kyee 0 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Hi experts, My boyfriend and I are planning to go to Nagano for snowboarding after 2 seasons in Niseko (even though we love the place). After some research, we have decided to go to Nozawa Onsen because we will be there on Jan 15 to see the fire festival. However, we noticed the longest days lift pass is for 3 days. So we wondered if Nozawa Onsen is big enough for 5 days of boarding. We are intermediate and may want to pick up a few tricks this year. We may tackle one or two diamond runs. Alternatively, we consider to spend 3 days in Nozawa and 3 days in Hakuba Happa One. Any idea if this would be too rush? Thanks a lot in advance for your advice. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 3 and 3 sounds like a great plan Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Sounds good to me too. Or you might want to consider Shiga Kogen or Myoko as well. Link to post Share on other sites
kyee 0 Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 Is 2 days for Nozawa enough? Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 i thought you said 3 days for nozawa? but yeah 2 days should do the trick. there's many resorts in Hakuba that you can try out. Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 2 days may be enough, but from all reports you'll probably be hungover from the fire festival so you'll probably lose a morning on the hill. nozawa is also reasonably big. if there's good snow you could happily spend 3 days cruising around also, getting from nozawa to hakuba involves a bus to nagano, then a bus to hakuba. that'll take half a day all up. something to bear in mind i'm not sure if it is easier to get to myoko or shiga kogen from nozawa Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Spook Im thinking of taking the family to Nozawa next year. Mainly because I've heard that it is a very quant Japanese village. You spend much time there? I'm thinking a week. Doesn't have to be the best mountain for boarding. I just want the family to enjoy it. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Noz is good for 5 days Hakuba is good for 6 days. Hakuba has bus rides to the fire festival and back as well. Noz although a quaint Japanese Village is dying a slow long death. There are almost no bars and almost nothing besides onsens and gift shops. The skiing is large and the snow can be great. Hakuba has more resorts better nightlife. You can go to the Japanese restaurants and get a menu in English. Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Fatts. Although I'd really like to go back to Hakuba with the family. I think I would find the village a bit of a hassle with little ones. If I was staying at Happo and going downtown for dinner at night, I'm not sure how the kids would go freezing there little butts off waiting for the GO Genki bus every time. Not knocking Hakuba at all, just looking at the logistics. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Thats why you dont stay at Happo. Hakuba has alot of work to do but if you are going to pay for the genki go you can take a cab for not much more really. Im a big fan of Noz I used to go there quite a bit. I actually wanted to buy a place there 5 years ago but I was afraid and am afraid the resort might die. This season Noz lost alot of money again and its privately up for sale. The comapany that bought it 2 or 3 years ago cant make it work. The town cant really be invested in because it is built up huge. id say 30 to 40% of the places are closed in Noz now. When I first went there we knew some great restaurants and mini bars they are all gone. For sking onsens etc noz is a great place. As a culture experience it is great but it wont be there for long unless someone saves the place. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Nozawa. There are a fair few new bars and places open this year and into next season as well. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Fatts, what stuff is there on offer during the summer season in Hakuba? Is the area as well set up for spring/summer as it is for winter? Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Naz had a rough season - there was no snow at the bottom when I went up with Tsonda.... Link to post Share on other sites
TomatoThrower 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Lots of places had a rough season with the snow from what I hear, not only Nozawa. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Rough season aside the resort hasnt made money for years. The town sold the resort for a swans song a few years back. i havent heard of anything new at noz besides lodge nagano. If you have details then put them up. Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 i was disappointed with the snow in nozawa, but then last season wasn't that great. it was a large resort, and you should have a good time with your family. lots of fast groomers and gentle slopes mixed in with steeper stuff. bit of off piste too, but the lack of great snow meant we never really found anything too spectacular. th i agree that there weren't many bars or restaurants. maybe i was missing something, but it seems that everyone goes back to their pension and eats dinner there. walking around looking for an apres ski beer or a few drinks after dinner at our pension, everything was dead. the whole place is just full of gift shops. there are a couple of bars, but they didn't seem to start up til about 10. i wasn't keen to do that, when all i wanted to do was chill out and have a couple of drinks. like i said, maybe i missed something, as i'm sure there are some cool places to drink and hang out, but we didn't find any as far a quaint little town goes, nozawa has a bit going for it. the onsens are hyped, and there are half a dozen lovely ones in cool wodden building scattered throughout town. the town does feel like it's dying a slow death, but it's still a great place to check out with the family for 4-5 days. see what others think, but i would recomend it to you mantas. a good thing about it is that you can walk everywhere in 10 minutes. i am glad i went there, but i don't think i'll be hurrying back. if i had seen the mountain and village buried under a few feet of snow, i'm sure i would think differently though. Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 >i agree that there weren't many bars or restaurants. maybe i was missing something, but it seems that everyone goes back to their pension and eats dinner there. That describes the vast majority of Japanese resorts. That's not to say Nozawa doesn't have its problems but a lack of an apre scene isn't out of character. Also, accessing bars and restaurants in Japan can be a tricky exercise for the uninitiated because they're often behind the most unassuming of doors/shop fronts. In recent years I've been to a couple of great little restaurants and bars in Nozawa that from the outside look like they’re out of business. The fire festival is amazing but also pretty difficult for non-speakers/locals to access. We found ourselves standing on the edge of a very large crowd in the dark in the cold watching an event we barely understood. After about 30min we went back to the bar. Nozawa is a great resort and on a good day is as good as anywhere else. It has something to offer everyone and probably has steeper steeps than most too. It also has some pretty dreadful flats as well though and can be a pain on a board that doesn't glide well. It would be a pity if it went out of business, but it's an unfortunate fact but a resort that is going out of business (but still operating) makes for a great day on the snow - no waiting for lifts, uncrowded slopes, lots of easy powder, groomers stay in good shape all day etc. For all that it is struggling, in the few times I've been there, there was still a mad rush to the top for the pow. It's also an interesting resort with lots of different runs over different terrain. So many Japanese resorts are simply runs up and down the same part of the same mountain. You can spend a lot of time at Nozawa just exploring the resort - it covers such a large area. Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Well I only know Nozawa from the few times I have been and I have never got a "dying a death" feeling at all. Quite the opposite actually, it seemed lively and lots going on when we were there. I really like it and hope that if they are having big problems behind the scenes they can find their way out of it. Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Originally Posted By: spook i would recomend it to you mantas. a good thing about it is that you can walk everywhere in 10 minutes. That's exactly what I'm looking for. While Hakkers might have great night life and bars, thats useless to me with little ones. Just the nature of the village (the lay out) at Hakkers and getting around it, with kids at night in the cold, doesn't appeal. Fatts- Correct me if I'm wrong , but isn't Happo where the majority of the ski school and beginners runs are, the Saka lifts? Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 i probably came across a bit harsh when i said nozawa felt like it was slowly dying. there were lots of people on the slopes and in the village. i guess the spring-like conditions in the middle of winter affected my perception of the place. i can imagine if the whole area had a few feet of fresh on it it would be drastically different. but the village itself felt a bit sad and ageing, and (like many small japanese towns) many buildings looked quite tired. i dunno what i expected, but considering the fact that nozawa is constantly touted as a quaint little snow town it wasn't anything like a bustling european or north american resort village. even hakuba and niseko have shedloads more action. i guess that also has a lot to do with me being a foreigner and not opening the right doors too. anyway, that's my 2 cents. but mantas, i still recommend it to you and the fam. it is by no means a bad place, just not how i expected it to be, that's all Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Spook, it's all relative. Compared to just about every other Japanese ski resort, Nozawa is cute and quaint! Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 fair point! Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Happo the best beginner areas are near sakka but if you stay there you are pretty much stuck there with nothing. Wadano is heavily advertised because Yokoso only advertises Wadano. I for one am not a Yokoso fan as I feel they waste money only trying to push one area for one agenda. YOu stay in Wadano then you arent going to leave Wadano. If you stay central in Hakuba you have many more options and the views are killer. Why stare at a bunny hill when you can stare at the mountains really. Youll have to shuttle to the resorts at the start of the day or the end of the day but thats free and well organized. As for Nozawa if there are new places then great. Ive been going for years. I went to many fire festivals there are fun and can be a drunk fest. The weekday festivals tend to have more sake available than the weekend festivals. That might be because on the weekends the locals just go for it. Its a must see if you are in The Hakuba Nozawa myoko triangle area. Most resorts like shiga hakuba myoko would run a shuttle of some sort. For skiing when the snow is on Nozawa is my favorite resort in all of Japan. When the snow sucks I hate the place. Also good BC really nice stuff but it cant compare to hakuba. The resort is in trouble you can read about it every year. This season the resort said that they will change their marketing strategies but it wasnt clear what they would do. When in nozawa you have to poke your head around everywhere and into everywhere to find stuff. PS the onsens are nice but you need to bring soap and hope that the guys in there will let you put cold water into the 45 degree tubs. The locals like them hot. Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Hakuba is a big valley. There`s a hell of a lot more around than Saka on Happo. If that`s all you have done then you have missed out. Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Noz's park was aweful.... Link to post Share on other sites
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