Yamagata Powder Tour

The Yamagata Powder Tour is a Japanese ski or snowboarding experience that is the complete antithesis to going on a well trodden path at one of the westernised destination ski resorts in Japan, where you wonder whether you're actually in Japan or not. In Yamagata, the ski areas are not internationalised and this tour provides local ski-jo experiences, nice Japanese food, some snowcat accessed backcountry +/- ski touring, splitboarding or snowshoeing, and lovely local guides and hosts that will ensure you get a great Japanese experience.

The Yamagata Powder Tour from Gassan Ski is a private bespoke tour that can be customised to your small group of up to 4 people. You can't join a mixed group. Solos and couples are welcome to participate, although the per person rate will be higher than if you have 3 or 4 people in your group. To keep costs to a minimum, you may also wish to take out the snowcat shuttle and use more human power instead. 

Highlights

• This tour is operated & guided by knowledgeable and qualified English-speaking Japanese guides
• Head off the beaten path to Gassan, plus one day at the well known Zao Onsen Ski Resort
• Snowcat assisted backcountry skiing with the option of touring or splitboarding at the very snowy Mt Gassan
• Stay at Japanese-run cottages near Gassan
• Soak in an open air hot spring (onsen) at Zao Onsen
• Boutique trip for your small group so very personalised service

This is an outline of the Yamagata Powder Tour and you can customise it somewhat to suit your needs.

If you want to check availability or have other questions, please make contact.

The trip starts in the Gassan region, staying at Pole Pole. Gassan is one of the snowiest places in Japan, with over 30 metres of snow falling annually. So much snow falls here that they don't open the Gassan Ski Resort until April! So the only way to access the goods at Gassan from January to March is via snowcat and/or ski touring or splitboarding or snowshoeing. You and your group will have exclusive access to the snowcat where you will do up to 3 runs (only 1 included in price) of around 400m of vertical per run, skiing/riding the deep powder in the trees. At the end of each lap you can traverse back to the cat for the next run. For the more adventurous groups who have touring gear or snowshoes, there are opportunities to combine the cat with some hiking to gain longer vertical descents. There is also the opportunity to do some touring runs without the cat. Ultimately the decision will be up to your group.

Extra activities might be on the cards. For example if it's dumping with snow, you might want to do some night powder skiing at the little local ski area. Or if the weather is really brutal you might want to visit Ginzan Onsen or Mt Haguro Shrine.

On the last day your guide will take you for a guided day of in-resort and off-piste skiing at the Zao Onsen ski resort. Your local guides will show you the secret powder stashes around the resort as well as the best place for lunch, then you can have a soak in an open-air hot spring after skiing/riding.

Group Type

These tours are for private groups only i.e. you cannot join a group as a solo traveller. You can make a booking request to get a quote for your desired trip duration, group size and number of cat runs.