Japan: Hokkaido

Pros: Lift price, no crowds, good terrain, laid back patrol.

Cons: They need some selective tree removal, and attract more tree skiers boarders

Well what can I say...Niseko has always been my favorite resort but, we have hit Kamui a bunch of times in the last 2 years and Kamui rocks...

Price is right, way low, no crowds usually, great snow and ok terrain...The ski center has rocking music and the lifts too...The powder here can be really good sometimes as it is colder and drier here than Niseko...

One of the days we arrived it was snowing lightly but had snowed heavily all night... They hadn't groomed anything so anywhere I went for the first few hours was open field on untracked powder...Awesome... Well I think the Kamui guys know their stuff cause the runs got tracked out by the skiers and boarders sometime after lunch and the slopes were in good shape...they know how to save money and promote the stoke....

EVERYTIME I have been here, I have scored some good powder somewhere...

They are also way laid back as far as the patrol...I have seen them but never had problems with ducking the ropes and it seems to be pretty common here...WELL I HAVE SEEN THE PATROL BUT THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN ME MAYBE.....

BUT>>>I WANNA SAY RIGHT NOW!!!IF YOU DUCK THE ROPES BRAH, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN TO GET YOUR A$$ BACK IN BOUNDS, THAT MEANS IF YOU BUST A LEG OR ARM AND YOU CAN DRAG YOURSELF, THEN DRAG YOURSELF IN BOUNDS, THEN USE YOUR CELL TO CALL FOR HELP...DONT SPOIL IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE!!!

So anything not cool with Kamui???

Not much but it is far away if you are coming from Sapporo or Kutchan... It's hard to get here by train as the nearest train station is faraway and no shuttles... Nowhere to stay overnight that is anywhere close to the resort and no other restaurants nearby.... Well, on the other hand these are the very things that make Kamui rock as far as no crowds and good vibe...

By the way I learned from one of my very successful students who lives in Tokyo but came from Asahikawa...He said Kamui went belly up before and the city of Asahikawa bought it and they are running the show there, which is why they have low price lift tickets and low frills services......

Tags: Snow Resorts, Snow, skiing, ski, Snowboard,