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Hi Sarah - Yes we are safely home and reliving our memories of a fantastic holiday. Niseko is truly a magical place.We arrived at the same time as a heavy snow fall ( the heaviest of the season according to the locals) which continued for our first day of skiing. We woke the first morning to the noise of a bulldozer clearing snow from in front of our apartment. So we were in waist deep powder on our first day. I think we were lucky with our timing as the weather warmed toward the end of our week and they haven’t had any big dumps of snow since.The locals reckon it is not the best  snow  this season so we are thankful that we got one big dump and experienced what Niseko is famous for. 

The slopes weren’t crowded during the day and practically empty at night.The accommodation was superb,great location,very comfortable,surprisingly spacious and had a good drying room and ski storage area that included equipment to tune our skis. The apartment was well serviced and the staff  were prompt in fixing the hot water which failed one morning. The apartment also had one built in NZ/Aust power plug which is better for recharging cellphones and cameras than using the local power plugs.

All our travel connections worked and were on time despite Chitose Airport being almost snow bound. I assure you watching a jumbo jet taxi to the air bridge ploughing thru snow half way up it’s wheels was a sight to remember!One point you might want to pass on to other NZers heading to Japan is NZ walkie talkies are illegal in Japan as they do not operate on the right frequency. So we couldn’t use ours which was a pain as they are a great tool for families to keep in touch when you’re spread out on the slopes. So Sarah many  thanks to you for making all the necessary arrangements.

We had a great time and the only downside is that the whole experience has ruined NZ skiing for me as skiing in Japan is so amazing. 

Walsh Family.

NISEKO’S ski season is unofficially open after significant snowfalls overnight left up to half a metre of powder up high, with locals hiking up for first runs.It unexpectedly started snowing at village level across Niseko at about 7pm last night and by this morning a solid amount of snow had accumulated on the main runs and on cars and grass.Forecasts suggested there wouldn’t be any snow at village level for a few days yet.Niseko ski instructor Mike Richards may well have been the first skier to descend a Niseko resort this season.After hiking to the 1000m hut and skiing Centre Course, he followed some well covered roads to the bottom, along the way finding plenty of boot-deep powder.“Up top the pistes were fully covered and the roads were really well covered,” Mike said.

“A few bits were sticking on the main runs so I came down on the road but I still got a few turns in.”

Thanks to Powderlife Niseko & Mike Richards for photo!