Overall i thought the week was awesome. both marco and marc were excellent at looking after us and taking us to the best lines on the mountain for the conditions.
Accomodation and food excellent.
Both guides more than helpful in all aspects. I know i had a great time and so did all my friends.
i would definitely like to come back!!
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As always Powderhounds your reviews and recommendations are on point. I first read about this Northern Odyssey tour here and thought it sounded like a great adventure and it exceeded all my expectations. Our friendly and super helpful guides Marco and Belhu found us secret powder stashes on most days in what was a challenging season for snow in Japan.
And thanks so much for my impromptu birthday dance party. Such a great trip can’t wait to come back again someday!
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Had so much fun last year on Odyssey tour decided to book 2 weeks back to back this year. Although the snow fall was not as good as past years, still had plenty of skiing options. Guides spread their time amongst the group so that everyone with different ability had skiing options and were encouraged - unlike some other operators where it is all about the adrenalin charged 'boys club' . In times of poor conditions (eg rain) group was consulted on alternative activities eg visiting a Sake brewery. Guides were fun, flexible and inclusive. Feedback given to company on improving pre-tour information regarding meals and travel arrangements and this has been well received. As a single female on tour, I always felt safe and included and had some of the best skiing fun ever in Japan ( have skied Japan for over 10 seasons and tried a variety of tours) . I will be booking again. Thanks Marco and Marc and Powder Recon. PS take your skins, you never know when you might get a chance to use them!
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Lot of time is scrappy tight trees with no other options due to very average snow conditions
Bus was way too small for any level of comfort, invest in some advanced driver training for guides ( safety with passengers)
Felt like we were left behind on last day while guides beat it back to morioka taking some guests with them while we were left to catch a bus and a train in the opposite direction to get back :poor communication
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Great tour, great guides, great times!

Although mother nature didn't provide fresh snow every day our guides, Marco and Mark went to great lengths to ensure that we found some fresh lines. The guides ensured that all levels of capabilities were catered for. We were first on the lifts each morning ensuring that we got first tracks at all the fields we visited.

The tour also included some cultural aspects of touring Sake Bars , Onsen protocol, and amazing restaurants and breweries.

Totally recommend this tour for those that are keen for POW.
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We've previously experienced the "Bandai Tour" with Powder Recon a few years ago (then called "Secret Tour"), because we couldn't get a booking on the Northern Odyssey Tour, because it books out months in advance!!....so it was a must do for our Japan 2019 trip. So in February 2019, we spent a week with Powder Recon in Myoko (also see Waz@Oz review under Myoko) before joining Powder Odyssey.....YES....2 trips back to back.
We believe that Powder Recon provide the best value for money / best experience tour you will find. They provide for a cross section of Ages and skier or boarder ability. The Powder Odyssey Tour had the best guides; one was a French Canadian instructor and one a Japanese local telemark champion (thanks Alexi & Hiro....you are legends !!) as well as one of the senior staff of Powder Recon as terrific support (Thanks Dan !!). The Tour accessed local ski-fields around Morioka followed by the terrific Resort at Aomori-Springs. The skiing was excellent; the ski-guiding was first-class with safety at top of mind; the accommodation was terrific with Onsens and great food.
This was my 4th trip with Powder Recon and we are booking with them again for 2020 and beyond .
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What a great trip. It was our first trip to Japan for my wife and I and this trip was fantastic. We stayed in great hotels/resorts with the best japanese food and we were the only westerns at each ski resort everyday. The guides Ray and Vaughn were excellent and they took us straight to the good powder stashes everyday. It was a great trip and was run very professionally. We went to a different resort everyday so everyday was a new day to have fresh tracks and it was great to see the real japanese culture. If anyone is looking to do a trip to japan I HIGHLY RECOMMEND POWDER RECON!!!!!!!!!!! Great value for money without a doubt.
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Last week I was lucky enough to join our guides James, Vaughn and Miashta for the epic ski experience that is the Powder Recon Odyssey tour.

All of us on the trip remarked at how well organised it was. The group was a really nice match. The accommodation, transport and agenda were all first class. All of the guides went out of their way to ensure all the guest had a great time catering for every request with enthusiasm and a good dose of charaima.

The resorts selected to visit made the most of the weather conditions which we encountered throughout the week which was fantastic. The best part of this however was the depth of knowledge the guides had with regard to the mountain. For example choosing a resort which benefited from the high winds dumping the snow into certain tree sections. Avoiding long hikes and flat sections as well as avoiding the lines which are known to annoy the mountain patrol and lead to a clipped lift pass.

This tour is well and truly off the beaten track and a real insight into the Japanese ski scene outside of the influence of western culture. Highly recommended.
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This tour was amazing, never riding the same resort twice yet having the guides ensures you make the most out of each resort, never having to worry how or if you can get back on to the piste.
They were all saying this year was the least amount of snow they have had, but with the guides knowledge of each resort we still found POW and fresh tracks.
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Just returned from a Powder Odyssey tour (January 2016). Extremely impressed. Yes, the snow this year (at least in January) was somewhat lacking - but to me that's when being on tour actually pays off as you can move around to take advantage of the best snow.

We visited the following resorts: Alts Bandai, Geto Kogen, Amihari and Shizukuishi.

Our group of 7 happened to be fairly similar in terms of skiing ability and we all skied together in the mornings, which worked quite well as no-one was holding anyone up. Also given the challenging conditions it was good to have one of the guides at the back, sweeping, especially going through tight trees, where bamboo shoots or minor insufficiently filled gullies provided interesting challenges...

Here are the things we very much liked about the tour:

- professionalism and general attitude of the guides: always going out of their way to help, good group management and judgement, especially on the mountain: choosing routes whilst balancing risk and adventure

- the guides' local knowledge: James clearly knows all of the areas we visited like the back of his hand and so was able to find the elusive stashes of powder or fun tree runs so we could make the best of every day whatever the conditions

- the split of morning guiding / free afternoons

- choice of accommodation - mostly traditional "onsen" hotels with no other westerners in sight, all high quality. Nicely appointed rooms, often in traditional Japanese style. Having an onsen became a major part of après-ski

- eating local food, but with western options for breakfast. Eating out is surprisingly inexpensive

- relaxing transfers, chilling out to great music, whilst James and Tom were doing all the hard work, driving

- banter and laughs with the guides and other members of the group

- performance of our Nordica skis, rented from Powder Recon: brand new and great to ride.

It is a pretty nice way to spend a week, and I fear, quite addictive!
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