Five of the best Asian countries for skiing, recommended resorts and our top pick for this winter
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang will put the spotlight on slopes in South Korea, but there are plenty of other places in Asia to go for great skiing, including a few surprising locations
It may not have any snow of its own, but Hong Kong is ideally placed to fly off to the best skiing and snowboarding slopes across Asia.
“Hong Kong residents can consider themselves lucky,” says Rupert Orchard, 31, a former ski instructor based in China and Japan and founder of SkiAsia.com. “It’s a great hub from which to explore ski resorts in China, South Korea or Japan.”
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With a growing number of accessible and well-developed ski resorts in Asia, these are good times for experienced and novice skiers alike. Here are our picks of the best places to go this winter.
Japan
Season runs from late December to late March
Japan seems to be everyone’s favourite place to ski in Asia. Its major resorts, Niseko in Hokkaido and Hakuba, near Nagano in the Japanese Alps, have changed a lot in the past decade to appeal to international travellers.
“In Niseko you can now expect to find luxury hotels and condominiums, Western-style restaurants and international ski schools, many of which are staffed by Australians, Kiwis and Britons,” Orchard says.
Niseko is Japan’s leading ski resort and its main attraction is some of the world’s finest fresh “champagne powder”.
