Juza

Ocean, Many thanks for the reply, advice:) I chose Nagano 'cause it's miles away from Osaka;) Nozawa onsen, hate to say it but from what you said & the reviews on this web, it doesn't sound a good place for me, 'steep' seems to be a key word here. Not good for me unfortunately. For now Karuizawa is looking good, but any other ideas are greatfully recieved:) Many thanks again.

Markie, Many thanks for the info, really helpful indeed:) Well I've been checking out the Karuizawa Prince hotel with it's package deal, but that sounds a bit pricey especially as you can only book a twin room, & I intend to be alone;) I need some breathing space after this hectic year! So, now I'm trying to find another hotel and I'm even trying to find a phone # to contact a resort, but the -in English web pages I've seen don't seem to have any contact #'s. I'll keep looking. Many thanks again for your help, and any more from everyone is very welcome

I'll check up on that, many thanks indeed

Hi all:) I'm in need of some advice please! I live in Osaka, want to go to Nagano this week, around Christmas Day. I've never been Ski-ing or Snowboarding before but want to try. There's a couple of problems though, one is that I don't speak enough Japanese to find & book a place to go to including get lessons (although I'm sure I can cope with the lessons in Japanese), the other is that I'm not so good with heights... Actually I refuse to go on a Gondola as it'll scare the crap outta me. Although I think I can manage a chair lift, don't ask why, agorophobia is weird. Anyway