Hokkaido Powder Triangle Luxe Trip
Why settle for one great ski resort in Hokkaido, when you could visit a trio of Hokkaido's best ski resorts staying in luxury accommodation all the way?!
This self-guided trip of the Hokkaido Powder Triangle would suit all levels of skiers and snowboarders, whether you are first timers, intermediates or advanced looking for high adventure powder chasing.
What is the Hokkaido Powder Triangle?
Well you’ve heard of the rice triangle, the omusubi/onigiri that was originally made to resemble a mountain in the shape of a triangle that you can get at the konbini (convenience store). The Hokkaido Powder Triangle is sort of the same because it’s white, tasty, convenient and Japanese, and all about mountains. Well that’s about where the similarities end because the Hokkaido Powder Triangle is all about powder!
A few people refer to the Hokkaido Powder Triangle as Furano, Niseko and Otaru, but the latter is a town not a ski resort, so for destination resorts the common powder triangle incorporates
Furano, Niseko and
Rusutsu. This trio of destination ski resorts offers the best of Japan powder, with the combination of abundant snowfall and light dry snow that makes Hokkaido skiing and snowboarding so famous. These three ski resorts also have well developed infrastructure and services.
For this Hokkaido Powder Triangle trip, you can choose to
rent a car at New Chitose Airport and drive around, which is reasonably easy and gives you the flexibility to do day trips to smaller ski areas (see our
Japan driving tips). Or you can get private transfers from the airport and between the three areas if you want to sit back and travel in style, or most elements can be covered with train and bus combos. Or if you pre-book a private guide or instructor, they will be able to assist with some of the transport.
It's your trip, so you can decide whether you want to do the trip in style, or save some yen and do it simply. You can also decide how long to spend in each part of the Hokkaido Powder Triangle, but we’ve outlined a
sample itinerary that includes 5 nights in Furano, 3 nights in Rusutsu, and 5 nights in Niseko.
PART 1 - FURANO
Whilst Furano is no longer a hidden gem, it is still one of the less visited ski resorts by foreigners in Hokkaido. In the past couple of years Furano has gone from a sleepy village to the beginnings of an international destination resort with new luxury self-contained accommodation like the
Fenix Furano and
Fenix West.
Furano has fabulous off-piste terrain and some of the best lift-accessed sidecountry in Japan. The piste terrain is also great for beginners and intermediate skiers and snowboarders.
In addition to this, Furano is centrally located to several fabulous powder ski areas including Kamui Links, Asahidake, Tomamu and others.
More
information on Furano here.
Transport
From the Sapporo New Chitose Airport you have a few options to get to Furano:
- Self-drive – the drive takes about 3 to 3.5 hours
- Deluxe private door to door transfers – you can book here
- Shuttle bus – 4 scheduled departures per day – you can book here
- Trains
If flying into Asahikawa Airport you can:
See the
Furano travel page for more information on getting there.
Lodging
Fenix Furano offers the ultimate in luxury digs and convenience to access the slopes at Kitanomine. Fenix Furano has hotel rooms, studios, and 1 to 3 bedroom apartments that sleep up to 7. Here’s our
review of Fenix Furano.
Just down the road is
Fenix West, which also offers elegant lodging in hotel rooms, and 1, 2 & 3-bedroom apartments/condos for up to 6 to 7 guests.
You can also look at other
Furano accommodation options here and search for availability for your dates.
PART 2 - RUSUTSU
Rusutsu is renowned for some of the best in-bounds powder tree skiing in Hokkaido. For beginners and intermediates, Rusutsu is heaven with high-speed hooded chair lifts and gondolas providing access to long cruisy, perfectly groomed runs.
If you are mostly interested in skiing powder, it might be worth
getting a guide for a day for you and your group/family to get the lay-of-the-land.
For skiers and boarders looking for lessons, there are
private lessons available in English.
If you are an advanced skier or rider, Rusutsu has the only
heli skiing in Hokkaido (in Japan actually). You need to keep your expectations for a bluebird day on the down-low but if you get out heli skiing, the turns should be epic. See our
review of HBC heli skiing here.
You would want to spend at least 3 nights in Rusutsu to explore all of the nooks and crannies of this highly rated powder resort. More information on
Rusutsu here.
Transport
To get from Furano to Rusutsu you have a few options:
Lodging
The Vale Rusutsu offers very modern spacious ski-in/ski-out deluxe apartments/condos that range from 1 to 4 bedrooms. The condos are very well appointed and boast a living area, over-sized bathrooms, and kitchens. The Vale Rusutsu has a spectacular modern onsen complex all accessible without having to go outside of the building. You can see our
review of The Vale Rusutsu here.
The Vale Rusutsu offers the best value of the deluxe options, but if you want something in the moderate or economical budget range you can look at availability for other
Rusutsu lodging options.
PART 3 - NISEKO
The grand finale and possibly the highlight of this incredible Hokkaido Powder Triangle trip is
Niseko United, which is made up of 4 inter-connected ski areas all accessible on the one lift pass. There is a huge variety of terrain from long cruisy in-bounds groomed trails and off-piste terrain, plus lift-accessed side-country as well as ski touring options for those that want to go full backcountry.
Niseko is the powder factory where it often snows and snows and snows. More information on
Niseko is here.
Lodging
For a luxury stay in Niseko, there are various options.
The Vale Niseko enjoys a ski-in ski-out position at the base of the Family Run and offers hotel rooms up to 3 bedroom condos. The Vale Niseko has a lovely onsen onsite.
The Maples Niseko offers premium Hirafu accommodation with a premium ski-in ski-out address in Upper Hirafu. The Maples is a condo hotel, offering deluxe studios and 2 and 3 bedroom apartments.
Or to really spoil yourself, the new
Niseko Kyo offers residences that have a private onsen, and it’s also ski-in ski-out on the Family Fun.
All of the properties mentioned above are very well located in Niseko Hirafu where you will find a plethora of eating and drinking venues all within easy walking distance.
Or for a more moderate budget, Niseko has an abundance of other options spread across the village. You can look at other
Niseko accommodation options here.
Transport
To get from Rusutsu to Niseko you have a few options:
To get from Niseko back to the New Chitose Airport you have various options:
You can find more information on
Niseko travel here.
