We are not tied to one valley. Nozawaonsen, Myoko, Hakuba, Tohoku, Hokkaido — we plan the route across regions, so the trip is shaped by where the season is working, not by where our office happens to be. Lodging and the transfers between them are planned as one itinerary, and you see the full budget before anything is booked.
Backcountry skiing in Japan is not difficult to find. What is harder to find is a team that can read the snow, change the plan when the snow changes, and still get you to the best terrain of the week.
Every trip runs with two guides. It gives us the margin to split the group when abilities differ, to keep moving when one skier needs attention, and to turn around early without ending anyone else’s day.
Our lead guides hold JMGA Ski Guide or IFMGA certification, and at least one guide with full working English is with your group throughout.
The season is longer than you think
January and February are the powder months, and they are the reason most people come. But the season does not end there. From late March through May the days are long and the weather settles, which is when the high alpine opens up — Tateyama, the northern Japan Alps, corn snow at altitude, lines you cannot reach in midwinter. Some of the best skiing we do all year is in spring.
We also guide on-piste. If part of your group would rather ski lifts while the others tour, we can run both in the same trip.
Availability — February 2027
A long-standing booking has been released, and we have guides available between 2 and 22 February 2027 — the strongest stretch of the season. If you are considering Japan for this winter, this is an unusually late opening.
Please contact us at [email protected].
Where you stay
For groups of up to six, our own lodge is available for the same dates. OMACHI BASE sits in Omachi, at the southern end of Hakuba Valley — thirty minutes by car from Hakuba, twenty-five from Ogisawa, and within reach of Kashimayari and Jiigatake without moving. The lift passes are the same.
The whole house goes to one group. It was built from locally felled cedar and cypress with a wood stove at its centre, and there is a drying room for your gear.
Breakfast is served in the house. In winter your guides know where to eat in the valley, and they book it and sit down with you.
Accommodation is charged separately from the guiding, and paid to the lodge.
If your group is larger, or you would rather be closer to the lifts, we plan and book elsewhere in the usual way.
Powder Skiing
From mid-January through February, fresh snow is close to guaranteed if you stay for more than a week. Our destinations run from lift-accessed terrain to deep backcountry, and we build the week around your group rather than a fixed programme.
Here are a few sample trips which we hope give you high level ideas.
Powder in Hokkaido for seven days
Powder and Culture Pilgrimage in both Honshu and Hokkaido
Deep in Tohoku
Long Ski Touring
Actually we have a very good terrain for sledging even in high altitude. Thus you can enjoy ski / snowboard touring in spring!
We have longer day time and milder weather in late March, April and May so that you can go deeper and further. It’s not as well-known as powder and you can get all the best by yourself. You can sledge even from the top of Mt. Fuji!
