We have had some huge days but loks like the big one is coming tonight and all tomorrow.We may need snorkel extension pieces!!
Has anyone heard about some deaths at Arai?Was talking to a lodge owner this morning and he said a few people had died a few days ago but didnt have any detail.Scary place.
Ok, this may sound silly but we are booked via maxi taxi to go from Madarao to Okushiga Kogen lunchtime tomorrow. Do they drive in heavy snow?
Never done it (have just used bus transport) , but @Lady Penelope took a Maxi from Shiga to Nozawa recently in heavy snow conditions. So, I suspect it's like the KFC ad.........."shut up and take my money".
As @Zimbooo says, the answer is “yes”. And despite the journey taking almost 3 times as long as usual, the final fare for us was exactly the same as the initial quoted price. Beat dragging ski bags on and off buses!
Ours was same doing essentially reverse. Prince west to madarao. They just take it slower and pick different routes. If it’s Nagaden taxi the drivers are excellent. Know their stuff.
Yes, a French guy was OOB today and killed in an avi. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/shutoken-new...RNvW43avNXb5AHMQ6trNBCKc27B8SnbRDjupwdj-X9aW8
Pretty sad.I wonder if he was correctly equipped and experienced?Also talk here of a Japanese skier hitting a tree and dying.
From the Myoko now page 26/1 on snowjapan.com: Lots of accidents around here lately, and it's a bit discouraging. An avalanche death yesterday (slab avalanche, caused by all that wind of a few days ago making for a wind-loaded slope), a boarder who crashed upside and couldn't get out of the snow; a jump high up a mountain going wrong (another fatality), and a broken leg after a meeting with a tree. Three of these were with international guests, something we have not had much. There's a lot of snow out there; there is a lot of difficult terrain.
Is it possible to do day trips from Madarao to Myoko or other local resorts without a car via bus/shuttle? Anyone have any ideas on return taxi cost? Going to base ourselves at Madarao for 5 days in late feb but just looking at other options incase it doesn’t snow and we get bored of piste skiing there.
There is a bus that runs Madarao to Myoko each day look up Akakura Madarao line.leaves Madarao Kogen Hotel 9 am and Returns 4 pm. Otherwise check up Active Life hotels Madarao ( three hotels to choose from). They offer free shuttle buses to a different resort Monday to Friday. Leave their hotels around 8 am and return 4.30 pm, visiting neighbouring ski fields including Myoko. Nozawa Onsen, Arai Lotte, chosen on where the best conditions look.
Official report link is in this thread https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/myoko-area-avalanche-today-25-1-19.83721/
@skivet thanks for the info. I think I’ll be at the Madarao Kogen hotel as good on-site onsen (ideally outside as well) is a mandatory for my wife so bus will work well. I might also pop into active life and see if we can jump onboard their shuttle for a small fee.
Seems a lot of incidents at Arai this year for such a small resort. Whats the go? Haven’t skied there but was looking at heading over in a few weeks was going to base at Arai and then travel to other resorts if snow wasn’t great but got a little spooked so going to Madarao now. With Arai is it specific localised conditions, the terrain? the resort? Or just unlucky coincidence. Have done seasons in Europe in big resorts with lots of offpiste and there have been less incidents than Arai this year.
Most of Arai is completely ungroomed and traffic is pretty light. When I went down the lift line a few weeks ago there were some pockets of totally unskied snow next to terrain that had been traversed previously then covered over in the last fall. In the space of a metre I went from staying above the snow to buried chest deep. When I was there only a small part of the ungroomed section was open, the other sections were still accumulating snow. All of this was inbounds. Out of bounds I would assume would be deeper and even sketchier.
Arai says the snowdepth at 1000m above sea level is 524cm now. Arai is one of the snowiest ski resorts in the world. Low altitude + low latitude + very close to the ocean = it's warmer than most other very snowy ski resorts, which makes Arai avalanche prone even more, I think. Thanks to the world class snowfall, the treeline is very low. A very big snowfall on relatively steep tree-less OOB slopes after a warm day(s), I feel very scared and try to avoid them.
I’m in Myoko from 27th Feb to 3rd March. What is best hotel for awesome indoor/outdoor onsen. Happy with japense or western style. Don’t want to stay at AKH due to location combined with cost.
The late bus from Madarao to Myoko (5pmish) doesn’t to Akakura Onsen according to timetable only to Myoko bus terminal. Is the bus terminal at Myoko train station? Any ideas where it is as will be trying to get to Akakura. Google is failing my sausage fingers currently
Bus terminal is about 100m from the train station. Easy enough to get a taxi from there to Akakura. ¥2200-2400. Taxi rank is next to the train station.
@elSpike perfect thanks. I’m a big fan of simplistic maps. I have board and ski bag so don’t want to walk off in wrong direction where possible
Unless it is super foggy, you cannot miss the train station from the bus terminal. If in doubt head downhill.
In order of personal preference: Akakura Hotel (although be warned - it may remind you of Grand Hotel Budapest in some aspects) Taiko Hotel Refre Hotel (although I think their outside onsen may be buried) Kogakuro Hotel Or you can stay with us and go out to visit different onsen.
happy wife happy life so I’m in-house onsen this time. Got a Japanese room at refre. Thanks for the tips
It’s the lighting in the lobby and the not quite “apricot” aspects. That and the Aunty who appears as if from nowhere to guide lost looking families...
It seems Myoko city made an English form of Tozan Todoke for foreign skiers / snowboarders who want to enjoy backcountry in the region. About Tozan Todoke https://en.tozan.tv/permission-required-to-hike-japanese-mountains/ You can get the form at ski resorts in Myoko.
Even without avalanche danger (I assume Arai are diligent with inbounds avalanche control) I'd say the biggest hazard the for the average inbounds rider is terrain traps.... If you get stuck in a tricky spot, it can take 30min just to get out to a place you can ride out. In some cases, if the trap is bad, it can be hours.... And I'm not talking about just creeks, but just flat spots that would be OK with 30cm, but not with 45cm. Multiply the the hazard with each 15cm on top of that And it takes a bit of experience to be able to read when terrain trap will become hazardous
I will. Lovely lady well into her 80's, still helping run a busy restaurant, look after grandkids and clear snow!
I've always been curious about it, but does it take long for the snow to melt/clear away in the drains?
Has anyone ever done a bus run from top of madarao all the way down to iiyama ? Is this even possible without a hiking to much ?
