europeans, but mostly Asians.

For us powder hounds, Niseko continues to have a major allure because of all its non-skiing related strengths, and to get fresh powder there are many options including cat skiing, backcountry touring, and visiting nearby ski areas.

We enjoyed 3 different faces of Niseko because we stayed in Kutchan at the First Cabin, in vibrant Hirafu at Full Note, and in quiet Moiwa at Kanronomori.
See our video here

Absolutely amazing

Reece Frith
05/03/2020
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    1

Absolutely amazing

Reece Frith
05/03/2020
Niseko was an all-round amazing resort.

We boarded for only 3.5 days (we had 5 day pass, but high winds closed most runs for the remainder).

The off-piste runs were some of the best i've ever ridden, with plenty of untouched snow.
The piste runs were sometimes quite choppy with the amount of riders but they were still rideable.

Nightlife is awesome & so is the food available from the mountain to Hirafu village.

Only con is maybe the lift lines were a bit long for this time of year.
See our video here

My go to resort

TingHo
02/02/2020
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    12-17
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    1

My go to resort

TingHo
02/02/2020
Chinese high school kid. Been skiing here for the past 6 years. Very good resort. No snowmakers, so bad snow when it doesn't snow for 3 or more days. Niseko Village has the worst snow, so crowds are nearly non-existent, I literally have to wait for 20 secs to get on the gondola. When it does not snow, stay away from the Village. But when it does snow, stay in the Village.
See our video here

Niseko - amazing powder & so much snow!

Kate Golder
17/01/2020
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    2

Niseko - amazing powder & so much snow!

Kate Golder
17/01/2020
We skied Niseko in Jan2019 with our family of 5. Lovely time although the crowds did get big. I’m more a novice skier & I found the number of easier runs limited but other family members loved the tougher black runs & the ability to go out the gates off piste. It snowed most days we were there so powder hounds would love it.
See our video here
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