Niseko United – Annupuri/​Grand Hirafu/​Hanazono/​Niseko Village

Niseko United is one of more than 500 ski resorts in Japan. It is located in the Hokkaidō Prefecture in the Japanese Mountains at an altitude between 255 and 1,188 m with a difference of 933 m. It is the nearest ski resort to the namesake town of Niseko. The first part of the resort's name comes from the fact that it consists of several ski resorts, namely: Annupuri, Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, and Niseko village. The main feature of Niseko United ski resort is its location (and size) — it is the biggest on Japan's largest, northern, island of Hokkaidō. It is also famous because of its main and highest mountain, Nisekoan Nupuri in the Niseko Volcanic Group of active stratovolcanoes. The Niseko is also the second-biggest in Japan after Shigakogen with more than 50 km of slopes and more than 30 ski lifts in total together with Happo-One—Hakuba, Zao Onsen, Myoko Suginohara, and Hakuba Iwatake — all of them have the same number of slopes (but not the lifts). The resort is best suitable for intermediate and easy skiing — most of its slopes are red and blue. For advanced skiers, it offers 10 km of black slopes. The most common type of ski lift is a chairlift. The Niseko United season is from late November to early May in general.