Niseko Could Be A Ghost Town This Winter

Has the economy forced Niseko into being a ghost town this winter?

Holiday prices have almost doubled for Australians wanting to get their powder fix if they have not already booked and paid for their accommodation. With the value of the Australian dollar crashing in the past few weeks against the Japanese Yen has forced a lot of travellers to cancel their holidays for the fastly approaching winter!

Property management companies are experiencing a substantial number of reserved rooms not being paid for as travellers look for better value alternatives for their summer holiday.

Staff have been let go from many companies to cut overheads as companies start to panic coming into what should be the peak time for bookings and preparations for the winter.

If you are one of the lucky travelers that booked and paid for your holiday near the start of the year you may be very lucky to have the town to yourself, no reservations being made to have dinner days in advance or having to line up at the Hirafu Gondola.

It could be flash back to the days when you could get out of bed at 11 after drinking beer and singing karaoke all night with the local pension owners and still be getting fresh lines all afternoon. 

I miss those days! Maybe this year it will be back!

Car Danchi drives to Niseko

The Car Danchi crew will be rocking Niseko on the opening day of the resort. Shred all day and kick back and chillax at the Loaf Loung in Kuchan with live music, skate session and video footage by the man behind the Car Danchi DVDs and other artistic ventures, Neil Hartmann.

Don't know who this Neil Hartmann or Car Danchi jizz jazz we speak of, get over to his blog and give the man some love right here!

Need to know about the Loaf Lounge and the what the next clone army will look like - it's all here.

Snow To Reduce Global Warming?

What to do with all the snow that falls in Hokkaido?

The New Chitose Airport, gateway for thousands of tourists during winter from around the globe to revel in some of the world's great powder snow is now taking steps towards to preserve their backyard. This will ensure winter tourism for generations to come by reducing global warming.

Starting in 2010, the New Chitose Airport will collect snow during the winter season and use it to cool the building though summer. It is expected that this will provide 30% of the buildings cooling, reducing Co2 emissions per year by up to 2,100 tons per year.

Source: Good Clean Tech

Niseko & Furano Ski Camps

Planning a holiday to Niseko and Furano and want to improve your skills on the sticks?

You better check out the Warren Smith ski academy.

Tanner Warming Up For Niseko?

Will the greatest freestyle skier of all time be back in Niseko this winter after stopping in during the 05/06 season? We can only hope so!

So what does Tanner get up to in Summer? Check him out getting his thing on!

Traffic Controller of the Month

We would like to take this opportunity and take our hat off, we hope you join us, for this dedicated traffic controller from Sapporo. It is all about giving that little extra in job, notice the leg action! Such grace and authority, truly a thing of beauty!

100 Top Ski Holidays

Niseko has been named in the 100 Top Ski Holiday destinations by the Telegraph in the UK, will this push the UK market to make the leap to Niseko?

Well maybe not with quality of the photo used, Niseko's major drawcard afterall is POW and the photo used does not really capture that it in all its glory, well except that statement under the photo, "Hokkaido, on Japan's north island, boasts some of the world's best powder". But aaawwwww it does look pretty.

To anyone from the UK or anyone that is looking for a Niseko holiday, contact Japan Ski Experience, they are based in the UK and know there way around Niseko and Japan!

Snowboard Soundtracks

We were cruzin around the web today and found this site, Snowboard Soundtracks, it has a complete list of snowboard movies with soundtracks, hence the name.

I thought it was worth sharing with all the Niseko Webzine followers because if you are anything like me you always find funky old tracks and remixes on snowboard vids iPod worthy, or other MP3 device if your an iPOD hater.

So get over to the site and check it out, find all the names of all those tracks you like on all your favorite snowboard vids so you can load them up on your iPod or MP3 player ready for your next Niseko session.

Check it out - Snowboard Soundtracks