blue84 0 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Hi all, Me and my brother are heading to Hakuba for 21 days in Feb. Ive never seen snow before, my brother has been boarding in japan last year. ive got a couple of questions. We are staying at the Sidehill lodge and bar in echoland. What is the best way to go about getting ski lift passes? I have looked at rental prices and its going to be cheaper buying the gear instead of renting, any advice? whats the best way to get to hakuba from tokyo airport. Cheers Blue84 Link to post Share on other sites
nippontiger 8 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 You can get the lift passes at the ski area. You might be able to get some cheaper ones from your hotel. Assuming you're coming into Narita, you need to take the train (Keisei line) into Tokyo - I think it goes all the way to Ueno (about 1000 yen), which is where you need to go - takes just over 1 hour. Get on the Nagano shinkansen (bullet train) all the way to Nagano city (about 7000 yen one way - 1.5 hours). You then have to take the bus (1500 yen, 1 hour) to Hakuba village. Call your hotel and with a bit of luck, they might pick you up, if not, about 800 yen in a taxi to echoland. Dont forget to take into account about 1.5 hours to get through customs and the "Nihon e Yokoso" photos and fingerprints session. If you do a search of this sight, you should be able to find loads more info on all of this. Link to post Share on other sites
modern_messiah 0 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Hey Blue... Myself and 5 mates are going to hakuba in Feb as well. We organised our whole thing through Oz Snow Adventures. We land in Narita Airport and are getting a coach from the airport to Hakuba Direct. No train Switching, nothing. Might take a little bit longer (and I'd love to catch a bullet train but ah well...) but its a load easier, especially after the 11 hour flight to Japan from Aus in the first place lol. Unfortuantely until I get my itinerary finalised I can't tell you exactly what bus company it is, but absed on the information that there is actually a bus between the 2, google may help you find the name of the company as well. Hopefully it's not a special unit that deals only with the company we are going through. Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 never seen snow then heading to japan.. what an introduction to the white stuff you will have. i'm doing the same thing mattaus is doing, beleive the bus trip takes around 4 hours. as for buying your gear, I came to the same conclusion for my trip and bought all my gear, rather than hire. I bought it from here in oz, as there is some good off seasons specials on here, and with the financial situation I wasn't going to risk paying more in japan, whilst struggling with the sales.. not speaking japanese and all. also I am 6 foot 4 so not really a stadard height for japan. The mob I dealt with for my gear were really helpful and offer free freight australia wide, so if u want to know those details just PM and i'll tell you. I'm not sure if there are any ski shops in perth, but my advice would be don't buy your boots online or over phone, a good boot for one person may not be good for you at all, it is well worth going to a shop and trying boots on that suit your feet/style. hope that is helpful Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Originally Posted By: Mattaus Hey Blue... Myself and 5 mates are going to hakuba in Feb as well. We organised our whole thing through Oz Snow Adventures. We land in Narita Airport and are getting a coach from the airport to Hakuba Direct. No train Switching, nothing. Might take a little bit longer (and I'd love to catch a bullet train but ah well...) but its a load easier, especially after the 11 hour flight to Japan from Aus in the first place lol. Unfortuantely until I get my itinerary finalised I can't tell you exactly what bus company it is, but absed on the information that there is actually a bus between the 2, google may help you find the name of the company as well. Hopefully it's not a special unit that deals only with the company we are going through. I think your right - it would be a special bus that your travel company has orgainzed. Link to post Share on other sites
timcraig 0 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Ski/Snowboard gear is cheap in Japan compared to Australia. However, the weakness in the aussie dollar has made this less true and some of the off season deals in Aus might actually be pretty good. The range in Tokyo is far superior to shops in Aus though and generally skis/boards one season old are really cheap. Skis/Boards are more expensive up at Hakuba in my experience. I bought skis and bindings last year for about $800 aussie dollars that I could have got for $600 in Tokyo if I had have been travelling through there. You can get a Chuo taxi door to door from Narita to Hakuba which is pretty convenient. Otherwise the NEX train into town then the Shinkansen to Nagano and a bus from the east exit into Hakuba station. In terms of lift passes a season pass might be good value if you are staying 3 weeks. A day pass is about 4500 yen and some of the season passes are about 70,000 yen I think so 20 days might make a season pass worthwhile. I know friends who stayed a month and got season passes bc it was cheaper. However buying day tickets lets you check out the other resorts and if you get busted by ski patrol at Hakuba 47 you haven't lost as much!!! Link to post Share on other sites
blue84 0 Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 cheers all for the replys. Ive found some good deals on the net for snow gear so i might just get it from oz. ill look into the coach that yas mentioned. Cant wait to get out there! Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Originally Posted By: Gary You can get the lift passes at the ski area. You might be able to get some cheaper ones from your hotel. Assuming you're coming into Narita, you need to take the train (Keisei line) into Tokyo - I think it goes all the way to Ueno (about 1000 yen), which is where you need to go - takes just over 1 hour. Get on the Nagano shinkansen (bullet train) all the way to Nagano city (about 7000 yen one way - 1.5 hours). You then have to take the bus (1500 yen, 1 hour) to Hakuba village. Call your hotel and with a bit of luck, they might pick you up, if not, about 800 yen in a taxi to echoland. Dont forget to take into account about 1.5 hours to get through customs and the "Nihon e Yokoso" photos and fingerprints session. If you do a search of this sight, you should be able to find loads more info on all of this. Blue84 you might want to check out the JR Rail 4 day flexi pass. By the time you pay for those fares return, it may be cheaper to buy the pass, plus you'll get 2 extra days travel. Might come in handy if you do a side trip or even use it to get around Tokyo for a couple of days. Link to post Share on other sites
Youdy 0 Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 What im doing is catching the overnight bus from shinjuku station(west exit) straight to happo in hakuba leaves at 10:30 arrives at 5:30 return is 8500 yen. Full bus timetable is at http://www.alpico.co.jp/access/express/hakuba_shinjuku/index_e.html If you arrive at japan on the 31st of jan you might see me! Link to post Share on other sites
wattiewatson 0 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 the highway busses are fine and thats how i usually got home. But if your a big unit, they arnt the most comfortable. I would take the shink (bullet train). Its fun but you might get stuck at Nagano station. there are plenty of hotels around it so it wont be a problem. Otherwise get the airport guides to ring Chuo taxi's for you. Its a door to door supershuttle deal. You usually have to book them in advance but chances are someone has already done it and you can just jump in with them. Buying boots in Japan above size 29 (UK9.5/US10) can be a bit of an issue. some shops have at least one pair of 10's lying around, any bigger and you probably will have problems. I was 9.5 and in Nagano city that was about as big as they went. Link to post Share on other sites
blue84 0 Posted November 29, 2008 Author Share Posted November 29, 2008 Cheers for the info. I read about Japan not having big sized boots on the forums here. Ive got a size 13! Im going to get my gear from oz. Ive found some sites with good clearance sales. Thanks again Link to post Share on other sites
blue84 0 Posted November 29, 2008 Author Share Posted November 29, 2008 Hi Youdy, We are flying to Japan on the 31st as well, flying Qantas. We arrive at 1845 to Narito. are you on the same flight? Just checked flight itinery, flying jetstar to Narita.. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 this is good. Hakuba getting mainstream at last. Have a great time. Link to post Share on other sites
Youdy 0 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 my flights on the 30th:( i got the date wrong Link to post Share on other sites
nippontiger 8 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 blue84, if you arrive at 1845, you cant make the bus from Nagano to Hakuba on the same day. I think the last bus from Nagano to Hakuba is either 9pm or 9.30 depending on the day. You should be able to make the overnight bus from Shinjuku (not recommended, unless you're really on a budget and dont mind feeling really knackered on your first day), or maybe take the shuttle taxi from the airport, but if I were you, Id put up in a hotel in Nagano, get a good nights sleep and get the first bus to Hakuba the following morning. You could also take a taxi from Nagano to Hakuba, but I dont know how much that would be - maybe 11000 yen?? Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts