Horokanai Bozu-yama Ski Touring (Hokkaido, Japan)

PARKING: There’s no feasible parking options at the foot of Bozu-yama in Horokanai. We recommend a drop-off by a non-skiing party member.

Bozu-yama in Horokanai (幌加内坊主山, 743m) is a distinctive peak, visible from the quiet central Horokanai streets. Likely to appeal to both seasoned experts and the less experienced, it offers some excellent dry powder skiing on short but infinitely lappable slopes from its mostly treeless peak. There's no long forestry road approach either, so snowboarders on snowshoes will have plenty of fun on this route too. Expect inspiring views of the plains of Horokanai below - home not only of the coldest ever recorded temperature in Japan, a frigid -41.2°C, but also the lowest population density of any town in Japan.

Backcountry skiers come to this quiet town in winter seeking some of the driest, coldest powder in Hokkaido. The stats don’t lie, with the February average low hovering at -15°C. Despite these cold temperatures, on average, 1348cm of snow falls in any given year in Horokanai Town. Compare this to Kutchan’s (Niseko) February average low of -10°C. This all adds up to Horokanai and its surrounding hills being one of the most overlooked areas in Hokkaido for great powder skiing.

Most of the action happens in the one long valley, with multiple options in the hills on either side. Bozu-yama is a relatively low hill, but has some great skiing from the summit either on the western or eastern faces. There are a number of other peaks called Bozu-yama in Japan, so that’s why you’ll often see this particular peak with ‘Horokanai’ in front of it. ‘Bozu’, by the way, is a word referring to a buzz-cut haircut. Bozu-yama fits this description, with a rounded, mostly tree-less peak.