Japan 2013/2014 epic planning thread!

Same boat here.

The taste i had of Niigata and Gunma has me super keen for next year.

 

Noticed a lot of 100 litre hardshell luggage on the carousel this year, big cubes on spinner wheels. We will be back to Kiroro, probably Annupuri & maybe Tomamu. Hopefully with a bigger bag.

 

So much snow and terrain out there, but not many Aussies go there....

 

Wheels up tomorrow ...looks like beeru pork bbq and sun tans

 

Jealous Donza.

Cant see it staying that way for long Sandy. Dont know how yuzawa isnt on the radar yet with a direct shink to a great town and 15 resorts within 30 minutes and a huge snowfall average.

 

I've been talking it up here for 7 years..... still not many takers!!!!!!

 

Regarding Yuzawa, I can't believe how many resorts around there have bases between only 200-400m above sea level yet they still get HUGE snowfall throughout winter.
@Sandy you're the Japanese weather Pro, why does Yuzawa get so much snow to such low levels ?

 

My jaw hit the floor on the way up to hakkaisan at the amount of snow there was. Even in a poor year.

 

Been back for about a weekish too and already spent last weekend doing some research for next year. After road tripping Hokkaido this year, I have a feeling that Honshu may deliver in 2015. Places that take my fancy so far are Hakuba, Myoko, Madarao, Charmant Hiuchi, Kagura, Naeba, Tenjindaira & Yuzawa.

Any other votes for hidden gems in Niigita, Nagano or Gunma much welcome.

 

Houdaigi and Kawaba. Ishiuchi Maruyama has an awesome nighter. Maiko is fun. So many options.

 

Hi all - I will likely be in Tokyo in mid-to-late April this year, and am trying to work out whether a side-trip for some spring skiing might be feasible. Initially was thinking Niseko, but ideally the closer to Tokyo the better - are there any other areas we might have a chance at getting in some spring skiing?

We're intermediate skiers, not as hard-core as some of you guys obviously are... have been to Hakuba a couple of years ago, as well as Zao.

I've gone through the past few pages of this thread - have seen mention of Yuzawa, but not sure that it's high enough for April snow (though I'm no expert).

Any other pointers will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Many places will be closed. I'd suggest places that are higher or further north. You should check on Snowjapan.com

In central Japan:
- Hakuba: Happo, 47/Goryu & Tsugaike should be open (at the top because of the gondolas form the bottom)
- Shiga Kogen because of elevation
- Kagura because elevation and snowpack (this is at Yuzawa)
- Tenjindaira because of snowpack. (Gunma) But it's small.
- Others, including Myoko because of snowpack.

But Niseko would be your best bet for snow quality

 

Not just Yuzawa.

300m asl an hour NW of Hakuba

 

Great photos !!

We fly into Narita airport via Jetstar in a couple of weeks.
We will need to scramble to get luggage and catch a shuttle bus to a hotel, but will need to pick up some yen at the same time.

Does anyone know the closest Citibank atm in the terminal where we disembark?

 

Terminal 2 floor 1F. Just near the top of the escalators that go down to the trains. There's also a Post office ATM near it that you can use. On this map they're marked as "Bank/Money exchange"

http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/map/index_t2.html

What card will you be using ? Citibank Plus Visa debit ? Just be aware that the max you can draw out is $1000 in one transaction.

Also make sure you have at least some Yen or another card on you when you arrive, NEVER put all your faith in ONE card. When we arrived at Narita last month I could not get any money out of my Citibank card, at any of the airport ATMs. Luckily we already had some Yen and I was also able to withdrawal yen out of my standard St George bank account.

When we got to our hotel later that night I called Citibank, which was a small challenge in itself, and they told me Citibank in Japan were doing some system upgrades so that was most likely why I couldn't get any money from the ATMs. Later that night I walked across the road and had no problems drawing money out of a 7-Eleven ATM. And for the rest of the trip it all worked fine, but I'm glad I had backup yen and other cards at the airport.

 

Now you have to tell me what resort that was ? PM if you like.

 

Looks minty....on skyliner at moment. ..jetstar arrived too early for the Japanese

 

Thanks for the advice Born!

 

Took ages to get bags

 

Takayubin not running to nagano at mo

 

That doesn't make any sense. Or it might be that they're trying to clear backlog.

 

Mmm will have to check on status of Takayubin for when we leave. Eve3n though there are 3 of us, 75kg of luggage on the train is not a good option.

 

The $1k limit is the default limit on the card. If you phone them you can get it increased. Phone during business hours and it is done quickly.

 

I wanted to send my board bag from Madarao to Kagura and couldn't, that was on Monday. Must be a big backlog!

 

Backlog I'd say. They weren't taking any gear last weekend, and the roads were not fully open until Wednesday.
I reckon they should be back to full service by Sunday.

 

Chinese New Year 2015 : February 19
We got tangled up in the CNY tsunami this year.

 

Thanks very much for the pointers, will do some further research on your suggestions.

 

Another quick question!
Will the ski rental shops in niseko take credit card, or cash only?
...and is one shop any better than another?

 

Credit cards are fine.

I haven't rented skis in Niseko before. Used Rhythm when I did a board demo week, convenience (close to my accom) was my biggest motivation, but they also had a reasonable range of new boards to demo.

 

Stuck in huge traffic jam on chuo at moment. ..pita

 

Where abouts? Normally if it's out of town, there's a smash

 

Its single lane most of the way..until chuo to nagano jct...took seven hours..from ishikawa rest area

 

I knew there was a reason I liked the Shink.

 

Bro ridic. If the shink was the best option Donza would have chosen it.

 

Ok, same situation but worse coming back into Tokyo on Sunday!!!!
9.5 hours from Shiga Kogen, meaning a 4pm departure puts you in Tokyo at 1:30 am and no trains again!!!

That means 3 hours of karaoke until the trains start.........

 

Karaoke place (Big Echo) was quite comfortable!!!!! A good option for a night's sleep! You can get it for 6 hours after 11:00pm for just under 2000yen(normal after hours price for the 11pm-5am slot, and includes one drink!)..... beats pretty much any other option, including a capsule hotel.

 

So i'm working on a trip report, here's a teaser:

Shit's tasty, for Y1300 you cant go wrong:

 

Our recent week Feb 12-20 @ Nozawa Onsen turned out to be OUTSTANDING timing.

I have never skied such a great set of 7 days' straight before, and am supremely confident I will never do so again.
It snowed each day & night we were there, sometimes a little, sometimes a LOT - each evening & morning it was snowing nicely and cold such that I simply could not have a "lay day" (which I often do these days).

Skied the best & deepest powder I ever have, loved every minute of it.
Trip report coming later.
Shame to be back in Oz.

 

Hard to even think about hitting the snow in Oz after going to Japan, I'll admit that much!

 

Another teaser:

 

Japan Sea coast somewhere around Itoigawa is my guess.

 

Further south

 

This. I'm longing for more skiing but decidedly "meh" about the prospect of Aus resort skiing this year. Didn't get a season pass so might make use of the new AT set-up and go b/c more often than not.

 

Just outside Itoigawa itself.

 

Nah, it's gonna be great, really. you have to take your turns wherever you can find them.

 

Takkyubin back to normal now.

 

Ok so we didn't get as much fresh japow snow this year, looks like we'll just have to go back next year !

Preliminary plan already coming together.

Maiko(Yuzawa)- Cupid Valley - Madarao (3 weeks plus)

Think it's time to spread the wings and explore a little more of Japan. Only problem is I have two little kids who need some English ski lessons, now that's the challenge - maybe I should teach them Japanese ?

 

If you're looking at Yuzawa, they have lessons in English at Naeba.

 

I saw these guys a fair bit in yuzawa and surrounds.

http://canyons.jp/tours/winter/snow-sports-school

 

Private lessons or group English lessons ?

I've found a few places in Yuzawa that do private English lessons. This place will actually come to any resort in the valley for private lessons - a little expensive though.
http://canyons.jp/en/tours/winter/snow-sports-school/yuzawa-other-areas-snowsports-school

This resort also does private English lessons, pretty good price for the full day considering the kids get free lift passes.
http://www.princehotels.com/en/ski/hakkaisan/lesson.html