Gunma Boarder
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Posts posted by Gunma Boarder
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Run 12, on a deep day they used to leave it ungroomed, the areas around lift 4, and looking at the map now, they don't seem to have my favourite area (and lift) off to the lookers left of the Nishiyama Romance Lifts? At the end of a sunny day I would take Milkyway and just admire the fantastic views...
A guy I was talking to at lunch also liked run 12. Still haven't checked it out, to many tree runs
The area you like became BC ,as Muika mentioned, after the earthquake. It was the area I mentioned seeing tracks going down the first day I went. Have to walk to it now. Bright side is you get fresh tracks if you make the effort 
I can see why you liked that area! The back side is really nice though a little small with that lift not operating. -
Glad you liked it Gunma Boarder!
I love Oze Iwakura, was the first place I experienced waist deep light powder all on piste, and was the place I spent most of my first 3 winters in Japan. I have taken friends there for their first experience of riding in Japan and they were instant fans.
When I was a regular there, no one except the odd foreigner hit the trees between runs.
Ya. It was just me (the odd foreigner) in the trees the last day as far as I could tell. I did notice some tracks from the day before but not too many. On a weekday powder day I could see how you might not even need the tree runs! What are some of your favorite runs? -
The trees in that area aren't that tight for the most part. A couple spots got tighter than I would have liked but the tight spots didn't last long. I had no problem with the ski patrol and didn't try hard to hide what I was doing. I did start my drop point farther from the lift and moved towards it as the morning went on to be a little less obvious though. I don't know if they don't really care or just didn't see me.
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Sold
Wanna get there baaaaaad!
Tell me when you guys come! I'd love to do it all again, and maybe some extra, this time not solo
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White World Oze Iwakura, what a place! I have lived in Gunma for 5 winters now and this is the first time I have gone to this wonderful ski resort. I can't believe I didn't go earlier! In the town of Katashina between Mt. Hotaka and Oze National Park lies a hidden gem off the international radar. The ski resort encompasses a fairly large area but has only 16 courses leaving a lot of area open for people who want to venture into the trees. I have written a review of Iwakura on the main site for all types of riders so in this report I will be focusing on the ridding I did over my last two trips. I was so engulfed in the boarding that I didn't take many of the pictures I was meaning to take! Lucky for us all Muikabochi did a great job capturing the beauty of Iwakura on his recent thread.
http://www.snowjapan...-february-2014/
My first trip to Oze Iwakura was on Febuary 9th, 2014. It was after a heavy snow but not the snowpacalypse we had the following weekend. The drive up was beautiful and faster than I was expecting. Iwakura has a large parking lot which was already 15% full at 8:15 a.m despite the expressways being closed. I caught a shuttle bus to the ticket counter and then headed for the gondola. The gondola seems to be very popular and doesn't have any place for snowboards and my 163 barley fits! After a tight but scenic ride up the gondola I rode down the side of course 15 getting a feel for the pow. It definitely passed the test and left me hungry for more! after riding two lifts to get to the top of course 16 on the back side of the hill I rode the tree line on the right side of the course (when facing downhill). Later in the day people even rode under the lift. It was a sunny morning but by the time I got my camera out it had clouded over a bit.
Here are a couple lines coming down under the lift.
What I rode for my first run down this lift was between the lift and the course. It was a nice run through well spaced trees but left me wanting something a bit longer as you have to go back to the course about half way down.
I liked this fantasy natural rail beside the lift. Didn't get around to hitting it though
After this run I moved over to the forest between run 16 and 15 which is best accessed from the lift beside run 16. I started by dipping in only a little but later dropped into the valley below which is fast on the drop in followed by a natural pipe and a semi technical exit. On my first trip there was a fallen tree blocking the bottom of the valley which could be ridden over but could also have created problems if someone hit it wrong. The second time I went, which was after the snowpacalypse, this tree just looked like a big bump in the valley. Always be careful when ridding off-piste
Over the next 3 or 4 hours I hit this valley from many angles. I even started traversing to the next smaller valley over to see some new lines. The whole area was great and always lead back to the bottom of the lift! over 90% of the vertical between top and bottom can be ridden in the trees with no walking out!
This was the best picture I got of the bottom of this valley. The exit is just visible at the bottom of the picture. The white face you can see at the top was also ridable but was ice the first time I went and had some exposed rocks the second. I mostly used it as a traverse line to get to the next valley over which you can kind of make out on the middle left side of the picture.
From the top of the lift you head over towards the gondola and the lift which accesses run 10 and 15 here is what you see.
This is a pic of the entrance point. Things open up after that for most of the runs.
Here is a view of the forest and my traverse line from the lift beside the gondola which accesses run 10 and 15. Things were tight in spots but the drops were good.
I rode these trees until about 1:30 when hunger started to compete with my drive to snowboard more. I decided to head for a restaurant. On the way back I decided to ride down the 40 degree slope that drops back towards the bottom of the resort. Coming from the back side you have to walk (much longer than I was expecting) to get there. Seeing the run already carved up pretty good I decided to hit the trees just beside the run.
Here is my drop in. It is pretty steep but the trees are well spaced. Later in the day this run scared me a bit. I was going too fast for my tired legs and almost hit a tree! Be very careful. The drop in is really fast and if you don't cut out quick enough you come to a cliff. Dipping too far in also seems to lead to a difficult to get out of valley.
After lunch I hit all the runs mentioned before while taking pictures. It was a really good day!
I went back to Iwakura on Febuary 23rd, 2014 for another go. I hadn't brought my snowshoes with me the previous trip and there were some places I wanted to try but was worried about the ride out. I made it to the parking lot around 8:30 and it was already filling up quickly. I caught the shuttle bus to the front of the resort and decided to head for the 40 degree wall. There was a forest run between course 7 and 5 which I really wanted to try and equiped with my snowshoes on my back, I was ready to give it a go. It turned out to be one of the best forest runs I have ever ridden!
Depending on the angle you hit it anywhere between 85% and 97% of the vertical of the lift can be ridden in the trees! Probably around 750 meters to a kilometer of trees on each run. I spent my whole morning dropping in from different spots. There are three small upper valleys which pour into one at the bottom just below the lift. There were long open stretches, natural jumps, beautiful trees and the snow was great! The ride out also wasn't a problem. I hit this forest maybe 10 times before breaking for lunch and every line was unique
This picture taken by Muikabochi sums up my morning. I had wanted to get a good picture of it but got a little tired and forgot that I hadn't! Thanks for covering for me Muika
The forest I rode all morning is between the two runs on the left of the picture. The lift runs just beside the run on the right and you can drop into the forest along the top of course number 5. I started towards the left and worked my way towards the lift as the morning progressed. In this picture you can also see the steep tree line I hit on the previous day which is to the right of the course in the middle of the picture. This area has more dangerous aspects (small cliffs and difficult valleys) than the area to the left of the course. A beautiful shot which sums up one of the best mornings of snowboarding I have ever had!
After lunch I decided to try the backcountry run which is accessed by walking up the ridgline above course 16. There are some closed course which I saw people riding on my previous visit which looked like fun.
Here is a shot of Mt. Shirane and Maranuma Kogen from the beginning of the hiking course.
Walking up the ridgline I was surprised to find the path already well packed by previous climbers. I wasn't surprised other people were climbing but more by how well packed the snow was. The mystery soon was solved as I saw a group of maybe 12 people walking up the ridgeline. They turned out to be a backcountry tour group that was surprised to see me and at my level of Japanese. The tour guides were also really nice! I highly recomend doing a tour in this area.
This is a shot of a tree still covered with the snow from the giant storm the previous week.
I climbed a little higher than this and got some shots of the surrounding mountains.
These fantasy lines were getting me exited. To bad they don't go anywhere easy to get out of...........
Here's one with Tokura in it.
This was my drop point.
The evergreens didn't last long. It was mostly like the trees pictured early in this thread. An amazing BC line though. A long drop through a beautiful forest and into a magestic valley that was amazingly silent. Towards the bottom the valley started to get a bit dangerous looking so I decided it was time to walk out over a small hill. I later saw the BC tour group emerge from the forest above me. They seem to know how to avoid the walk out
I really wish I had taken some pics while walking out can't really think why I didn't........ Maybe I was a little worried I had ridden too far 
After that I rode the trees I had ridden the previous day and then being completely exhausted, called it a day. One of the best days of boarding I have ever had
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Of course you can, please go ahead.
Thank you! It is a really nice shot!
This shot really shows the tree runs I was riding all morning!
Which trees were you riding in relation to this photo Gunma Boarder?
It all looks pretty nice
Mostly the trees between the two runs in the background. They were really good! For more info you will have to read the thread I'm about to write
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You so beat me to those last two
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NIce photos! You did the beauty of Iwakura justice. That close up of the backside of Hotaka is amazing! I wasn't sure what I was looking at at first. That would be an amazing BC line.
When I went on Sunday the snow was really good, so good I kind of forgot to take some of the pics I was planning on. Would you mind if I used the one below in a thread? I would of course give you all the artistic credit. This shot really shows the tree runs I was riding all morning!
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I might be interested in the
I ride a 156 Burton Fish and a 157 Ride Slackcountry.
I also use a 157 Ride Society for park/regular mountain use.
I'm looking to offload an almost new 2012/13 161 Ride Slackcountry as I don't need it.
I might be interested. I'm curently riding a 163 Rossignol Imperial which is a beginner to intermediate board made for groomers. I've never riden a powder specific board and I have been riding powder for years! At 183 cm and maybe 83 kg, is that the right length for me? Also if I went with a fish what would be the right length? I've always been a ride what I got and safe some money type (My board was 3,500 yen with bindings), but I have ridden with people with powder specific boards and seen the difference in action and am interested in making the switch.
I really don't know very much about gear so thank you all for the good info!
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We need pics!
I'll be writting a trip report soon
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That is a nice pic! The only trees I hit on the front side were just beside run 7 which is the 40 degree slope. From the lift I went just past the run and dropped a couple of really nice powder lines. Due to the steepness and the trees they were a bit scary but fun. There seemed to be some danger if you don't cut back to the run soon enough so of course, be careful. The area between course 7 and 5 is bigger than it looks in this pic. I wanted to try it but the bottom of the gully seems to be a little flat and it was late in the day and I didn't bring my snowshoes. I was also alone which is never the safest. The valley below the gondola looked a bit sketcky but beautiful. I also noticed some people walking up to the peak and riding down a BC line followed by a closed run on the backside.. Looked really fun. If I had my snowshoes I probably would have tried to tag along. That said I was there from 8:30 to 3:30 and wasn't bored for a second!
I just spent all morning yesterday in the trees between course 7 and 5 (in Japanese the エキスパートコース上 and チャンピオンAコース） The ride out at the bottom is fine and those trees are really good! Also hit the BC line mentioned before but rode behind the closed run slightly farther from the skijo because the sun was slushing up the snow a bit and the valley behind was better shaded. Had to walk over a small hill to gt back to the resort. I think the valley that I was in gets pretty deep and runs between Katashina Kogen and Iwakura. Ran into a tour group hitting almost the same BC line I did but they cut out at the perfect time to avoid the walking.
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kawai!
Nice pic
I loved the clouds floating on Tanigawa that day! If no one got it fast that was going to be my clue. Thanks for creating an excuse for me to post it anyway
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Breathtaking shots. Mt. Granview is indeed the graniest 
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(disclaimer not part of game just a pic of Oana from Mt. Hotaka)
and for the size, look at that massive resort on the bottom left. It's taking up a chunk of the screen!
I don't even know why you go to Tenjin when this beast is on the way!
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They may be graner but I'm not sure about grander
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I think this resort is even bigger than the gigantic and gran Mt. Granview! It's Oana (or Ohana). Over to you Bag of Chips (I translated into 'merican
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Name this mammoth of a ski resort!
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I've been in summer and saw some die hard skiers riding an ice field above the skijo. Really nice area!
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Hiraya Kogen? (the farthest Nagano resort from Nozawa
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I wonder how this summer will be here, according to everyone I have spoken to here air conditioners are not needed, and in fact hardly any houses have them here.
Apparently it is not humid in summer here, just a dry heat and gets chilly at night even in August!. I so hope they are right, but the trouble is Japanese level of not humid and chilly is very different to mine. We shall see once summer arrives. For now though still enjoying winter all all the snow we have and winter foods.
Where are you in Kobuchisawa? I love that area, such an amazing variety of mountains in a reletively small area! Are you near the station and expressway, farther up towards Yatsugatake or more down in the valley? I know Kofu is extremely hot and humid and last summer I walked from the 20 in Hokuto up into the mountains and the valley strech in the sun was brutal. Up towards Yatsugatake is not nearly as bad.
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Might end up going to White World Oze Iwakura this Saturday or Sunday. Anyone else heading up this weekend?
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I love that frosty tree! I love seeing stuff like that while in the mountains
White World Oze Iwakura Tree Run Paradise!
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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I'll do it for half the gas and parking money
and we can ride together from Numata. I would prefer to go with other people. Much safer.