lowrykun 0 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 A friend and I are headed over for 8 days (Feb 29th - March 9th). I lived in Hokkaido for a couple of years and have been to Japan several times since; however, I've never snowboarded in Japan. I'm trying to put together a 8 day trip that combines the best snowboarding with a really cool Japanese cultural experience and want to make sure I'm picking the right resorts. BTW - We live in Salt Lake City, so we're used to huge resorts with big powder and steep mountains. We primarily ride powder here and live in the trees. Solitude is our favorite resort in Utah, if you're familiar with it. It's cool and laid back. It's kinda like riding back-country, but with lifts. They don't have much of a park (and we wouldn't hit the park anyway). I'm a little worried that I'm trying to pack too much in. We originally wanted to do Hokkaido and Nagano, but I couldn't get a cost-effective flight from Sapporo to Matsumoto. I found a flight from Sapporo to Niigata, so our current plan was to go to Niseko for a couple days, then down to Yuzawa via Niigata, then back through Tokyo on the Shinkansen. Niseko is a no brainer. It sounds awesome. From what I've read, Kagura is probably the right type of mountain for us in Yuzawa. Is Naeba worth going to? Yuzawa seems to have the 'nihon-teki' things like Onsen, ryokan, and other activities. Plus it gives us an easy way to get back to Tokyo. We'll only be there on weekdays, so hopefully the crowds won't be too bad. I'm debating just staying in Hokkaido for 4 days, then coming back to Tokyo. Or thinking about just flying to and from Hokkaido and taking the train up and back from Nagano. I was just trying to save a little time and money. If anyone has thoughts or suggestions, then I'd be very pleased to hear them. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/256195#Post256195 discussion here about both of those places Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I wouldn't bother with Naeba. Kagura is a good option if you can make it ther on a weekday, weekends gets tracked up pretty fast. How many days are you going to be in Yuzawa? Link to post Share on other sites
actually 0 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Actually, unless you are strictly going for day-trip, I'd choose Nozawa or Shiga Kogen over Kagura almost any day. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 8 days aint a lot really. For 2 resorts, you'd be wasting a day travelling. Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 especially if a few of those days will be sightseeing in Tokyo. I'd stick with one area too. Link to post Share on other sites
OkemoLoon 0 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 There is more terrain to explore in Shiga Kogen than Kagura or Naeba. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Yes there is. MUCH more. Link to post Share on other sites
lowrykun 0 Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm thinking that I'd prefer just one area, but my buddy really wants to go to two different areas of the country. I hate to lose so much time to travel, but as I mentioned before, we can snowboard anytime here. We're trying to have a good balance of snowboarding and Japanese culture. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Then I would personally go to Nozawa. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Noz then Link to post Share on other sites
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