garynyberg
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Posts posted by garynyberg
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Much better than the winters of 97-98 and 98-99 when there was almost no snow until mid-January
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Tashiro Kagura Mitsumata is always so strange. In the parking lot it can be a sunny 20 degrees and by the time the ropeway gets you to the slopes it is a snowy 0-5 degrees. I always have liked this place for late season skiing. I go to Tohoku (Iwate & Aomori) for Golden Week, but always can get in at least one more weekend after that at this place.
Quote:Originally posted by oo:I really doubt they will be able to be open until then, what with the current and continued rain/spring weather that is all around us. It will be pretty pitiful if they are still open then. Maybe they will charge us for going!! Haha
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Just checked and Geto Pia (or Geto Kogen) in Iwate-ken is fully open and will be for quite sometime. Night skiing is open each evening. They currently have a 365cm base of snow. Looks like they will be open until mid or late May as usual.
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I think they probably have. I usually take a bus or car up as high as we can go after they open the road in April. Then ski down the mountain and either hitch or find a bus back to the top. Works great if you have a friend with another car. Park one at the top of the mountain and another somewhere around the base.
At Hakkoda, you can do much the same thing except park the first car at the entrance to the ropeway and take the ropeway to the top. Then take a couple of hours to get down to the second car you have parked on the opposite side of the mountain. Once the roads are cleared in late April, Hakkoda is pretty easy to go around by bus.
Quote:Originally posted by IM:I thought Iwaki San quit operating the cat this season?
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OK, if you go on a nice day. But you can never count on the weather being nice at Zao Onsen.
Lots of flat terrain where different runs connect. Not a lot of method to the madness, but still an interesting place to ski. If you like snow monsters, this is the best place to see them in Japan, but not the only place as Shiga Kogen Yokote-yama has some excellent snow monsters. But Yokote-yama has to be the most inconvenient place I have ever skiied in Japan (the lifts suck). But then again the view from the top is the best in Japan at almost 2500 meters
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Tashiro-Kagura-Mitsumata has plenty of snow. They have announced they will remain open until May 12. If they do as in previous years you may be able to get a discounted lift ticket for around 2,000 yen.
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Gran Deco is OK. Inwashiro is a bit more convenient.
Quote:Originally posted by Wizz:Thanks gary....do you like that place?
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I have a size 30 pair of Salomon boots if you are interested. I want to get rid of them as I bought new boots at the beginning of this season.
Quote:Originally posted by Ocean11:Didn't see your message there cal.
I take about a 30 or 31 (J size). Have you seen any big boots in the shops?
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Good skiing at Gran Deco this week. All lifts open, all runs open. 160cm to 210cm base.
Inawashiro is not quite in as good of shape 7 or 14 lifts are closed. 11 or 16 runs are closed. Usually closes in early April so this is not surprising.
Gran Deco is usually open through Golden Week.
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Still a good six weeks or more of skiing left in Tohoku. Most resorts from Fukushima north to Hokkaido stay open through Golden Week. My Golden Week favorites are Geto Pia, Hakkoda, and Iwaki-san. Hakkoda and Iwaki-san are both off course snow field skiing over Golden Week.
Also, don't forget Gassan in Yamagata-ken. It is open from the end of April to the end of July. In fact in 1993, you could ski there through Obon before they finally closed down. The interesting thing about Gassan is that they can't open before mid-April as there is too much snow.
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The Olympic Bobsled run is still there as far as I know. However, unlike the Lake Placid (used in the 1980 Olympics) I don't think it is open to the public for sledding.
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I am selling my previous ski set for 30,000 yen. Here are the specs.
Salomon Optima 8.0 boots size 29.0
Salomon Evolution 9000 skis 196cm
Salomon Equipe series bindings (racing type)
Aluminum poles (forget the maker)
Old Ski Bag
Skis, boots, and bindings are in good condition.
If interested contact me at 090-7177-2285 or garynyberg@syd.odn.ne.jp.
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Aoyama 1-chome work.
Satitama-shi home on the weekdays.
Yuki-no-kuni home on the weekends.
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I usually skip skiing on the 1st and 2nd and then take a couple of days off from work to make up for lost time.
I actually checked for accomodations in the Zao area last night and found rooms available for the nights of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Also rooms were still available for the 30th.
So my skiing this New Year's holiday season is for the 31st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th.
31st will be Shiga Kogen. The 4th-6th will be at Yamagata Zao.
The following weekend is a three-day and plan on skiing at Happo-One on Saturday, Sun Alpina on Sunday, and on the way back to Tokyo on Monday will hopefully be able to do the heli-ski at Sugidaira.
Gary
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Kagura-Tashiro-Mitsumata is really under-rated.
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On Tohoku Expressway and Tohoku Shinkansen to the north of Tokyo. I usually drive, takes about 2 hours. The resorts there are not big, but are great for snowboards. My recommendation would be to check out Hatoriko. I have on skied there, but it is a great boarding hill. Boards probably outnumber skiers 65% to 35%.
They are really flexible, I was even allowed to ski through the half-pipe.
Gary
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Two great shops in the Jimbocho area are:
Himaraya and Sports Crew.
Both will order large size boots for those of us with big feet. They also will order longer size skis than they normally stock. (Note: I really had a hard time finding a pair of 180cm carving skis, but Himaraya came through for me (in fact they had Atomic Beta Carv 9.18 in stock).
Himaraya has very good prices and the service is excellent. Sports Crew is a bit more expensive, but they have one guy in the shop who likes to speak English.
I bought my new boots at Sports Crew (size 30.0 Salomon Performa 6.0 were in stock) than walked across the street to Himaraya and bought my skis and bindings.
If you know what you want both places will take phone orders and ship to any location in Japan.
Gary
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Been skiing in Japan since November 1989. My peak season was the winter of 1991-1992 when I was able to get in 45 days of skiing at Appi Kogen and a total of 51 days skiing that season.
Since moving to the Kanto area in 1994, I average 15-20 days of skiing per season. Last big season for me was 1997-1998 when I got in 24 days of skiing.
Gary
Kagura worth the trip?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Saturday morning sucked as it was raining in the Kagura parking lot. We waited in the car until noon and bought half-day tickets instead of a full-day. Took the ropeway up and then the fog was a major hazard on the Mitsumata side of things.
We then skiied to the Kagura gondola, got to the top only to find out that the connecting runs and lifts we needed to ski to Tashiro were closed due to high winds.
Finally, around 3pm...the skies cleared the entire complex opened and it was great skiing. There is enough snow. No dirt or rocks anywhere. It was great at the end of the day.
I will be going up there either tomorrow or Wednesday, so will let you know what the conditions are like on return.