[hardasacatshead]

Rusutsu is a little too remote if you ask me. It's a day trip kind of place (and a fucking awesome one at that). There's not as much to do at night like there is in Niseko. However, if you're purely chasing the pow then it'd be unreal. It's a very nice hill.

Another quiet mountain outside of Niseko (about a 20-30min bus ride) is Moiwa. Not many lifts but heaps of snow and no crowds, there's a free shuttle that goes there from Niseko village. Worth a couple of days out there too.

There's no doubt there are heaps of Aussies at Niseko around then. It's busy, but not ridiculously busy. I was there for January this year and it was ok. There's so much mountain there that you'll always find a quiet spot, especially if you're willing to head into the side country. I'd stay there again.

 

[hardasacatshead]

Being an Aussie myself it shames me to say that the aussies have wrecked niseko.

I do agree with you on this one although I hadn't been to Niseko prior to this year so I have no reference for how it might have changed. It's a little embarrassing to say the least sometimes. I went with a great crew - focused on boarding, a few quiet beers of an evening and a good feed and we were stoked.

We were there for Australia day and normally I'd crack out the Aussie flag and wear it as a cape for the day to show off a bit of Aussie pride (not in the "F%ck yeah! Straya C#nt!" bogan style though) but it stayed firmly tucked away in my board bag because I was too ashamed to be put in the same class as some of the dickheads we saw running around.

Harsh but true.

Next time I head to Japan I'll be going somewhere different, that's not to say I didn't love every minute of Niseko.