Travel: Hakuba, a skier’s paradise in Japan

The high-country paradise of Hakuba in Japan offers powder skiing so addictive that many make an annual pilgrimage there – and the backcountry environment is the best, says Sophie Nicolson

What’s the first image that comes to mind when you think of Japan? Sushi, hi-tech electronics, geishas and ninjas perhaps?

Japan is famous for many things but if you’re a skier you will have a very different image firmly imprinted on your retina. In a word association game played between skiers “Japan” would only ever create one response –“powder snow” … and lots of it.

Japan is home to arguably the lightest, coldest and deepest snow on the planet and as such is an off-piste skiing and snowboarding nirvana. As climate change plays havoc with snowfall levels in Europe and North America from one year to the next, it has become increasingly difficult to guarantee what so many of us seek from our winter trips. Our eternal quest is powder skiing and the extraordinary feeling that it brings. When snow and ability align, skiing powder can feel like floating effortlessly down a mountain, where time stands still, senses are heightened and smiles are at their widest.

To say it’s addictive is an understatement. You know that look on your child’s face when they’re watching the DVD of Frozen for the nth time? That’s basically what happens to skiers once they’ve spent a day in the powder. It is also the reason why increasing numbers of powder addicts are making the pilgrimage east to Japan each year – it consistently supplies the drug we all seek in its purest of forms and as such, it is basically utopia. It may take a hell of a lot longer and cost considerably more to get there than the average easyJet hop to Geneva that we’re used to, but the return on investment has become far more predictable than anything you can expect from a ski holiday in the Alps. When it comes to skiing in Japan the cost and the journey are the short-term pain required for the long-term gain.

My journey to the Far East came about when I joined a trip organised by The Mountain Adventure Company, owned and run by Bruce Goodlad – a Scottish IFMGA (International Association of Mountain Guide Asociations) guide and the technical director of British Mountain Guides.

Our destination was Hakuba – a backcountry skier’s paradise located on the main island in the north of the Japanese Alps that regularly receives more than 12 metres of dry, quality powder snow over the course of a season. Like the snow, the terrain here is also world class. Steep, challenging and easily accessible, the Hakuba backcountry has become the destination of choice for some of the best skiers and snowboarders on the planet in recent years, including big-name snowboarding legends Jeremy Jones and Xavier de le Rue. They come here to seek out big lines. Hokkiado to the north offers more mellow terrain, while the mountains found in the Hakuba region are higher, steeper, and arguably less crowded.

I’ve been exposed to more images of “epic” Japanese pow-pow skiing over the years than I’ve had California rolls but even so, I was blown away by the sheer amount of snow that lay on the ground in Hakuba village itself. We’re talking entire houses buried here. If two inches of snow in the UK can be described as a “weather bomb” then winter in Hakuba truly is snowmaggedon in its most devastating of forms.

I have been extremely fortunate over the years to have skied in some fantastic places in Scotland, Europe and North America where a combination of incredible landscapes, excellent conditions, and inspiring people have all played their part. In Japan however, it is without doubt the snow that takes centre stage.

Nowhere and nothing I have experienced thus far can compare to the quality of the snow we skied in Hakuba. There is something altogether different about it and at first it was hard to articulate what it was that seemed to set it apart. Yes the snow in Japan is light, dry and cold but on reflection, what seems to make it so utterly unique is the consistency. It’s consistently cold in Japan throughout the winter, the lack of temperature fluctuations meaning there’s no jarring, catching, or grabbing to throw you off balance here. The Japanese powder snow we experienced was so forgiving and predictable that it was actually physically relaxing to ski, line after line. As soon as you’ve adjusted to the adrenaline, adapted to the sensation beneath your feet, surrendered your body to trust in the conditions, then you can truly let go and rip it up. Once you’ve tapped into that zen, a whole new world and level of skiing awaits. Whilst I could wax lyrical about the quality of the downhill experience for days, it was the jaw-dropping backcountry environment we travelled through that made this the trip of a lifetime for me. Visions of floating through the forests and charging down the steeps will live long in the memory, but what we witnessed when we raised our heads on the long skins uphill was truly extraordinary. And yet again, it was the white stuff that played the leading role. Skinning up through trees that looked like they had been dipped in icing sugar and backlit by the morning sun was a breathtaking experience. Against the backdrop of an impossibly blue sky, the frost-laden branches and ice-encrusted twigs transformed the Japanese backcountry into Narnia: simultaneously taking your breath away while breathing new life into your soul.

That’s the thing about backcountry skiing – or ski touring as it is also frequently called. It takes you out of the confines of the prescribed, beyond the expected and into an ever-changing natural environment that has the potential to surprise and astound with every step. The ability to experience this in somewhere as dramatic, remote and beautiful as the Japanese Alps is more than a gift, it’s a privilege.

When it comes to skiing in Japan, by all means head to Hakuba or Hokkaido to consume the powder, but if you are looking for something with a little more soul then head into the backcountry.

Raise your head, slow your heartbeat, open your eyes and your mind. The ultimate in zen skiing awaits for those who truly wish to expand their playground.

• Mountain Adventure Company (mountainadventurecompany.com) is running a Ski Japan trip, 19-29 January 2016. The core itinerary is estimated at £2,400, with the opportunity to add on a few days sightseeing in Tokyo and/or Kyoto.