Rusutsu: two mountains, endless trees, ski-anywhere

There are two Rusutsus, and some people only ever meet one. On the west side of the highway is the resort proper: three big hotels, the beginner slopes, the onsen, the restaurants, the tubing hill. On the east side, across a footbridge and a gondola, is a pair of quiet forested ridges where you park by the lift, eat in a cafeteria, and ski trees until the light goes. On a first visit, book a guide for the east side and you can spend the whole day there without ever crossing the highway. Plenty of people do exactly that, tree skiing until the light goes without setting foot near the hotels, the onsen or the beginner slopes on the other side.

The east side is the reason to make the trip. The west side is why you might stay a week with a family.

The trees

Most Japanese resorts that allow tree skiing at all confine it to a few marked strips. Rusutsu does not. Inside the resort boundary you go where you want, at your own risk. Rusutsu does not routinely rope areas off, though as at any resort, anything that is roped off is closed and you should stay out of it. That policy, more than the terrain itself, is why the East Mountain is worth a drive.

What it means on the mountain is that the forest is not a set of runs but a wide area to work out: open faces, bowls, gullies dropping off both sides of the ridges and funnelling back to a lift. You are rarely forced to repeat a line. It is not steep the way Hakuba is steep, but there is enough pitch in the trees to keep you honest, and the amount of ground is more than you can learn in a trip. On a busy powder morning the obvious lines still get tracked, though slower than at Niseko. A guided half-day on a flat-light day is the fastest way to build a map of the place. There are no backcountry gates, so the lifts do not get you out of bounds; Mount Shiribetsu, next door, is the touring option.

The two mountains

The West Mountain is the family and beginner side, gentle up top and served by the resort. Its long carving reds are the best intermediate terrain here. The East Mountain and Mount Isola are the other half: ridgelines with top-to-bottom reds down the spine, Isola Grand the longest at around 3.5km, blacks both groomed and not, and trees off every edge. It rides well on a snowboard because there is nothing to traverse, no flat to skate across, and no green run-out you are funnelled onto at the bottom of each lift.

By level: beginners on the West Mountain's low-angle Family course and greens; intermediates on the west-side reds and the mellower trees; anyone confident, anywhere in the forest, plus the black pistes. The lifts are fast and modern, and while Rusutsu does get busy, the ski-anywhere layout spreads people out. A base queue that looks bad is usually a ten-minute wait, and the crowd thins the moment you are off the top.

Snow

Rusutsu is 20km from Niseko and its snowfall is usually quoted against Niseko's, around 14 metres a season, some of the driest in Hokkaido. It snows most days from mid-December into early March. Because a lot of the terrain faces north and sits under tree cover, both the powder and the pistes tend to hold up a little longer here than they would on an exposed, sun-facing slope.

Where to stay

The three resort hotels are all on the west side and all priced for what they are: the sprawling Rusutsu Resort Hotel, the all-suite Westin, and the condo-style Vale. Comfortable, geared for families, not cheap. The small village just outside the resort has pensions and rental houses for less, a short walk, drive or shuttle from the lifts; the good ones go early.

The cheaper route, and a fine one if you have a car, is to stay in Kutchan, about 30 minutes away, where food, supermarkets and beds all cost markedly less and you can mix Rusutsu with Niseko and Kiroro across a week.

Getting there and tickets

It is roughly 90 minutes by road from New Chitose Airport, about 100 from Sapporo, and 30 to 40 minutes from Kutchan or Niseko, which is what makes it a straightforward day trip. There is a shuttle bus you have to book ahead. The train from Tokyo takes at least eight hours across two trains and two buses and is not worth it.

The two sides have separate car parks. Coming for the trees, drive to East Center Station and park there. Staying at a hotel or wanting the resort facilities, head to the Rusutsu Resort car parks. On tickets: an adult day pass is ¥12,000 for 2025/26, a child ¥5,800; there is also a 25-hour ticket that counts your actual time on the lifts, which suits day-trippers who lose an hour to the drive. Epic Pass holders get five consecutive days, but the pass is not sold at the resort, so buy it before you fly.

Rental and lessons

Salomon and Atomic run rental stations at both bases, from about ¥8,500 for an adult set and ¥6,100 for a child, better gear and multi-day rates on top, clothing available so you can turn up with nothing. Private ski and snowboard lessons in English start around ¥44,000 for two hours, up to five skiers or four boarders, and the resort will also arrange in-bounds guiding, which for the East Mountain is money well spent. Book both through the resort site.

Off the mountain

Two hotel onsen are open to non-guests: the Westin's, with an outdoor bath, and Kotobuki at the Rusutsu Resort Hotel, a large modern one that opened in 2019. Rusutsu also runs an unusually large non-ski activities programme, worth knowing about if half your group does not ski: horse riding, ice fishing and a snow-circuit rally car experience alongside the more predictable snowmobile and dog-sled tours.

Evenings are quiet. The Westin lobby lounge is about all that is open in the afternoon; Pub Cricket and the smarter Obrist cocktail bar start at 5:30. There is a small run of izakaya past the car park by the Vale, Rodeo Drive and Tanpopo Shokudo among them. For food the resort has more than 20 winter restaurants leaning on Hokkaido produce, several reservation-only in peak weeks, and the Rusutsu Resort Hotel buffet is the one people rave about. On the East Mountain, there is a cafeteria at East Center Station and one at each Isola base, so you are never more than a lift from a warm room.

The feel

There is none of the usual Japanese anxiety about staying on a marked route back to base. Point yourself downhill anywhere in the trees and you will still land at a lift, because the whole layout funnels that way by design. It is modern rather than old-Japan, with a domestic, family crowd rather than the international scene that has taken over Niseko. The runs are not long. The lifts are quick enough that on most days you will not mind, and the trees are the point anyway.

Need to know

Lift pass

Adult day pass ¥12,000 (2025/26), child ¥5,800. A 25-hour ticket counts lift time only, good for day-trippers. On the Epic Pass for five consecutive days, but buy the pass before you arrive.

Rental

Salomon and Atomic at both bases, from about ¥8,500 adult, ¥6,100 child; clothing available; prebookable on the resort site.

Lessons

Private English ski and snowboard lessons from around ¥44,000 for two hours (up to five skiers or four boarders). In-bounds guiding bookable, worth it for the East Mountain.

Backcountry

No gates and no lift-served backcountry. Mount Shiribetsu, next door, is the touring option.

Getting around

Easiest with a car: 90 minutes from New Chitose Airport, 30 to 40 from Niseko or Kutchan. Trees, park at East Center Station; resort, the Rusutsu Resort car parks.