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Wow - 187 that's long. The only powder board I have ridden was much shorter than standard - it was a 158 - with a really short back and massive nose. It rode really well. What is the thinking behind going for a longer board?

The road up to Shiga Kogen is pretty slippery even with snow tyres and 4wd. I have almost lost it there a couple of times, take care! Between Noz and Shiga I highly recommend Kappa Sushi in Iiyama and Maguse Onsen (which is near Kijimadaira). Its an awesome onsen! I saw the Nozawa - Madarao bus making quite a few runs with just a couple of people in it, but the people I know who went enjoyed it. Good on them for trying, hopefully it went alright and they can keep it going.

Be careful on those roads up to Shiga, they are very slippery and I've almost wiped out a couple of times! Make sure you check out Maguse onsen on the way, its between Nozawa and Kita Shiga. Awesome onsen! And don't go by without popping in at Kappa sushi in Iiyama either.

Awesome to hear that Iiyama Dude, I have heard about the Nozawa Madarao part but didnt know about the Myoko bit. It will be great if it goes all the way to Myoko, even if it takes two hours it will still be a much better way to get there than all the changes that would otherwise be required.

haha, that statue of liberty has got to go! The Airwave and Usagi runs were pretty good. The problem is that they finish up on the far side of the resort, and its pretty flat for quite a long way back to the main lift lift. Airwave II is in a better position.

Good to see that Madarao seems to be putting a bit of effort in. I went to Madarao last season and thought it was fun enough for a day or two. There were tonnes of beginners milling around the bottom but up top I had fresh tracks until well after lunch. The new ungroomed run is accessed from Tangram's lift. If it's the one I'm thinking of, then it could be done with a little walk across last year too. It's a pretty nice run.

Interesting that they still get that many visitors. Apparently the peak for Nozawa was 1.3 million in 1990, dropping down to 400,000 around 2005.

How long does the season last in Zao? Will it be open until Golden Week?

Freshly smoothed cement?

Norikura in Hakuba.

Another vote for Tsugaike Kogen. There are tonnes of long, wide, flat runs on that mountain. It gets a lot of snow too. My advice would be to pick a day when there is good snow. Freshly groomed snow is so much easier to learn on than ice - for one if you fall over it doesn't hurt, and you don't have to be as precise with your edges to make turns.

I have never been to a nighter that I thought was worthwhile (have not been to Niseko), but I agree with Mamabear and I think it makes a resort sound appealing.

The one at Madarao doesn't even have a back on it, let alone a bar. It's like you are riding up on a Macdonalds tray! Is there anywhere in Japan that still has a Tbar or rope tow?

enjoying learning to ski, but if the snow is on I always end up snowboarding...

http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/library/ClimateChangePresentandFuture.pdf Just read this paper put out by the Japan Met service, about global warming. A lot of it is particular to Japan and makes for an interesting read. Main points: - Weather is getting more extreme. - Trees are changing colour later and cherry blossoms are blooming earlier: winter has definitely become shorter in Japan over the last 50 years. - If temperatures keep rising as predicted, Tohoku (and I am going to assume the rest of Honshu) will reportedly get less snow and more rain, whilst Hokkaido will get mor

Originally Posted By: Myoko Guy What are the two new runs (Air Wave and Usagi) there like? Air Wave sounds pretty good. I was just going to ask the same question. I imagine they would have been cut up pretty quickly on a weekend, but I am wondering if they would be worth a visit after some new snow.

Dust on crust sounds pretty good compared to what we have had in Noz the last couple of days...

Fantastic photos!!! I wish Noz was looking half that good at the moment... The ski field in the foreground of the Myoko photo is Shinano daira. It has been closed for a while. Togari (yes much bigger) is along the same range to the right of Shinano daira and just out of picture.

Just put the telly on and it is snowing very hard at the top! Tomorrow might not be too early after all.

It is raining so hard here at the moment

No Ryokan specific local beer, but a few decent ones from Nagano. Shinano Ale and Yona Yona Ale. There is at least one more microbrewery that has 3 types of beer (in the bottle store) for about 800 yen a bottle. I cant see them selling too many this year. One regret I have from the time I spent in Japan was not trying lots of sake - will make ammends for that this year!

That is an insane amount of money. So what is the cheap way of doing it? I have been looking into doing it in NZ next year, but cant see anything for less than 10000$ It seems like its all aimed at UK kids on their gap years.

I have been there a few times by overnight bus and once on a local bus from hakuba. There are buses, but they only run about once an hour. The train line from Matsumoto continues on to Tsugaike too.

Hakuba is probably too far for just a day trip, as has been mentioned. For a two day trip though it is a reasonable distance. I have never been to Karuizawa or Yuzawa, so can't really comment on them, but my favourite place in Hakuba (technically its in the next town...) and a great place for learners is Tsugaike Kogen. Huge mountain, pretty flat and wide. There is a great outdoor onsen there too! It will almost certainly be a miserable day for some of your group if you dont get a lesson. But then again if your instructor isnt very good then you will waste a big chunk of your day. I think

Mostly foreigners when I was living in Japan, and barely any of the Japanse friends I had were my age (most much older). I guess I was just lazy and existed within the gaijin bubble.