Tomamu

Love saying the word ‘Tomamu’, love the drive to Tomamu, and love the food in Tomamu. I guess I probably should write about the skiing in Tomamu.

If I can summarise it in one sentence, this would be it:

The longest vert with the shortest recycle time accessed by lift.

Translation: you can ski the same patch over and over, and end up on the lift pondering whether you have one more in you. You can seriously get spoilt here. I have had skiers who were getting a facial from that Asahidake powder the day after skiing Tomamu, but still dreaming of that immaculate 300m vert the day before.

IMGL9796 -1

Tomamu is split into two areas. One of which is vastly superior than the other. The ski lifts can be prone to wind affected closure. There is a reasonable sized terrain park by Japanese standard, and a fun kids area at the end of the run. The front mountain harbours numerous patches of fantastic tree skiing between the piste. On a good powder morning you could be skiing untracked boot deep pow in bounds as it is not routinely groomed after a night of fresh snow fall. The back country is limitless and faces a favourable direction, but you will need to climb out. You could spend the whole day out there after one lift ride, but you wouldn’t want to do that because you deserve a good feed at the club house.

Furano1 (5)

It is called the ‘ultra spicy ramen’ and it is exactly as it states. Order all the trimmings to make the burn last as long as possible. There are a host of tasty food on the menu if you are not keen on ridiculously spicy noodles. The alternative is a lovely round house with a central fireplace which serves teriyaki burgers and amazing chocolate brownies.

For those who would like to be acknowledged as an ‘Expert Skier’ you can get an arm band in Tomamu to declare it to the world. It is the official thing to do if you are skiing ‘off piste’. I, on the other hand, would rather be invisible and keep that magical 300m vert of pure joy undisclosed. It seems like everyone who had skied it had kept it on the low down so far. So pack some skins with you and join us for a ski, Tomamu has a lot more to offer than meets the eyes.

Ashley

Queued in as the third mountain range to receive the perennial weather system and snow fall from the west, the snow here is super dry albeit at times at a lower volume. This is a horrible place to have snow ball fights, and for those who feels the cold. It is, however, one of the easiest central Hokkaido ski resort to get to by train, and a great place to sample that super light Hokkaido teflon coated powder snow. Tour suggestions can be found here. Check out some of our Tomamu ski days below.