Hanazono Powder Guides First Tracks: Niseko backcountry skiing & snowboarding before the drunk Australians wake-up

Snowtrip TIp 1: Jealousy isn`t very nice, but creating it on a powder day is.

Every powder junkie knows that twitchy feeling as you wait for the first chair up the mountain to snag untouched freshies. But what if you could do it without having to wait anxiously with a crowd of other powder freaks all racing to slash the first early morning line? HPG First Tracks helps you beat the powder rat race.

Trust us, it never felt so good to have a line of shocked powder junkies collectively stare-a-hole right through us as we came cruising back to the lift covered in blower pow from empty early morning Hanazono slopes, only to slide right past them, hop on the chair-lift and do it all over again (three times) before anyone else could access the goods. Take our advice. Have the last laugh. Be first with HPG First Tracks.

Snowtrip Tip 2: The First Tracks Program is great for in-bounds freshies before everyone else, but it`s also great for out-of-bounds faceshots before the others too.

You`ll easily cycle the lifts a few times for epic in-bounds Niseko Hanazono Resort pow thanks to the HPG First Tracks Program. But if your timing is right — or if you reduce your number of early morning in-bounds laps — you can also be the first to ascend Annupuri or Hirafu Peak, ensuring untouched sidecountry & backcountry Niseko pow lines that`ll greatly increase the jealousy of those unlucky, non-First Trackers.

Snowtrip Tip 3: Niseko = epic pow. Niseko ≠ bluebird skies.

Fifteen meters of annual snowfall accumulation doesn`t leave a lot of room for clear skies to peek through during wintertime in Western Hokkaido. It can literally snow every day for months…not month…months…meaning that you need to be prepared for skiing & snowboarding in likely cold, windy, low visibility conditions. Bring the right goggles, wear a facemask, don`t forget your powder skis/board and likely be ready for at least one down-day of simply chilling in the onsen. Chances are you can leave the sunscreen at home during mid-winter in Niseko but you`ll quickly discover that the sun is highly over-rated when snow is billowing overhead during daily pow submersions inside & outside the Niseko boundaries.

Snowtrip Tip 4: You can leave your split-board and snowshoes at home, but poles are necessary.

One of Niseko`s greatest attributes — aside from monumental annual snow totals — is that tons of sidecountry & backcountry runs are easily accessible from lifts with minimal hiking involved. Couple that with the fact that HPG is staffed with skilled, knowledgeable pros who know where all the Niseko pow stashes are and you`ll usually never need to hike for more than 20 minutes (if at all) to find the goods. However, some of the return trails from out-of-bounds can be very tough for snowboarders because of flat spots and traverses. The vertical meters you`ll get on the way down (often upwards of 1000m) are absolutely worth it, but we strongly recommend all snowboarders bring sturdy collapsible poles to help push through flats on the way back in-bounds.

Snowtrip Tip 5: Stay in style, but still have cash left over to hire a guide at HPG.

The newly built (2013) Kizuna Niseko Apartments offer modern luxury, easy access to on & off slope action and a free shuttle bus from outside the front door that`ll get you directly to/from the Hanazono Powder Guides office at the Hanazono Ski Area base, 308 Lodge. Did we mention that Kizuna`s brand of modern luxury includes enough left-over Yen to book a guide, drink your face off and basically live-it-up like you know you should on a ski holiday to Hokkaido, Japan? Kizuna is one of our top recommendations for Niseko Japan ski resort lodging and in our view ranks as one of the best overall ski apartment values in Japan.