Skiing in Niseko, Japan

Glen and I hit the ski slopes of Niseko, Japan, in late January. It’s the first time we’d been skiing in two years (the last time was also to Niseko) and I couldn’t wait to get out there again. Even better than going skiing, our friend Rob was also going to be in Niseko at the same time.

From Perth to Japan

We left Perth late on 25 January flying Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and then on to New Chitose. As awful as this is going to sound, it’s the first time Glen and I have flown anything other than business class on ‘long haul’ for a while. But don’t go feeling too sorry for us (I’m sure you were going to) as we had Premium Economy seats to Hong Kong (but then Economy to New Chitose).

When we got to Hong Kong we had some time to kill. Glen gallantly said I could go with Rob (who’d gone in business) to the lounge but when we got there, he wasn’t allowed a guest because he didn’t have status. A shame. So I went back with Glen, we got a drink, bought a Bay-Max mug from Disney and then went to our relocated gate to wait.

We were in economy for our flight to Sapporo in a terrible configuration of 3-3-3. It was full. Glen had the window and I the middle while a mother had the aisle. I slept for a bit around take-off, which was delayed, but then was awake from breakfast and from then on. I watched Ronny Chang’s sitcom and then we landed sometime around 3.

Flying overnight was definitely a bit gross, and I was very glad when we got to Japan finally…only to end up in a horror immigration queue. Unlike last time, this was our point of entry into Japan so we had to go through the whole shebang. The queue went forever and I think there must have been another plane or two landing at the same time.

The minutes ticked past and we were rapidly running out of time. We had to get through quarantine and then collect the wifi dongle and then catch the 4:30 bus, all in about 20 minutes. I was panicking a bit. We got through quarantine at quarter past and then I left Glen and Rob to sort out the bus. I ran to get the dongle and then returned to Glen only to find Rob gone (he had a different bus) and our bus delayed departure until 5:10.

This at least meant we hadn’t missed the bus and we could get some money out. We then went to find some food, settling on a couple of pieces of fried chicken and some drinks. We got back to our group and then there was more of a wait before moving where there was more of wait before getting outside to wait for the bus.

Despite it snowing and being chilly, it was great to be outside in the fresh air and to see snow again. (Mind you I was a bit jealous seeing a friend’s photos of him in Bali.) We finally got on the bus which took about 2.5 hours to get to Hirafu in Niseko. Strangely, despite leaving a good amount of time before us, Rob arrived probably only about ten minutes prior to our arrival.

After we checked into The Vale at about 7:30pm, we met Rob downstairs at our hotel and went for dinner at a Japanese cuisine restaurant over the road from our hotel. We had a good, filling dinner then went home and to bed. I was anxious to see what the next day would bring, what with it being the first time on skis in two years, first time since my patella fracture, and with a sore back that had been persisting for a couple of weeks. I was going to be devastated if I only got a couple of hours of skiing out of a possible five days.

Ski, onsen, eat, repeat

On the first day, after breakfast, Glen and I collected our rental skis (from just behind the hotel. So convenient) and our lift passes and went for a few easy runs to get our ski legs back.

We took a very easy green to start off with and then I wanted to do it again. I was able to get down, turn, go fast, pretty much like I used to so after we did that twice, we then went up the next lift to get higher up the mountain. There were some greens and reds (Canadian blues) here but I felt pretty confident going down. It looked like things would be alright after all.

By that stage it was already close to midday so we stopped, had lunch in the hotel, then went out to meet Crystina from Czech Republic, our ski instructor. We had two hours of a pretty good lesson, which I kept trying to practise over the new few days. Really, it would have been better to have another lesson a day or two later to help improve more. That’ll be something for next time.

After skiing we went to the onsen in the hotel. The hot water was heavenly and helped release some of the tension in my legs. Though over the next five days, they would get weaker and weaker. I was obviously using them too much and didn’t have optimal efficiency.

From the onsen, we returned to our room and relaxed. I even fell asleep. I think I was so relaxed (and tired from the skiing) knowing that I didn’t have to do anything until the day we left. The lesson was the last timed thing so the rest of my time was my own.

In the evening we went for dinner with Rob, trying a different restaurant, and then went our separate ways about 8pm while plenty of the young and hip people were still partying the night away.

And so that was pretty much the pattern for the next four days. We’d ski in the morning, have lunch, go skiing again, onsen, rest, eat dinner, go to bed. The restaurants we went to were Ginger (twice – nice food, mixed service, expensive), Bang Bang (or Bang 2 – yakitori – awesome, wanted to go again), and then another restaurant on our last night with the slowest service ever.

You shall not pass!

It snowed almost non-stop while we were there, and while that was great for the powder, (sorry, the ‘pow’) some days it was a bit much. We lost the mountain or couldn’t see downhill more than a few metres. I managed to go to three sides of the mountain but the Anapurni side I couldn’t get to via the lifts because the top ones were closed.

At one point my goggles iced over and I could fix them until after I’d skied down a hill. It was snowing heavily so I took my goggles off and skied into the snow, resulting in snow going straight into my eyes. At that time, Rob went a different way and ended up to his neck in snow.

The snow didn’t really let up until the day we left and by then it was too late.

The mountain demands a sacrifice

On the last day we’d skied in the morning and then decided to take a rest after lunch. Glen and I lounged in our room for much of it after going to the onset. I read a book and took it easy but the pull of the snow — and the fact it was our last day — was strong enough to make me anxious about fitting in one last run.

I figured I would go but prior to that, Glen was stacking the dishwasher. I hurried around the side of the bed to collect a cup to give to him and BAM! kicked the end of the bed with my left foot. I was sure I’d broken the three middle toes it was that painful! And even worse, it was looking like I couldn’t go skiing.

Nevertheless, the threat of not being able to ski again was sufficiently strong enough for me to push on. I struggled into my boots, got outside and went down the green as a test run. I made it but the whole way I was worried about my toes, and my quads were so sore I thought I was surely going to have an accident if I did anything harder. I decided then that it was time to call it a day.

I returned the skis, returned Glen’s too, and went back upstairs to await dinner. So ended our skiing.

Five full days of skiing was pretty good. It gave plenty of downtime, plenty of opportunities to ski without feeling pressure to fit a whole lot in. Perhaps next time we’ll explore a bit further afield for some variety but otherwise, it was an awesome ski trip (minus the broken toe – I had it x-rayed when I got back).

Next stop…Kyoto