Snow trip - NZ, Japan or Aus?

[The Swans Blog]

So a little backstory; I'm from Melbourne and next year around my birthday in late July I'd like to go to NZ for a ski trip. I'll be buying my own snowboard equipment before I go so I can be like all pro, when I'm total s**t. I've done Buller a few times and it's OK but the snow is intermittent if not lousy, and the cost is extravagant. However, accommodation right on the mountain suits so much and drastically cuts down on ferrying costs up and down the mountain. I think last time I stayed there 4 years ago, I was able to get it around $40/night.

Does anyone have experience with other ski resorts in Aus? I've been looking at Ski resorts in NZ and they don't really have accommodation on the mountains, but can be accessed by car or bus. For me, this would suck, because I love the idea of just waking up, having a coffee, some porridge, throwing on your gear and WEEEEEEEE-SLAM (into a tree), rather than get up, walk to bus, be bored for an hour, have people throw up on you...

A few people I've talked to, and read here on BF have said that Skiing in Japan is amazing! Any thoughts?

 

[J_Moore]

I've been to Queenstown a few times with a group of mates. We stay in some great accommodation right on the water and rent a 4wd or two.

The drive to the ski fields is usually about 30-45 minutes, depending, from memory. The advantage of having the cars is you can do other things on your off days (we'll usually get lift passes for about 5 days, and stay 7-8 nights). Bungee, skydiving, golf, etc. Queenstown has more places to eat/drink than on-mountain towns, too. Even with all that, it ends up being about as expensive as going skiing in Oz, although that might have changed with the dollar dropping.

 

[Jordie_tackles]

I havnt been but hear NZ is better than australia and Japan better again. Have heard Japan is the best from multiple sources

 

[kickazz]

Not a skier myself but mates say Japan is the shizzle. Lots of good snow and hardly any people/waiting.

 

[joop]

Queenstown is epic fun. If you go for at least a week it's makes it all worth the $$$.
Won't be much snow in japan at the time unfortunately, pretty sure the season shuts April?? (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).

But yeh don't waste your time on Buller, save your cash and head across the Tasman.

 

[Drumroe]

So a little backstory; I'm from Melbourne and next year around my birthday in late July I'd like to go to NZ for a ski trip. I'll be buying my own snowboard equipment before I go so I can be like all pro, when I'm total s**t. I've done Buller a few times and it's OK but the snow is intermittent if not lousy, and the cost is extravagant. However, accommodation right on the mountain suits so much and drastically cuts down on ferrying costs up and down the mountain. I think last time I stayed there 4 years ago, I was able to get it around $40/night.

Does anyone have experience with other ski resorts in Aus? I've been looking at Ski resorts in NZ and they don't really have accommodation on the mountains, but can be accessed by car or bus. For me, this would suck, because I love the idea of just waking up, having a coffee, some porridge, throwing on your gear and WEEEEEEEE-SLAM (into a tree), rather than get up, walk to bus, be bored for an hour, have people throw up on you...

A few people I've talked to, and read here on BF have said that Skiing in Japan is amazing! Any thoughts?

Been to Niseko in Japan twice and loved it, awesome snow and an awesome town to hang around in. And you can get really cheap flights there aswell. Jetstar usually does a 2-1 at some stage (was on recently, might still be going?), but otherwise I flew AirAsia last time and got my flights to Tokyo for around $600.

 

[Scotland]

Japan.

Great snow, cheap lift passes, uncrowded mountains, minimal stupid Australians.

 

[Drumroe]

Japan.

Great snow, cheap lift passes, uncrowded mountains, minimal stupid Australians.

Disagree with the Australians part. Niseko is full of aussies

 

[Scotland]

Disagree with the Australians part. Niseko is full of aussies

True, but Hakuba is not.

 

[The Swans Blog]

So what's a 1 week ski trip in Japan cost relative to Aus/NZ which are about the same?

 

[Scotland]

So what's a 1 week ski trip in Japan cost relative to Aus/NZ which are about the same?

Depends where you stay and how much your flights are. Going for just a week Japan will probably come out more expensive.

Air Asia to Tokyo via KL can be had for peanuts, but if you're in NSW it's still more than driving to the snow fields.

Lift passes in Hakuba are around $40-50 per day. Accommodation varies, we had a big group and booked a 4 bedroom house which slept 9 (3 doubles, 3 singles). Walking distance to a set of ski lifts, was about $500 per night. Plenty of free shuttle bus services between mountains. Average lunch was about $10-15, average dinner maybe $20-25.

 

[yaco55]

Japan has the opposite season to Australia.

Snow season is November to early April.

 

[DrKrieger]

So what's a 1 week ski trip in Japan cost relative to Aus/NZ which are about the same?

Last time I did the maths it takes around 10 days in Queenstown for the better priced lift passes/gear hire/accommodation to offset flights there and back.

Haven't really looked at Japan but I know jetstar do pretty good deals on flights every so often. If you're committed to July, Japan won't work as it's northern hemisphere, so July is summer over there.

In terms of quality snow, Japan > NZ > Australia

 

[Caesar]

Japan is hands down the best of those three, in my opinion. The snow / travel experience is so much better that there's no comparison. With the exchange rate pushing 100Y to the dollar, if you can get cheap flights and want to go for an extended period (e.g. 10-14 days) then the cost stacks up very well against skiing in Australasia.

Most people either go to Hakuba in Nagano or Niseko in Hokkaido. Hokkaido has worse weather, but the snow is more reliable. I prefer Hakuba as there's less Australians, and it's a bit better located (you can easily tack on a couple of days in Tokyo at one end). Even during a poor season, the snow is better than what you can usually expect in Australia.

Only real annoyance I have found with Japanese resorts is that ski lessons with an instructor who speaks English are very expensive. I definitely wouldn't go there as a learner.