Pros
- The powder is commonly abundant and dry.
- It’s a fun and relaxed way to score Japow!

Many pros are associated with the region:
- The region has lots of great spots for powder skiing and riding, so you can combine the cat skiing with plenty of other experiences.
- The region has some superb hot springs that provide a very traditional onsen experience.
- The Iwate area is not highly visited by gaijin, and it offers a chance to experience some of the real Japan. And if you stay in a ryokan, you can fully immerse in some genuine Japanese culture.

Cons
- The terrain size is not particularly large, which is typical of a number of the Japanese cat ski outfits. Thankfully powder resets are usually frequent, but if it hasn’t snowed in a while, the terrain may be somewhat tracked.
- Some of the guiding is fantastic, but it seems like it depends on which guiding company you get.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- If you’re looking for steep gnarly tree skiing akin to some of the Canadian cat skiing companies, this may not be for you. The terrain ranges from mellow to nicely pitched, which is ideal for strong intermediate to advanced riders.

This review is for Hachimantai Cat overall, rather than specifically for this tour. See our Hachimantai Cat Ski review for more information.
See our video here

Stayed at the clubman and had the two days cat and ride tour. Jun is an absolute legend, great skier and excellent guide. Conditions weren't so great everywhere around us but had two epic days with Jun. Found powder on every run. The lodge is amazing. Him his dad run the lodge and prepare all the food. I would definitely go back and do it all again. Loved it🤙
See our video here

When we arrived in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture in early February, the weather was already starting to show signs of warming up. Our guides from Hachimantai Cat Ski Trips were ready for just about anything, and the first day (pictured) was bluebird, though the previous week's snow was beginning to suffer the signs of a couple of freeze-thaw cycles. Nonethless, our intrepid guides did their best to search for protected lines and keep the music and round-trips in the cat lively and fun. Unfortunately, they were powerless to protect us from the next two days of drizzling rain. So they acted quickly to change the itinerary from skiing to authentic Japanese B excursions including a crafts village, sake brewery, and a sightseeing train excursion along the west coast and the Sea of Japan. Would we have preferred legendary Japanese powder? Of course. Did HCT show us a great time? You betcha! Do we plan to give Japan skiing another change? Yes, but only if we go with the folks at Hachimantai Ski Tours.
See our video here

Friendly Japanese guys running it, they only spoke very basic English, which is to be expected. We had a guide from Japan Ski Tours who came along to translate everything for us.

Most of the terrain was fairly mellow with a few flat spots which were difficult for snowboarders. Overall it was a good day with 5-20cm of quite heavy windblown snow, the staff found new faces for each run and we never crossed our own tracks.

We got really lucky that we had a nice calm day as the whole region seems to cop a lot of wind/bad weather based on our 8 night stay.

Would probably do it again if we were back in the area.

NB We didn't stay at the lodge so that rating is n/a
See our video here