gurgle 0 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 My 2 cents All the J-resorts are sorely lacking in infrastructure, especially off the mountain. On the mountain, not enough nice places to eat, lifts not going far enough up the mountain (perhaps this is weather related ?). Off the mountain, not enough to do for non-skiers, resorts badly laid out, difficult to get around, no decent shps, no village feel. All these things are not so important to me, but they are to my Mrs. If my Mrs is happy, I am happy The reasons I think are mostly to do with demand. The Japanese skier is typically there for the weekend, and at a lot of resorts typically comes by car. So resorts are designed around people having cars. If you want to go to a shop, onsen, restaurant, a lot of them you will need to drive to. The foreign skier, who stays longer and therefore needs more things to do, is really a new market, so it's going to take a long time before they are catered for properly. I would guess Niseko is going to get there first (even with it's weather) and the others will follow, but it's going to be a slow process. I am not sure it would be a good thing or not for me, but if there was a resort with a big Whistler style village with lots of nice shops, a cinema, a swimming pool, lots of great restaurants, then that resort would get a lot more foreigners coming. It's hard to see anyone willing to commit to building something like this with the current state of the global economy, but perhaps it will happen eventually, maybe when the Mainland Chinese start coming to Japan en-masse. Link to post Share on other sites
s3phis 0 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 I have to agree with gurgle; infrastructure isn't a big point for a lot of ski resorts. I think the big thing is that ski culture is only about 100 years old in Japan and they never really expected it to be as big as it became. Most places, from what I can see, have a sort of "patch work" infrastructure... slowly extending, improving and repairing as the demand grows without a completely realised end design. The older ski resorts in Europe were already fairly defined and had a sense of direction and the new resorts (Australia etc) were developed in phases but with future developments in mind. What infrastructure exists isn't usually efficient and/or convenient but too expensive to change now. To be honest, I think *most* of Japan has the patch-work feel. Link to post Share on other sites
gareth_oau 2 Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 I visit Thredbo in australia on a regular basis, but have never stayed at Perisher. Mainly because Thredbo has a far greater range of non-skiing activities, including squash courts, swimming pools , restuarants, etc. whereas Perisher, if your not skiing, theres virtually nothing to do. i understand Perisher has plans to build a proper village, but I wonder how those plans are under the currrent economic situation... Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I was impressed with both Perisher and Threadbo I didn't expect to ski in Australia, and I find runs like Naeba Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 And that's good? Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I am a Thredbo devotee. Love it. But I love Niseko also. :-) Will be having a bit of a crack at Perisher this August as well. Link to post Share on other sites
gareth_oau 2 Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm in thredbo for 9 nights from 7th august, when are you there mamabear? Link to post Share on other sites
Sciclone 2 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I have to commend Furano on this front. My mum and sister don't ski/snowboard (just slack I guess), but they weren't bored once in Furano. Not only do you have the winery, cheese factory, Ningle Terrace (artisan/craft area) and other places around the ski area, if you go into town on the lavender bus, there are numerous cake shops, 100Y stores, and normal shopping to keep the ladies occupied. When I'm at the snow I love just being on the snow, but usually require a day off to let the body recuperate. Its usually on this downtime day that I go to the arts places and stuff. /back on topic. Its a pity you went when you did Gareth. The following week (14th-21st) we were in Shiga Kogen, which has had similar conditions to Hakuba this year. But on the week that we were there there was some ok dumps across most of Nagano's snowfields. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Originally Posted By: gareth_oau I'm in thredbo for 9 nights from 7th august, when are you there mamabear? Gonna miss you Gareth. :-( I am there for 7 nights from 10th of July with the family, and also going on a girls trip from the 20th of August for 6 nights. We are booked in to an apartment in Crackenback with the family, with friends in an apartment in the same street, possibility of some more extended family also making a booking to come. The girls trip will be in 2 parts. I am going via Melbourne to meet up with a Perth friend who will be in Melbourne to travel together to Canberra - drive up to Jindy and stay wherever (will book something this week) for a few days. We will drive back and forth from Perisher (she has not been to Perisher). Then when the rest of the girls arrive for the 3 nights at The Denman, Thredbo we will join them for the more luxurious end of the vacation. Not even a days overlap! Link to post Share on other sites
gareth_oau 2 Posted March 6, 2009 Author Share Posted March 6, 2009 lol too bad, i was going to buy you a beer or coffee!! we're staying at skiinskiout i'm hoping your not there too or major refurbishment will be needed after you've left from trashing it Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 LOL! I dont trash my apartments - but it wont worry you anyway Gareth... I am in a different apartment - not far from from there :-) hee hee hee Enjoy thredbo. I will let you what the snow was like when I go in July....then you can let me know how it was in august...ready for my next time round. Link to post Share on other sites
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