Guide To Buying Your Lift Pass – Niseko, Hakuba and Furano

It can be a pretty stressful time when you’re booking a trip to Japan. Itineraries, accommodation, airport transfers– trying to organise everything can become a whirlwind. Then, when it comes time to decide on the lift pass that will best suit your needs, it adds a whole new layer of planning and preparation.

We wanted to make this process easy for you by curating a step-by-step guide on the different kinds of lift passes available in Japan, the differences between each, and the varying benefits.

Types of Niseko Lift Passes

Niseko yotei Japan Lift Pass

There are four main types of lift passes available at Niseko United resorts:

Day Passes

As with most ski resorts around the world, day passes are tickets that cover you for a selected number of days. These passes can be purchased for single day options, or for multiple consecutive days.

Note: some resorts offer consecutive day passes that include rest days, so if you have a 6 day pass, it can be used over 10 days.

Season Passes

Season passes offer riders the freedom of unlimited lift access throughout the entire winter and spring seasons. In Niseko you can buy season passes for individual mountains, or an All Mountain pass, which covers you for all four of Niseko’s resorts.

Hourly Passes

A lot of Niseko’s resorts offer hourly lift passes which can be used across multiple days, but only for a limited amount of time. E.g- If you buy a five hour pass and ride 3 hours on one day, the following day you will still have two hours remaining on the pass. The system is gauged per hour, so if you scan in at a lift station at 12:01 p.m, your pass will be deemed as used for that hour (12:00 – 12:59). If you are wanting to buy an hourly lift pass and use it over multiple days, make sure your last ride is within the hour (12:59 p.m). 

Point Passes

Point passes are quite a simple system, in general, 1 point = 1 lift, therefore if you buy a 12 point pass, you have access to use the lifts 12 times. However, some lifts are worth more points, ie- a gondola can sometimes be worth 3-4 points, so it’s always important to check before you tap on!


 

How to Buy Niseko Passes

In-Resort

All of Niseko’s resorts have ticket boxes at the entry to the mountain, offering guests the opportunity to buy their lift pass and go riding immediately.

Online

There is also the option to pre-purchase your lift pass online. While this is an option that saves time and can quite often offer discounts, you will still need to collect your pass from the resort ticket office, unless you have a lift pass from the previous season that you have topped up.

Lift Passes Offered Across Niseko Resorts

Lift Passes For Resorts Near Niseko

You may find it unsurprising that given Niseko’s huge amount of annual snowfall, each of its neighbouring resorts also receive huge dumps of powder every winter season. If you’re looking at exploring more than just the Niseko United resorts, here are a few of the best neighbouring resorts and the types of lift passes that each sells:

Let Us Organise Your Niseko Trip!

Our Trips Packages Include Lift Passes

If that all feels like a bit too much effort, why not look into the Rhythm Trips packages? Everything you need to enjoy Niseko in one convenient bundle, Rhythm TRIPS offer customers a carefree experience by sorting out rentals, lessons & guiding, private transfers and lift tickets all in the one package. All you need to worry about is having a fun time out on the slopes, we’ll sort the rest!

Types of Hakuba Passes

Rhythm Hakuba Store

All 10 resorts in the Hakuba Valley share the same lift pass system, and you have 2 main options when buying lift passes. You can either buy the Hakuba Valley Lift Pass, or you can buy a daily pass at each resort each day.

*Tip- Epic pass holders are covered for five consecutive days riding at any of the Hakuba Valley resorts. Pass holders will also have free access to the Hakuba Valley shuttle service.

Day Passes

Day lift passes are tickets that cover you for a selected number of days. These lift passes can be purchased for single day options, as well as for multiple consecutive days.

Season Passes

Season passes offer riders the freedom of unlimited lift access throughout the entire winter and spring seasons. In Hakuba you can buy season passes for individual mountains, or a Hakuba Valley Pass pass, which covers you for all ten of Hakuba’s resorts.

Half-Day Passes

Most Hakuba resorts offer half-day lift passes, which are valid for 4 hours and can be used for either the morning or afternoon.

 


 

How to Buy Hakuba Passes

In-Resort

Hakuba’s resorts have ticket boxes at the entry to the mountain, offering guests the opportunity to buy their pass and go riding immediately.

Online

You also have the option to pre-purchase your lift pass online. While this is an option that saves time and can quite often offer discounts, you will still need to collect your pass from the resort ticket office, unless you have a lift pass from the previous season that you have topped up.

Lift Passes Offered Across Hakuba Resorts

Sanosaka
Sanosaka offers passes from ¥4,800 yen for adults and ¥1,00 for children. Sanosaka does not have an option to purchase online, tickets can only be bought from the ticket kiosk at the resort.

Types of Furano Lift Passes

powder-snow-mountain-hokkaido-japan

Furano lift passes are all inclusive and provide access to both the Kitanomine and Furano zones, comprising 9 ski lifts and 28 trails. Passholders can use the lifts for both day and night skiing and children aged 12 and under ski free, given they have picked up their passes from a lift ticket office. 

There are four types of lift passes available for the Furano resort:

Day Passes

Day passes are tickets that cover you for a selected number of days. These lift passes can be purchased for single day options, as well as for multiple consecutive days.

Season Passes

Season passes offer riders the freedom of unlimited lift access throughout the entire resort. 

Half-Day Passes

Furano offers hourly lift passes, which are valid for either 3 or 5 hours.

Point Passes

Point passes are quite a simple system, in general, 1 point = 1 lift, therefore if you buy a 12 point pass, you have access to use the lifts 12 times. However, some lifts are worth more points, ie- a gondola can sometimes be worth 3-4 points, so it’s always important to check before you tap on!

 


 

How to Buy Furano Lift Passes

In-Resort

Furano has a ticket box at the entry to the mountain, offering guests the opportunity to buy their pass and go riding immediately.

Online

You also have the option to pre-purchase your lift pass online. While this is an option that saves time and can quite often offer discounts, you will still need to collect your pass from the resort ticket office, unless you have a lift pass from the previous season that you have topped up. To purchase online you will have to go through the Prince Hotels website.

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