Driving to ski in Hokkaido

[saikee]

Would welcome some knowledge of how easy to hire a car at Chitose airport and tour around some resorts in Hokkaido.

I believe Rusutsu is reasonably close to Niseko but no idea of anything near.

Have been driving many winters to ski in the Alps. From the experience I had with the skiing trip to Niseko a 2WD car with snow tyres should do the job if a 4x4 isn't available. The cost may be prohibitive but I haven't looked into it yet.

Wonder has anyone tried this out in Hokkaido winter before.

[LoveToSki]

Would welcome some knowledge of how easy to hire a car at Chitose airport and tour around some resorts in Hokkaido.

I believe Rusutsu is reasonably close to Niseko but no idea of anything near.

Have been driving many winters to ski in the Alps. From the experience I had with the skiing trip to Niseko a 2WD car with snow tyres should do the job if a 4x4 isn't available. The cost may be prohibitive but I haven't looked into it yet.

Wonder has anyone tried this out in Hokkaido winter before.

Hi saikee

I haven't tried in winter time myself but did a few times in the summer.

Getting a rental car at Chitose airport is very easy. For example, contact Toyota (and its online web site), you can book its service ahead. Even thought the GPS system is in Japanse, with its English speaking voice output, there is no problem at all to rely on it and drive around Hokkaido.

I have read your past Alps posts before so I am very confident that you can manage the drive easily. All winter cars come with snow tyres by default. Some car models are with so-called AUTO 4WD. My understanding is that you don't really need a 4WD or 4X4; of course you can always book one if don't mind paying a bit more premium. No, car rental cost is not particular expensive at all (in European standard).

Given you have a car, there are a few ski resorts you may consider, or try them all in one go. Check the attached map on those popular ones and their relative location (my own opinion).

As you expect, they are not equal in size and favor. My favorites are Niseko and Rusutsu. For the others, they are smaller in size and therefore can be done within a day given you are an advance skier.

Starting from Chitose airport, resorts on North and West side should be within reach in 2 or 2.5hr. Those on East side will take more than 3hr to reach so maybe not your choice on 1st day of arrival.


Cheers
LoveToSki

[saikee]

That 's brilliant.

Will research more into it. I have been expecting that it would be an easy task to hire a suitable in Japan. However advice from someone with previous experience will be invaluable for such an attempt in winter.

Think I could pick a right hire car. The auto 4x4 is actually a soft 4x4 with a permanent arrangement. A full fledged 4x4 will have low range gears (half the car speed for the same engine rotation to increase pulling power and lockable differentials for getting out of difficult situations) is an overkill for driving on snow. I had 7 years drivinga Pajero to the Alps and have just changed to a Subaru Outback this year. The new car is an all wheel drive (AWD) based on a normal road going model but with increased ground clearance. Many cars are now offering 4x4 capability to the standard models.

I am aware of the Sat Nav is in Japanese. Is this easily programmed? When everything fails I could always ask the hotel or car agency to program a few key location for me.

I am planning a drive/ski trip somewhere next Mar, thinking there must be more skiing than just Niseko in Hokkaido.

[jimmy]

That 's brilliant.

Will research more into it. I have been expecting that it would be an easy task to hire a suitable in Japan. However advice from someone with previous experience will be invaluable for such an attempt in winter.

Think I could pick a right hire car. The auto 4x4 is actually a soft 4x4 with a permanent arrangement. A full fledged 4x4 will have low range gears (half the car speed for the same engine rotation to increase pulling power and lockable differentials for getting out of difficult situations) is an overkill for driving on snow. I had 7 years drivinga Pajero to the Alps and have just changed to a Subaru Outback this year. The new car is an all wheel drive (AWD) based on a normal road going model but with increased ground clearance. Many cars are now offering 4x4 capability to the standard models.

I am aware of the Sat Nav is in Japanese. Is this easily programmed? When everything fails I could always ask the hotel or car agency to program a few key location for me.

I am planning a drive/ski trip somewhere next Mar, thinking there must be more skiing than just Niseko in Hokkaido.

Hi Saikee,

You may consider Toyota Rent-a-Car, they provides online service for int'l booking in English. Regarding to their GPS, the display are in Japanese. Nevertheless, Toyota will provide you an English menu with pictures. Basically, you just need to recognize 2 entries: search by tel no or search by Map Code. Driving in Winter at Japan is more easier than other places. The highway patrol regularly clean up the snow on highway. Like LoveToSki said, all cars are equiped with winter tires as standard, it is enough to handle all scenairo, unless you go off road. I drove a Previa last season in Yamagata prefecture, no problem at all to all places. no snow chain needed.

BTW, just like to ask your comment. I booked a Volks Passat wagon with winter tires to drive from Munich to Kitzbuhel and return in JAN 10. I am planning to drive to different ski areas nearby Kitzbuhel during my trip. Do I need a snow chain? If yes, is it available to hire it somewhere in Kitzbuhel per day basis?

Thanks. :)

[saikee]

jimmy,

I think between Munich and Kitzbuhel you can take the chance of mot having a set of snow chains if the vehicle has a set of winter tyres.

The journey from Munich to Worgl is 100% autobahn which will have sufficient traffic to clear the snow continuously for most of the time. That section in the last few years has been a bottleneck to the point my brother would prefer to stay overnight in Munich instead of Austria just to make sure catching the plane. This is to arrange the night before flying out in a hotel in Munich to avoid this traffic jam.

There are a few modestly steep patches when you drive through the German/Austria border but I think it will be either alright or the road is blocked by cars unable to pass through. Most European cars have only winter tyres.

The section of road from Worgl to Kitzbuhel is also the access road to the might SKi Welt with 8 resorts linked together. Thus you will pass Itter, Hofgarten, Bixen Thale and Westendorf all of which are Ski Welt's satellite resorts. This section of the road is flat and only 33km long.

Depending on where you stay you will have small gradient inside Kitzbuhel to climb. That risk is only genuine if the snow has not enough time to get cleared off. You can expect the Austrians to keep every road "black" in this region as the skiing industry is their life blood locally. Thus I wouldn't worry once inside Kitzbuhel.

Snow chains are really necessary if you travel mountain passess as there will be signs mandating you to have them. The police will be in a position to refuse entry to vehiches without them. This is enforced usually immediately after a heavy snow but seldom at any other time. There is no mountain pass in between Munich and Kitzbuhel unless you avoid the main route and snake yourself through the mountains. Snow chains can normally be included as an option in the car hire because they are size-specific.

The Kirchberg, part of Kitzbuhel, is only 9km from Westendorf. If you have a car don't miss out SKi Welt (comprises of the above 4 resorts plus Soll, Scheffrau, Ellmau and Going. You can buy a ski pass, marginally more expensive, to ski the whole lot. Ski Welt is bigger than Kitzbuhel but has less challenging runs.

With the exception of Westendorf all satellite resorts meet at the top. Therefore if you access from Bixen Thale or Going you can ski the majority of the area.

I would travel to Ski Amade a week after you leave Kitzbuhel. May be we could run into each other in future trips.

Enjoy Austria, Kitzbuhel and Ski Welt (also know as Wilder Kaiser).

[jimmy]

Wow! you are definitely a EU Ski Expert! Why not to write a ski tourist guide for EU, I will buy one absolutely!

Yes, we are planning to buy a 9-day pass for Ski Welt. Since we will do 2 days sightseeing around Germany before go to Kitzbuhel, I will take your suggestion to hire the snow chain from Sixt then. On our last day, we plan to drive straight from Kitzbuhel to Munich airport hence we will catch the evening flight back. How many buffer time you suggest in case of traffic jam? We have to reach airport b4 1800.

Cheers.

[LoveToSki]

That 's brilliant.

I am aware of the Sat Nav is in Japanese. Is this easily programmed? When everything fails I could always ask the hotel or car agency to program a few key location for me.

I am planning a drive/ski trip somewhere next Mar, thinking there must be more skiing than just Niseko in Hokkaido.

Hi saikee,

You know cars better than me.

As like Jimmy said, the onboard Sat Nav is easy to use and program. You can master it in 5min. The key point is that you need to prepare yourself phone # of your destination address (the address itself is actually less important although still useful). Phone # is easy to look up over the Internet.

It is a long flight from Europe to Hokkaido so you should not limit yourself to Niseko only. Rusutsz is nearby and worth a visit. Resorts near Sapporo city are small so consider those as garnish / side trips added to your city sightseeing plan.

Resorts on the east side (e.g. Furano) are no better than Niseko and Rusutsz. And they are farther apart. However, there are many good sightseeing stuff over that side. Perhaps you may want to mix two together (ski+sightseeing). In my opinion, just the ski resorts there do not worth the drive especially if you visit Niseko and Rusutsu first.

LoveToSki

[saikee]

jimmy,

You can use Google type Kitzbuhel, click map, return, then click direction, type Munich airport and retuirn. The distance will show 166km. In a normal autobahn that is a 1.5 hour's job for a hired car. I would allow at least 2.5 hours.

Jan 10 is a Sunday and the traffic may be less dense. The trick is to avoid getting into Munich by car. They are reconstructing part of the main road system and that is the heart of the problem.

If you have time by setting off early say 10:00 and find yourself at the north section of the Munich ring road at or before 12:00 then you can go into Munich to kill a few hours. I would drive from the north end (where the airport situates) to the south for the city centre but park the car at the end of a underground line. Take the underground train into Munich. The North end of Munich to the airport is not know to have big traffic jam.

LoveToSki (http://www.hkssa.net/member.php?u=180),

Good tips. Situation has changed as last night in a meeting I managed to talk myself out to come to HK in next Mar (I was intending to fly from HK to Niseko in my next trip to HK). Therefore may be after next year. I just came back from HK after spending a month there last month! I was hoping to join the NZ group but could not match the days.

I am looking Colorado instead for next Feb/Mar.