We watch bodies in brilliantly coloured Gortex suits, knees buckled inwardly, slide to the chairlift base like ants to a honey pot. Only, unlike ants, they are few in number. The majority of visitors here are Taiwanese and Korean and are keener to try other winter pursuits like blasting along in a snow mobile, banana boat rides or cross-country skiing.
At each chairlift ride we're greeted by an attendant who bows and wishes us well. We ski across to the adjacent, higher Tomamu mountain (1239m) where experienced skiers and boarders make it look easy.
The powder doesn't disappoint, flurries come and go but the flakes are so dry they fall off us and we never get wet. We glide through ankle-deep snow around and past Hokkaido pine trees dotted over the mountain, spraying snow in our wake.
Crackly chiming plays over a speaker and we're overtaken by a caped bullet. He is the evil Chokkari with his similarly dressed servant (who it turns out lived in Nelson for six months). They cruise the slopes on their evil crusade to stow forest seeds from Nipo; trees spoil their straight skiing lines.
Enjoying the snow at Tomamu Hoshino Resort.
When we catch up he's lying in a crumpled heap, children jumping about laughing, his powers dissipated - once kids have completed a snow course in the dedicated children's area and caught Chokkari, they've conquered evil.
It all starts at The Tower base at Nipo's mountain where little beginner skiers learn Nipo is the good forest fairy (larger than life) and her helpers guide them down a gentle slope, building confidence. Children help Nipo find forest seeds on their journey to develop skiing skills, eventually learning evil Chokkari needs to be stopped.
Here family stays are made simple. As the result of a dedicated committee, they've introduced a creche, a dedicated floor equipped with a nappy-changing station, free nappies and a microwave.
Of the resort's 14 restaurants, mostly of Asian cuisine, three with buffets have family-specific rooms with low tables and chairs and wooden toys on hand.
At one restaurant, kids rush to watch a chef draw Disney characters in soy sauce on the side of their plate, at another they ogle at a flowing chocolate fountain and create wonky ice creams from self-servers.
The biggest family drawcard is Mina-Mina beach. In an atrium, it's one of Japan's largest indoor swimming pools. The size of three tennis courts, even a big school party entering hardly makes a dent. Every hour, waves about a foot high roll from the far end of the pool to the shoreline, they then turn into waves of mayhem, hitting from various angles.
Mina-Mina beach, indoor heated wave pool at Tomamu Hoshino Resort.
Dads hold kids jostling on blow-up dolphins and donuts overseen by serious lifeguards standing at attention at the pool edge. Behind them, mums lie back on deck chairs and stare dreamily out the window at falling snow piling against the glass walls. When the waves cease many, short towel in hand, disappear to the public onsen (bathhouse) for a hot soak.
A couple of days later, two hours' bus ride north, I sink into a private onsen filled with natural hot spring water from Mt Asahidake near where we lodge. Constructed from local wood inside and out, Nutap Kaushipe lodge is a gem, like its owners Mr and Mrs Haruna.
Like kind parents, they initiate us in the subtitles of house etiquette: how to eat slippery sardines with chop sticks, wear slippers only on washroom floors, wear a kimono to onsen.
Mt Asahidake (2290 m), the highest in Hokkaido, is a smoking mountain and part of Japan's largest national park, Daisetsuzan. It produces enough spring water to supply nearby Higashikawa town, population 7000, for free. On bad-weather days from outside our lodge we catch a bus to the town and drink strong black coffees in one of its many cafes.
On good-weather days, from Mt Asahidake's base we take the "rope way" - a large gondola holding up to 100 people - up to the mountain's ridge. With unpredictable weather and deep, dry snow, only the hardiest of backcountry skiers and boarders share our lift, their knees jiggle and bodies twitch as we near the slope side. On their backs, packs are equipped with shovel, food, snowshoes. This is avalanche country and there is no search and rescue here.
Helped by local guide Michiko Aoki, we clip on snowshoes and plough into knee-deep powdery snow. The lifting and lowering of each leg into endless untouched snow resonates rhythmically like a washing machine agitator. Directly above and for as far as we can see, weirdly shaped clumps of snow hang precariously in pine branches waiting to flop.
It is -10C and there is no sign of birds, rabbits or bears that live around here. It is serenity accompanied by the constant sound of our swishing legs.
FACTS
• Winter season is November to April.
• Cash is king. Very few places accept credit cards.
• Hoshino Resorts Tomamu has two mountains, seven lifts, one gondola and 25 runs. There are 14 restaurants, and a snow activity centre for cross country skiing etc.
• Public transport buses and trains are timely, frequent and affordable.
• Nutap Kaushipe lodge doesn't use internet, phone: 00-81-0166-97-2150 in Japanese if possible.
• Local guide Michiko Aoki guides in all seasons and has guided for National Geographic teams: aoki-michiko@hotmail.com
• Air Korea flies from Auckland to Seoul, Korea, with a connecting flight to Sapporo, Japan.
Kelly Lynch paid her own way to Hokkaido, Japan, via Korean Air, was hosted by Tomamu Hoshino Resort and assisted by Higashikawa Tourism Association.
