Can you get a car? I don't bother treating the Hakuba resorts as individual as they each have barely enough terrain for a couple of laps on each and you could be done by midday on the first skiing day.

What about Myoko? Similarly, 3 resorts but the shuttles are better than hakuba so you probably don't even need a car.

I think the Tribute is often more expensive than the Sheraton at Kiroro, and that place is sooo flat! Kiroro is for the BC access I reckon.

Last year we went to Shokanbetsu and camped in the backcountry hut there. That's probably not an option :P but we then based out of Furano. I really like furano as a little resort and there are lots of BC day trips you could take to start to get away from expensive and crowded resorts!

Another ski season is close upon us, and perhaps you, shuigao and I will again be dominating this thread.:D
I only have secondhand knowledge of ski places in Jpn without much firsthand experience, so we very much appreciate your advice throughout this ski season.

Since shuigao is upper-novice/low-intermediate, I don't think he's looking for back country experience. I'm certainly not into that myself.

Have you skiied Cortina and Norikura? If so, can you provide feedback as far as crowd, whether they tend to keep all lifts open, having to go between the two areas, etc?

With regards to Kiroro, my experience has been that Tribute is more often the cheaper of the two hotels during ski seasons. Hence I've booked Tribute for this winter.
You are right that Kiroro has a lot of almost-flat areas. However, it is not completely flat like some runs at Whistler. When Kiroro is fully open like it was when I skiied there this past March, it is easy to avoid those near-flat terrains. The flat terrain is really just the lower half of the left side of the resort, plus the lower half of the run that comes down from the top of the right side of the mountain. I tried to avoid that area by doing all my skiing in the upper half of the left side of the resort (three great long runs up there) and the lower right part of the resort (few long runs down there). I had a blast skiing those runs over the course of two days. I do think Kiroro would really suck if they closed down the summits, as that would severely limit options for anyone who's above beginner level. Wonder how often that happens.

Probably will be mostly us 3!
I try to only comment on resorts I've skiied, and will always mention if what I'm posting is hearsay.
The BC in Japan is so good that I highly recommend it to novices looking for a different experience, and if you get the bug you'll thank me later. It's very different to USA/Canada/others spring skiing. You generally end up with fields of untouched deep powder with not tonnes of effort.
Regardless:
Cortina thoughts.
It's set up so that most people funnel back to the middle, making it feel crowded until you get out to the sides. Lifts can close to the summit relatively easily due to snow load AND wind load issues. It gets hit very hard on powder days and isn't too much fun after as it's mogul-y and skiied out. They tend to open it in stages it seems, so the middle opens then the rest, but maybe those were just the cloudy days I rode or something. Didn't go to Norikura, from the map it looks quite small.

Thanks for the feedback on Cortina. That really helps. Based on your comments, I'm inclined to scratch Cortina off my list for this winter. It would probably be back to NASPA or Kiroro then... more likely NASPA.

Have you been to Aomori Spring, by chance?

Tell me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Dec have higher chances of blizzard and heavy snowfall than mid-late Feb (which is when we're going back for another ski trip)?
For ski resorts that have tendency to close lifts readily and have terrain that gets severely compromised by summit lift closures, do you think you're better off going in Feb than Dec?
Kiroro seems to close their summit lifts (inc gondola) often, so maybe you're taking bigger risk if you were to go there in Dec?
On the other hand, I was at NASPA last Dec where the snow was coming down hard and the wind was howling. But surprisingly they kept the lifts going (only a few diehards kept skiing).

If you think an intermediate (at best) skier can handle backcountry skiing in Jpn, I'll have to look into it.

[MENTION=233104]Cynicor[/MENTION] [MENTION=638900]evergrn[/MENTION] thanks!

I probably can go in March instead of Feb so I'll go check out prices of the Hokkaido resorts then (also will look at Furano). Otherwise Myoko Kogen looks interesting too.

I've got 1/4 a mind to do a full ski trip this time - something like 2-3 days each in 2-3 locations. But I'm not sure if my legs would be able to take it -- problem of having only one ski week a year :(

Evergrn have you tried Madarao. I did a day there earlier this year. Decent skiing. Lodging is a bit basic. You could easily do a day trip to check it out.

I agree with you about Dec. On a lot of ski areas in Honshu that normally opens in mid-Dec, I guess late Dec skiing was okay in 2017, barely manageable in 2016, not possible in 2015. This is why I'm keeping my booking at Kiroro just in case. But you're right about the prices up there. As bad as Whistler. Normal Japanese wouldn't be able to afford it.

Kyrgyzstan?! Wow! That'll be an adventure.

I've definitely kept an eye on Madarao. Looks like a terrific mountain. Unfortunately the lodging situation isn't going to work out. We really need ski-in/out. Tokyu Harvest is really the only hotel I'd feel enthusiastic about staying at, but I guess the hotel is membership-based. Tangram Hotel would be acceptable, but their rates are astronomical (65,000yen/night, no meals included!). Madarao Kogen Hotel is cheap but sorry it's out of question for us (old, communal toilet).

If I only get 1 or max 2 ski trips a year would you guys still say its better to (at least) buy my own boots and only rent skis and poles at destination? I've only ever used rental gear but as my wife has also picked up the ski bug, it's a lot easier to get her agreement for more frequent ski trips 😂

It's all about $ for comfort. I couldn't say if it's a good idea for you or not. The cost saving isn't huge, but I have had my own gear since my 3rd trip, just because it's more comfortable and I knew I loved it. This was when I was still only having 1 1-2 week trip a year, too.

I would if I were you. Bad boots can ruin your day. You can ski better and longer and likely have less pain in your own custom-fitted boots. At least that's how I feel, although sometimes I have lucked into really good pair or rental boots. I've never taken boots with me on planes before, but I will starting this winter.

I probably only ski max 9 days per season. But your own boots are definitely a must imho. After I turned ~35, my threshold for getting hurt and developing pain got much lower. I always rented everything and nothing bothered me. But since then, skiing became progressively more taxing to my feet and knees. So I got my own pair of boots. And I think I'm going to take my boots with me everywhere, even when going abroad to ski.

Like I said, lodging is pretty basic. I stayed at Madarao Kogen Hotel (room with a communal toilet,) but I'm pretty sure they have rooms with bath/toilet.

Maybe my priorities are a bit wacky, but a clean full-service hotel is a requisite for us. Also, for our dates and occupancy (2adults+2kids), the only room types offered as available are ones without toilet. Nonetheless Madarao Kogen and Tangram combined make for a sizeable mountain with attractive-looking layout, and it's definitely a place I'd like to try out eventually.