Online Survey
Tap below to get started if you’ve skied in the Hokkaido backcountry (lift-access or non-lift-access) within the past seven years.
- What you get: US$5 Amazon.com voucher (first 200 participants), enter the draw to win a US$330 all-Japan ski pass (everyone).
- How long it takes: About 15 minutes.
- Deadline: Survey is available from October 23rd till November 4th, 2024. Get in quick.
- Personal information: The survey asks for your email address if you want to get your Amazon.com gift voucher and enter in the draw, but no other identifying information.
- Other details: Tap the ‘Online Survey’ to see the full details.
Background
On September 13th this year, the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau put out a call for bids on a project to investigate ways to keep foreign backcountry skiers safe in Hokkaido (see the details here and here). The precursor to this is a continued increase in backcountry skiers visiting from overseas (as evidenced to a certain degree by access numbers to HokkaidoWilds.org, see the graph below).
This is leading to 1) acknowledgement of opportunities for local governments to embrace the backcountry as part of the visitor economy and 2) a renewed focus on the increase in backcountry incidents, particularly involving foreigners (Japan-citizen-oriented backcountry safety projects have been on-going for a while now).
HokkaidoWilds.org access
I (Rob) was approached by the team (including local legendary ski expeditioner and search-and-rescue leader Daisuke Sasaki) who won the contract for the research project, to help out with survey design (I’m a social scientist by profession) and English translation.
Project parts
This large-scale investigation of recreational and travel use of the Hokkaido backcountry has a few different parts (as per the official details).
- Pre-survey (Oct-Nov 2024): An online survey of non-Japanese backcountry skiers who have skied in Hokkaido before. Expected outcomes are understanding the skills, motivations, and characteristics of non-Japanese backcountry skiers in Hokkaido (here’s the survey link).
- Trailhead observations (Jan-Feb, 2025): Counting how many people are entering the backcountry (something sorely needed, which we talked about way back in 2019). Only by counting participation can you understand who is at risk in the backcountry. If you’re skiing in the Hokkaido backcountry in the 2024/2025 season, you might see project teams milling about.
- Promotion and safety strategy meetings: At least two gatherings of stakeholders to discuss how the Hokkaido can be sustainably promoted while keeping skiers safe.
- Comms campaign (Jan-Feb, 2025): Some form of awareness campaign to boost skiers’ understanding of the Hokkaido backcountry (opportunities and risks).
- Post-survey (Jan-Feb, 2025): A survey of on-the-ground foreign backcountry skiers during the 2024/2025 season.
This is a big deal
This project strongly indicates that the Japan government fully acknowledges, publicly and arguably for the first time, the existence of the Hokkaido backcountry as a recreation and travel space. It’s hard to fully describe how big of a deal this acknowledgement is. This is a positive thing for Hokkaido in several ways.
- Access: Active involvement by government should mean better trailhead infrastructure.
- Safety: Funding for more timely search-and-rescue operations (backcountry SAR in Hokkaido and Japan in general is woefully slow).
- Transparency: A lot of backcountry use flies under the radar in Hokkaido (including who and how people guide). That’s fine by us – the backcountry hills here are (and will continue to be) free to roam. But some understanding and transparency around who’s out there can lead to better management.
- Better information: At the moment, beyond hiring an experienced guide, HokkaidoWilds.org is arguably the only decent, wholistic source of information about the backcountry in Hokkaido. We don’t think it should be this way. More information means people have a more fulfilling, safe, informed, and inspiring time.
Q&A
Here are some answers to some queries about this project (if you have any others, drop them in the comments below).
I don’t anticipate so. First, the project’s stated aim is to facilitate participation and promotion of the Hokkaido backcountry. Second, the Hokkaido government is too deep into the adventure tourism ride for a project like this to limit access to adventure tourism resources. C.f. Hokkaido-hosted Adventure Travel World Summit 2023, Hokkaido adventure travel policy, nation-wide focus on Hokkaido as an adventure travel destination etc.
All reports from the project will be published on the Hokkaido District Transportation Bureau’s website here.
It’s a wee bit complicated. This project is commissioned by the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau. This Bureau is the district-level (Hokkaido) branch of the Japan government Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT).
The Japan Tourism Agency is part of MILT, but at the regional branch level, the Japan Tourism Agency and MILT essentially work out of the same organization. In Hokkaido, that’s the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau.
Hence, the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau is leaning into the backcountry in Hokkaido as part of Hokkaido’s overall tourism/visitor economy.
In October/November, the Bureau is running an online survey as the first step in the overall project (survey link here). The first 200 participants all get a US$5 Amazon.com gift voucher, and all participants get put into a draw for one of two Earth Hopper Standard passes. I’ve been told the draw will happen by the end of November this year (2024).
Earth Hopper is a new (-ish) multi-resort, multi-season (i.e., winter/summer) pass that gives access to mountain resorts around Japan. SkiAsia.com has a good article about it here. It’s designed for people who want to travel around Japan (or Hokkaido) and visit a number of different resorts. For example, if you buy a Standard Pass (49,800yen / US$330-ish), you could ski for a total of up to 14 days at a bunch of different resorts, for a maximum of two days per resort. E.g., two days at Niseko Annupuri, then drive to Kiroro for a day, then to Pippu for two days, Kamui Ski Links for two days, and then freeze to death in Nayoro. Then head to Honshu for another few days.
In October/November, the Bureau is running an online survey as the first step in the overall project (survey link here). The first 200 participants all get a US$5 Amazon.com gift voucher (in addition to being added to the draw for one of two Earth Hopper Standard passes). I’ve been told those vouchers should be emailed out by the end of November or beginning of December.
Unfortunately not. The logistics of arranging Amazon gift vouchers in all Amazon jurisdictions was a bit mind-boggling, so the organizers (Pioneer Work) have limited it to Amazon.com (US) gift vouchers.
Online Survey
With all that said, tap below to get started if you’ve skied in the Hokkaido backcountry (lift-access or non-lift-access) within the past seven years, and have a spare 15-minutes.
6 thoughts on “Hokkaido Large-scale Backcountry Survey 2024”
I heard about the results of this survey on NHK today. It was reported that only 30% of skier’s checked the weather forecast before entering the mountains. It’s hard to believe that this is true as everyone I know checks the forecast before heading out. Is the report and/or data available for viewing anywhere?
Hey m.p., thanks for the heads up. I’m the one who did all the analyses on the two main surveys (online in November, in-person in Jan/Feb). Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the final meeting due to other work commitments, so I’m not sure right now where on earth NHK got that 30% figure from (article here | back-up here). They quote a survey with 491 respondents, which matches the November online survey participant numbers. 100% of respondents in that survey reported referring to weather forecasts before going into the backcountry. I’ll update when I have more information! As for when or where the results will be published, I’m currently asking about that.
EDIT: I’ve just got word from my colleagues who ran the final meeting, and they are also at a loss as to where the 30% figure came from. Below is a screenshot from the November survey descriptive statistics. As you can see, 100% of respondents reported referring to weather forecasts before heading into the backcountry. We’re seeking a response from NHK, STV, and UHB, all of which mis-reported the stats.
Thanks for the clarification, Rob.
It looks like your enquiries paid off too. I see that NHK have republished the article in question with a note about the earlier reported statistics being incorrect. So good job and well done on the survey too! https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sapporo-news/20250320/7000074173.html
The most recent NHK article as it reports on your survey raises some interesting issues. One is a potential bias in the reporting. The other is the Ministries position on backcountry skiing.
Regarding a bias in reporting, the original article incorrectly stated that only 30% of skiiers checked the weather forecast before entering the mountains. The corrected article did not report the correct finding that 100% of skiiers check the forecast rather it reported on a different set of statisctics (no. of people who are aware of the ministries app). I wonder why this change was made? Why only report data that furthers the narrative that foreign skiiers are acting recklessly and ignore that which contradicts it? Obviously no one here can answer this but its something for the community to think about.
The other issue is that the Ministry of land and Transport seems to have adopted the position of “anti-backcountry”. They are reported as saying in this article and others that they want to implement backcountry countermeasures. I dont think there are any details on what there measures might be. I am interested to know how other skiiers and the researchers involved in the survey feel about this though?
Hi m.p., thanks for checking in again. First off, I need to correct something from my previous message. Amid all the excitement, I made an error with the statistics. In our initial survey, the number of respondents (N = 460) who reported checking the weather before heading out was correct, but the percentage was off. It should have been 94% (460 out of 491 respondents), not 100%.
Either way, the survey overall demonstrated a very high level of preparedness. Exactly how high is something I’d love to explore further by comparing our data with other regions or even non-foreign skiers in Japan to better contextualize our findings.
Regarding the media coverage, both I and the project team feel somewhat disappointed. While it’s true there is always room for improvement in outdoor recreation safety, it’s unfortunate that the media chose to highlight the somewhat rare ‘bad’ stats. For instance, up to 90% of respondents reported carrying standard avalanche companion rescue equipment—a positive fact that received little attention. In the future, it would be beneficial to see more investigative journalism that provides balanced criticism and context.
In fact, I’d have appreciated robust, constructive criticism of our project itself. Once the complete report is published, you’ll notice some limitations. Our survey primarily focused on non-lift-access backcountry skiers, who tend to be better prepared and more informed than typical ‘side-country’ skiers. Indeed, our report compares lift-access and non-lift-access skiers, showing greater preparedness among the latter group on average. There’s considerable nuance in our results, and it’s disappointing we couldn’t communicate this effectively to the media.
Regarding the government’s approach and the term ‘countermeasures’, there might be a translation issue here. The Japanese term 対策 (taisaku) can mean ‘countermeasures,’ but it can also simply mean ‘strategies.’ Given my experiences working closely with officials at the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau, who strongly support recreation and adventure tourism, I think ‘strategies’ is a more accurate translation in our context. I’ve not encountered any anti-backcountry sentiment from either the Transport Bureau or the Hokkaido Police, nor any intention to restrict backcountry access.
While reports of police helicopters broadcasting messages like “backcountry is dangerous” might suggest otherwise, this shouldn’t be taken as opposition to backcountry skiing. In fact, many people involved in search and rescue—including police officers, Ministry of Environment staff, and other government personnel—are backcountry skiers themselves. What appears as negativity is more likely public safety officials trying to manage the rapid growth in backcountry popularity in Hokkaido. Communication strategies are also not optimal (shouting from helicopters being a great case in point).
From my perspective, the official focus remains solidly on promoting Hokkaido’s outdoor opportunities while improving safety strategies. Potential strategies discussed include broader recreational avalanche forecasts, enhanced rescue responses, better communication, and increased interest from ski resorts in understanding lift-access backcountry usage.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this project evolves. Given that lift-access backcountry incidents remain the primary driver of winter search-and-rescue operations in Hokkaido, I hope future research provides deeper insights into these skiers, something our current sampling did not fully capture.
Hi,
I will be translator at the meeting next Monday.
Is there anything I should know about ?
Kenji
Hi Kenji, I think the organizer has been in contact? If not, let me know and I’ll follow up.