Latest Japan ski & tourism news

The biggest hurdles will be land ownership and ticket prices. I would think they will need to target a single resort location such as Aria but as soon as ticket prices increase they will lose vast majority of Japanese visitors which is still a huge contributor to income, at least where I ride.

 

Don't let them.

 

as much as everyone loves to hate monopolies, Vail actually put money back into the resorts they own and boosts the local economy with new tourism.

most locations ive skied in Japan have 60 year old fixed grip chairlifts that have terribly designed lift placement that don't compliment eachother, the hill, or suffer badly from wind. not to mention the almost nonexistent facilities on the hill.
while the land-of-the-rising-bureaucracy is not likely to let them cut down trees and build new stuff anytime soon, at least they might replace/upgrade the existing infrastructure.

one by one the small local ski fields are dying off because of their exclusive customer base of aging Japanese local population is no longer keeping them afloat. grinding harder and harder stubbornly using a no longer working business model doesn't mean you'll achieve better results.
I don't know much about the inner workings, and i love to rag on Kiroro's management, but Kiroro a good example. >5 years ago I'd ski there and be the only westerner among the 20-30 other skiers there (on weekdays). now its in the top 5 shortlist of destinations tourists want to ski in Hokkaido. they completely changed up management (and ownership i believe), made (and still make) a bunch of embarrassing and/or frustrating decisions, but the rest of the stuff they've done has certainly worked.
im sad that my secret easily access powder fields are no longer a secret, but its is outweighed by happiness that they are succeeding, not becoming yet another abandoned dead ski resort, and maybe adding new stuff eventually. because of their success nearby ski fields are back on the map for tourists now too, and new tourism based companies are popping up everywhere to fill the gaps.
sure money is going overseas now to some taiwanese(?) dude and his shareholders, but the total money and tax revenue in the region has still increased.

whenever i see people objecting to the sale of a ski resort i cant help but think that their primary motivation is selfishness at losing their own secret easily accessed powder field like i did.

regarding ticket prices. whilst i fully admit Vail resorts day passes are usually ripoff territory, their season pass is half that of most other resorts ive skiied at, and i'd bet those locals who almost exclusively keep those local ski fields open are already buying season passes anyway.
if you're gonna ski more than 3 days at any Vail resort its almost always better to buy a season pass. season passes cant be purchased after a certain date (nov sometime i think) but I reckon 99% of tourists have already plans in mind before such a date. otherwise I guess those day trippers use those 25% discounts available at rental stores n stuff?

 

lol
whoever creates Kiroro media just went up +10 points.
also +2 points for the dude holding the line mordecai's. i like them skis

 

Which places have you skied in Japan? I'd be interested to know which places you've skied have the worst infrastructure.
Most of the places I ski in central Japan have a mix of ancient and newer lifts, many of the newer ones detachables.

There's not much large tree clearing in central Japan these days, but quite a lot of in between smaller tree clearing. Probably to make things more attractive for OS riders.

 

To sing it's praises?

 

We went to Arai on Friday. It was a very surreal experience. We wanted to have a coffee. There were lots of staff , maybe 4 other people that were not staff and it was not possible to get a coffee. We parked in the car park, not easy to get into the actual hotel and facilities. We had to hunt a round for the entrance which was not obvious or welcoming. So loser for them for any out of winter business.

 

I went a couple of months ago. Same experience. Parking a long way away. It was a ghost town apart from staff.

Made an appointment with their head of marketing. After I'd arrived he claimed that I didn't have an appointment with him and that he was busy. Eventually relented and said he would see me but was distinctly disinterested and non-friendly. Didn't offer me any info, handouts or a tour of any type. So I won't be going out of my way anymore to give them a push. I would've thought they'd be a little more enthusiastic to get more business in.

 

The other thing the resort developers need to understand is that many people want more than just what the big hotel provides. They want the little bars, restaurants and similar things provided by locals living there. Some want the samll personla accommodation etc. And all the people involved in these things help market the area so the resort is not alone in the marketing effort. So some of the big resorts need to realise those small businesses compliment rather than compete.

Sometimes I feel like I am beating my head against a brick wall with this stuff though. But some get it. Madarao is so different from Mt Myoko. Even though we are competing with the resort owned accommodation they understand that we will help them promote the resort and to survive.

 

My observation of skiing in Japan is that it was crying out for one of the big resorts to get bought out by a big foreign operator ie Vail, Compagnie des Alpes and now Alterra.

 

Which resort has the best cosplay?

 

lol if Vail buys a Japanese ski resort it's gonna need a Mascot.
unfortunately the best option of a skiing potato is already taken.

 

I think skiing corn has been taken too.

 

Don't laugh but we had guys outside our lodge last season filming and photographing cosplay. They stay next door and do all sorts of stuff in various costumes. The turned the end of the road into a castle, dug a cave etc. We were a bit stressed in case the stayed out overnight. The snow plough guy would have run them over without knowing they were there.

 

Maybe I'm a hater. .. But that looks incredibly wanky.

 

Vail almost purchased Kiroro last winter.

 

Very well made but once again doesn't speak to their primary market - never evers to intermediate skiers & snowboarders in a family group.
Fail

 

Wow interesting!!!

 

I was going to say that it tells you realistically about the availability of powder at Rusutsu, but nothing about what everybody else does....

 

We (former head of Ski Ops Ian MacKenzie and I) tried for many years to convince the current owners (Property Perfect) but unfortunately it fell on deaf ears

It would jump to No. 1 on Hokkaido overnight.

Great day tour though

 

But people like all of us regular posters here would not be their target market.

 

Imagine the kerfuffle that would cause...

 

Will make access to Furano & surrounding resorts even easier if flying Australia - Asia - Asahikawa!

 

Rumours that Sapporo city is selling Sapporo Kokusai.

Bed base in Jozankei.

 

Unfortunately not

 

But seriously, it really could be a world class resort if both were combined and modernised. Plus, as stated above with the proximity to Otaru etc.

 

And Jozankei.
Big bed base, onsens, and easy train access to Sapporo.

 

Fantastic.

Yes one of my favourite areas.

And Lake Shikotsu just over the mountain pass.

 

Jozankei Onsen looks like the perfect day trip for my mother and auntie when we are staying in Sapporo. I can go ski Kokusai and they can relax in a mountain onsen!

 

A chondola - chair and gondola hybrid - which goes from The Kiroro to the base of Kiroro ski area.

 

Hey Mike, so to ski back to The Kiroro, you'd have to ski around the carpark? And the chondola drops you where you can ski straight onto another lift?
Oh, and I guess it will be finished for the season start?