Jim 0 Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Has anyone been there in the last season or two as Id like the lowdown on the place, access between the different resorts etc. cheers Link to post Share on other sites
ippaigenkijenofoz 0 Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 yup, been twice, love the place, one of my favourites! Hmm, bit sketchy of details, but I think there are three resorts all connected there... you can get a pass for just one or all 3. I usually go to Suginohana, gret place, lots of sneaky powder runs under the lifts, just, err... play the dumb gaijin... not as important, but kinda cool is that the car park is right on the slope so it take just a few minutes and you are at the gondola!!! Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Suginohara is the best of the 3 main ones. Check out the Reviews section on this site for reviews of the places. The ones you should be looking for at Akakura Myoko Suginohara Myoko Ikenotaira Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 Myoko is a great place. I really like it but never seem to go as often as I might want to - its just a pain to get to. Suginohara is the best, some good long courses. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 I went just once to Suginohara and had a blast just riding the top few lifts. Lots of trees and gullies up there. The final 8 km run down to the car park at full tilt was also memorable. No trouble with patrol either, even though I wasn't subtle about climbing under the orange fences. Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 It's really beautiful mountain I think and good for snowboarding too. Link to post Share on other sites
akibun 0 Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 Me too! It's really great place. You must try it. Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 It is a great place indeed. Great no-nonsense long runs and very efficient lift/gondola system. A bit like the ひらふ高原 but more stylish small restaurants (mid way at 三田原 and scattered around the 杉ノ原 side) and lodges (with fantastic names like '空飛ブウサギ' and '夢冒険'). Have more character than Naeba in my view. I will definitely go there again. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 Good place, good place. Niigata does have some really good places folks...... Myoko, Arai, Yuzawa, Kagura, Hakkai, etc... Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 0 Posted December 31, 2003 Author Share Posted December 31, 2003 How does it rate in comparison to Nozawa Onsen as im tryin to decide which of the two I should go to, so has anyone done both resorts? Link to post Share on other sites
flipside 0 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 A friend invited me to go up to Joetsu kokusai for a three dayer. wondering if I should fork out the 54000 bills to do this. The hotel looks like an amazing lodge (like the photo was actually taken in the swiss alps or something). Any thoughts. By the way, pal, best of luck for the new years ev'rybody. peace. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 Joetsu Kokusai? While I don't mind the place - actually quite like it - I think you'll be wanting to try maybe nearby Maiko or somewhere in Yuzawa on 1 of your days. Joetsu ain't enough for 3 days I reckon. (But the other places are easy to get to nearby). JK is the same company as the Hakuba Cortina - so you've got the same spooky hotel thing going on. The resort doesn't have much of an elevation, but a few decent courses - especially round the back (Atema I think thats called). (Hotel here http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/viewhotel.php?hotid=26) Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 JK is a great place with snow (back of the mountain) so beautiful you are afraid to defile. However I agree with Sanjo that 3 days is a bit too much unless you have a really lovely company like sunrise ( ). The hotel looks great on pic but really is quite small and not that impressive when you see it in person. Link to post Share on other sites
IceEiji 0 Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 Like another people say, Myoko is good place, I like it. I have also been Joetsu Kokusai. When snow conditions is good I like it. But it doesn't get as much snow as nearby Yuzawa resorts. Very pretty. Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 I had a very ordinary day at Jokoku recently. There is just not enough snow this year and the low altitude of the resort led to rain falling intermitently (?) all day. Was very disappointing indeed after a top day at Kagura the day before. The top section of Jokoku, Atema, was the best of it but still pretty average really. I could see a bit of potential in that top area but still Kagura seemed to have more options overall. Would love to check out Myoko Kogen though. Sounds sick. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by Siren: JK is a great place with snow (back of the mountain) so beautiful you are afraid to defile. However I agree with Sanjo that 3 days is a bit too much unless you have a really lovely company like sunrise ( ). The hotel looks great on pic but really is quite small and not that impressive when you see it in person. Siren, hmmm..... have we met? I had no idea there was good snow there. Where out the back? You'd have to climb back up, right? I only just saw this thread and was about to say 'No, dont' go, it's a waste of money!'. Half a day there might be okay, and you'd probably really enjoy it if you're a beginner. I had a 3 week gig there some years back and I found it the most boring place to ski that I'd ever been to (mind you, I'd just returned from 2 weeks at Whistler/Blackcomb, so what do you expecct!). The only reason there was snow there (at the time I was there) was because it snowed almost every day, and the snow was heavy. Whenever it didn't snow for a day it started to melt bigtime. The slope up the top was better, a little drier, but still very much on the tame side. The only run of decent steepness I saw was always carved out with giant uneven moguls in icy or heavy snow, and, alas, I'm no mogul queen... As for the hotel - it didn't do much for me, too many people. Weekend riding? forget it! Packed lift queues. Quite busy during the weekdays too, except early morning, but this was in mid February somewhere around '95 or so. I hear the slopes are less crowded these days in general.... Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 PS - I wouldn't be lovely company at a place like that. I'd be complaining all the time Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Quote: I hear the slopes are less crowded these days in general.... Much much less crowded. Drove past there on Sunday - the place looked almost empty. Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Quote: I'd be complaining all the time As in 'moaning'? Link to post Share on other sites
MeronKinenbi 0 Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Myoko is a good place. In my top 3. Link to post Share on other sites
emptyworld 0 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I'm going up to Myoko early tomorrow morning and staying in there and Arai for 3 nights. Can't wait. It looks like the conditions are good right now too so it should be a top weekend. Have a good one all. Link to post Share on other sites
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