kiwikids 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Hi Everyone. My girlfriend and I are going to be landing in Tokyo on the 9th of Feb. We're basically heading to Japan because of all the epic stories of great pow that we've heard, we also want to see some of Japan while we're at it. We have one month all up, and we've worked out a loose itinerary for our trip. As you will all know it's a killer job sifting through all the mountain stats and reviews and working out where you want to head!!! But we have a bit of an idea of where to head. Anyway we're both fairly reasonable skier, bringing both our alpine and Tele skis, and our BC gear too. So just like everyone else we want it all, Deep Fresh snow, Great advanced terrain, uncrowded slopes, good out of bounds/backcountry and of course a relaxed ski patrol to go with it!!!!! Anyways I won't bore you with our plans, but here are the places we're thinking of skiing at. Asahidake Hakkoda Hakuba 47 Winter Sports Park Hakuba Goryu Happo-one Kamui Ski Links Mount Racey Niseko Annupuri Kokusai Niseko Grand Hirafu Niseko Higashiyama Nozawa Onsen Rusutsu Resort Sapporo Teine Tanigawadake Tenjindaira Question is, are there any places on our list that we should really stay away from? Are there any places that we should head to instead of where we're planning? The most important of them all, is anyone looking for others to head out and get some BC with? just being the two of us and not knowing the areas we may not get to do much BC, But we're super keen to meet others to head out with!!! Would be great to hear your thoughts. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
Jyves 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 In Hokkaido, I only know Niseko and Rusutsu, and both are great resorts. My peeve with Niseko, however, is that it can get pretty crowded on weekends especially and that at times, at least for a resident of the country, it doesn't always feel so Japanese because of the hordes of tourists. But the off-piste is great, and so is the apres-ski. I love Rusutsuu because it also features great off-piste and is much less crowded, due the high cost of accommodations... Furano is supposed to be a great place too, although I have not been there yet. Search for neil hartmann's weblog (a snowboard filmmaker) to find out about some smaller resorts worth visiting. <See lower comment as to why I edited this part out> If you do go to Hakuba, make sure to stop by Matsumoto and visit its castle; it's original (400 years old or something) and it's my favorite in Japan. Tsugaike Kogen is another resort worth visiting in the Hakuba valley. Nozawa is pretty nice too, and features many hot springs, including some free ones throughout the town, and great soba noodles (buckwheat). Further northwest, in Niigata prefecture, lies Naeba station. Went there once and the conditions were very good. You can reach it from Tokyo by Shinkansen (bullet train). Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Cant see any problem in your list other than time. The resorts you ve listed are spread all over Japan, which means that you will have to be on the move all the time to make it to all. Maybe you should limit your plans to 2 major regions and hit the resorts close by. Link to post Share on other sites
malee_bull 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Hey mike and jo, Im gunna be in japan 6th - 20th feb and hoping to go to hakuba. Id be keen for some BC I dont really have time to write this but feel free to email me or something my name at hotmail Link to post Share on other sites
kiwikids 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks for that, great info, we'll make sure we get to Matsumoto Castle. We were thinking the same about Hakuba but it seems a pitty to just ski and not see some sights while we are in Japan. Is it worth trying to see the famous "Snow Monkeys" at Yudanaka? It's good to hear you say Nozawa is good too, loving the sound of the Onsens!!!! Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
kiwikids 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 tsondaboy, Cheers for that. Yeah, we're gonna be on the move allot!! We'll see how it goes, if we don't like the moving around then we can always just go to a few, the main place of interest is really Hokkaido so if we had to we could just go straight there. Apart from that though we thought it might be worth hitting them in order starting from Tokyo-Nagano-Amori then Hokkaido. We'll see how it goes aye. Hope JR treats us well. Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I would at least take Tenjindaira off the list. Its a great mountain to visit but there is no connection from Nagano. You have to come back to Tokyo, do a 1-2 day trip to Gunma and then come back to Tokyo to go to either Aomori or Hokkaido. Link to post Share on other sites
malee_bull 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 hi jyves, thinking of taking your advice about matsumoto and im just wondering how far the castle is from the station and how long you would suggest allowing to see it? also do you know any good cheap hotels in matsumoto? thankyou in advance Link to post Share on other sites
kiwikids 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 It's like I read your mind, I took it off the list as I wrote the last reply By the look of the JR maps we should be able to go Tokyo to Nagano, Nagano-Aomori up the west coast and then to Hokkaido. I can't remember why Tenjindaira was on the list, I thought there was something interesting near by to see, but I've forgotten so can't have been that important. Cheers for you help, if you have any more ideas would love to hear them!! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Quote: Further northwest, in Niigata prefecture, lies Naeba station. Went there once and the conditions were very good. You can reach it from Tokyo by Shinkansen (bullet train). This needs clarifying I think. There is no TRAIN station in Naeba. The nearest train station is Echigo Yuzawa which is 30-40 minutes or so by shuttle bus or taxi from Naeba. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Originally Posted By: malee_bull hi jyves, thinking of taking your advice about matsumoto and im just wondering how far the castle is from the station and how long you would suggest allowing to see it? also do you know any good cheap hotels in matsumoto? thankyou in advance Matsumoto castle is 15 minutes walking distance from the train station. If you are going to visit, make sure you prepare some thick warm socks cos you have to take off your shoes at the entrance and the cold wooden floors can be brutal on the feeties. Touring the castle only take about an hour so there is really no need to stay in Matsumoto for a night. I did that as a day trip once from Hakuba....skied in the morning, took the train to Matsumoto after lunch, toured the castle, got back to Hakuba for dinner. Link to post Share on other sites
9015peter 0 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Originally Posted By: Jyves If you're going to Hokkaido, I don't see much reason to go to Hakuba as the mountains are smaller and more crowded. Don't let FT here you say that Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Yep Hokkaido is where all the real mountains are found in Japan Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I saw that too and had a laugh.. was waiting for the comments to roll in.. Link to post Share on other sites
Jyves 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I agree with Markie, there isn't that much to see in Matsumoto besides the castle. There is an adjoining museum showcasing traditional arts and crafts, as well as an ukiyoe (woodblock) painting museum in town, both of which I have not visited. I have stayed once in a hotel in Matsumoto when my father visited (before, I used to live less than an hour by car from there) but I cannot remember the name of the place. It was quite close to the castle and I could probably find it should you be interested; it wasn't the cheapest place but it was fine. If you stay a few days in Hakuba, I'd recommend following Markie's advice about a day trip to Matsumoto, taking warm socks along. By the way, on the main road between the castle and the shopping district, there are a few souvenir shops, and some of them sell wasabi ice cream if you are culinarily adventurous. And I also agree with Tsondaboy, your resort list is pretty extensive. Often, to find the good spots on a resort, it is better to stay there a few days to find the good locals to follow. Although, train rides will provide with some great views of the land of the rising sushi. <Edited as I inadvertently started one of the things I despise most about internet forum, i.e. useless flame wars. Sorry about that.> Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 "But let's be honest, Hokkaido is better for snowboarding/skiing. It's like going to the Rockies vs the Appalachians in North America." are you kidding? which area is which? have you actually been to nagano? it's a freeskier's dream come true! BIG LINES, with huge snow falls. not to get into this seemingly never ending debate, but, if you can ski steep sustained lines, and are willing to do a little work for them, hakuba is your place. with good stable snow pack you can have lines unlike any you ever thought possible after only a short boot pack from the lift, and typically they take you back to the resort. look up some of the locals on this forum to get some better advice on the area. they know their stuff. stay at FatTwin's place. now i suppose that if you are a novice/intermediate skier with minimal back country experience i bet the resorts in hokkaido are a great place to make your first go at swooshing in the powdery snow. yeah! as for travel up the sea of japan coast, does the JR rail pass cover the overnight train? either way you are looking at a long trip up, but it might be more worth your while to head back to tokyo and take the shikansen up the east side. this way you can also make stops at some of the less represented but still fun northern honshu resorts. ie zao, ghetou, hachimantai (if you tour, you'll love it) and hakkoda. enjoy the trip. enjoy your Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Hakuba is smaller than What? The biggest vertical in Japan is here and the biggest lines. Whichever you can choose your list is good but Hakuba is bigger than anything in Hokkaido period! Link to post Share on other sites
Kingofmyrrh 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Originally Posted By: Jyves If you're going to Hokkaido, I don't see much reason to go to Hakuba as the mountains are smaller and more crowded. I absolutely loved the time I spent in Hokkaido, don't get me wrong. I will be back there again this year hopefully. But you must be smoking crack if you think it has big mountains compared to Nagano. The hills around Niseko (awesome fun as they are) are not even in the same league as the stuff in Nagano when it comes to size. Other stuff in Hokkaido is larger, but once again, small compared to Nagano. At the moment I just look up in awe, but one day! Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 No time to post now. But I'm reserving this spot and I'll come back and edit it later when I have time. Aw... nevermind. I can rest easy since that reference to the appalacians was taken out... Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Teine????? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 as far as not going to Hakuba or Hokkaido, if you have that much time, I think itd be a crime not to hit both as the regions are certainly quite different! Both are awesome! List looks sick, have a great time! Link to post Share on other sites
Jyves 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Well put, Indo. My mistake. I'm sorry. Link to post Share on other sites
stillnoprogress 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I would probably hire a guide if i was going back to Asahidake or at least get my hands on a topo map. it's an excellent place and definitely worth going to if the snow is there but it's fairly large and it's not exactly easy to figure out what leads where. It's a pretty long drive from Sapporo as well unless you intend to fly into Asahikawa. Link to post Share on other sites
stillnoprogress 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Originally Posted By: thursday. Teine????? I think it's definitely worth hitting the back bowls at Teine if you plan on staying in Sapporo Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts