BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 After visiting the “big names†in Nagano the last two seasons, this season we decided that we wanted to be a bit more adventurous and try out some places that were perhaps less well known and at the same time have a fun let’s driving tour around Japan. Early on we decided that we were going to rent a car from Narita and immediately make our way north into the Tohoku region and check out some of the resorts up there. It took us a while to get it all planned out but we eventually came up with a route that we thought incorporated some interesting looking resorts as well as providing a good let’s driving time. You know, a bit of culture an’ all (whatever that means!) So, after that long flight from Heathrow, we arrived at Narita early morning and after a bit of a panic (brought on by tiredness and a bit of silliness on 2pint’s side), we found ourselves sitting in our rental car ready to make the move. In the end the car rental thing was a totally brilliant thing to do - what a great move renting a car was, giving us the freedom to go where we wanted, when we wanted. It proved to be very easy with no problems during our entire time. If you are hesitant, don't be! ALTS BANDAI / INAWASHIRO - Fukushima Anyway, we started by heading northwest from Narita on some winding roads and eventually got to the Tohoku Expressway and started to zoom up to the Bandai area of Fukushima which was our first stop. After some beers and getting a good sleep, the first day was to be spent at Alts Bandai. It’s a decent resort and we were blessed with fine weather and some fresh snow to play in. We had some good fun both there and also the nearby Inawashiro, but a day at each was enough. Especially as they were both almost empty of people – no waiting for lifts so we packed a lot of action into our time there. ZAO ONSEN - Yamagata From there it was back to the Tohoku Expressway and up to Yamagata and specifically the Zao Onsen resort. We had high expectations for Zao and thought that it may well be the highlight of the trip – and that it was. We spent 3 nights in Zao in total and had 2 and a half days on the mountain so we got to know it fairly well. Zao reminded us of Nozawa in Nagano in a number of ways. There’s the little village at the bottom of the big mountain and of course the onsen both in hotels and little public ones that you can just jump in at any time. Both myself and 2pints really liked Nozawa, but we both agreed that we thought Zao was even better. There’s a few reasons for that. I thought the mountain was considerably bigger and the courses offered more variety and were generally wider and more interesting than Nozawa. It’s a big place. There’s a good selection of runs including some nasty looking mogul runs and there are also lots of trees and lots of untouched snow just waiting to be ridden. Well, there was when we were there anyway. You can even (legally or illegally, didn’t see ropes?) do some riding between some of those Snow Monsters to the side of the main course up top. Up at the top there we also walked up to the top of the mountain and snowboarded down in 30cm of fresh snow a few times. Bliss (but very tiring!) Regarding the slopes, there is a lot of the 'long, wide, medium gradient, good for lower-intermediate > intermediate' kind of course. The top course of the resort is basically one long run down from the top. Not particularly interesting in itself, but the monsters and scenery make it special.... The scenery at Zao is spectacular and quite unique. Those Snow Monsters are worth the visit alone and are a very impressive sight. On of those “got to be there†moments, however pretty photos and pamphlets look. The first time you see them it's like "wow". Going up there at night to see the floodlit monsters is a must - though be careful I think it's only about 50 days in the peak season. In fact, even during the daytime a fair few non-skiers and snowboarders use the ropeways to get up there for some sightseeing. I felt kinda sorry for some of them on our last day as it was blizzard conditions with almost zero visibility up there, but they were still taking the trip to go up, get frozen and see nothing! Perhaps you need a few days in Zao just to increase the chance of getting decent weather. Zao is pretty high up too, I think the base is at 800m. The snow was generally really very good when we were there, even though they said it was warmer than usual and I believe they had another bad patch just after we left as well. It sure felt cold to us, especially at the top there at night and in the day when a cold wind was blowing. But generally the snow was at least as good as anywhere else we have experienced. It's interesting how getting up to Zao from the valley down below where Yamagata city is (and very little snow) only takes about 15 minutes or so. You quickly go from built up city and large busy roads to quaint little country roads leading to the small village in the space of minutes. It's like Zao is in it's own little world, but also very close to the rest of the world, and I found that to be quite charming. We stayed in a posh hotel with a fab onsen and outdoor onsen but we tried a few of the unmanned public onsen as well which was fun – just put the 200 yen in the box outside and jump in! We found the people in Zao to be extremely friendly, another similarity to Nozawa. Hard to say in what way, just generally. It's worth mentioning that there's not much choice for "Western style food" up there though, so be warned. Most of the hotels seemed to be serving very traditional Japanese style set meals in the evening and also for breakfast. Not to everyone's taste. If you like that sort of thing you will be very happy! If you like mochi, there's a good little eating place that specialises in them and that place was really good - the anko and chestnut was good. It's on the main little winding onsen road that goes off from the main road of Zao. The cheese mochi we found from the omiyage shop was also really nice (as well as being quite strange!) As much as we liked Zao, it’s not perfect of course. But nowhere is perfect, right? As per some of the reviews of the resort on here, there are a few places where the lift system seems rather inefficient meaning that you need to push yourself to get to a few lifts. That can be tiring and frustrating, but once you get used to the layout of the resort and know where you need to get your speed up to reach the lifts, that can be minimized to not be a problem. I was told this layout issue is because the mountain was developed by a number of different companies. You’d think they would co-operate and make the whole a better experience, but there you go. I am sure there will be reasons for things as they are. The other thing was that on the weekdays we were there, it was very quiet even in the evenings. The village was less lively than Nozawa and it just felt a bit too quiet which was a bit sad. It could really do with livening up and the few locals we spoke to agreed but didn't have the answer as to what to do. I felt like going out there and shouting LET’S HAVING FUN! There was one fun bar though on the main road which was pretty lively on the night we went. Onsen were great though, and quite smelly (in a good, onseny way). So Zao – top place, I would highly recommended it.　　Actually, if someone asked me my favourite Japanese resort, I’d probably go for Zao for the all round experience. TAZAWAKO - Akita From Zao, we went north and a bit of a long trek via non-expressway roads into Akita and eventually finding ourselves in Tazawako (after a night staying in the middle of nowhere). Oh the adventure. Tazawako looks fantastic on the photos of the resort, but unfortunately we didn’t hit it on one of those days so we didn’t get the views. The snow was really great though and it’s a decent resort. A day there was just fine just wish the clouds had cleared a bit. Can’t win every time though! SHIZUKUISHI - Iwate From there going east into Iwate and Shizukuishi. One of the Prince resorts, this one is fairly big with some long runs and some fairly decent snow conditions when we were there though as the resort isn’t that high up (the base is at 426m) there wasn’t a whole lot of it around. Another good place for a day we thought. APPI KOGEN - Iwate One of 2pint’s friends at work has a friend who lives near Appi Kogen, so we were invited to go and stay with that family in their rather large house. That was a really unusual experience, almost like a homestay and great to be able to experience staying with a family in their home rather than just hotels and ryokans all the time. I think they adjusted the menu a bit for us (!) but that was a real bonus experience. Learnt a lot from it and feel happy to have been given that chance. We had a day at the Appi Kogen resort which was fairly much as expected. We had good snow, but thought that a day was ideal. SENDAI CITY We were near the end of the holiday now and headed back down the Tohoku Expressway and stopped off in Sendai for some city stuff. We had heard that Sendai was a decent city and even though we only spent one night and half a day there, enjoyed it. Let’s Sendai. HUNTER MOUNTAIN - Tochigi There was one more ski-jo to check out though – that being Hunter Mountain in Tochigi on the way back to Narita. We were both knackered by then but spent 4 hours or so checking it out. Another decent one-day place, though the snow conditions there weren’t so good as the weather had become very spring-like. Then back to Narita. And reality. ALTS BANDAI Snow conditions – 6 Resort – 7 People & hospitality – 7 General - 7 INAWASHIRO Snow conditions – 6 Resort – 6 People & hospitality – 8 General - 7 YAMAGATA ZAO ONSEN Snow conditions – 9 Resort – 9 People & hospitality – 9 General - 9 TAZAWAKO Snow conditions – 8 Resort – 7 People & hospitality – 8 General - 8 SHIZUKUISHI Snow conditions – 8 Resort – 7 People & hospitality – 6 General – 7 APPI KOGEN Snow conditions – 8 Resort – 7 People & hospitality – 9 General – 7 SENDAI CITY Beer – 9 Females - 10 Males - not interested HUNTER MOUNTAIN Snow conditions – 6 Resort – 6 People & hospitality – not relevant General - 6 THE END BIT We had a brilliant time. Renting the car was a good move. Going to lots of different places was a good move. This was much than than just going to different ski resorts. We wanted the experience of driving round, getting out if we saw something interesting to investigate, finding a restaurant we liked the look of and just going, meeting locals, checking out onsen, staying with that family and the things like that. And of course checking out those different ski resorts. The car really let us do that easily. It was good to get away from the Big Guns too and see some other places. For the most part most of the people we met were Japanese, much fewer foreigners in the places we went to than Hakuba/Nozawa etc. Zao was easy the pick of the bunch, but the others all had their good bits, enjoyed them all and I personally don't regret going to any of them. Three times to Japan, this was easily the best. (If anyone has any questions about the practicalities of doing the car thing etc, please ask will try to let you know how it worked for us). The only problem now is planning a good idea for next year. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 From the top of Zao Chuo Ropeway Night-time 2pints Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 BagOfCrisps in the top restaurant at Zao Snow Monster eats BagOfCrisps! BagOfCrisps outside the mochi shop This one's for Cheeseman Meat. It was eaten. Special mention to the this yakiniku restaurant. Got quite a reputation. And so it must have because it's out in the middle of nowhere about 15 minute drive from Zao. Like a converted farm house old building with tatami mats and about 6 tables. The meat was amazing and not that expensive either. Great night out. Tonkatsu and BagOfCrisps Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 One of the public onsen. Put 200 yen in the box, then get in the bath! That's Zao in the distance. High up it is, in it's own little world. But just 10 minutes drive below you have busy roads and Yamagata City. Very interesting. Link to post Share on other sites
snowbender 3 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Great report. Sounds like a really good trip that - wouldn't mind doing it myself. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 well written - BoC... Zao is on my list of things to do, just wish it wasnt so bloody far from here! Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Nice report, good work Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Cracking report! Link to post Share on other sites
@tokyo 14 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Thanks for that, BagOfCrisps. Very interesting. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 another great report. Last year's report: 8 This year's report: 8.5 Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Good one Bag. The BagOfCrisps was a good idea. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Well done mate! Sure glad I didn't have to write all that lot! Link to post Share on other sites
ILoveZao 8 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Very interesting. I am glad that you enjoyed your time in Zao. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Cheers for that report guys. It sounds like a fun time was had. I'd imagine getting a car and doing it yourself like that would be good, certainly better than relying on public transport. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Originally Posted By: 2pints,mate Snow was generally really good at the places we went. Looks great! Neat to see people actually skiing through those trees! Glad you guys took some pics. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Top notch Link to post Share on other sites
lin 0 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Quote: SENDAI CITY Beer – 9 Females - 10 Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Glad you enjoyed it - didn't know you were going to be doing Alts! An inspiration to others perhaps Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Cheers. Fukushima was a question mark for a while but it fitted into the plan and timetable. I was very pleased with the schedule we came up with, there was no waste. Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Snow safari in Tohoku. Big Trip. Wow! Zao has always been a must do one day, mecca sort of place. When I was in high school some guys would go and it was like.. Respect. Totally Old School. Happo-One and Okushiga is similar. Like you are lucky to have a lift there. Bliss to have an onsen after. Skiing with my folks involved mountain climbing when I was a kid. It's not like the newly developed resorts of the prince hotel group or more recent one's from the boom. And people like it that way. I would for one without the bars and noise. Nozawa is an old onsen village where people go onsen and eat nozawana and ski is a bonus side line. Wasn't a really popular place for us....ok we didn't like the demo-ski-scene. Isn't Tohoku great place to visit ! Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I'm not sure what you mean by Happo being similar - I feel they are quite different (and Zao was better!) - but I know where the 'old-school' comment comes from. I quite liked that aspect of it. I certainly wouldn't want it to be built up and rowdy, but like Bag said it was really just a bit toooo quiet at times and lacking in atmosphere. A bit different from Shiga Kogen because there is a centre and a few 'main roads' in Zao with a fair few buildings. I suppose they simply need lots more people to go... Link to post Share on other sites
yamayamayama 2 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Great job. Cheers for sharing all that lot. Link to post Share on other sites
Nisoko 6 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Great. Perhaps Hokkaido next time? Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Nah, they're scared of the big stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
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