Everyone knows the feeling. You’ve just spent five days shredding in Niseko and on the last run of your trip you finally stomp the 50-50 you’ve been visualising over the course of the whole week, only to think, ‘why didn’t I try that at the start of the week?’ Now, you’re on the flight back home pondering all the 50-50’s and side-hits that you could have been hitting throughout the course of your stay if you had just practiced your freestyle skiing.
Don’t make the same mistake this time around, spend your time honing in your skills and finally learn how to master those butters, hit those kickers and ride your dream JaPow lines!
Best Niseko Ski Resort For Beginners
You don’t have to have an intermediate foundation of skiing and snowboarding to enjoy shredding Niseko. As four interconnected resorts offering an assortment of terrain, both on and off-piste, you’ll find Niseko equally exciting whether you’re honing in your turns in deep pow, trying to stomp those landings in the park or stepping on snow for the first time.
If you are one of the riders who fits into the latter category, don’t stress! Niseko is very much a beginner-friendly resort, offering countless options of easy-to-learn terrain for those learning how to ski and snowboard.
Although, first you’ll need to decide on which resort will best suit your style of riding.
GRAND HIRAFU
As the largest and most popular resort in the Niseko United ski area, Grand Hirafu boasts access to a diverse range of terrain, including off-piste and sidecountry areas. It's well-known for its night skiing and has a unique international atmosphere, along with the largest selection of accommodations, restaurants, and bars in Niseko.
TIP: Be sure to take a ride on the Pizza Box chairlift if you’re feeling bold!
HANAZONO
Situated to the east of Hirafu, Hanazono is a great choice for families and beginners, with ski-in-ski-out hotel options, a range of winter activities like snowmobiling and guided snowshoeing tours, and steep sidecountry terrain for experienced riders. Over recent years, Hanazono has experienced a number of quality-of-life upgrades and now boasts brand new heated lifts, a new family ski area, and night skiing.
TIP: Advanced riders should keep an eye out for the Strawberry Fields area off-piste.
ANNUPURI
Located at the western edge of Niseko United, Annupuri is known for its mix of terrain, long groomed runs, and access to fantastic deep-powder experiences. As the smallest and quietest of the four resorts, Annupuri is known for its close proximity to numerous natural hot springs (onsens) and is a great base for families and groups looking for a more low-key Japow experience.
TIP: Don't let the wide gentle runs fool you - there are endless deep turns to be found beyond the gates!
NISEKO VILLAGE
Located between Hirafu and Annupuri, Niseko Village offers trails catering to all levels and features several ski-in ski-out hotels. Formerly known as Higashiyama Niseko, Niseko Village provides access to off-piste and sidecountry terrain and is known for a variety of year-round activities.
TIP: An excellent choice if you want to escape the peak season crowds.
Terrain Parks and Freestyle Progression
While terrain parks aren’t as prevalent in Niseko as they are in Hakuba, there are still a lot of options for those looking to hit kickers and down-rails.
If you’re shredding around the Niseko United resort and want to start progressing your freestyle skiing and snowboarding skills in the park, there are a range of spots worth sussing out. For those riding in Hanazono during peak season, you’ll have the option of four parks, including the Gondola Park, which is specifically designed for nighttime park laps. Throughout Hano’s parks, you’ll find selections of kickers, rails and boxes suitable for all levels of riders, whether you’re stepping into the park for the first time or a veteran working on your back 7’s.
The region’s biggest park comes in the form of Hirafu’s King Park, which offers freestyle skiers and boarders a little bit of everything, from boxes, rails and table-tops to step-downs and kickers.
For those that have never experienced freestyle riding in the park before, we recommend heading in with either an instructor or experienced rider for your first couple of visits. It’s better to learn how to ride park in the correct and safe manner than to figure it out the hard way!
All-Mountain Progression
We know that being a good rider doesn’t just mean going crazy in the park and having insane freestyle skiing skills, you also need to master all elements of riding around the mountain. Turning in waist-deep powder, riding through tree lines, mastering moguls, no matter what style of freestyle skiing and snowboarding you’re into, you’ll require correct training, practice and education. Even if you’re the most experienced rider back home, it can often be hard to navigate new terrain and weather conditions in a location that you’re unfamiliar with while visiting Niseko.
If you want to master riding around the entire mountain, we recommend going out with a guide or instructor who will be able to show you the mountain, the best spots to ride with your goals in mind and the safest areas to shred based on the weather conditions.
Technical Progression
No matter what level of skier or boarder you are, you can improve your technique. Sometimes all you need is that one piece of advice from an outside perspective and all of a sudden the trick you’ve been trying to master finally comes together.
If you’re struggling with your parallel turns, find your skis are chattery and lack control when you ride fast, or simply want to learn how to ride switch, it’s always worth putting some time into practising your technical progression.
Finding The Best Ski School In Niseko For Your Goals
There’s a common misconception that ski lessons are specifically for beginners. In actuality, it couldn’t be further from the truth. While ski school and ski lessons can be an invaluable asset for beginners learning how to ride, they are equally as important for intermediate and advanced riders looking to step their riding up to the next level.
Whether you’re looking to ramp up your powder riding skills, learn how to approach park in the safest manner possible, or learn how to navigate the backcountry, lessons can be the most valuable on-mountain resource for any rider looking to hone in their skills.
Which is why our Rhythm Rides lesson and guiding programs aim cater to rider’s individual skills and goals by providing specialised instructions for you. When signing up for lessons, you will fill out an ability chart and answer a few questions about what you hope to achieve from your lessons, from there, we will find the most suited instructor to help you reach your goals.
Let the Progression Trip level up your riding experience
If you’re thinking about levelling up your freestyle skiing skills in Niseko next winter, there’s no better option than the Progression Trip. As an extension of Rhythm Trips, the Progression Trip aims to foster your riding abilities with specialised and customisable one-on-one lessons over the course of a one-week stay. On top of that, the Progression Trip also offers you the convenience of organising your airport transfers, rentals, lessons and guiding, lift-passes and accommodation all in the one comprehensive package.
Who’s the Progression Trip for?
Progression comes in a lot of different styles. For some, it means improving their freestyle skiing and finally landing their dream tricks in the park, for others, it’s mastering their technique and style. As a result, there’s no one style of rider who is most suited for the Progression Trip. As explained by Rhythm Rides instructor, Damien James,
“It’s never a linear path, but the nice thing is that you can kind of tailor it a little bit.”
“It’s generally people that have a specific goal in mind, people that really want to learn how to do something, as opposed to your family groups that are more like, ‘Oh, we’re here to ski, just teach us whatever you want to teach us’.
“With the Progression Trip, you have people with really specific freeriding goals in mind; people that are looking for specific techniques, people that are looking for really, really acute feedback, people that have specific freestyle tasks in mind, And we have people that can assist with those goals.”
“The actual talent pool that we have at that ski school was immense. We had people who were on national demonstration teams for their particular countries, people that had written the teaching and instruction manuals and technical manuals for their own associations. We had people who are high-level boardercross snowboard and giant slalom/slopestyle coaches, we had people who were Freeride World Qualifier competitors.
So while, there’s some very targeted and very specific goals that customers have, we have some very broad and high level staff that have the ability to offer that guidance to people.”
If you’re unsure of where your freestyle skiing skills are at and which package would best suit you, visit our ability chart here.
Keen on shredding JaPow, boosting your freestyle skiing skills and mastering a few new tricks this winter? Click here for more information on the Niseko Progression Trip.
