I'm going to Rusutsu at the beginning of February and would like to book a guided backcountry tour for my fiancee's birthday. Any suggestions on companies? I've contacted Black Diamond Lodge but they are unsure if they can help us as they'll be very busy that week. I wish to have other options.

Both my fiancee and I have gone extensively off-piste (including at Rusutsu so just a guide tour of the mountain is not what I'm looking for), but never actually backcountry. With no equipment and no avalanche training, it'd be dumb to have us buried in an avalanche or lost on her birthday...

Your help would be much appreciated.

I know this is not exactly helpful to you, but if he is available, I would recommend Andrew at BD. He was knowledgable and a really nice guy.

Yeah - I second that recommendation! Looking forward to buying Andrew a beer in a couple of weeks...

Actually, he's the one who replied to my inquiry. But thanks for adding that they're good.

By Rusutsu BC are you referring to Shiribetsu?
2 Hour hike up from the top of west mountain??

Halfmachine, I must admit I know very little of the area out of the resort boundaries. Possessing no BC equipment or avi training, I would not venture there by myself, especially not with my fiancee on her birthday...

However, I know where I can rent the equipment and if a generous soul were to offer to guide us, well I'm sure something could be arranged...

Hey Jyves,

There is a guy here in Niseko called David Mills who runs his own private guiding service, very similar to BD who may be able to help you out. It is very busy, being Chinese NY so I am not sure whether he will be able to help out but do a search for Powder Pursuit plus his name.

Cheers and good luck

Shiribetsu would be off the hook, I always ogle it when I am at Rusutsu.
Shiribetsu is connected to west mountain, you can hike from the top lift along a ridge to the top. According to Andrew from BD it takes two hours.Apart from that I couldn't see any other decent BC at Rusutsu.

Thanks for your suggestions and help. I'm crossing my fingers something or someone will come through (especially as I do not have many other ideas for a present)!

neversummer, thanks a lot for the suggestion, looks like he might be able to guide us! I'll buy you a beer if we ever meet.

Jyves are you looking to do true backcountry or are you just talking about off-piste? If it's just off-piste then you really do not need any equipment or a guide.

I've been just off-piste on all my trips to Hokkaido, Rusutsu included. I'm looking to do real backcountry with Rusutsu as the base: perhaps ride a different side of the mountains, or hike up to Shiribetsu as it was suggested.

Halfmachine, is this all you know about it? I've found a company that is ready to guide me, but they have never done it so we (they and I) are hesitant to go there with little local knowledge.

A company ready to guide you but they've never done it themselves? Are you serious?

Of course I wouldn't go in ANY conditions. That's why I used the word 'hesitant'.
"I may be naive, but I'm not stupid." (Bull, Night Court, quite possibly the best sitcom ever)

I used to love that show jyves - he had some classic lines didnt he?

Dan had some great ones, too.

"If you can't laugh at the living dead, who can you laugh at?"