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Hi there, I'm new here, from Perth, Western Australia.

 

I'm a new intermediate snowboarder having learned at Thredbo Australia, and was seeking some advice/suggestions.

 

I'm visiting Tokyo for a few days in February and decided to hang around for a weekend of this well renowned snow.

 

My travel agent has suggested Happo One

 

I'm looking for your suggestions on which resorts would fit the following:

 

* Close to Tokyo (within a few hours on the Shinkansen, e.g Nagano area)

* Snowboarder friendly

* Beginner to Intermediate friendly

* Westerner friendly (I speak nil Japanese)

* A good apres activity for singles (i'm a young 40 yr old)

 

Also, if you could suggest some accommodation within your recommended resort that would fit the above criteria also. (I'd have a single budget of up to 15000y/night.

 

Thanks in advance for your suggestions, and I'll have a wander round in here and see what I can find also.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

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Hey, Gareth!

 

First (and only) suggestion from me is to at least make an effort to learn a few polite, social words of Japanese. It really ain't that hard, and does a lot for the way us Aussies are viewed by the locals.

 

Anything we can do to improve relations between our countries is worth a couple of minutes of effort!

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You have big choise for these

 

* Close to Tokyo (within a few hours on the Shinkansen, e.g Nagano area)

* Snowboarder friendly

* Beginner to Intermediate friendly

 

Any of Hakuba, Yuzawa, Myoko, Shiga Kogen, Minakami is good.

 

But the other thing may be more difficult unless you want to discover "local style" rather than popular bars etc.

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Originally Posted By: JA
OK, you had me fooled with the "nil Japanese" line. wakaranai


No probs JA, your tip appreciated. As all the Japanese guys I work with are so good with English, it hardly encourages me to learn Japanese (unless I want to spy on their secret conversations lol)
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looking SJ hakuba accomodation page, i don't see any info on Hotel De Laile, but a quick google search will find info for you.

 

when are you planning this trip to hakuba? i will be in hakuba late january and cannot wait! are you aware that happo one is only 1 resort in 7 that surrounds hakuba village? this is my first trip to hakuba, but from what i have read hakuba 47 and goryu have a lot of boarding terrain.

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I'll be in Hakuba from Feb 21 to March the 8th. We're staying near Happo-One but have a 10 Day 7 Mountain pass - not really useful as you only seem to be staying a small while.

 

I'm not an area expert but from what I can gather (This will be my first trip to Japan) Hakuba is a 4 hour Bullet train ride plus a short bus trip. Or something like that. Tonnes of resorts to chose from and definitely some snowboarding friendly areas to boot.

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Originally Posted By: Mattaus
(This will be my first trip to Japan) Hakuba is a 4 hour Bullet train ride plus a short bus trip. Or something like that.


Maybe its 4 hours from Osaka, but from Narita i would have said its less than an hour to Tokyo, then an hour bullet train to Nagano and then 1 hour bus to Hakuba. So it should be around 4 hours from Narita Airport to Hakuba, door to door (if the connections work in your favour).

Im sure there are other ways to get from Tokyo to Hakuba that might be quicker than the above but if you are on the bullet train for 4 hours you might find yourself in Korea.
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Prolly cheaper and just as fast to get the azusa from Shinjuku. Depends on when you arrive though. There's one that leaves aprox 7:30a.m. takes about 3 hrs 30 min I think. Checkout hyperdia for train and bus times.

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Gareth & Mattaus -

 

The shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Nagano takes about 1 hr 45 minutes, followed by a bus ride of about an hour from Nagano to Hakuba, plus whatever waiting time is required.

 

The 4 hours you refer to (Mattaus) is for a direct 'slow' train - the "Super Azusa" - that runs from Shinjuku directly to Hakuba station. It is cheaper than a shinkansen, but much slower and only runs 3 times a day (or something like that). Therefore, having travelled to Hakuba numerous times from Tokyo (by all different methods...), my advice is to take the shinkansen to Nagano - or a bus all the way from Tokyo (Nishi Shinjuku) if you are on a tight budget.

 

Happo-one is just one of several resorts that are fairly close together in Hakuba, which is a town in a valley surrounded on three sides by the North Alps. Most hotels, pensions and guest houses will drive you to your chosen skiing place if you ask them in advance. There are also numerous free buses run by the resorts themselves - though you have to check where to catch them from. Some advance planning's always worth the effort.

 

The Hakuba locals can advise you - as long as they aren't skiing.

 

Enjoy.

 

SdS

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  • 2 weeks later...
Originally Posted By: gareth_oau
its 39 deg C here today veryshocked thumbsdown

So glad I bailed before it got that hot!!!

Frîends and family have been bemoaning the hot spell in Perth. We left 26/12 just before any signifigant warm set in, and have been below zero ever since.

Although I am looking forward to getting back to Perth in Feb and getting some wakeboarding in before it gets too cold for it.

You will have a great time Gareth, and will want to keep going back again and again.
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No Gareth we are in Europe this year. And for that kind of trip we made it 5 weeks. We will be back the 1st of Feb. It is the longest vacation we have ever taken, yes....bit of an epic adventure.

 

Japow is worth staying in for a while. Getting a sneaky trip to the snow in alongside work is well worth the effort though. Last year we had 3 weeks in Niseko and loved it, were sad to leave, but a girlfriend was there for just over 4 weeks and started to get the SADs.....cant imagine I wouldve got the SADs in that environement ever, but you never know.

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Ive only ever been to Thredbo, so this will be my first ever overseas outing.

 

I'm off to thredbo again in august and I'm hoping to spend xmas 2010 in the snow, hopefully canada (i'd love to score a log cabin with a big open fireplace and a traditional turkey roast on the big day!!)

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Sounds bloody fantastic Gareth, you are a fellow sandgroper after my own heart.

 

We have not always gone to the snow the entire 6 of us, there has been boys trips, mens trips, girly trips, school trips etc....but we have ticked off Thredbo, Perisher, Falls Creek and Mt Hotham in Aus between us, and overseas we can only claim Niseko Japan, Wanaka NZ and Zermatt Switzerland, but for a family that only started boarding less than 3 years ago I think we are clocking it up OK!!

 

We are keen to do the US and Canada as well, but I think I want some more Japow before then!!! Miss the POW, however I had an awesome day today at Gonergrat, fabulous runs for snowboarders with the ability to pop off to the side of the piste for something ungroomed.

 

You will be hooked!

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haha, even closer than that. i see from another of your posts that you are mum, dad and 4 boys - same here - mine are now 19,17,15, 13 (must be something in the Perth water!!)

 

My wife is a spectator but everyone else boards - she has promised to try skiing this time round at thredbo, but is having some problems with knees, so we'll wait and see.

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Gareth, I am no different to your wife - had never seen snow until 3 yrs ago, felt old and unfit and I have a minor blood clotting disorder that means the bruises are a heck of a lot bigger than most people would get.

 

I was a confirmed hot chocolate maker on my first trip to Japan, but the temptation to give it a go was too great when I was the only one not on the snow (the other two mothers that went skied for years prior). So I gave it a go, and here you have it - you can teach an old dog nëw tricks.

 

Thredbo on a sheet ice day is not the right day for your wife to start though....be selective. I had some girly tanties trying to get the hang of a toeside turn on ice at Thredbo. This past season was a corker though - we had plenty of soft fresh stuff at Falls Creek in July and Thredbo in August - great for stretching yourself a bit.

 

As far as knees go.... one male friend switched from skiing to snowboarding because of his knees and found a huge improvement. Another female friend is bemoaning her knees on a board and is thinking of going back to skiing, and for me...the more I board the better my knees are in the long run...they hurt at the end of the day, but are so far ^better after the trip it is not funny.

 

Maybe those tidbits will help you coax that wife of yours onto a board or some skis. GOOD LUCK

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