Two Ski Enthusiasts Share How Sapporo Offers the Best of Both Worlds

As skiers, we usually have to pick between the city or the slopes—but in Sapporo, you can have both!

T: I grew up in London, so I’m a city boy at heart. Skiing has always meant giving up city life, but here it’s been amazing because I can enjoy both. There aren’t many cities in the world where you can quickly access the mountains and ski every day! I’m definitely jealous.

H: In past trips to Japan, I’ve stayed at resorts like Hakuba or Niseko or spent time in Tokyo. But Sapporo is different. It’s a city surrounded by nature and mountains, giving me a similar vibe to Wellington in New Zealand—except much bigger, and with skiing. From Sapporo Teine, you can see the whole city and the sea—we joked about checking out the waves from the mountain!

With diverse terrain and lifts running from morning to evening, Sapporo’s ski resorts offer flexibility.

H: The ski resorts offer a variety of terrain—you can pick which one to go to depending on the weather. Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort has a lot of trees, so even on snowy days, it’s nice and sheltered, while Sapporo Teine is more open, making sunny days even better with impressive views of the sprawling city and beyond.

T: Sapporo Teine also has a terrain park, so on less snowy days, there’s still plenty of fun to be had.

H: Some resorts, like Sapporo Moiwayama Ski Resort, offer night skiing and stay open the whole day, unlike other places where the ski resorts usually close for a couple of hours between the day and night shift. You can spend the day shopping and sightseeing, hit the slopes at 4:00 PM to watch the sunset gradually transform into twinkling city lights below, then knock off at 6:00 PM and enjoy dinner afterwards. It’s perfect.

Getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Sapporo’s local culture was truly special.

T: One of my favorite things was connecting with the locals. Visiting the street shops and local ski resorts, I even met some people who share mutual friends from the global ski community. It’s great to see that there’s a thriving ski scene here.

H: I was amazed by the school ski classes—seeing kids out enjoying nature as part of their daily routine was awesome and something I wish that other ski countries, including Switzerland, would do more of.

Another very cool thing about Sapporo is its almost hidden city network—you go underground or enter a random high-rise and it opens up to bars, tap rooms and all sorts of surprises. You feel like you’re part of the city.

T: I’m a total food nerd so going to the restaurants and watching the chefs do their work right in front of you was really cool. Seeing how they put together a bowl of ramen or craft a piece of sushi was super interesting.

H: You can see the influence of Hokkaido’s farming and dairy industries on the local cuisine. Unlike other ski resorts around the world, where we usually settle for options like French fries, we’ve had amazing food—which undoubtedly helps with recovery—I don’t feel nearly as sore as I usually do.

Sapporo is more than just a gateway to the slopes!

T: At just a couple of hours from downtown, even resorts like Rusutsu are easy to reach—the drive is similar to the kind of trip people in the States do all the time. There are even buses equipped for taking skis.

H: Not only is it easy to reach those further-out resorts, but staying in Sapporo is way more fun than being cooped up in a hotel on a mountain. Parts of the city remind me of Tokyo, with arcades, second-hand shops, and an underground scene full of bars and amazing food—we even found a bar where ski enthusiasts gather. On days you don’t feel like skiing, there’s so much to explore that you can still have great time off the hill.

A ski trip to Sapporo means you don’t have to compromise. You can get a feel for the local culture, enjoy amazing snow, and take advantage of everything the city has to offer. There aren’t many places in the world that offer so much.