Resource The big Myoko/Madarao/Arai thread - 2018/19

I think you need to update the Madarao bars and restaurants.

 

Well you can add both my places.

We have The Avenue, bar, cafe and restaurant located in Chalet Madarao.
Open from 7.30 for breakfast till 10pm Last food orders at 9pm.
Genuine ski in ski out location so drop in for lunch when you are at Madarao.
Perfect place to get dropped of or picked up when visiting Madarao as there is minimal walking to where you can ski/board to and from.

And Chalet Myoko restaurant and bar open 3 nights a week for those not under the mistaken belief that you must be in the village.

 

Family of four heading to Myoko Kogen (arriving on 31st) and staying for 10 days.. First time in the area, and first time back in Japan skiing since I did a season in 1993!!

Keen to know all the good spots to eat with kids, and find the best pow once the kids are dropped off at Myoko Snowsports!

 

Best time of the season to visit Arai please?

 

Many thanks.

See that it's a short distance from Myoko Kogen to Arai (under an hour drive in winter about right?)

Stay at Arai? Can you?

Or Myoko?

All information gratefully accepted. Thanks.

 

Excellent.

Thanks

 

Hi skichanger, looking at spending 5days at madarao late January by myself and was looking at your website and just wondering is that $180 a night?

 

Is that the 31st of December or January Toby? New Year's eve can get really busy so just wondering.

For places to eat, my favourites are the Shibata Restaurant (good yakiniku and ramen), the pizza place across the road from there, and Panorama cafe (inside Myoko Snowsports shop - also great for an afternoon drink before ski school finishes).

With 10 days you'll have time to explore many areas. The shuttle bus from Akakura to Ikenotaira and Suginohara is useful, but the timetable doesn't always fit in well with ski school, so see if your accomodation will arrange a lift.

 

We did this last year, we had a car and stayed in Myoko. Car was super helpful to work around ski school so we could ski other resorts. We even managed one day at shiga with kids in school at myoko

 

Cheers @M_G I probably should have thought to just send an email kinda makes sense lol

 

hey @skichanger, do we need to book your place for dinner mid January? Had some trouble getting in to some places last time we were in Madarao. Assuming it is even tighter these days.

 

Thanks for the tip. Can I ask where you rented the car from?

We are getting the train from Tokyo...

Also how old were your kids? Ours are 3 and 5 so maybe have a child seat issue to deal with.

 

We arrive in Myoko Kogen on the 31st Dec. Pretty early in the season I know (and busy) but unfortunately that is the way the stars aligned with work and school holidays etc...

 

Ours were 1 and 4!

We got the shink to Nagano and rented the car with child seats from there.

 

mmm not sure. We were only open sometimes and for our guests last season. This season we will be open from 7.30 to 10pm. Now I know they will groom almost to my door it justifies being open all day. We will be putting a website up for the restaurant soon. Once that is up I will post a link and people will be able to book.

The other thing is that I am trying to set the space up so that we can make things a bit more squeezy and accommodate a few more people when we are busy. There are going to be some benches that sit almost against the windows and during the day you can sit at them and have a great view. At night, if we are full we can pull them away from the window and have people sitting on both sides. But it would be a tight fit for those on the window side of the benches.

Also there are more restaurants, but there are also more people

 

It depends on what you want. We will be having a bunk room that is significantly cheaper. But if you want a full room to yourself with ensuite, at a ski in ski out lodge, with an onsite all day restaurant, breakfast included, onsite waxing and ski/board repairs, tuning and adjusting, pick and drop of at Iiyama station, yep that is what it costs.

Next year we hope to have some smaller rooms that will be cheaper for singles.

Message me if you are interested. We are booked out for some dates.

 

Perfect. Looking forward to putting a face to a name!

 

So the latest news from Madarao is that the White House is being knocked down. It is owned by the new resort owners. Not sure what they are planning and if they are trying to get something done for this season.

 

Well if the numbers stack up they will put more infrastructure in. They are actually far more pro-active and far more approachable than the owners of any other resort I know of. The difference between Akakura and Madarao is like night and day.

At the moment their goal is to get things happening all year round.

 

Yes I see a few posts on fb of the mountain biking at Madarao....
early days by the look of it.
fwiw we loved the place.

 

Just hope it doesn't get loved to death!!!!!

 

It is a long time before that is likely to happen.

 

Oh NO not the White House !!

Some pics from 2014.

 

I knew you would be "upset"!

 

Anyone have a favorite guide or company for a crew of about 4 snowboarders that will be in Myoko in Feb? No problems with a few hikes but would prefer most of it accessed via lift.

 

Idataki Look for them on facebook.

 

Quick ? but some maps show " Champion No 5 " lift but others not, is it there or not

 

Not on top of lift names without looking at a trail map, but in the time I have had my place at Akakura some of the lifts have been removed. Their removal has not affected the area that can be accessed by lifts.

 

Champion No5 is no longer an operational lift and Champion C is no longer a groomed piste. It is, of course "still there" and is able to be skied if you want to hike to the top....

 

For a 200 - 300 ski run , in ski boots, I think we'll give it a miss

 

Hi Guys

Anybody able to give some info on how busy Madarao is these days. Thinking of spending a few days there this January, last time was 4 years ago and was pretty quiet mid week

 

Thanks MG

Last time i was there fresh snow was pretty easy to find especially if you hiked a bit, sounds like that might not be the case anymore

 

Still was last season. There are still lots of "secret spots" if you are prepared to search them out.

 

There goes the neighbourhood.

 

Americans.