Gunma Boarder

I can vouch for the Madarao / Tangram view

I think I was thinking more along the lines of epic mountain views too, but I love the ocean views! I'll second Tenjindaira being amazing. I really need to get to Zao and Happo-one one of these years too

No it isn't. Good point. But getting up there would be insanely hard without the skijo so Kagura is definitely playing a huge role in making the views possible. I'll add a "within reasonable walking distance" rule

I love snowboarding. The thrill off riding fresh powder feels like that that dream when you are floating on the clouds which float around the mountains of heaven but riding is not the only reason I go to the mountains in winter. The views from many skijos create the inspiration from which the aforementioned dreams come. Let's get some pics of these skijos in one place! I'm going to go with a one picture per skijo per user plus links rule. Thank you Norcal and Muikabochi for the inspiration from the "Maybe it's just me...." thread. I'll start things off with the Kagurgamine ridge line abov

I love the views at Kagura off the lift but nothing beats the walk from lift five to the top of Kaguragamine. That ridgeline is epic! I might give Tenjindaira on a bluebird day a tie though......... I think I just thought of a good topic

I finally got something for this thread. A little Mozza at Naeba.

I recently won a Yuzawa town lift ticket (thank you Yuzawa Town and Snow Japan!) and decided to use it as an opportunity for a little mini getaway with the family. There is a hot spring resort hotel in Naeba town close to Naeba Skijo that I had been wanting to stay at for a couple of years and my wife also liked the idea of going , so after work on Friday we packed the kids in the car and were on our way! One of my favorite things about winter in Japan is sitting in a outdoor hot spring bath while staring out over a snow covered landscape and the Yuzawa area is a great place to experience

Hire a camper and do the same with your kids. you'll be the coolest dad ever. I'm cheap I'll probably be sleeping in the car like you! Just got to have an onsen near by

You sir are living the dream that a married man with kids like me can only dream of. I just have to wait a few years for the kids to get bigger so I can take them with me on my snow adventures!

I'll second that! I'm from California too. Really northern; about an hour and 15 minutes from the Oregon border on the coast. Where are you guys from? I was just recently thinking about Kirkwood in California, specifically "The Wall" (run name). There has been some conversation on here about steeps recently and that run came to mind.

Does Tenjindaira have music? I can't seem to remember.

I want to see that video

I used my Smart Phone. I was lucky I had it with me and it had signal. I rang ski patrol but they were useless as no-one spoke english. I then messaged my daughter back at the hotel on FB telling her of my situation and sent her an image of my location. She relayed this info to the hotel owners. I then just had to wait it out to be rescued. Big thank you to Myoko Police who rescued me. Going back in Feb 2014 with gifts for them and the hotel owners. Please elaborate! I'm sure many people would be interested in the story. Welcome to Snow Japan!

Looking at their website they seem really reasonably priced if you can get together a group of 6 people. If I'm ever in Niseko I'll have to get some other snow Japan peeps to come with me

I don't usually watch snowboard videos very much, but this one is different. It is beautifully filmed; I would watch it without the snowboarders. The fact that the boarding is amazing is a big bonus though. The philosophical speech playing in the background also would be worth listening to on it's own. The whole thing combines together to form the best snowboarding video I have ever seen. This is part of what got my winter stoke going this year.

Ya, it was pretty fun Just maybe not the safest choice for my afternoon. I may have been using the crowds as an excuse......... I concur "Freshies is the besties"!

Niseko looks awesome and I want to go someday, but our area is not so bad for consistent snowfall either

I've actually never been, but have heard good things. It is on the "to do" list for this year.

Mt. Tanigawa is in the center of the picture while Naeba is the flat topped mountain in the left center and farther back. On the right is Mt. Asahi which is across a valley from Mt. Tanigawa. On the far left are the mountains above Shiga Kogen.

Gunma also has some nice places. I especially like Kawaba and Houdaigi. If you see a gaijin it will probably be me or the New Zealanders who live in Minakami and do backcountry tours (definitely not many tourists). That said the Niigata area is also a good bet, but both can be done on the same trip from Tokyo.

The signs for all of Tokyo being there were present from the start. A stalled out BMW in the middle of the road on the drive up. 4 of the 6 floors of the parking garage full before the hill even opened. When I got in line for one of the first lifts things weren't crazy yet, but you could feel it coming. From my first ride on the lift you could see lines all over the places were usually only a few people venture. I rode the quad lift and had a nice conversation with some Tokyoites who were up for the long weekend. I decided to walk up my mini mountain and get some views and at least a littl

It's been eight days. I don't think anyone would complain if you posted something onehunga. Or Ippy. You did know the last one

What an amazing day! I only got to look at the clear up from the window at work but I recently pulled a muscle in my back so that might be a good thing Beautiful photos. I have to get to a Minamiuonuma resort this year!

Gifu?

Winners should be required to write amazingly detailed reports with photos/videos for me to enjoy