Powder Belt Backcountry Tour

• Full guided & hosted
• Return airport transfers with Resort Liner
• 9 nights twin share accommodation at Hotel Munin
• All lift passes as required
• Welcome & farewell dinner party
• Daily cooked breakfast
• Rest/cultural day
• Onsen (hot spring) tour
• Whiteroom merch

• Single supplement (double bed room) – ¥5000 per night
• Single supplement (twin room) – ¥13,125 per night
• Avalanche gear rental
• Ski or Snowboard rental
• Add on a pre or post tour travel package

NOTE: Avalanche safety gear is compulsory for all our tours. Please advise us upon booking if you have your own gear or will need to rent.

IS THIS TRIP FOR ME?

Ability Level – Advanced to Expert in powder with at least one seasons touring experience.

You must be able to ski/board the whole mountain in all conditions confidently at speed and have advanced ability in powder, through trees in steep terrain and in variable conditions.

Snowboarders in this level are able to keep speed in flat sections by planning ahead as well as hold a solid traverse line and be able to hop up and manoeuvre in a way as to not slow down the group.

You must have a very good level of fitness and be able to hike for around 1-2 hours total per day.

Ski AT/skins set-up or splitboards are required, no snowshoes. You must have at least one seasons experience using this equipment.

The idea of these tours is to use the lifts for their vertical bump, smash the easy pow then use our touring gear to go further and further away from the lifts in search of more fresh lines. On some days we will not use the lifts at all – it’s all up to the group and the conditions.

Furano Ski Resort
Furano is a country town of about 20,000 people with an awesome ski hill and surrounding backcountry terrain. With over 100 bars and restaurants, you’ll be able to experience true Japanese hospitality. On the mountain, you’ll enjoy some of the best lift assisted backcountry in the area. From the top lifts we have the option to hike up to the peaks either between the resort, to either side or drop out the back.  Expect 10min to 1hr hikes depending on the terrain we choose.  The cold temperatures in Furano keep the 9 metres of annual snow light and dry and when it’s on, it is quite simply the best. The backcountry here is epic – 900m of fall line vert filled with pillows and fresh lines for days!

Tomamu
Tomamu strikes a chord with all who ride its mountains. With Mt. Tomamu rising to 1239m at its centre we will drop off the back into some wide open bowls and gladded trees the stretch right down to the valley floor. A short hike back to the saddle and back down to the lifts allows us to do this run on repeat. The backcountry to the side of the resort also offers up plenty of opportunity for fun easily accessed terrain. Tomamu also has one of the largest indoor wave pools in the northern hemisphere as well as an onsen to soak your weary bones in.

Tokachidake
Tokachidake is a major volcanic peak within the Daisetsuzan National Park, standing at 2,077 metres. It has some of the best backcountry touring terrain in Hokkaido with easy access from a central road that takes you to the highest drivable point in Hokkaido. Their is something here for everyone with wide-open bowls, magical Japanese birch and spruce forests or steep chutes – one aptly named TGR. Nearby Furanodake is the most popular touring area with 3 main ridges easily accessible from the road giving you an expansive area in which to tour and ski. There are always fresh to be found in this zone and our guides know it better than most.

Asahidake
Asahidake is one of the most popular touring locations in Hokkaido, due to the easy access to above tree-line terrain given by the Ropeway at the bottom of the volcano (top height 1600m) and the fame of the mountain itself, which at 2290m is the highest in Hokkaido. You’ll hike out along the ridges at the summit and into an expansive area offering chutes, alpine bowls, massive pillows and epically deep powder. If the conditions are right we’ll also hike up past the steaming fumaroles to the peak proper and ski down through the aptly named gates of hell chute to the valley below. Once at the bottom, all roads lead to the Ropeway and we put it on repeat.

Kamui Ski Links
Kamui is a small ski resort set on its own, 1 hour north of Furano. Although it is small it offers us protection from the wind on those howling days as well as offering up some enjoyable backcountry terrain straight off the back. The beautifully spaced birch forests will delight as well as the consistently deep dry powder. If you’re up for it there is an little know onsen on the way home which is renowned for its healing properties.

Tokachi Sahoro Resort
Sahoro is a resort full of surprises. A short hike from the gondola is Mt Sahoro proper where we’ll drop into some great tree skiing terrain some of which pulls us back to the lifts and some heads away from the resort in the valleys surrounding. This place is a favourite of ours and it’ll sure put a smile on your dial!

Many others….

This itinerary is an example. The tour will be run largely by the weather and each day will fit around where the best conditions are. This is the beauty of such a tour.

DAY 1
(arrival and check-in day)

Upon landing at Sapporo’s Chitose Airport you’ll be transferred by Resort Liner coach service to Hotel Edel Warme where you will be met by our team and taken to Munin. You’ll be free for the rest of the day to go for a quick ski, get fitted for your rental gear or just relax and settle in. That night we’ll have a few welcome drinks at Munin’s bar where you’ll meet your lead guide who will run you through the tour, current conditions and answer any questions you have.

(NOTE: If you wish to organise rental equipment it is advised that you try to arrive with enough time on the arrival day to be fitted – seek advice from your consultant)

DAY 2
(first snow day)

First day on the mountain. Your guides will warm up those legs in the backcountry of Furano. We’ll start to push wide to hunt out some fresh powder and ensure all our touring gear is working. Celebrate your awesome first day with a delicious meal of local Furano ingredients at our Welcome Dinner Party.

DAY 3

Day tour to Tomamu. Here we will spend the day guiding you through the trees and bowls of Tomamu. The north bowl collects the light dry powder of the region and with an easy 20-30 minute tour back out to the resort we’ll make quick work and get loads of backcountry laps in here.

DAY 4

Day tour to Kamui Ski Links. Another great resort with epic backcountry straight off the lift and short hike back to resort. Finish off the day with a soak in Ashibetsu Onsen on the way home.

DAY 5

Time to hit Furano’s backcountry again, but this time we head to a few spots others rarely visit. Lines into the valleys, out to nearby peaks, or out into the shaded back bowls are all on offer. 

DAY 6
(rest / cultural day)

Due to popular demand we’ve added a rest day into the tour for 2024. If you’re starting to feel a little sore a down day will give your legs a chance to rest, with options to enjoy some cultural experiences such as the world renowned Goto Sumio Art Museum, snowmobiling, ice hole fishing, hot air ballooning and much more. Of course you can always head out for another day of powder in Furano if you just can’t get enough!

DAY 7 

Today we’ll head south to Minamifurano to a little resort with an expansive backcountry. With some of the best tree skiing in the area and drops down to a road pick up this is a favourite backcountry spot for our guides, especially when the wind is up. That night we’ll wander through Furano, and dine in one of it’s great restaurants and enjoy a local beer at the brewery.

DAY 8 

Time to check out Asahidake. Everyone has heard of it and if you time it right it is truely an awesome experience. Think volcano, fumaroles (steam vents), steep chutes, some of the deepest and lightest powder you’ll have ever experienced and loads of backcountry to explore off the lift. Finish that off with soak in one of the local onsen and you’ll be in heaven.

DAY 9 

Last day and whilst you may be beat and wish to use the lifts we do have the option of tackling Tokachidake! From the highest drivable point in Hokkaido you have one of its biggest National Parks and an expansive backcountry touring zone in which to explore. This is the perfect way to end a backcountry touring tour in Central Hokkaido.

DAY 10
(check-out and departure day)

Time to check out and say good bye to your new friends and transfer to Sapporo’s Chitose Airport for your flight home with memories to last a lifetime! If you’re flight departs late in the day there is even a chance to get a few more turns in!

The snow conditions weren’t great at the start, but the guides did what they could with the conditions, and once we got a dump, we were riding great snow for the rest of the week. I really enjoyed the variety of resorts and terrain, and finding great lines straight away, but still with the adventure of heading into the unknown. There were many highlights as a result of the varied terrain and conditions, but the best single run was probably from the high ridgeline at Furano in deep pow and the best single day was probably Kamui as a result of conditions and a relaxed fun day.

– David Colls 2020

I am very happy with our guiding team. They worked hard to find good places for us to ski and I understand it was a challenging task as it was warm and no new snow coming for the whole week… They made everything they could to keep us positive and make our stay rememberable. Their communication was very good, as was the safety awareness.

– Daniel Soors 2020

They (guides) were very nice and it felt like they did everything to find good snow for us. It felt like they were keeping track of snow conditions and safety. They found very nice restaurants in the evening for us.

– Lars Matsson 2020

What an epic skiing adventure…and what a beautiful Country!!

This tour offers an excellent mix of the best of everything you’d expect when seeking a super exciting JAPOW experience……excellent resort skiing, run after run of guided ‘out-of-bounds’ trecks to secret and untracked areas, challenging Alpine Touring days where you (and your guide and mates) have an entire section of a huge mountainside and/or volcano to yourself……I could go on and on and on.

Then there’s the culture, the food and the Japanese people……’beautiful’ is the only single word to describe all three! I cannot talk this tour and Whiteroom Tours up enough (our guide Sam…a professional at all times, a super knowledgeable guy and and very very cool dude; and General Manager Emily and her team…always there to help or answer any question promptly…a really nice bunch of people).

In summary, I found Whiteroom Tours did an impeccable job to ensure the experience you seek is as perfect as one can be, the natural beauty of Japans landscape and its people is absolutely unique, and the powder is simply insane 👌👌👌👌👌

– Martin Phipps 2019

The guides were great. Super knowledgeable friendly and professional. They picked interesting and various terrain every day.

There was never any concerns for safety yet they allowed me the freedom to pick my own lines. Rising Sun is unique and comfortable and Gonzo and his wife are super cool proprietors.

Honestly, I can not think of a single thing you could do to make this trip better.

PS I never fill out this type of questionnare. I am very impressed with this tour therefore I felt compelled to fill this out. Great job!

– Alex Keylin 2019

I had only recently taken up backcountry skiing, having done a couple of day trips in the Kosciusko National Park. I quickly fell in love with it, giving me the opportunity to combine my passion for skiing and being in the mountains. I got a taste of backcountry when I went on Whiteroom’s Hokkaido Explorer Tour in 2015, accessing the side country of the ski resorts around the Furano area and finding some great powder. Now having the back country bug well entrenched in my psyche, the Daisetsu Backcountry tour sounded perfect, and it was.

This was the skiing/ snowboarding version of the surfing road trip, with our guides Joel and Jeff each day searching out the best snow and conditions in the Daisetsu mountain range where you find Hokkaido’s highest mountains and some of the lightest and driest powder in the world. There were 6 in our group, apart from two friends, we were all travelling solo. With a passion for skiing/ boarding and adventure we quickly bonded into a close nit group. After a day at Furano to warm up, check our gear and some training in back country safety and techniques, we hit the road. First stop was Mount Tokachidake for some skinning practice, avalanche safety and search techniques, and the surprise of the day the natural outdoor onsen. Beer/wine and an onsen seem to go together naturally, the tranquillity punctuated occasionally by someone shovelling snow into the onsen to regulate the water temp.

We headed next to Asahidake, some great snow but winds prevented the cable car running so it was a skin to the summit, including a section boot packing, to access some great powder in the trees. With expert advice from our guides, although occasionally being a little out of our comfort zone, we always knew we were in good hands. Analysing evening weather reports suggested Mount Kurodake was looking promising for some nice lines, so that’s where we headed. A cable car and chairlift to the highest lifted point (1550 metres) was followed by a skinning expedition up the west face to the summit. It was a bluebird day and you couldn’t help pause at each diagonal turn to admire the spectacular scenery. We sometimes have those “wow” moments when travelling, on this trip there were many. Our way down from the summit was a wide open, untouched expanse of dry powder, waiting to be carved up. Apart from two Norwegian guys we saw earlier in the day, we were the only people on the mountain.

Overnight we stayed in Sounkyo just below the summit. It was a small traditional Japanese pension operated by a father and his son, whose hospitality was first class. It started snowing that night, so we decided to stay another day at Kurodake. What I have noticed in Japan is that it doesn’t appear to snow heavily, but it is constant and it is not too long before 1/2 a metre has settled. With the overnight snow yesterday’s tracks had disappeared and we commenced a routine of a leisurely 40 minute skin followed by some deep powder runs. Last day was back to Asahidake. Cable car running, opening up the deep dry powder the mountain is known for. On this day I discovered what a “facial” was in powder skiing parlance and watched some of our crew almost disappear in the waist deep powder-“ the Whiteroom” . An epic adventure with a great bunch of people.

Ken Newman 2016

HOTEL MUNIN

In Furano, we are staying in a brand new boutique hotel located in the middle of Kitanomine close to restaurants and bars. With well-appointed rooms, a sumptuous lounge and a lovely onsen, this Hotel will make the Powder Belt Backcountry Tour A special Japanese experience.

Getting to and from Furano is easy with the included Resort Liner coach transfers, as you’ll be dropped close by to Hotel Munin. Please ensure you check with your consultant before you book your flights so that they line up with the available transfer times. 

Once you’ve booked onto the tour you will receive our Trip Info Brochure packed with loads of useful information to help you plan your trip to Japan. 

View our full Terms & Conditions here.