Niseko Snow Trip!

Our friend planned a snow trip to Niseko, a popular resort town near Sapporo in Hokkaido .  We stayed at a Japanese-style bed & breakfast that provided breakfast and dinner.  We skied/boarded at the Grand Hirafu area of the mountain.  It snowed everyday that we were there.  It was a beautiful winter wonderland and the powder was amazing.

It was pretty cold on the mountain – negative 10 degrees…Celsius though not Fahrenheit.

One of our friends learned how to snowboard for the first time on this trip.  Apparently, lessons are very helpful.  We were on the mountain for a day and a half but some of our friends skied/boarded all three days and a couple nights!  We opted to relax in the onsens (with outdoor hot springs complete with falling snow) two nights in a row, before heading out to some local bars to check out the nightlife.  Two of our friends came up from Sapporo for the day to join us…since they weren’t originally planning to join us, they rented some very fashionable ski wear!

We explored the Sapporo airport as we waited for our plane and found a ton of shopping, including a fully-stocked market with sake and wine tastings, gigantic seafood for sale (the crab were especially impressive) and tons of gifts.  They’ll even pack stuff in dry ice for your flight home.

It was a great trip and we hope to visit the snow again soon.