Description

This is one of the easiest ways to access the alpine without putting in too extensive a day in the Niseko area.

This run gets one a fair bit of skiing above treeline and a stunning view of the ocean.

If you can catch a cat ride to the top of the resort, it is the most affordable, lowest effort alpine skiing available in the Niseko area. From the top of the Chisenupuri Ascent South Route, drop in to the concave south-east face.

This is not an ideal route without good visibility as there are no landmarks or trees without being able to see far.

The SE face descends back towards the buried Route 66.

This is pretty far to the skiers left of the Chisenupuri S line.

There is an obvious concavity to follow the whole way down to the road.

The first 100 metres are exciting and steep, and can be skied very fast because there are not trees.

Being concave, the most hazardous part of this slope is the very beginning.

It is in the lee of the prevailing winds and regularly gets loaded.

However because it is S facing, it gets a lot of sun and there are generally many crusts that affect the snowpack here.

Take time to make an in depth assessment of the snow here, as even a short slide will bring you down through trees, potentially exacerbating injury.

but there are fortunately few to no rocks or cliffs below. Once out of the alpine, working the stands of trees to the riders right towards the road yields plenty of fun features such as rocks and stumps to jump off of.

In early season conditions, these trees will be too tight to be much fun to ski through.

Be wary to not traverse too far around to the right, not more than 150 metres, as the hot springs begin here.

These form holes and inconsistent snow cover late into the winter season. Once on Route 66, you will either need to skin back up towards the classic Chisenupuri S route, or follow the road down to the Nito Trailhead if you have put a car there ahead of time.