Youtei Tracks Apartments & Penthouses, Niseko

Ski Niseko - powder, powder, powder!

We stayed in a Luxury 2 bedroom apartment and a deluxe 1 bed apartment (1 week each). Both were excellent. However I can''t believe the deluxe apartments toilet DIDN''T have the ubiquitous Japanese heated seat and bidet! Even the porta-loos on the slopes had heated seats! Having said that, terrain, snow quality, equipment hire, food and yes even descent espresso coffee were excellent. Some lifts could use updating but overall the experience was magic.  

Youtei Tracks Experience

This was our first time visiting Japan and Niseko. We were thrilled with Youtei Tracks, although we were not initially provided with a rollaway/camp bed/futon for our 5 year old daughter (in a 1 bedroom unit).

The kitchen and dining facilities were excellent and allowed us to have great breakfasts and the odd dinner when we had the energy to cook. Moreover, it was spotlessly clean.

Location was good at the base of the hill and shuttle buses were fairly frequent.

We found a couple of good restaurants in the Niseko "village" including Mina Mina and J Sekka cafe. Some of the others were disappointing (Bang 2) and one of the Teppanyaki places that I can't remember the name of but something like Kabuki.

Niseko

After four days aclimatizing to Japan and the refreshing Japanese customs of politeness and quiet, orderly way of coping in such a crowded country in Tokyo and near Nagano to see the amazing snow monkeys, we flew to Sapporo en route to Niseko to ski.

The mini bus met us punctually at the airport, with a polite request for no drinking, eating or rubbish on the bus, by the delightful and patient Japanese driver, we set of .

We were all appalled by the bogan behaviour of our fellow Australians, newly arrived, who bought alcohol at the first opportunity, and proceeded to drink and shout for the entire trip, I was ashamed to be Australian.

Great place for Kids

Youtei tracks is close to everything you could need. A short walk to the shops, surrounded by great restaurants and a comfortable walking distance to the kid ski school.

Japan with Infant

Accomodation was brilliant, and in house child minding was fantastic.

Snow was great I have skied the globe and none come close. Slopes could be a little steeper, perfect for intermediate to advanced. Experts will get a little bored after about 4 days.

Great tree skiing.

People are brilliant!

Niseko with Travelplan

Thanks travelplan for organising a fantastic ski holiday in Japan. Everything was organised and your partners in Niseko were approachable and efficient. 

We have skiied in may places across the world and rate Niseko as one of the best for terrain, snow quality, restaurant options, onsens and hospitality. 

Will definitely use Travelplan for our next ski holiday.

Outstanding

The village of Grand Hirafu at Niseko has everything.  It is in a similar time zone so you can get going without the jet lag.  It has to be the cheapest ski destination for Australians.  The restaurants cater for all.  It snows all the time.  It is not the steepest mountain but if it was it would spend most of the season shut for avalanche control.  Don''t tell anybody else how good it is.

The Griswalds ski Niseko

We had two families ski Niseko for two weeks in January. The snow was terrific for advanced skiers and those that could cope with the weather with it snowing continuously for 10 days.  Fantastic tree and deep powder skiing, although the top of the mountain was occaisionally closed. Getting around the village was sometimes challenging and the slopes were challenging for beginners.

Niseko Feb2010

Spent 8 nights at Youtei Tracks. Over 1.5m of snow fell during stay. Fantastic skiing holiday. 

Would definitely go again

If you haven't been, why not?

OK - if you''ve done any research at all you will have heard stories about Niseko. Some people love it, some hate it, some wish it was like it was 15 years ago etc etc. Like Whistler (that attracts the same kind of passionate responses), the best thing to do is go yourself and make up your own mind. Yes, its full of Aussies (what surprised us was the high number of Europeans and Americans compared to 5 years ago - maybe people were avoiding Canada during the winter olympics?). Yes, the village is very ''westernized'' (don''t go for a Japanese cultural experience). And yes, it is very busy on the slopes. However, it gets great snow on a regular basis (we had 4 out of 6 days of freshies), and the off-piste gates are awesome and this makes the resort. They have opened up more terrain than 5 years ago, trees, peaks, bowls etc - all gated and some reached by hiking. Off-piste you can escape the crowds for a bit - but its so accessible now that its still very busy. Best thing - get up early - be the first on the gondola (8am I was first in line) and beat the crowds to the powder (4-5 runs down the Hanazono bowl/peak before everything was tracked out - hike further and you can get more powder). Plan your day, expect it to be busy, enjoy the powder when you can and you will enjoy Niseko.