Journals written about Osorakan (Page
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POSTED BY :
mahouboarder
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RESORT :
Osorakan
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Hiroshima |
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POSTED DATE :
5th February 2006
12:35 PM |
VISITED ON :
4th February 2006 |
After a week of changing weather forcasts we were pleasantly surprised that the snow fell over night after a few weeks of no real snowfall.
Early start out to Osorakan which was a smooth trip until we needed the chains half way up which ended up taking up more time than expected but were treated to 30cm of fresh powder snow which is a lot considering January's snow fall this year! The slopes certainly looked different this time as it wasn't raining and it continued to snow throughout the day. There were some strong gusts of winds in the afternoon and there seemed to be a lot of people there which made it a little chaotic at times but the slopes are generously wide so you can find somewhere where there are fewer people. Osorakan is definetly at the top of my list and has the highest peak in the Hiroshima with some spectacular scenery. There is heaps to keep you sliding all day and the lifts were closed before we knew it!
Looking forward to going back again soon. |
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POSTED BY :
mahouboarder
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RESORT :
Osorakan
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Hiroshima |
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POSTED DATE :
15th January 2006
20:53 PM |
VISITED ON :
14th January 2006 |
Horrible rainy weather mixed with warm winter temperatures today pretty much all over Japan. We took half the morning to decide whether or not to head out but in the end took a risk to check it out. Decided to try out Osorakan and were pleasantly surprised considering the rain that had been falling.
We ran into a bit of trouble half way up on the mountain road to slopes thanks to the road being blocked due to falling snow and had to get out the car and try and move the snow to get to continue on. Was a little terrifying as the snow looked as if it was going to fall and crush my car!
After moving the snow we kept on going round the long and winding road and were lucky just to miss a small avalanche to the left of the car that fell. Was glad to finally arrive and needed to get out on the slopes rain or no rain.
Osorakan is a fairly big place and is worth the trip. (On the way home we found the newish wide road that we should have taken. The only down side is that it is about 33km from the Togouchi IC instead of 11km steep gradient mountain road. Even though its 33km it's a lot quicker so don't bother with the mountain road unless you have a 4WD, especially if it has been snowing!) You need a day out at Osorakan. We only had 3 hours and stuck to the one of 2 lifts at the bottom. Heaps of advanced courses according to the map but didn't have a chance to check it out. The snow was slushy but wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The slopes are fairly long and widish, each being around 500-600m at the bottom and gentle for beginners.
Ski passes are a bit expensive with a day ticket being 5900 (including the 1000 yen refundable electronic tag deposit). Will definitely be going back to check out the rest of the slopes but in the mean time will be waiting for some fresh snow to fall! |
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POSTED BY :
flipside
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RESORT :
Osorakan
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Hiroshima |
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POSTED DATE :
5th February 2005
3:55 AM |
VISITED ON :
29th January 2005 |
Well I was keen to get up to Osorakan as it seems to have the number one spot on the word of mouth ranking for Western Japan. I wasn't dissappointed.
Even though it hadn't snowed for a few days there was plenty of the natural stuff to get sliding. Many of the runs are quite spacious and the resort seems to have a good change of steepness to it. Can't remember the names of the courses but looking down from the top I liked the trail to the far right. A couple of steep runs to keep the downhillers happy.
It wasn't as crowded as I expected being a Saturday. Maybe we were just lucky. We had hardly any lines to deal with. There are mainly two seater lifts but they seem to have two right along side each other all the time.
Nice big fat chicken-katsu curry lunch at 1000 yen served by seemingly friendly, ji-sans. Of which were also running the lifts.
Overall, I reckon it has topped my list on the western J slopes. Don't know if that would wear off after a few visits though. Also it was much cheaper than the Mizuho monster with no charge for the car park.
All good. |
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