With the amazingly talented Camilla Stoddart on board shooting photos, alongside ace filmer Jase Hancox – the crew are doing an outstanding job capturing what skiing and snowboarding in Japan is really all about.

If you want a snow holiday where you won’t ski the same run twice, then Shiga Kogen is the place to be. It’s Asia’s largest ski area, made up of 21 interlinked resorts. With high elevations, Shiga Kogen offers great snow quality and incredible scenic views of the surrounding mountains, not to mention ski in ski out hotel accommodation.

First stop on our adventure to Shiga Kogen was the Shibu Onsen area in Yudanaka town, located at the foot of the mountains, just 30 mins from the ski resorts – and also home to the famous Snow Monkeys. The quaint winding streets offer a slice of real Japanese culture, with onsen bath houses, traditional Japanese Ryokan inns and little shops dotted along the way. Notice the lack of snow in all the photos, thanks to the natural geo thermal water keeping the roads so warm!

Stay tuned for more updates as the group explore the culture and snow of Nagano and Niigata regions in the Japanese Alps…

One of the bath houses in the Shibu Onsen area

Walking the winding streets in traditional robes, is standard practise and a lot of fun as our crew discovered!

Skier Tom Dunbar with some onsen hot spring tourists

Everyone we bumped into along the streets was really friendly and wanted to talk with us!

Another bath house and more keen bathers!

Bathing monkeys are a big theme here, even making an appearance on the manholes on the streets.

Cute little shops selling everything from traditional hand made pottery to Sake.

Jason Hancox filming outside one of the many Onsen bath houses.

More friendly onsen tourists

Steam billowing out along the streets

Skier Tom Dunbar, our fantastic host Sho from the tourist office and snowboarder Vicci Miller, ready to experience the onsen hot springs.

Tom Dunbar, Amelia Guild and Vicci Miller all dressed up and ready to go!

Traditional Japanese footwear, Geta

The group went wild for the Snow Monkey sweets we found!

Vicci and Amelia loving the Japanese sweet shop

Film crew

Vicci and Amelia after experiencing a soothing hot onsen bath

Tom and Amelia try a Foot Onsen!

We found a beautiful Origami shop

Beautiful paper cranes displayed at a local shrine

The beauty of these four resorts is their location – all of them can be reached via a swift trip (roughly 1 hour 30 mins) onboard the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano city, followed by a connecting bus or train direct to each resort. Nowhere does travel like Japan, for precise, smooth and super fast service. From the moment you step off the plane, it’s a truly incredible and awe-inspiring experience… and that’s just the efficiency of the transport system. Just wait until we talk about the powder snow and culture!

Our talented film and ski crew flew in from New Zealand, starting their trip in Tokyo with an evening at the famous Ninja Bar, before zipping over to the Japanese Alps by bullet train the following morning. First stop, Hakuba. Host to various events at the 1998 winter Olympic games, the village of Hakuba stretches along a the foot of the Northern Alps, Japan’s biggest mountain range. Ten individual ski resorts line the valley – the high alpine scenery (3000m peaks that you would never imagine in Japan provide the backdrop) and variety of terrain available here is just mind blowing.

We checked into the beautiful Hakuba Tokyu Hotel in the Wadano area of Hakuba, conveniently located very close to the lifts of Hakuba’s largest ski area, Happo One.

The skiing got off to an epic start with our first day spent riding beautiful steep tree terrain through deep snow at Cortina ski resort, located at the northern most end of the Hakuba valley.

Filmer Jase Hancox

Pro Skier Tom Dunbar gets deep in the Cortina trees

The group enjoy a lunch stop at Zen restaurant, where the specialty is Soba Noodles and Tempura. Delicious!

Zen restaurant in Hakuba

The following day, some members of the crew headed out into Hakuba’s extensive backcountry terrain, guided by Dave Enright from Evergreen Outdoor Center. Everyone was stoked on the big mountain terrain, huge vertical drop and amazing snow, accessed by hiking along the ridge which extends from Happo One resort. And the weather was just perfect – bluebird sunshine, awesome powder and incredible views of the Japanese Northern Alps mountain range.

The rest of the team went to check out Hakuba’s Olympic Ski Jumping Stadium. Julia and Amelia looking back over the Hakuba valley.

A visit to the very top of the Olympic Ski Jumps confirmed our suspicions that we definitely don’t have any ambitions to become professional ski jumpers! Yikes, scary stuff!

Our day was complete with a soothing dip on one of Hakuba’s many Onsen hot springs. The one we visited, called Mimizuku, has great views of the Japanese Alps from the outdoor bath. A perfect way to finish off the day!

You can check out more photos and updates from our adventures through Honshu’s best ski resorts on the Ski Club of Great Britain blog, posted by our trip’s writer Julia Atkinson of Studio Home.

For some of the most breathtaking images you’ll ever see, check out our photographer Camilla Stoddart’s first blog post from the trip here. Stunning stuff, don’t miss it!

Stay tuned… updates from Shiga Kogen, Nozawa Onsen and Myoko coming soon!

Snow has already started falling on Honshu’s mountain ranges and the resorts dotted around the Japanese Alps have been accumulating enough early winter base snow to open up for business. We’ve got a feeling it’s going to be another huge winter in Japan!

We still have places available on the Snow Season Japan guided 2 week – Off The Beaten Track Powder Tour – so sign up now, for the powder and culture experience of your life!

The Powder Tour offers skiers and snowboarders the chance to experience riding Japan’s hidden gem resorts, best terrain and secret hidden powder spots accessed with the local knowledge of an experienced guide and powder coach, 29 January – 12 February 2012.

The tour is a 14-night multi location road trip, featuring 9 days skiing and snowboarding with experienced local guides, covering 6 of Honshu’s undiscovered powder resorts in Nagano and Niigata, in the beautiful Japanese Alps.  Powder riding progression coaching, a 2 day avalanche course training and qualification, fantastic accommodation, meals, lift tickets, transportation, a cultural day trip to the Snow Monkey Onsen and Tokyo, complete the package. E-mail us for more details and to reserve your place!

British pro snowboarder Vicci Miller, who is coaching the 2012 Snow Season Japan Girls Camp in Hakuba, also features in this video. Ladies, for your chance to ride and progress your powder and freestyle snowboarding skills with Vicci, sign up for our Girls Snowboard Camp and Retreat taking place 29 January – 12 February 2012 in Hakuba, in the heart of the beautiful Japanese Alps – there are still places available!

The group of pro skiers featured in this film skied fantastic powder at various resorts in Hakuba last winter and already have a second trip planned for this coming winter season! Check out the video and enjoy some of the great off-piste action Hakuba always delivers.

If you would like to experience the best of Japan’s off-piste and lift accessed powder terrain, sign up for the Snow Season Japan 2 week guided Powder Tour. We’ll be skiing and snowboarding at 6 hidden gem resorts throughout the Nagano and Niigata regions in the Japanese Alps, tracking lots of fresh powder with no lift queues! There’s plenty packed into this fantastic tour! Some of the highlights include powder skills coaching, local guiding, a trip to see the Snow Monkey Onsen, a guided tour of Tokyo and all the powder you can ski, ensuring you have the best experience possible on and off the mountain. Check out full details here and contact us with any questions and to reserve your place. We’ve got a sneaky feeling winter 2012 is going to be another huge one!

To experience the best lift accessed off the beaten track terrain in the Japanese Alps and Japan’s legendary deep powder, join our 2 week multi-location Powder Tour. Our Early Bird booking discount is only available until 31 October, so reserve your place soon to enjoy endless deep powder, skiing and snowboarding progression with our powder coaching, amazing food, the chance to meet like-minded powder hunters, a 2 day avalanche training course, onsen hot springs, snow monkeys and Tokyo! Phew, there’s a lot packed in there. It’s going to be an incredible trip. We can’t wait to give you the best Japanese winter experience possible!

Tokyo is a fascinating city, with something new and exciting to discover around every corner. We can’t wait to show you on one of our trips next winter! The perfect end to 2 weeks of deep powder, riding progression, onsens, amazing food and new friends.

Check out this really cool video of Tokyo in miniature – an amazing bird’s eye view from the Sunshine 60 building.

Typhoon Roke has just passed over Japan, bringing rain, rain and more rain, but up in the high alpine mountains of Hakuba temperatures dropped low enough for the first snow of the 2011-12 winter to arrive. Take a look at the photo below showing Hakuba’s tallest peak Mount Shirouma (standing at 2932m), with a fresh dusting of snow in the morning light after the typhoon storm blew over. We can’t help but get a little bit excited at the sight of the first snow – winter really isn’t far away now!

We still have places left on our 2 week Powder Tour and Girls Snowboard Camp, and our Early Bird booking discounts apply until 15 October – sign up now for a snow and culture trip of a lifetime. Japan is a truly magical place to ski and snowboard – deep powder and rich culture offer a unique and amazing experience you won’t want to miss!

Photo of the first snow on Mount Shirouma (2932m) in Hakuba, thanks to Shirouma Sanso.

The Japanese Alps (named so after the European Alps for their tall jagged character) surrounding Hakuba are truly awe-inspiring and offer a unique back drop to some of Japan’s best ski resorts and terrain.

Hakuba is the location for our 2012 Girls Snowboard Progression Camp and Retreat, which features – 14 Nights luxury boutique accommodation at the Gakuto Villas, daily Coaching sessions from top professional snowboarder Vicci Miller, Transfers, Lift tickets, Yoga sessions, Snow Monkey Onsen day trip, guided tour of Tokyo, Goodie bag. Ladies, if you are looking to take your park and powder riding to the next level, this camp is for you – sign up now!

Our 2012 2 week Off The Beaten Track Powder Tour also starts at the northern end of the Hakuba valley with some epic tree riding at Norikura and Cortina resorts (also completing a 2 day Avalanche course at Tsugaike resort). From here, we cross over into the Niigata region to explore the best lift accessed terrain at Charmant Hiuchi resort before travelling to traditional Myoko (home to Japan’s first ever resort) to ride Akakura and Seki Onsen resorts. Deep powder, riding progression, amazing food, onsen hot springs, snow monkeys, Tokyo tour, like-minded skiers and snowboarders… this is going to be the road trip of a lifetime, deep in Japanese snow and culture!

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNTS apply to both these trips, so sign up before 15 October to save!