frankyday

Hello everyone, Thanks for all the comments so far. I made it and came back from Japan safely. Finally I stayed at Sun Valley. And as expected, Shiga Kogen is HUGE. I agreed that Ichinose is probably the best place to stay because it has quite a lot different slopes around it (from beginner to expert) And for those who love hotspring and traditional Japanese ryokan culture in Japan, please do try to stay a night at Shibu Onsen after the skiing / snowboarding. The area has traditional Japanese feeling and great hotspring. Also it's close to the snow monkey park. Cheers Franky

Hi Tubby, I remember you said Ichinose area is best for beginners and access to different slopes. Those 2 hotels that I mentioned has a cozy feeling and affordable prices, that's why I asked for comments. But I found out that the Ichinose area also has some hotels which are not as expensive as I expected. So, right now I am exploring this area and sending requests to look for a good place to stay. Thanks

Thank you so much for all the comments. I have decided to stay at Shiga Kogen for my snowboarding (beginner level) In terms of location (ease of access and considering we are beginner snowboarder), which one would be a better choice:- Villa Alpen Aspen Shiga Best Franky

Thanks for all the comments. Hope the snowfall will be enough for snowboarding beginner by late December. I will take your advice - wait as long as possible to decide on Hakuba or SK. But one thing is that I need to book the accommodation in advice!!!

To understand more of your own culture and way of living.

Thanks for that, Tubby. To be frank, I find the accommodation in SK is generally more expensive than Hakuba, mainly because most of them are hotels and you are somehow forced to take the breakfast and dinner at the hotel (because I know there is no restaurant there), which makes the price more expensive. If I stay in Sun Valley (I found one family hotel which is not really expensive), is this the location where the public bus (those that comes from Nagano or Yudanaka) stops? And if I want to go from Sun Valley to Ichinose area, is it true that I can take the SK free shuttle bus to the

Hey, I love this forum! Got useful replies so instantly! Thank you so much for the replies. Indeed, I am NOT a Japan newbie. I have been Japan for many times and I know Japanese culture quite well and I know a bit of Japanese and Kanji (Chinese characters) I am just a snowboard newbie, I learned it last winter in Korea and therefore this year would like to continue practicing. So, considering the above, will Hakuba or SK justify more? I know there is no night life at all in SK. But I am ok with it. My main concern is the snow quality, the slope difficulty (we are beginn

Hello everyone, I am a complete newbie here and hope all of you can help giving a bit comments here. I will be doing snowboard in Japan during late December (after X'mas) and are struggling between Hakuba and Shiga Kogen. Basically I know some facts about these 2 places. Hakuba has several different ski fields which are closely connected (e.g. Hakuba47, Happo-One and others) while Shiga Kogen is a huge huge one. And Hakuba seems more famous (at least for western people) than Shiga Kogen. And Hakuba has more restaurant and local people life while Shiga Kogen has just hotels in