Powder Snow
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As with the other coastal Hokkaido ski resorts, Iwanai receives a mighty lot of snow. There is no guarantee of fresh or deep snow at Iwanai Cat Skiing, but at least you’re increasing your chances. The snowfall statistics are impressive at 15 metres (590”) per season and keep in mind that Hokkaido has a reasonably short snow season compared to Europe or North America, so all that snow falls in a concentrated time period.
The snow quality generally isn’t central Hokkaido dry fluff considering its proximity to the coast (you know it’s coastal snow when you can see the sea!) but the temps are usually cold so the quality is far superior to California or PNW snow for example.
A huge pro for Iwanai Cat Skiing is that the slopes are predominantly north facing. The top of the cat serviced terrain is at pretty good elevation. It’s not as high as the top of Niseko Resort but it’s high enough to keep the snow cold, without being so high that it’s fully in the alpine where the wind can play complete havoc with the snow. As to be expected, some parts of the terrain have a tendency to become wind affected, but there are plenty of relatively protected spots to enjoy the Hokkaido powder.
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Overall Terrain
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The Iwanai cat ski terrain isn’t large but at least it’s bigger than Chisenupuri cat skiing and a little bigger than the Weiss cat skiing. It continues to grow, although now that a second snowcat has been added, it means that there is only enough terrain for about 3 days of freshies before the guides have to fossick for fresh lines. Thankfully the powder resets are frequent.
The length of the runs is not what you’d score in BC Canada, but the vertical per run is decent and more than the other Niseko cat ski operators.
Despite having to wait for the snowcat on most runs, the vertical per day is pretty good and enough to satiate the appetite of most powder hounds. Notwithstanding returning to the day lodge for a long lunch (we’re powder greedy, so we’d prefer to eat lunch in the cat), we managed 4,650 metres (just over 15,000 feet) on one day, which is more than other Niseko snowcat ski companies. The caveat to this was that we had advanced riders in the group that were not slow.
Currently the snowcat has very limited snow roads. This saves some time with respect to the snowcat getting up the hill, but it means that the outer runs (they sort of feel like sidecountry runs you’d find at a small Japanese ski resort) require a bit of traversing to get in and out.
Much of the “off-piste” terrain requires a significant base to cover the foliage, so be mindful that if it was lean early season, you might be relegated to the small number of piste.
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| Alpine Terrain |
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The cat ski terrain was a former ski resort, so it includes 4 piste runs. Whilst not theoretically alpine terrain, we’ll include the piste runs under this category considering they’re open and treeless. These piste are ideal for strong intermediates getting more practice at riding powder, and also incredibly fun for more experienced skiers and snowboarders wanting to charge at it.
Iwanai Resort also has some sub-alpine towards the top of the cat serviced terrain, and only true alpine terrain if you hike up further. You’d probably only experience this if the whole group was keen for a hike.
As with other Japan cat skiing, there is nothing super steep, no chutes, or anything reminiscent of Alaskan heli skiing.
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| Tree Skiing |
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Iwanai Cat Skiing has some fun tree skiing in the “sidecountry” zones on the peripheries of the terrain. The tree spacing varies from sub-alpine where there are just smatterings of vegetation to lovely open trees further down and a small number of evergreens along with the many deciduous trees. Nothing’s particularly steep, but it’s pitchy enough to have plenty of fun.
The trees either side of the piste are generally too tight to ski, and the egress back to the resort from the skiers’ left bowl is very vegetated. Over time, they are likely to glade more of the trees to provide more tree skiing terrain.
In addition to this, more points would have been awarded if there were very steep trees (as per some BC cat skiing operations).
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Strong Intermediate Terrain
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Iwanai Cat Skiing is generally not as mellow as nearby Chisenupuri or Weiss Cat Skiing, but it still caters well to strong intermediate skiers and snowboarders who are getting used to the joys of powder. The four former piste are the equivalent of steep blue runs (by Japanese standards), and with plenty of room to manoeuvre, they are ideal for intermediate riders. Sometimes it's possible for a third guide to stay with those who want to take it easy, whilst more gung-ho riders can head off to explore with the other guides.
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Advanced Terrain
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The Iwanai terrain is rather ideal for advanced skiers and snowboarders. With a little more terrain variety and less traversing, it would rate more highly.
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Expert & Extreme Terrain
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There were minimal technical trees and no super steeps at Iwanai Cat Skiing to provide some challenges for experts. The steepest pitch we hit was 37 degrees, which was probably on the far skiers’ left of the terrain boundary. Nevertheless, most experts should be pretty happy just ripping the powder.
There isn’t really anything in the way of features to launch off: no cliffs, rocks or other hits. If you’re looking to huck it, you’d be better placed at Rising Sun Cat Skiing.
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| Guiding |
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Iwanai Cat Skiing now has professional leads guides, and the overall guiding has improved significantly since the inception of the operation. The guides provided very clear instructions, and the tail guiding included some feedback to some powder piglets to stay at the back of the group at times.
The guides were very personable which added to the fun of the day, and they knew the terrain intimately. Another pro is that sometimes they can bring in a third guide to provide flexibility to break into two groups when there is a discrepancy in ability levels.
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| Cat |
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The snowcat cabin was rather lovely, especially the fantastically large windows that allowed 360 degree views including vistas across to the ocean (when it wasn’t snowing). The cabin was spacious and everyone had their own forward facing coach seat, and the steps up the back made it easy to get in and out. The luxe cabin was a far cry from the primitive snowcat set up that NOASC had when they previously operated at Iwanai.
The snowcat seemed to lack a little power (compared to some of the beasts in BC), otherwise any other inadequacies were very minor. This included no heater and a lack of storage for drink bottles, jackets and other gear. Iwanai Cat Skiing has a backup snowcat.
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Avalanche Mitigation Strategies
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The approach to managing any potential risk seemed somewhat minimalist, probably because the operation states that avalanche risk is usually very low. The guide’s approach to safety has improved and they paid some attention to monitoring temperature and the snowpack.
Guests were provided with a beacon but not a shovel and probe.
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Safety Briefing
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The safety briefing was somewhat typical of what we’ve seen with some other Japan cat skiing and USA cat skiing operations (and nothing like the standards of BC Canada cat skiing). An orientation to the area and the day was provided, and otherwise mostly consisted of how to turn the beacon on and off and switch between search and receive, but not how to use it or a practical demonstration.
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Frills
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Iwanai Cat Skiing offered some very nice frills. Firstly having the day lodge at the base was a huge bonus, as it was a comfortable place for morning orientation, lunch, and to utilise the bathroom facilities. Après ski drinks was a chance to celebrate the day with a shotski or sit quietly by the fire with a sake on the comfortable sofas.
Coffee was provided on arrival, then hot doughnuts and coffee were on offer for morning tea. Lunch included the option to order anything from the cafeteria menu plus ice-cream for dessert. It’s such a shame that the sushi lunch is no longer on offer, because despite wanting a Japanese experience, too many guests were reporting that they didn’t like fish! Snacks were also provided at the end of the day. The only thing really lacking was the provision of water during the day so BYO.
Other frills included the transport to/from Niseko, and the option to rent powder skis on site.
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Value for Money
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The rates for Iwanai cat skiing have gone up significantly in recent years. It’s more expensive than other day Niseko cat skiing, although you generally get more skiing and snowboarding.
It’s a fraction difficult to compare value for money on a global scale because it depends on the currency exchange. As of 2023, Iwanai cat skiing is pricier than USA cat skiing, but the Hokkaido snow is much better. The rates are higher than Canadian cat skiing per diem, even though the Iwanai terrain is much much smaller. All in all, the value comes from the increased chance of getting fresh powder. If you can afford a Niseko ski vacation, then it’s money well spent on pursuing Hokkaido powder joy and escaping the tracked out slopes of Niseko Resort!
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