Rusutsu is the lesser known ski area about 30 minutes from Niseko.  There’s mostly locals here, a few white faces and quite a few from Hong Kong.  It’s definitely worth considering going here over Niseko, especially if you want to get away from the crowds over at Niseko, but if you like the ski village atmosphere then you might want to give it a miss.

Having once skied a lot in my teenage years and thought of myself as Franz Klammer, I’ve skied once in the last 20 years so was excited about taking Grobbler skiing in Japan. Not sure why we decided on Rusutsu over Niseko, I think it was because all the Niseko hotels were booked and I’d read Rusutsu was a lot quieter with less people.  Regardless, I’m reasonably glad we ended up at Rusutsu because we stopped by Niseko for a tobaggan and there were a lot more people there.  It’ll depend on what type of ski holiday you’re after though, if you want the nightlife, some entertainment and more of a ski village feeling, then Niseko is the way to go, it wasn’t that crowded and has untold more hotels, resorts, restaurants and everything else.

Being the hermit I am, I prefer wherever there is less people.  We stayed at the Westin Rusutsu Resort, which wasn’t that great, but perfectly acceptable, the actual skiing there I didn’t think was that spectacular but I didn’t have to wait in line for a lift a single time, it’s basically ski down, get on the lift, no lines, ever.  And this was during Christmas, one of the busiest times of the year.

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