Powder Pilgrims Join the pilgrimage
Vintage ski poster of a pilgrim on the slopes of Niseko, mountain and vermillion tram after Hokusai

A midwinter pilgrimage · Hirafu · 13–23 January 2028

ニセコ 比羅夫

Powder Pilgrims

Niseko · Winter 28

Worship at the altar of Japanese powder.

Join the pilgrimage

01

The week

Thursday the 13th to Sunday the 23rd.

Ten days. Two nights in Tokyo on the way in. Seven nights in Hirafu. Home Sunday — no Tokyo on the return.

  1. US

    East Coast, wheels-up

    Thursday departure. IAD or DCA, typically. Tokyo is tomorrow.

  2. Tokyo

    Land Haneda

    Friday night in Tokyo. Jet-lagged on purpose. Haneda, not Narita.

  3. Tokyo

    The Tokyo day

    Saturday is the actual buffer. One full day in the city before the island.

  4. Hirafu

    North. Check-in.

    Haneda to New Chitose, then a private coach to the village. Seven nights begin.

  5. Ski

    First chair

    Morning liturgy. The US is on MLK. You are already here. Six ski days start.

  6. Ski

    The middle of it

    Powder. Village. Dinner. Repeat. The mountain is the reason we came.

  7. Ski

    Last full day

    Ski it. The town will still be open when you come down.

  8. Home

    Dawn transfer. Land Sunday.

    Hirafu to Chitose before first light. Connect home. Desk Monday. No Tokyo on the way back.

02

Why Hirafu / why this week

The town you walk home in. Then we leave.

The real town

Hirafu is the town you can walk home in. Bars, ramen, a village that stays up. Not a satellite base. Not a corridor between hotels.

Hokkaido snow

The powder is the religion. Six days on it, Monday through Saturday.

Out before the crush

Late January gets unholy. We are on the mountain that week, and gone on the 23rd.

03

Who it’s for

Fifteen to twenty men. Midlife, on purpose.

A Powder Pilgrim: the cartoon pilgrim on skis

DC and Richmond heavy. East Coast. They came to the mountain instead.

  • Not a couples trip.
  • Not a stag.
  • Not a sports car.

Each of them a Powder Pilgrim. A private week with people you would actually spend a chairlift with. You ski, or you learn. That is the bar.

04

How it works

Interest now. Commit later. Money last.

  1. 01

    Interest list

    Put your name in the book. This is a briefing, not a ticket. We are recruiting against 15–20 seats — we will over-recruit.

  2. 02

    Soft commit

    Later, when beds are real, a yes that means something. Not a deposit. A name we can plan around.

  3. 03

    Deposits much later

    Money comes last. Dates and destination are locked. Rooms are not. Nobody is being billed from this page.

05

FAQ

What is locked, and what is not.

How do flights work?

East Coast via Tokyo Haneda. You book your own. If a cluster of itineraries lines up, we will say so. Return is Sunday the 23rd — land US Sunday. No Tokyo on the way home.

What ski level do I need?

Any. The mountain is mixed and the group will be too. You ski or you learn. First winter is fine; so is someone who only skis Japan.

What’s not included?

Flights. Gear is still TBD. Package details come later — we are not publishing a number we do not have. Lodging is being worked; names are not on this page.

Is this locked?

Dates and destination: yes. Hirafu, 13–23 January 2028. Beds: not yet. This page is an invite to the list, not a booking confirmation.

Is this a midlife crisis?

Yes, this is the midlife thing. No, we did not buy a Porsche.

06

Join the pilgrimage

The interest list.

Fifteen to twenty seats. We will take more names than that. Matt will follow up.

Ref. PP28 · Winter 28 · Invite only

Matt will follow up. No deposit. No ticket.