Rusutsu

**Paul Oberin** · 27-01-2014, 08:29 PM

Just got back from 10 great days at Rusutsu, skied powder most days even the bluebird days when it wasn't snowing, the place is so big for the amount of people there, that you could find fresh tracks 2 days after the last snowfall.

**Jahoota** · 28-01-2014, 07:58 AM

rusutsu - love the place! but for the love of all thats holy why the hell did they build the gondolas elevated so you have to walk up the stairs to get on them rather than at ground level!!!

**Paul Oberin** · 28-01-2014, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by Jahoota

rusutsu - love the place! but for the love of all thats holy why the hell did they build the gondolas elevated so you have to walk up the stairs to get on them rather than at ground level!!!

The Gondola's were a real pain in the butt for me with powder skis, the external racks wouldn't take a modern ski, and having 188cm skis they were a struggle to fit inside also, we had to juggle them in a six person Gondola and then only 2 people could ride up with us and the skis, if you had 190cm or above you would be in trouble riding the Gondola I think.

The other annoying thing on a powder day was the Japanese don't like sharing a chairlift with others, not sure why, but many quad chairs went up with only one or two people on them, when there is fresh tracks to be had this is very frustrating.

As a resort Rusutsu would be one of the very best I have been too for powder, this will change once Aussies find out how good it is, at the moment you can ski for days in deep fresh powder after it has fallen, because it is so big with almost unlimited tree skiing and not many getting into the trees.
Once it becomes more popular with Aussies it will be just another resort, in times of climate change though, if you want to be assured of having good snow, it is a safe place to go, and for kids who need lessons it is excellent.

We booked before June 30th and and had free lift tickets for doing so, our hotel was 5 star, the food was Buffet style all you could eat, and included a fantastic range to pick from, our breakfast and dinner was included in the price, we paid only 150,000 yen each for the 10 days skiing, including transfers, dinner, breakfast and lift tickets, for those that needed basic ski or board hire for kids, that was also included.

**Paul Oberin** · 28-01-2014, 08:41 AM

We booked our accommodation and the trip through IXSMtravel.com in Nagano, they were pleasant to deal with but slow to respond to emails and the language barrier presented a few problems, I found they lacked attention to detail, but knowing this I would still book with them again.

If you pay the full amount of the trip before September 30th, they offered a 2% discount, which I took up, only to find out later that to get that discount you had to like them on their Facebook page, there was no mention of that little detail on the electronic invoice that offered the discount, they must assume everybody would have just known that detail, so 7 days before the trip they demanded the extra 2%, no big deal but a little annoying, if you have anything outstanding in the process they don't tell you until the very last minute, then with slow email responses, panic sets in.

JAL were exceptional to deal with, and unlike my experience with Qantas and Jetstar on past trips, they ran pretty well on time, which is important when you have connecting flights and buses to catch, great food especially on the return flight if you like Japanese based food.

**Jahoota** · 28-01-2014, 11:40 AM

I actually think rusutsu will avoid the bogan boarder brigade thats invaded niseko and hakuba as there aren't enough bars and after ski entertainment to keep them chundering into the wee hours.

The great thing about about JAL is the ability to have 2 20kg bags - much easier than fart arsing around with jetstars pathetic 20kg and if you have checked straight through to sapporo they don't seem to worry about the weight on the domestic leg from narita to chitose - its a simple bag drop!

**Total punter** · 14-05-2015, 04:57 PM

Hi Paul - gear question but it's about Japow so hoping it's ok. I have Salomon Rocker 2 90's (2013) that I got a bit longer to ski in North America. We're going to Ruusutsu in Jan 2016 and I'll probably be sticking to the groomed runs (or on the edge of them). Would the Rocker 2 90's be ok in Japan or should I rent proper powder skis?

**Paul Oberin** · 19-05-2015, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by Total punter

Hi Paul - gear question but it's about Japow so hoping it's ok. I have Salomon Rocker 2 90's (2013) that I got a bit longer to ski in North America. We're going to Rusutsu in Jan 2016 and I'll probably be sticking to the groomed runs (or on the edge of them). Would the Rocker 2 90's be ok in Japan or should I rent proper powder skis?

You will be fine on those skis, no need to rent anything else, get them waxed with a cold temperature wax before you go would be my tip, dry based skis will stick in the very dry snow.