Powder Life: Niseko and Rusutsu are 2024 World Ski Awards winners

Sat 16 November 2024

Six ski hotels and resorts across Niseko and Rusutsu have been honoured or declared winners at the 2024 World Ski Awards.

One of the winners was declared “World’s Best” in its category, and four were declared “Japan’s Best” across a variety of categories.

The Japan’s Best category was a sweep for Niseko and Rutsusu, with every category a win for one of the neighbours.

Niseko was honoured twice for World’s Best New Ski Hotel, with Upper Hirafu’s MUWA NISEKO taking first place and Niseko Kyo placing in the top three.

The Vale Rusutsu placed in the top three of World’s Best Ski Hotel category, as did Ki Niseko in World’s Best Ski Boutique Hotel.

For the four Japan categories, Japan’s Best Ski Resort went to Rusutsu Resort, Japan’s Best Ski Hotel went to The Vale Rusutsu, Japan’s Best Ski Boutique Hotel went to Ki Niseko and Japan’s Best Ski Chalet went to Tsubasa Chalet at Hanaridge.

World Ski Awards, which is a sister organisation of World Travel Awards, was launched in 2013 with the stated mission of aiming “to drive up standards within the ski industry by rewarding the organisations that are leaders in their field.”

The winners and honourees are determined by votes cast by ski industry professionals and skiers around the world.