Hokkaido High Adventure

The Club is set to host a summer of outdoor fun and discovery for young teens.

The gentle trail that leads to the summit of Mount Annupuri is through a lush forest of native birch, oak and maple trees, a far cry from the cedar- and concrete-covered mountains bordering Tokyo.

Young Club Members have the opportunity to camp out in this Hokkaido wilderness and reach the peak of Annupuri with the help of professional guides this summer. Participants will enjoy a range of outdoor adventure activities, including white-water rafting, mountain biking and zip-line trekking, during five five-day summer camps to Niseko this June and July.

“Niseko is beautiful in the summer,” says Reina Collins, the Club’s recreation programs and concierge manager. “It gives parents peace of mind because it is still in Japan, but it is far enough away the kids will feel independent.”

Kids ages 12 to 15, who will be accompanied by experienced counselors at all times, will spend the first three days at renowned ski resort Niseko Village and stay in comfort at the refurbished Green Leaf hotel.

With a focus on the outdoors, the camp will see participants trek in overhead nets in the tree canopy, zip-line through the air, take on a mountain bike course and bond over team-building exercises. Kids will also buy their own groceries, cook their own meals and do their own laundry.

“It is only a week,” says Collins. “But within that week, they will learn to do things they don’t usually do at home.”

For the final two days of camp, the kids will head into the Hokkaido backcountry with the professional guides of the Niseko Adventure Center (NAC), where they will shoot rapids in a raft, set up their own campsite and, on the final day, hike to the picturesque summit of Mount Annupuri.

“Niseko is such a great place to get kids outdoors and into the wild,” says Ross Findlay, who founded NAC, Hokkaido’s first summer outdoor adventure business, in 1995. “There really isn’t anywhere else like this in Japan, or Asia, really.”

Collins says there will be a package for parents to spend the final weekend at Niseko Village for some adventurous fun with their offspring.

“Twelve to 15 is a difficult age group. They are shy, a little naïve and they want to be individuals,” says Collins. “It is nice for this age group to make new friendships and experience something different, something you can’t experience here in Tokyo.”

Niseko Camp Q&A
March 1 & 5 | 7pm & 11am

Words: Nick Narigon