iiyamadude 6 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I had half day plus at Madarao today. Funny how this is almost the closest resort to where I live, in my town, but for one reason or another one I haven't been to much. It wouldn't have been my choice on a Sunday but a group of friends were going and had tickets. Anyway, busy busy it was. Madarao is allowing children under 12 to ride the lifts there for free every day (throughout the season) and so as you can imagine that attracts a lot of kids and families. It was choca with them today and the lifts seemed to be stopping and starting all the time as people crash getting on and off. Quite frustrating actually. If you have kids though, great place to go.... perhaps on weekday. There's also a fair few untouched, ungroomed courses with a few steepies up top as well, though today it was just too busy to be much fun. The snow wasn't as good as I was expecting. With the recent snowfall I was expecting soft and fluffy but it wasn't like that at all with some scraping going on and hard moguls all over the place. No award winning photos I'm afraid but I did take some snaps around the place and uploaded as there weren't many for Madarao on the site. More in the galleries From the top This was 9am. Got much busier Fair bit of snow of late, but the snow on the slopes was curiously disappointing Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Busy eh? I was there last year and it was dead, it was great. Obviously a good marketing ploy to get the family Yen. I liked it last year, but the at that time as well it needed a bit more snow. It was well groomed though and the corduroy was nice. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Yes pretty busy. The photos were taken early on. There aren't that many lifts, so with the start/stop and the few bottleneck parts of the resorts when it is busy, it seemed to take ages to get a ride. Decent place don't get me wrong, I'm just not keen on the overcrowded slopes. But happy to see a place busy after all the weekday almost empty experiences (which are fun when you are there!). I think the free kids thing certainly was working, and I'll keep that in mind in future to make it a weekday only place! I was actually quite surprised at just how little groomed it was. Even at 9am, the only real groomed part was the bottom few slopes. Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I wonder too about this grooming business... Whether to keep the upper parts un-groomed for advanced-intermediates and/or cost savings. I find in Bavaria the smaller resorts don't bother grooming but in Austria they keep it well groomed. The former definitely cost saving. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Normally I would like it ungroomed like that. The reason I found it so curious was because of this apparent push towards young kids which seemed a bit at odds with that. They also offer 1 hour free snowboard lessons to snowboard beginners. That's what it said on the pamphlet. Link to post Share on other sites
Error404 0 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Sounds good for a weekday that when the snow's good. Link to post Share on other sites
Myoko Guy 0 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 It's really not a bad place. Just not that well known. Crowds are hassle though. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks iiyamadude. I wouldn't mind going there actually. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Some good views of Myoko and over to Shiga Kogen you'd like muika. Link to post Share on other sites
Myoko Guy 0 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 It's been awhile but from some high points on the Tangram side you can see all the way to the nihon-kai on a clear day. What are the two new runs (Air Wave and Usagi) there like? Air Wave sounds pretty good. Link to post Share on other sites
abe 0 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Originally Posted By: Myoko Guy What are the two new runs (Air Wave and Usagi) there like? Air Wave sounds pretty good. I was just going to ask the same question. I imagine they would have been cut up pretty quickly on a weekend, but I am wondering if they would be worth a visit after some new snow. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Didn't go actually (combination of it being very busy, snow not being top and with a family). I would like to try that though I doubt it will be this season now. Link to post Share on other sites
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