Furano & Central Hokkaido Private Backcountry Day Guiding
Explore further afield in
Central Hokkaido with private backcountry guiding from
Shimogoryo Base for your group. Guiding with Shimogoryo Base can be a
single day, or if you have a hefty appetite for chasing powder, the guiding can be for as many consecutive days as your legs will take. Each day is
planned that morning around current conditions, weather, and your group’s ability and objectives, so you’re skiing the best snow
available rather than a fixed itinerary somebody sold you in October. Days run door to door. You will be collected from your Furano accommodation, ski or ride, and finish with an onsen before being dropped at home.
Furano sits in the middle of the Hokkaido Powder Belt and gets the same storms as the better-known resorts, with far fewer people
chasing the same lines. It’s also well placed. Tomamu and Sahoro are a manageable drive east, Kamui Ski Links, Pippu and Asahidake
are north, and the Daisetsuzan volcanoes are on the doorstep. That spread matters, because a storm that scours one side of the
range often loads the other.
Your guide lives in the Furano area and guides this region and nothing else, which is key. Knowing which aspect held the snow
through last night’s wind is local knowledge, and not something you can look up. So is knowing the handful of unmarked pockets
between the ski areas that stay good for days after everything else is tracked out.
Availability for guiding in peak season can sell-out well in advance.
Please get in touch to check availability or if you have any other questions.
Private Groups
Guiding is for your private group of 1 to 5 participants, with a 6th possible at an additional cost. It is not mixed-group guiding so solos and
duos cannot join others to form a mixed group. This is deliberate. A private group means everyone shares an ability level and an objective, and
nobody’s day is compromised by that of a stranger.
Terrain
The guiding can be lift-accessed backcountry, lift-assisted backcountry, or full backcountry.
Lift-accessed backcountry, also called sidecountry or slackcountry, uses the lifts to reach zones outside the resort boundaries. No touring equipment is required, though short hikes or traverses are usually needed to reach the good snow and get back out. Options in Central Hokkaido include:
Each of these has a different aspect, elevation and wind exposure, which is highly beneficial. When
Furano is wind-scoured, Tomamu is often protected. When the Furano valley is socked in, Sahoro over on the Tokachi side can be
sitting under blue sky with cold, dry snow. Deciding which one to drive to each morning is a key part of your guide's job.
Backcountry touring involves skinning or hiking to reach terrain beyond the lifts.
Lift-assisted backcountry uses the lifts for the
initial ascent, then touring gear (ski touring setup or splitboard) to move further out into terrain that is likely to be untracked. Or you
can go full backcountry with no lifts at all. The Daisetsuzan volcanoes, including Furanodake,
Tokachidake,
Asahidake and the Ansei Crater, for the full mountain experience in genuinely untouched country.
Secret Stashes
Between and beyond the ski areas there are pockets of terrain that don’t appear on any trail map such as old logging roads, north-facing gullies, small unnamed hills that hold cold snow long after everything else has been tracked out or turned to crust. Some of them are twenty minutes from a car park. Some of them your guides have been watching for a decade. If conditions line up during your guided days these zones are options.
Please note that in Japan, once you are off the marked course you are on your own. There is no patrol, no avalanche control, and no
marked hazards outside the resort boundary. That is precisely where the best snow is, and it is why you hire a guide.
Transport
Door-to-door transport is provided complimentary as a courtesy of guiding, in a 2022 10-seat all-wheel-drive Toyota Hiace. Each day your group will be collected from your accommodation, driven to the ski area or trailhead, and driven home by way of an onsen.
Airport transfers are not included as part of day guiding but are included on multi-day trips. Advice can be provided on different options to
travel to Furano.
The daily transport matters more than it sounds. Chasing the best snow across Central Hokkaido means some mornings we drive east to Tomamu or Sahoro, some mornings north to Kamui or Pippu, and some mornings twenty minutes up a road you’d never find on your own. The drive is never an extra charge, so the decision is made on where the snow is rather than on the time to get there. Pickup is available from accommodation in Furano city, Kitanomine, Nakafurano and Kamifurano. There is no charge for transport, and no portion of the guiding fee is consideration for transport. The fee is the same whether or utilise the transport or not.
Tour Duration
A full day of guiding is approximately six hours on snow plus a lunch break, followed by an onsen stop on the way home. Exact hours
flex with daylight, conditions and what the group is up for. You can book a single
day or as many consecutive days as you like. Half day guiding is not offered.
Ability Level & Experience
The guiding suits skiers and riders with a minimum ability of strong intermediate to advanced in off-piste conditions. Even though it’s just your private group, you’ll get the most out of the day if everyone can confidently ski or ride powder.
For backcountry tours involving touring, a good level of fitness is required so the whole group can enjoy the day rather than endure it.
Previous backcountry experience is not required.
The minimum recommended age is 12; guests under 18 require parental or
guardian consent.
Every participant completes a guest questionnaire and signs the guest packet before the first
day, which covers medical history, experience and equipment, and it directly shapes the terrain chosen and the pace set.
Get in touch if you have any questions.
Equipment
Avalanche safety equipment including transceiver, probe and shovel, is mandatory for all guiding outside resort boundaries. Each participant will need to BYO equipment or arrange to rent prior to the first morning. Advice can be provided regarding rental shops.
If you plan to ski tour or splitboard, you’ll need your own touring setup, or a rental arranged locally on the same basis.
Japan allocates a different radio spectrum than North America or Europe, so guests may not use unlicensed personal radios here. Shimogoryo Base will provide your group with a licensed, high-power professional radio.