Backcountry and powder skiing in Japan, 10 days in Nagano and Niigata

Join JMGA certified guide Tadashi for this fantastic 10-day ski touring trip in the powder snow backcountry of Nagano and Niigata, Japan!

Group

Alpes japonaises

1 Day

Jan - Mar

High

Intermediate

Highlights

* Enjoy limitless powder snow and virgin runs to your hearts content

* Discover the beautiful wild mountains in Japan's Nagano and Niigata regions

* Join enthusiastic and highly experienced guides with their local knowledge

Description

Nagano and Niigata are two beautiful regions on Japan’s west coast. Home to the country’s most spectacular mountain ranges, these stunning prefectures inhabit the opposite end of the mainland to Tokyo.

We will be exploring a wide range of areas within these prefectures but we will be centred mostly around their shared border region, this locates us about 150km northwest of Tokyo.

Included in our list of locations will be Kubiki, Nozawa Onsen, Madarao, Hirayu, Hakuba and Myoko amongst others.

Your breath will be taken away by the Northern Alps of Hakuba and Myoko, which is easily the most spectacular mountain range of Japan!

Kubiki, Nozawa and Madarao are also exciting, they are renowned for their amazing tree skiing terrains and abundant snows.

Our trip will consist of times using ski lifts at resorts, where we can blaze down runs all day. Whilst other days we may need to ski tour and search out the best snows, whilst enjoying the surrounding beauty!

Covering such a large area we have access to many resorts and mountain ranges with varying weather patterns, that means we can select the best option for us.

Myself and my fellow guides have extensive knowledge of the regions and networks in the local skiing communities. This way we will be up to date with the latest information.

This trip is designed for intermediate to advanced level skiers, it’s preferable that you have some ski touring experience.

Don’t miss this super exciting opportunity for backcountry skiing in the deep powder snows of Japan’s most spectacular mountain regions, sign up now!

Price includes

- Guiding fee

- Breakfast

- Dinner

- Luggage transfer

- Lifts tickets

Price details

Not Included:

Travel Insurance, Back country insurance, Flights from your country, Departure transfer (although arrangements and instructions will be provided), 8 days of lift passes, 9 nights twin share accommodation, Meals, snacks, alcohol & dinners outside of the hotel. Single room occupancy upgrade available at extra cost

Touring gear is required.

Itinerary

Day 1: Meet up

Transfer to meeting point, where your guide will be waiting to greet you. From there your guide will give you an introduction to the local area, make sure you have everything you need and deliver you to your hotel for some relaxation.

Day 2 to 5: Ski Touring

We will decide the best place to ski each day. Your first morning will start with an in-depth avalanche safety briefing and training. This will give you the confidence to use your equipment with the aim of giving you more skills and knowledge to take away with you at the end of the trip. From here we will potentially ski at any of the ski resorts and also other non-ski field access backcountry locations, which we do not wish to disclose here.

Day 6: Change of location

We will either ski first thing and then transfer in the evening or transfer early in the morning and find another area to ski. There are also ski options along the way. This again will be decided by where the best snow conditions are!

Day 7 to 9: Ski Touring

Again we will decide which areas to ski each day.

Day 10: Last Day

Wind up the trip with a day of free skiing and a transfer back the airport or your next destination.

Details

More info

Equipment Required: You will need touring gear which could be skis with touring bindings & skins. Also it could be avanache gear - avanache traciever, probe, shovel, airbag.

Meeting point

About the guide

Tadashi

Mountain Guide

I am a JMGA mountain guide based in the seaside town of Miura in Kanagawa prefecture, offering a mix of outdoors guiding activities in both the mountains and the sea. What I value the most in guiding is to of course guide my clients safely but also for my clients to spend a quality time in the rich nature. Exposing yourself in the rich nature by taking part in outdoor activities, and by removing everything in between you and the nature, I believe that you’ll be able to experience the extraordinary. It could be the overwhelming feel from witnessing the change in landscapes through seasons, or that you learnt to speak to your own body and heart, or that you deepened the understanding of the local area, and of course it could be that precious moment where you can experience this together with other people!

I am also certified in Japan Avalanche Network (JAN) at Level 2.
In the summer, I guide in the mountains, mainly in the North Japan Alps, and sea kayak, and in the winter I take clients backcountry skiing.
Whatever the discipline, my focus is always for my clients to be able to “feel” and to be one with the nature. The integral part of the fun is to interact with the locals, to meet the local culture, and to breathe in the air there as a total package!
So, in the summer I like to take clients deep into the mountains accessed by using both the sea kayak and your climbing / hiking skills, as well as staying in tents at night. I think it is a pity if you only spend time in the mountains or only in the sea!
And in the winter, I’d like to show my clients that backcountry skiing is not all about chasing powder but it is about getting joy from the mountains in totality.

I am looking forward to meeting you and sharing a quality time in the land of varying seasonal beauties!

Languages

Japanese | English

Certificates

JMGA

Request more information

What people are saying about Explore-Share

Man

Climbing with guide Guillaume was absolutely a highlight of my 2-week Europe vacation. Originally, we were planning on climbing in the Calanques, but the park was closed due to wind and fire danger. Guillaume chose another amazing location (Pic de Bretagne) based on my climbing abilities and preferences and kindly offered train station pick-up and hotel drop off, which I appreciated very much. The multi-pitch route we did was not only fun but also the right amount of challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The communication from the team (Gauthier) was prompt and clear—highly recommend!

Maxine

Luis Silva was a great climbing guide and belayer! He taught me how to do moves that were difficult and encouraged me to try routes that were challenging for me! Because of his encouragement, I managed to complete these routes! I really enjoyed the climbs and completed 8 routes in the Sesimbra/Azoia area. The weather was perfect, no direct sun and cool enough to enjoy the climbs. Explore-Share made booking an outdoor climbing experience in Lisbon extremely easy. Luis, our guide, was fantastic, and the platform’s organization was flawless.

Valeriya

You’re simply the best!!! :))) Explore-Share made everything easy and stress-free. Will definitely use again.

Joshua

We had Léo as a guide for our day climb in Fonty. We were blessed with a knowledgeable, warm, and instructive guide. Communication with Léo and Ivan was smooth and swift. Explore-Share was excellent in arranging everything for our day climb. The communication was quick, and the platform was easy to use, making our adventure stress-free.

Cami

Patrick was a great guide. He took us on an intermediate Via Ferrata at Passo Sella. Renato was quick to respond with any outreach on the Explore-Share platform. The booking process was straightforward, and once Patrick was confirmed, all went well. It was a wonderful experience, and I’d highly recommend the platform.

4.8