About Us
@ The Hokkaido Wilds

About Us

Authors

Rob Thomson is a Kiwi, and co-founded HokkaidoWilds.org with Haidee as a space on the web for their Hokkaido adventure stories, originally posted on 14degrees.org. He still holds the Guinness World Record for the Longest Journey by Skateboard (12,159km). He also previously cycled 12,000km from Japan to Switzerland. He works at Hokusei Gakuen University (Associate Professor, Media & Communications – lab website). Member of Steering Committee for Hokkaido Outdoor Forum. Vice-chairperson of Hokkaido Outdoor Network.

Haidee is a Kiwi, and is co-founder of HokkaidoWilds.org. She has lived in Hokkaido for almost 10 years, having lived and worked in Sapporo, Niseko, Muroran, and Chitose City. Keen on the outdoors and birdwatching, Haidee planned most of the multi-day cycle touring routes on The Hokkaido Wilds, including campgrounds, daily distances, and onsen hotsprings. Haidee is a Ph.D.-holding assistant professor of applied linguistics at Hokusei University.

Rick is originally from the UK and has lived and worked in Japan for 20 years, 10 of those in Hokkaido. In that time he has hiked, biked and skied over much of the island. He’s also an anthropologist who spent his early career working with the Ainu indigenous people of Hokkaido. Even before his adventures in Hokkaido, he had passed more years than he would like to remember tramping the bogs of his native Peak District and the wild hills of Scotland, and trekking in the mountains of Europe and the Himalayas.

Chris Auld is a Kiwi (from Rotorua, NZ) living in Asia. As a whitewater kayaker, mountain biker and skier with a cabin in Hokkaido he’s keen to share both high adventure and family fun trips here on Hokkaido Wilds. Chris is a qualified ski guide, avalanche and whitewater rescue technician, outdoor first-aider and he makes a mean backcountry jet-boil wagyu shabu-shabu.

Hugo is a long-time Niseko resident, originally from the south of France. He started kayaking age 8 in his local kayaking club in France and has paddled in more than 15 countries around the globe in search of beautiful whitewater. As the owner-operator of Niseko Flyfishing and Tenkara, and as an avid kayaker and river guide, he lives and breathes rivers in Hokkaido.

Rob Thomson is a Kiwi, and founded The Hokkaido Wilds as a space on the web for his Hokkaido adventure stories, originally posted on 14degrees.org. He still holds the Guinness World Record for the Longest Journey by Skateboard (12,159km). He also previously cycled 12,000km from Japan to Switzerland. He holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Science, and currently works at Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo City as an assistant professor in media and communications (specializing in Internet pschology – lab website).

Haidee is a Kiwi, and has lived in Hokkaido for almost 10 years, having lived and worked in Sapporo, Niseko, Muroran, and Chitose City. Keen on the outdoors and birdwatching, Haidee planned most of the multi-day cycle touring routes on The Hokkaido Wilds, including campgrounds, daily distances, and onsen hotsprings. Haidee is an assistant professor of applied linguistics at Hokusei University Junior College.

Rick is originally from the UK and has lived and worked in Japan for 20 years, 10 of those in Hokkaido. In that time he has hiked, biked and skied over much of the island. He’s also an anthropologist who spent his early career working with the Ainu indigenous people of Hokkaido. Even before his adventures in Hokkaido, he had passed more years than he would like to remember tramping the bogs of his native Peak District and the wild hills of Scotland, and trekking in the mountains of Europe and the Himalayas.

Chris Auld is a Kiwi (from Rotorua, NZ) living in Asia. As a whitewater kayaker, mountain biker and skier with a cabin in Hokkaido he’s keen to share both high adventure and family fun trips here on Hokkaido Wilds. Chris is a qualified ski guide, avalanche and whitewater rescue technician, outdoor first-aider and he makes a mean backcountry jet-boil wagyu shabu-shabu.

Hugo is a long-time Niseko resident, originally from the south of France. He started kayaking age 8 in his local kayaking club in France and has paddled in more than 15 countries around the globe in search of beautiful whitewater. As the owner-operator of Niseko Flyfishing and Tenkara, and as an avid kayaker and river guide, he lives and breathes rivers in Hokkaido.

Rob Thomson is a Kiwi, and founded The Hokkaido Wilds. He still holds the Guinness World Record for the Longest Journey by Skateboard (12,159km). Member of Steering Committee for Hokkaido Outdoor Forum. Vice-chairperson of Hokkaido Outdoor Network.

Haidee is a Kiwi, and has lived in Hokkaido for almost 10 years. She is the brains behind planning of most of the multi-day cycle touring routes on The Hokkaido Wilds.

Rick is originally from the UK and has lived and worked in Japan for 20 years, 10 of those in Hokkaido. In that time he has hiked, biked and skied over much of the island. He’s also an anthropologist who spent his early career working with the Ainu indigenous people of Hokkaido. Even before his adventures in Hokkaido, he had passed more years than he would like to remember tramping the bogs of his native Peak District and the wild hills of Scotland, and trekking in the mountains of Europe and the Himalayas.

Chris Auld is a Kiwi (from Rotorua, NZ) living in Asia. As a whitewater kayaker, mountain biker and skier with a cabin in Hokkaido he’s keen to share both high adventure and family fun trips here on Hokkaido Wilds. Chris is a qualified ski guide, avalanche and whitewater rescue technician, outdoor first-aider and he makes a mean backcountry jet-boil wagyu shabu-shabu.

Hugo is a long-time Niseko resident, originally from the south of France. He started kayaking age 8 in his local kayaking club in France and has paddled in more than 15 countries around the globe in search of beautiful whitewater. As the owner-operator of Niseko Flyfishing and Tenkara, and as an avid kayaker and river guide, he lives and breathes rivers in Hokkaido.

Contributors

Contributors are those who have helped The Hokkaido Wilds happen with photos, know-how, gear and stories. We’re super proud of the international team of contributors, without whom this site would waay less interesting.

Greg and Mari - Hokkaido Wilds Canoe Advisors

Greg (CA) and Mari (JP)

Greg and Mari are one of the most prolific Canadian canoeing couples in Hokkaido, with a host of multi-day canoe trips under their belt. Hokkaido Wilds leans heavily on their experience and knowledge when planning canoe trips.

Domi is an award-winning graphic designer, based in Poland. She’s also a passionate outdoors-person. She created the look-and-feel/visual branding of the Hokkaido Wilds, along with custom graphics.

Andrew Tranter (AUS)

Andrew is a self-proclaimed ski-bum, but behind the scenes is a talented and experienced systems engineer who we’re thrilled to have on board making sure all our website content gets delivered to users around the world reliably, efficiently, and fast.

Timbah Bell is from Aspen, USA, and lives in Shimukappu Village in the Hidaka Range. He’s a keen outdoors instructor, with numerous sea kayak, sailing, ski, trekking, and bicycle expeditions under his belt. He has led and instructed expeditionary skills courses for over 10 years.

Danielle Mitchell UX Intern

Danielle Mitchell (NZ)

Danielle is a UX Intern, currently based in Stockholm, Sweden. She is helping us out by listening to HokkaidoWild.sorg users and their experiences on the site, in order to get insight into how we can make the site better.

Joe is a talented digital artist, best known by his moniker @joekkaido. He has produced some custom badges for special routes on HokkaidoWilds.org. He also produces art for @twinmoonsupply.

Palm Equipment Japan has given us great support in our Hokkaido sea kayaking documentation project, with gear that helps keep us safe and comfortable on the water.

Biwako Canoe Center is one of Japan’s largest importers of foreign-made kayaks and canoes. They’re based just north of Kyoto, near Lake Biwa. They gave us a generous discount on a new sea kayak.

A.k.a. The Hokkaido Bush Pig. As the most experienced and prolific foreign mountain guide Hokkaido has known, Leon provided a wealth of insight early on when we were starting our Hokkaido exploring. He now lives in New Zealand.

Guide House Canoa is a Canadian canoe guiding service on Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaido. They ooze passion for everything canoeing. They provided us with two amazing Nova Craft Prospector 16 canoes for our Hokkaido canoeing project.

Micro Raft Systems (MRS) is a premium packraft manufacturer based in China’s wild and mountainous Sichuan Province. MRS provides us with lightweight durable gear to explore Hokkaido’s remote waterways.

Stay North Adventure Co. is a booking site providing access to down-to-earth cabins around Hokkaido for adventure-seekers. They’ve allowed us to crash at their pads in Niseko and central Hokkaido. 

Donors

Donors are awesome people and organizations who have helped us out with financial support in some way. Read more about how to help here.

Many thanks also to: Fabio Souto.

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Hokkaido Wilds Foundation

We’ve got affiliate links on HokkaidoWilds.org to help fund the Hokkaido Wilds foundation.

The Foundation gets a small commission on sales from affiliate links, but we only link to stuff we think is worth checking out for people keen on the outdoors in Hokkaido and Japan.

The Hokkaido Wilds Foundation is a fund where 100% of funds are donated to Hokkaido volunteer groups involved in sustainable, safe, and responsible access to the Hokkaido outdoors.

Learn more here

ADVANCED FILTERS

Filter by location

About Filters

REGION: The general mountain/geographical region the route is in.

BEST MONTH(S): Time of year a route is suited to visiting. Some pop all season, some are more limited.

DIFFICULTY: How strenuous a route is, and how technical it is. Full details here.

FREERIDE/SKITOUR: Very subjective, but is a route more-of-a-walk-than-a-ski or the other way around? Some routes are all about the screaming downhill (freeride), some are more about the hunt for a peak or nice forest (ski-tour). Some are in between. 

MAIN ASPECT: Which cardinal direction the primary consequential slope is facing, that you might encounter on the route. More details here.

ROUTE TAGS: An eclectic picking of other categories that routes might belong to.

SEARCH BY LOCATION: You can find routes near your current location – just click on the crosshairs (). You may need to give permission to HokkaidoWilds.org to know your GPS location (don’t worry, we won’t track you). Or, type in a destination, such as Niseko or Sapporo or Asahikawa etc.

Please let us know how we can make it easier to narrow down your search. Contact Rob at rob@hokkaidowilds.org with your suggestions.

About Us Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

D

25

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

D

0

Hazards

D

Navigation

D

Totals

25/100

GRADES range from A (very difficult) to D (easy). Hazards include exposure to avalanche and fall risk. More details here. Rating rubric adapted from Hokkaido Yukiyama Guidebook 北海道雪山ガイド.