Gondola Snowsports Go Snow goes first at Niseko

Everybody knows Rule #1 on a powder day, be first. Gondola Snowsports GoSnow in Niseko can hugely increase your chances of that with their lift priority at Niseko Hirafu.

improve your chances of scoring this @Niseko © glen claydon / www.gondolasnowsports.com

Life is rarely fair, and never when it comes to liftlines on a powder day! So grab an unfair advantage, book lessons or guiding with the official English language Snow Sports School at Hirafu, Gondola Snowsports GoSnow, and beat that frustrating Niseko Gondola people snake.
Heading into its third season, GoSnow is on a roll, with likely up to 200 instructors for 2016-17, which will make them by far the largest International Ski School in Japan, never mind Niseko. We interviewed Director Tareesa Straatmans last year (for our ipad Japan Classics issue) and hope to catch up again for the next issue, but meantime look forward to lots of new things for the upcoming 2016-17 season including:
• 2 new magic carpets
• new kids area, and new carpet by the Family Pair
• more priority lift access
• more instructors (probably 200) making it the biggest international school in Japan by a long way
• Larger on snow facilities for kids lunches toilets etc

Even with all the new instructors space at peak times will be limited, and especially for family programs the earlier you book the better. If you have younger kids, not older ones who leave you for dead anyway, check them into a Ninja Kids program and treat yourself to a Powder Workshop.
Lift priority on the Gondy and the Ace quad makes a big difference to getting more and better quality laps in, and more lifts are expected to be added to the priority list.
Another sneaky way to avoid that queue is come back for the night sessions, which is especially easy if you stay close. It’s amazing how much snow can pile up in a few hours after most people pack it in late afternoon and early evening, plus the visibility is often better at night than during a typical snowy Niseko day session. It’s a shame they don’t run it to the treeline like in ye olden days, but you can still access plenty of terrain – far skiers right off the quad is my favourite. – OP
more at www.gondolasnowsports.com

Jump the Gondy queue! © glen claydon / www.gondolasnowsports.com