cu@10kft 0 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 me and a group a dallas texas locals are planning a trip to japan. we plan on staying for 7-10 days and plan on boarding the majority of that. where is a good place to stay and board. we mostly enjoy freeriding but parks are a requirement too. looking for nice long runs. some open some narrow. difficulty we ride blues and blacks. what are your suggestions? thanks in advance Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Probably best to start with the link below and then ask some more specific questions when you have a few ideas. http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/index.html Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 or a move to the snow forum Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted November 6, 2007 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted November 6, 2007 (moved) Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 When do you want to come? Link to post Share on other sites
cu@10kft 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 ok so plan is december 08. i know it is far away but we want to plan all this stuff way in advance. as for looking at resorts link, we are trying to find a resort with nice runs decent lifts and good people since we know 0 japapenese Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 dec 08 th is early can you plan jan 8th Link to post Share on other sites
cu@10kft 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 no decmber 2008 we are getting way ahead but we wat to get tons of area info before we plan also Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Welcome to the forums cu@10kft. I think the majority here are Hakuba converts. Big mountains heaps of powder, 10 resorts within 40 minutes end to end and no crowds. Enough english spoken to get you by but still plenty of Japanese to let you know you are in another country. A few parks but are not up to north American resorts quality. Endless backcountry and good beer. What more do you want? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 December 2008? Lots of time for deciding. Please call again after this season and see how it turned out. Link to post Share on other sites
cu@10kft 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 so u think hakuba is the best bet. do they have multi mountain passes or just passes to each resort. we want to see alot of different mountains if possible. any thing like a 4 mountain pass package(like colorado or utah does).thanks for all your help. we dont wanna waste a lot of time having to decide once we are there where to go. are car rentals super expensive? is there other forms of transportation to and from the different resorts? Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 These guys are the experts - but our family has enjoyed Niseko so much we are just about ready for trip 3 in 12 months!! However listen to these guys about the snow chances in early December - you would hate to be all excited arriving with your board tucked under your arm only to find the only snow to be had is after an 8 hr hike to the top of Yotei! LOL! Me - I like the chairlifts - personally... Seeing the push for Hakuba on here - I might have to talk to His Injuredness about planning the next trip for there! Knowing a place/familiarity is great, but you can't beat new experiences! Link to post Share on other sites
cu@10kft 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 i enjoy lifts as well. i will hike a little if i have to but prefer a lift . we arent dead set on month. if snow is more frequent in january or feb thats when we will go. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Ok number one I hope Hakuba hasnt taken over the site. Hakuba has pluses over Niseko, Niseko has pluses over Hakuba. Hakuba is more a mountain range Niseko is a volcano 90% sure Early season both have shown that they can be great, both have shown that they can have very little. Depending on the type of Accom that you are looking for you need to book early. T Terrain wise Hakuba is steeper than Niseko, Niseko's snow though is drier sort of colorado vs montana powder. Both are light but you have to give up the higher rating. Niseko and Happone the Major players at both areas both have an open policy about where to ski. Niseko advertises this but Happo doesnt. Both will only pull a pass for skiing a strict Out of bounds closure like any other resort in NA. Backcountry Hakuba has more but early season it is often limited anyways. Niseko has a start up cat skiing op and some decent BC as well just not as vast as Hakuba. Ski resorts within reach both have a few resorts Hakuba has more. Some of the resorts though have a stricter policy towards tree skiing. Passes are cheaper here so you dont really need a multi resort pass like the states to save a fortune. Both areas do offer discount tickets for multi resorts. Both are within 10 to 50 bucks in price. Also you can look at Shiga Kogen Nozawa Onsen Myoko Zao Furano Yuzawa Tried to be balanced but of course I lean towards Hakuba. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 I like both Niseko and Hakuba, but one important factor that wasn't mentioned in the previous post is that: One big plus for Hakuba is getting to ride and hang out with Fattwins and the crew over there. That is really great fun and has been a deciding factor for me for several years. Link to post Share on other sites
cu@10kft 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 thanks for all your help. now my last questions.(hopefully) resorts- is stayin in resort worth the $$ or is there other places to stay within a short commute to the resorts to get more of the "experience".none of us have ever been to japan. like i said main purpose for trip is boarding, but i would love to see some of japan while i am there. air travel- what airport do i go to for the shortest trip to these 2 resorts we have been discussing Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 If you want to see some of Japan then it is best to travel. Hit the local spots and such. Also putting in 3 days in Kyoto isnt a bad option. Or staying on the JR east 4 day flexible pass and hitting Nikko, and Kamekura will give you enough culture to blow your mind. Markie thanks for that you knw you are always welcome here. As are all HK cousins and Uncles. Tell Derek to send me a joke and dont get lost if he is going to Furano. One day ill be set up enough to travel with the HK crew to your spots. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Fattwins, Derek will be well looked after in Furano. I have set him up with Ken, a 12 year old J-boy who is quite a good skier. Also Derek is now studying in my school. He's having great fun and has joined the Boy Scouts as well as the (Field) Hockey Team which I am coaching. And he is still as funny as before. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Most of the foreign business is going to Niseko because of the great marketing machine thats been rolling for years. Now, if Hakuba had that kinda marketing or had a one stop shop for flights, transfers, hotels, that'll bring a lot more. First timers to Japan are intimidated by the travel arrangements from the airport. Once they try it they'll realise it's not at all difficult. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Originally Posted By: thursday First timers to Japan are intimidated by the travel arrangements from the airport. Once they try it they'll realise it's not at all difficult. Totally agree with you, Thursday. I've done Hakuba many times using many different ways: Narita Express-Shinkansen-Bus; Narita Express-Bus; Narita Express-Matsumoto-Hakuba train all the way; coach from Narita directly to Hakuba; and taxi from Narita directly to Hakuba. The journey is STILL intimidating to me! But it's worth it so I still continue to go. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Niseko is in the same boat now from most places outside of Asia though. The transfer to haneda wont be fun. It really isnt that hard as Japan is modern and everything has English if you look for it. Derek is playing Hockey! I cant see him really playing a team sport without laughing! How did you get him set up with a J-boy... which sounds worse than you mean. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Haneda? Iranai yo! Direct flight to Chitose and then limosine basu direct to Niseko. Certainly beats the numerous norikaeranakereba narimasen of Narita to Hakuba. They are a J-family whom I met while skiing many years ago in Sahoro. Now, every time I go to Hokkaido, I drop them a note to let them know and more often than not, they try to join me when I get there. They joined me on my last trips to Kiroro and Tomamu. (I wonder if my big bag of omiyages I always bring for them has anything to do with it). Anyway, they will be joining me at Furano. Yeah, Derek invariably causes numerous laughs during Hockey practice. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 HK aside Markie search the internationals into Hoks now and they are down. With the price of oil so high Tokyo is becoming more of a hub. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Derek is a great kid too bad my aunt and uncle didnt have more Dereks. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Originally Posted By: Fattwins HK aside Markie search the internationals into Hoks now and they are down. With the price of oil so high Tokyo is becoming more of a hub. Actually it's a good thing Chitose doesn't handle too many international flights otherwise Hokkaido would be swamped with snow tourists. The oil prices is not gonna be an issue, not to Aussies, Kiwis, Canucks or even Chinese....only to the poor Americans with the US$ sliding down and down. And Whistler is getting even more expensive with the Canadian dollar going up up up. So I expect Honshu to be getting a lot more snow tourists. Link to post Share on other sites
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