Club Med Kiriro Grand in Hokkaido, Japan is a family-friendly destination for all levels of snow enthusiasts. Photo / George Heard
Club Med Kiriro Grand in Hokkaido, Japan is a family-friendly destination for all levels of snow enthusiasts. Photo / George Heard
Hokkaido - the second-largest island in Japan - is world-renowned for its powder skiing. Herald photojournalist George Heard checks out a new resort that brings the snow right to your door.
Stepping out of your hotel room wearing your ski boots and stepping straight on to the chair lift is one of life’s true pleasures.
The new Club Med Kiroro Grand, which opened in December 2023, offers a luxury stay for the snow enthusiast who particularly enjoys a touch of luxury and comfort.
With the all-inclusive resort Kiroro Grand catering more for families – and being the big brother of Kiroro Peak, which caters for a younger crowd – it also has a nice mix of runs – nine of the advanced, six medium, and eight green runs.
It also once recorded a staggering snow base of 21m – a record for the area – and although the snow was light early in the season when we arrived, it still brought smiles.
The benefits of the ski field at your doorstep. Photo / George Heard
Each morning, we opened the curtain to new snow, stepped outside, and spent hours carving it up.
Skiing builds the appetite and there are no shortages of excellent eating options.
Club Med Kiriro Grand offers superb food options. Photo / George Heard
The food on offer at Kiroro Grand itself is beyond amazing, featuring the finest of Japanese cuisine, as well as a mouthwatering Japanese-French fusion restaurant.
There’s little need to venture much further but we decided to take in the beautiful seaside town of Otaru, which is famed for its seafood markets.
The local town has a lot to offer. Photo / George Heard
We visited a small, quaint sushi bar, funnily enough called “Sushi bar”, which served, without doubt, the best sushi I have ever had.
The only difficulty was that the owners spoke zero English but with the international language of sign we muddled through. We even managed to signal that we might enjoy some of the local sake – alcoholic rice wine – an ideal gift for the boss back home.
Otaru in the winter. Photo / George Heard
Later on, we were encouraged to take in the local KFC. It seemed a strange suggestion given all the excellent food on offer, but there is a local tradition to have a bucket of KFC on Christmas Day. A Father Christmas dressed up on the street was enough to convince us that we should keep the tradition alive and tuck into some secret herbs and spices.
Club Med Kiriro Grand in Hokkaido, Japan . Photo / George Heard
Back at the resort, there was the Club Med culture evening that was strangely more enjoyable than I thought it might be. Every night, the dancers perform for guests. Shows can include group line dancing or trapeze during an LED light show – all performed by staff who most likely helped you on the chairlift earlier in the day.
After a few more runs down the mountain, as an apres-ski, we enjoyed the relaxing effects of Rotenburo outdoor bath and natural hot springs of Japanese onsen – literally meaning “hot spring” - which is the perfect way to reinvigorate and talk about the KFC Santa and the long powder runs.
Japan - a skiing hotspot
Japan has fast become one of the hottest spots in the world for people to ski.
The powder is known for being extremely light due to the cold temperatures (It’s not named JaPow for no reason).
Tree skiing and its après flavour is massively popular.
Japan has more than 500 ski resorts making it less crowded than New Zealand’s 38 resorts.
The kind and caring culture of the Japanese is also a major attraction for visitors.
There is a high chance you’ll wake up to fresh powder every morning.
