Asahikawa Drifter
On the Asahikawa Drifter tour your guide will support you to chase powder turns whilst skiing/riding a variety of lift accessed backcountry and resort terrain. This 6 night trip based in the City of Asahikawa includes 4 days of guiding plus one day of flexibility. Your guide is an Asahikawa local who knows the weather patterns intimately and which days to ride at the particular nearby ski areas, yet having a flexible day up your sleeve can be handy to work around weather windows to get the best conditions and with optimal operations of ropeways or chairlifts. Or the unguided day in this trip can be used for rest, sight seeing, or a day at one of the local ski areas. The trips run each Sunday to Saturday so that you're leaving the ski areas to the locals on the weekends.
Asahikawa makes a great base for a ski or snowboard trip. It's located within the famous
Central Hokkaido yet it's also the gateway to Northern Hokkaido, which is cold, snowy and remote, and has little ski areas with slopes that are quiet. Some higher profile ski areas such as
Asahidake or
Furano are also easily visited from Asahikawa. A soak in an onsen is often on the cards for the trip home, and then your hotel in Asahikawa is on the doorstep of a myriad of dining options. By not staying slopeside at a westernised ski resort, you'll get to immerse yourself in a real Japanese city that's delightfully different from a curated resort experience.
If you want to check availability or have any other questions, please get in touch.
Group
The Asahikawa Drifter is a boutique trip, with a maximum of 5 people on the tour.
The format of this trip can be for mixed groups (ie solos or duos can join others) or you can pull together your own group of up to 5 people for a private trip - see the Rates and Inclusions tab for rates.
Terrain & Equipment
The main focus of your guided day will be to get off the piste at the ski resort and explore the nooks and crannies of the off-piste zones as well as the sidecountry (lift-accessed backcountry). Some days the conditions may call for hikes of up to 30 minutes to get to or from the fresh. On ridge lines this might be done via a bootpack and on deep days the guide can provide snowshoes or approach skis for snowboarders to make things easier. If you have ski touring or splitboarding gear, it would be best to bring it but this is not compulsory.
Terrain type is likely to include well spaced trees, tighter trees, some small open areas, a mix of gradients, and some traversing for ingress and egress from the powder lines.
It is mandatory to have avalanche safety equipment which should include a backpack that has the ability to carry your skis or snowboard, and a beacon, probe, and shovel.
Ability
This tour is designed for adventurous skiers and snowboarders who are capable and want to explore beyond the resort boundaries.
For the mixed group trips, the minimum required ability level is that of a strong intermediate (off-piste) skier or rider with solid experience in powder and off-piste terrain. You should feel comfortable weaving through tight trees and keeping momentum on flat mellow sections. You frequently ride off-piste at resorts or venture into the backcountry and can handle steep, deep, icy, or technical terrain with consistent control and flow. Snowboarders should be able to hold a traverse well and maintain speed to enable egress without holding up the rest of the group.
For private trips it's your group, so ability level is somewhat up to you, but in order to get the most out of the guiding, it is recommended that all skiers and snowboarders in your group are a minimum of strong intermediate in off-piste snow conditions.
Accommodation
You will stay in a 4 star hotel in Asahikawa in a twin-share room with ensuite, or single share supplement can be added. The hotel offers a great buffet breakfast and is well positioned to walk to an abundance of restaurants in the evening.