Just an hour from the tourist hotspot of Niseko lies Kiroro, a ski terrain that benefits from some of the best powder in the world. Carolynne Dear flew in to find out how it has developed into a sophisticated winter resort
Young guests at Club Med Kiroro Grand's Mini Club find their feet on the slopes
For various geographical and metorological reasons, the Japanese ski area of Kiroro boasts some of Japan’s driest and deepest powder. On our visit in February, the snow was many metres deep and still falling.
Along with one of the longest ski seasons in the world, it is unsurprising then that investors moved in to create the impressive Kiroro Ski Resort.
The snow in Kiroro starts falling in November and hangs around, often, until early May. With more than 20m of the white stuff every winter, the area is popular both with local skiers on day and weekend trips as well as international guests.
Major infrastructure introduced to the area has included the implementation in the early 2020s of the ‘Kiroro Master Plan’, a schmick integrated, all-season five-star, alpine resort. The plan was managed by property company Property Perfect who bought the land in 2012 with the aim of creating a premier alpine destination in Asia. By the end of this decade, the company will have invested 100 billion Yen in the project.
“We knew when we discovered Kiroro we had an opportunity to create something special,” said Chainid Adhyanasakul, chief operating officer of Property Perfect.
In 2020, Yu Kiroro, a collection of luxury ski-in, ski-out private residences opened, with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and top-notch facilities including a ski valet, a natural indoor-outdoor onsen, 24-hour concierge, a fitness centre and all-day dining.
The accommodation was complemented by a one-kilometre extension of the existing gondola/ski lift to make the Yu Kiroro residences fully ski-in, ski-out.
Heading off on a snowy shoeshoeing adventure
The existing hotels, Tribute Portfolio and Sheraton Hokkaido Kiroro Resort are now all-inclusive Club Med properties that opened in 2022 and 2023. Club Med Kiroro Peak is up in the mountains and aimed at intermediate and advanced skiers, while Club Med Kiroro Grand has facilities aimed at families with children as young as two years.
There’s also a snow park, Kiroro Snow World, with off-piste activities for children such as tobogganing, snow tubing and banana boating. For little beginners, there’s a cordoned off ‘magic carpet’ area and a gentle family slope for those progressing out of the children’s garden. Both hotels benefit from the gondola/ski lift extension and are ski-in, ski-out properties.
During our visit we were invited to try snowshoeing. On a rare, bluesky day when the snow had stopped falling for a few hours, we were transported by caterpillar up winding snow-covered lanes until we were high above the hotel. Our guide then led us into the forest, pointing out various natural points of interest. Did we know, for example, that buried under the metres of snow and ice fish still swam in the frozen streams? It was an incredible few hours, the sun glinting through the trees as we meandered our way back to the hotel.
Back on the pistes, the ski resort features the two peaks of the Asari and Nagamine mountains and 22 groomed runs, as well as acres of ungroomed backcountry powder, accessible via nine lifts and a gondola.
Future projects include a valley village at the base of the mountain with a range of villas, townhouses and apartments centred around a ski club known as The Gateway with ski-in, ski-out access to shops, restaurants, services and a children’s centre.
If you’re looking to escape the Niseko crowds just an hour away, Kiroro is a snowy, slightly under-the-radar alternative with great accommodation options and ideally suited for families and young children.
Kiroro Resort is an hour from New Chitose International Airport at Sapporo.
Asia Family Traveller was a guest of Kiroro Resort, flying with Hong Kong Airlines from Hong Kong to New Chitose International Airport.
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