Custom Packages

The beauty of a privately guided trip is that it is entirely customisable to suit what you want to do the most.

We can organise all aspects of your trip with us:

• Resort Powder & Backcountry
• Lift Assisted Backcountry
• Backcountry Touring
• Accommodation
• Cultural Experiences
• Transfers
• Meals

See our example packages for more details on what we can provide.

EXAMPLE 10 NIGHT PRIVATELY GUIDED HOKKAIDO ROAD TRIP

A PRIVATE ROAD TRIP THROUGH ALL THAT HOKKAIDO HAS TO OFFER IN THE NISEKO, OTARU AND CENTRAL HOKKAIDO REGIONS

¥POA

INCLUSIONS

• Fully guided on the slopes
  Qualified Whiteroom guide to show you the best of Japanese powder.
  All lift passes included.
• Resorts and backcountry zones include
  Furano, Asahidake, Kamui, Tomamu, Sahoro, Pippu, Niseko, Rusutsu, Moiwa, Kiroro, Kokusai, Teine, Mt Yotei, Shiribetsu, Tokachidake and others.
• Daily transport
  Comfortable 4WD transport to/from resorts.
• 4 nights in Niseko
  Twin/triple share at Full Note, Hirafu.
• 4 nights in Furano
  Twin/triple share at North Country Inn.
• 2 nights in Otaru
  Twin/triple share at Grand Park Otaru.
• Airport transfers
  Resort Liner airport transfers.
• Daily breakfast

MAX 6 to 1 client to guide ratio

EXAMPLE 7 NIGHT PRIVATE CENTRAL HOKKAIDO EXPERIENCE

A PRIVATELY GUIDED PACKAGE FOR THOSE CHASING THE DRY POWDER OF CENTRAL HOKKAIDO.

¥POA

INCLUSIONS

• Fully guided on the slopes
  Qualified Whiteroom guide to show you the best of Japanese powder.
  All lift passes included.
• Resorts and backcountry zones include
  Furano, Asahidake, Kamui, Tomamu, Sahoro, Pippu, Tokachidake and others.
• Daily transport
  Comfortable 4WD transport to/from resorts.
• 7 nights in Furano
  Twin/triple share at North Country Inn.
• Airport transfers
  Resort Liner airport transfers.

MAX 6 to 1 client to guide ratio

EXAMPLE 7 NIGHT NISEKO/OTARU POWDER TRIP

EXPERIENCE NISEKO & OTARU, THE SNOWIEST PLACE IN JAPAN.

¥POA

INCLUSIONS

• Fully guided on the slopes
  Qualified Whiteroom guide to show you the best of Japanese powder.
  All lift passes included.
• Resorts and backcountry zones include
  Niseko, Rusutsu, Moiwa, and Kiroro, Kokusai, Teine, Mt Yotei, Shiribetsu, Tokachidake and others.
• Daily transport
  Comfortable 4WD transport to/from resorts.
• 5 nights in Niseko
  Twin/triple share at Full Note Pension.
• 2 nights in Otaru
  Staying at Grand Park Otaru.
• Airport transfers
  Resort Liner airport transfers.

MAX 6 to 1 client to guide ratio

EXAMPLE 8 NIGHT PRIVATELY GUIDED/HOSTED TOHOKU PACKAGE

ENTER AN UNEXPLORED WORLD OF DEEP POWDER, UNTOUCHED TERRAIN AND BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

¥POA

INCLUSIONS

• Fully guided on the slopes
  Qualified Whiteroom guide to show you the best of Japanese powder.
  All lift passes included.
• Resorts and backcountry zones include
  Hakkoda, Aomori Springs, Geto Kogen, Appi Kogen, Hachimantai Shimokura, Tazawako, and Shizukushi.
• Hosted off-mountain
  Guide will recommend and take you to great local restaurants.
• Daily transport
  Comfortable 4WD transport to/from resorts.
• 5 nights in Morioka
  Twin/triple share at Hotel Grand Annex.
• 3 nights in Hakkoda
  Twin/triple share.
• Train station transfers
  Transfers from/to Morioka and Aomori train stations.
• Daily breakfast

MAX 6 to 1 client to guide ratio

Arran was a very pleasant guide, who kept me safe, and took me to good spots in Sahoro and Tomamu.

– Christopher Tong, 2019

They were awesome guides, found us freshies all day, helped my wife get up to speed on pow and give her the confidence she needed. They took care of everything and were a joy to ride with!

– Miles Kahn, 2019

I / we really enjoyed the day with Brooke, she was very patient trying to teach this old dog new tricks in the powder. I would not hesitate to recommend her given the wealth of knowledge & experience she was able to mix with an easy going instruction style. Thanks for a great experience!

– Brad Oldham, 2019

We had a great time with Zach, he was patient, accommodating and responsive to the questions and preferences of each one of my family. He took us to great runs, with beautiful powder and helped us appreciate the variety of options at Furano that lay outside the gates. He is a fantastic asset to your company. We had a great meal after our day at the sushi train with him.

– Shaun Zail, 2019

Awesome, special, one of a kind day.. amazing! We were worried that with no snow for 3 days it would be a bit of a waste taking a guided day but Rachael went out of her way to come up with a plan and contacted us the night before to suggest snow shoes. A new experience for all of us that got us right into the back country and some fresh snow. Then her and Christian the other guide linked up to do a new route out to a van drop so we didn’t have to go back to the resort. I cannot recommend Rachael highly enough, she was so enthusiastic and answered all our annoying questions with a smile all day. When it did snow heavily we went straight back to Rutsutsu to hit some of the spots she had shown us two days prior. Thanks to her and Graeme for all the work in the lead up.

– Joe Fisher, 2019

We’re constantly in search of fresh lines out past the ski area boundaries in uncontrolled terrain. Whiteroom has always had safety of both our clients and guides at the centre of what we do.

Developed over many seasons we now have in place a multi layered safety system that ensures we are in keeping with the highest international standards of operating procedure. This process starts long before we touch the snow in the early hours of the morning as our team of avalanche forecasters rise to check out our weather stations at each of our home bases and match this data to what the forecast is predicting. Each day our guides in the field feed their observations into our in-house snow safety system which combined with live data allows our forecaster to post our daily avalanche hazard rating.

Working with the local Hokkaido Mountain Guides Association we now have a network of remote equipment caches across Northern Japan allowing us to have access to both rescue and medical equipment should we ever need it. If an incident does occur in the backcountry you’ll be safe in the knowledge that our guides hold remote first aid and professional level avalanche qualifications as a minimum as well as undergoing training sessions throughout the season.

This lines up with Whiteroom’s core philosophy of developing strong relationships with the local Japanese associations to ensure a higher standard of care and safety for our client whilst we chase fresh powder and untracked terrain.

GUIDING

• Expect an 8 am pick-up from your accommodation and drop-off at 4-5pm
• Depending on the groups’ ability we will spend 90% off the day off-piste exploring the side and backcountry of each resort. However if your group just want to be shown around piste that’s fine too, but our guides won’t like it that much and really, what’s the point? By and large, we are guided by your ability and fitness and will match terrain choice to these attributes
• Hiking is not expected but a short boot pack or traverse her and there can get you some pretty amazing lines, but that’s up to you! We are keen if you are!
• Avalanche safety equipment is compulsory for this product.
• The resort destination can be flexible so that you get the best conditions possible
• If you booked a certain ski resort and the lifts are shut that day we will offer up another resort. If all available resort options are closed we will try to reschedule another day (if available), or offer you a full refund

Remember – lift tickets are not included but can be arranged

BACKCOUNTRY TOURING

• Expect a 7:30-8am pick-up from your accommodation and drop-off at 5-6pm
• The destination can be flexible so that you get the best conditions possible
• If you booked a certain area and the weather makes this objective impossible we will offer up another resort. If all available options are not possible we will try to reschedule another day (if available), or offer you a full refund.
• Avalanche safety equipment and touring equipment is compulsory for this product.

When booking this service you are getting:

• Your own qualified and experienced guide. This means you can have one person or up to six in the group. The fee remains the same so the more people you have the cheaper per person it becomes.
• Accommodation pick-up and drop-off and transportation to the ski area. Usually, you will have private transportation, but if we have another group heading to the same ski area that day you may need to share. We don’t want to add any more carbon than necessary to the atmosphere.

Things to remember:

• Avalanche safety equipment. You will need this equipment. This includes a transceiver, probe and shovel. You can hire this equipment from us and you will be instructed how to use this equipment and be given a safety briefing before each days riding. The gear issued to you is your responsibility and if it is lost or damaged you will pay for a new replacement.
• This is a private booking. You will only have those in the group that you yourself have booked. If it’s you and your three friends then that’s who’s in the group. If it is just you then awesome. You book and we guide – no blow-ins.
• We can only guide to the lowest ability in the group. If you have a friend that’s slow and the rest of your group is fast then you may have some issues getting as much out of the day as you’d hoped. You either need to be happy that you are going slowly and accessing mellow terrain or you need to quietly ask your friend/partner to go have a beer or hot chocolate so that you can hit some more challenging terrain. Beware that we aren’t going to get into group politics so please sort out everyone’s expectations before the guided day and we’ll all have a lot more fun.
• Mixing skiers and snowboarders – whilst we don’t really mind guiding mixed groups this can limit your terrain choice and prefered line. Skiers can of course traverse hard, step up and pole out of flat spots so this opens up larger areas of terrain, especially on Asahidake. Conversely, snowboarders read a mountain differently and want to smash long wide open turns and hit drops and features.
• We do not guide beginners or low-intermediates. Sorry, but we don’t see the point in guiding someone on the piste. If you are this ability level we recommend booking a private instructor as you’ll get so much more out of a day instruction than a day guiding.

STANDARD CONDITIONS

View our full Terms & Conditions / COVID Policy here.

Guide Bookings Confirmation & Payment Cancellation Policy

Please note that Guide bookings are NOT CONFIRMED until a 20% deposit has been paid. Final balance is due 30 days prior to the start of your booking.

You must complete our booking form and Registration/Waiver from before your guided day. Failure to do so will result in the cancelation of your booking.

Guide Bookings Cancellation Policy

Your 20% deposit is non-refundable unless we cancel the guided day due to unforeseen circumstances such as bad weather or guide injury.

Whiteroom will refund your full payment less the 20% deposit if notice is given 30 days prior to your booking date commencement.

Whiteroom will refund 50% of your full payment if less than 30 days but more than 7 days notice of cancellation is given.

Whiteroom will provide no refund for cancellations less than 7 days prior or a no show on your booked day.

If Whiteroom has to cancel your guided day due to adverse weather or other unforeseen circumstances you will be offered another date or a 100% refund.

Backcountry Safety Equipment Requirements

Backcountry safety equipment is compulsory for all participants on any guided day. All of the necessary equipment (transceiver, shovel, probe and backpack) is available to hire. Please advise us if you need this equipment when booking. You may also bring your own gear to use.

If your Backcountry trip requires Alpine Touring equipment, split boards or snowshoes we will advise & recommend where the equipment can be rented from if you do not already have your own.

Pre Purchasing Lift Tickets

For day trips we recommend against purchasing lift tickets in advance, as there are no additional cost savings. Pre-purchasing lift tickets may only serve to limit your flexibility. Due to localized weather patterns, conditions can often be much different at nearby resorts & may influence the final destination decision.

Ski / Snowboard Ability Requirements

We recommend that you try to have everyone in the group at a similar ability level.

This is very important as experience shows that no one wants to be in over their head, holding up a group or alternatively waiting for others to make it down the mountain.

However, if you are all happy with a mixed ability group because you are all friends or family members then that is of course fine with us.

Ski / Snowboard Instruction

Some of our Whiteroom Guides are also qualified instructors or avalanche trainers. All our Guides are happy to offer advice and tips to help you improve your skills.

If you are interested specifically in instruction to improve your skills we accept instructional bookings in the shoulder season only, otherwise we can book a ski lesson with instructional schools in your area.