Good to know. I’m scoping out other areas as far south as Iwate as back-ups if I need to spend a few day’s elsewhere.

 

Been to Hakkoda a few times. Definitely worth a visit but even the season before last it was busy around the weekends. Mid week ok.i reckon feb would be better than Jan. We toured without a guide with no problems except it did involve waiting for the bus service. Ok runs under the rope way. The chairs at the bottom are a bad weather option although skies out quick. There are not a lot of nearby options although Aomori spring is worth a visit as are some of the smaller resorts heading towards morioka. Heaps of options out of morioka ... lots of tr’s on here re this area particularly those by heinz

 

Bus? Is it possible to catch a bus back to the ropeway after a side/back country route? I recall reading the guides will have a dirver/van at the end of a route to get back to ropeway. Bus is an option as well?

 

Certainly not that I remember, although that was a few years ago. It was always a prearranged pick up by the guide with the hotel or ski school.

 

There is twice daily (from what I recall ) jr bus service from Aomori that you can use for a pick up from the historic onsen and hotel up the road from the ropeway. If staying at these places they provide their own bus shuttle to the ropeway as well as guided group tours and you can then ‘tour’ back to the Onsen. There are other tours as well with various pick up points although I haven’t done those. The main routes have markers once you get in the forest and in summer probably above the tree line.

 

That route to Sukayu Onsen only opens later in season. IIRC March. If you search Hakkoda-ski.com there is a downloadable contour map of the area showing the various routes and the roads around the base. As Heinz says you basically need a guide to get transport back along the road if you take a route that does not connect back to the front courses (forest and direct) from which you can access the ropeway base. There are a multitude of lines that do connect back to the base, but because of terrain and weather it is very easy to get lost without a guide. We used a very good local Yoshitaka Hirai www.hakkoda-hirai.com as our guide.

 

Thanks all. I like the late season option so I can try other areas on my to-do list Jan-Feb (Iwate, maybe Alts Bandai). Hakkoda has been on my radar since my first trip to Niseko a few years ago. I rode the gondola with a 70 year old (!) Tokyo skier who showed me some pics of Hakkoda on blue bird days. Had me drooling...

 

Have a look here https://www.ski.com.au/xf/xfa-blog-category/japan.14/view-entries
2009 & 2010 reports for winter conditions
2012 report for spring conditions

 

Good references on what I want to do/where I want go. Thanks for steering me there.

 

Hi just reading this forum for the first time. We are booked in for feb , were not exactly BC skiers/boarders but have wanted to ski here for years. I feel it might be above our skill level , advanced but not hardcore. Finding a good guide service is the key from what you say here . also is it easy to hire quality skis and boards ? thanks in advance - we are booked for 9 days here.......any tips for next feb welcome.

 

The rental options at Hakkoda are few in number and only have limited range. There is the ski school rental and Sensou lodge shop.
Definitely recommend BYO!
The skiing is not “”extreme”, in fact a lot is quite mellow, it is more the fact the terrain is varied (ie forests, creek beds, quirky contours) and this makes route planning difficult. You are not in a ski “resort”.
This is why a guide is recommended.

 

The guide should route you through terrain that suits the ability of the group.

As above much of the guided terrain is mellow and should be no real issue for ski any blue run skier.

Going off the groomers will take you into very challenging terrain if you’re not careful.

Tho dropping into chest deep pow for the whole line presents new challenges to skiers of Oz ice.

Take your own gear, include a helmet, the bc lines pretty much all involve long runouts thru forest.

 

If you are going off piste count on hiring BC gear as well if you dont have it. Beacon etc etc etc.

 

I am surprised you booked there for 9 days without knowing more. For that length of time you would certainly want some form of BC capability ie. touring skis or snow shoes as well as a guide and avi gear. You can spend a few days there just skiing the two marked runs but that would be it. Otherwise for a 9 day period you would be better off elsewhere. The skiing itself probably won't be above your skill level but you will need a guide to show you the various routes and avoid the terrain traps.