It's not like we really needed a guide. We figured we might be slow in finding the best drop-ins and then there's the question of getting back to a lift without walking. So we spent the money, and it was well worth it. Totally nailed the correct decision. Our White Room guide Ronan checked the avalanche report before we decided where to ski each day. He set us up with the mandatory back pack with beacon, etc to acces the gates. Awesome time with him. Gave us so many surprise fresh track runs. We would sometimes ask How about here? can we get out? Usually Yes and we would dive into the trees, where without a guide it would have been too risky. Normally we would have found some of the good stuff, but with Ronan we were batting a thousand. Hokkaido is like the Holy Grail of powder skiing. Skied Rusutsu, Kiroro, Moiwa. Our lodging was at the base of Niseko. So Niseko, Annupuri, Hirafu. and Hanazono we explored on our 3 non guided days. 11 days, 105 inches according to the avalanche reports. Ronan took us to some really good low cost dinner places. Had a blast. He of course drank nothing. Great having no worries about driving. It snowed on and off about 5 times a day over there. Our Onsen at the Hilton was great. Japan people are great hosts and hostesses. White Room rocks. Ronan rules.
See our video here