Anyone skiied Japan/skiing Japan?

[icemancometh]

Thinking Hakuba in February.

Anyone been there/can suggest something(else perhaps?)

Must do's in and around Tokyo? Say 3-5days.

[wander]

Try over at ski.com.au for this sort of info. There are a lot of threads in Travel regarding Japan skiing, and many regular Japan based posters. Also poke around in Backcountry.

http://forums.ski.com.au/forums/ubbthre ... cs&range=1

[dannnnn]

yep, have done hakuba and niseko. japan is awesome.

hako-one is the best resort, try and get somewhere close to the gondola.

i'd be interested if it's "safe" to go there after fukashima tho?? it seems to take a long time for the nasty truth to surface in japan.

[frenchy_84]

Just got back from a boarding trip to Hakuba, spent a week there at the end of jan then about 2 weeks around japan. Snow was amazingly good. Minimum of 20cm fresh snow everymorning even had over half a metre 2 days. Only time there are any crowds are on the weekends and even then they dont compare to NZ crowds. Last day i was even able to find fresh untracked powder at 3.30pm. Happo is the biggest and probably best resort there, Cortina is where every one goes for the best powder and its alot cheaper but also alot harder to get to. and there are plenty of other good resorts there as well. Japanese terrain is particulary difficult though. Lift passes are relatively cheap approx 75aus for Happo and about 50 for the others.
There are alot of hostels and accom in the echo land area of Hakuba, which is close to Happo, and there are plenty of free buses to take you to the different resorts. I stayed at a hostel called monkey rider which was pretty good (run by an Aussie) which was about 50 bucks a night for a dorm.
For someone who has only boarded in Aus and NZ, Japan was just amazing, longs runs, barely any people and did i mention the powder? I wouldnt waste my money on an NZ ski trip again, just save a little harder and go back to Japan.

[Azza]

I just got back from my 4th trip to Japan on Sunday. Agree entirely!

Happo-one / Goryu 47 - The Hakuba area is fantastic. I had an amazing day there a a few years ago. 20-30cm fresh powder and fresh tracks all day long.
They've had a particularly good year in Hakuba and everywhere else from what I've heard.

This year I visited Niseko, Moiwa, Rusutsu.. I usually avoid Niseko (aka the bali of Japan) like the plague, but we had a friend working there who arranged us accommodation and had access to a car to drive us around. I must say I found it much better than previous visits. A bit of radiation scare does wonders for keeping crowds and annoying Australian's away.

Sound like the Aussie onslaught has driven lift prices up dramatically - a couple of years ago Hakuba was like $40-50 a day. Same thing in Niseko the all mountain prices are now up to $80 a day.
Previous years I've been to Nozawa Onsen, Zao Onsen.. There is like 100+ resorts in Nagano prefecture alone.

Did they allow off piste in Happo yet? I know you get go out the top gates but its getting pretty serious beyond there. I've ducked a few ropes there in the past but its a bit naughty. Its technically illegal and you run the risk of getting arrested, but they turn a blind eye in Hokkiado because of the large number of foreign visitors.

I still like NZ because it's cheaper than OZ... but once you'd had Japan you'll always want to go back...

[frenchy_84]

Cortina is the only resort in the valley that officially allows off piste, Goryu 47 are very strict about no off piste, while the others didnt seem to mind to much. On my final day i jumped the fences alot at iwatake and know one pulled me up.
In regards to an all mountain pass i wouldnt buy it because they are more than a single mountain resort pass and there is little benefit buying a week long pass. Just decide on the day which resort you want to go to and buy the pass on the day.

[Azza]

I only buy single day passes as well - there is usually no significant saving in multi-day... we started buying 4 hour and 6 hour passes on days where we knew we would be out all day or were targeting a particular sub-area of the resort. e.g. Niseko is 4 resorts combined, so you can buy tickets for individual areas.

I said I wouldnt go back to Niseko... and I'd stick to Hakuba... but now I'm torn between them.

I also hired a powder board for the first time! standard snowboards are rubbish... until you've ridden the 'fish' you don't know what you are missing out on...
They're absolutely amazing, they float on the powder and are effortless to ride. If I'd know how good I would have left my board at home and hired. (or even purchased - expensive at $1500au, but I gotta have one now... even if it ends up as an expensive coffee table)

[icemancometh]

anyone been to Myoko? home of Japanese skiing and drop knee artists. Think that and Nozawa will be next on the list but also tempted to go to NA to do some shopping (switch over to the NTN stuff and would prefer to try on the boots)

Agree on the snow and crowds, at least in Hakuba.
Interestingly enough, I heard from some folks that they found it worse in Hakuba this season compared to Niseko for the Australian presence and they did a week in both places. They found hte snow better (more and lighter up north) but terrain steeper in Hakuba. Japanese terrain is a bit mellow on the whole except for the trees of course!

NZ terrain still kills Japan...just look at all the club fields, now if only they had more snow.

[Azza]

Haven't been to Myoko - might try it next time.

Nozawa was a bit disappointing. Nice village and the onsens scattered all over the place are cool, that's probably the highlight.
It Didn't snow much the week I was there - and I just found the terrain a bit boring especially compared to Hakuba.
What's not apparently from the resort map is that the middle section at the top of the gondola is very flat..
So you've kinda got the steeper upper mountain separated from the lower mountain by a huge flat beginners area mid mountain.

[icemancometh]

Good to know.

Shiga was the only other place on the mainland, otherwise Hokkaido (Niseko/Rutsutsu etc)